Page 32 of The Handy Men
"You're perfect." Dean hugged her tight and then kissed her breathless.
"Where's mine?" Jack asked, cutting in and kissing first Dean, then her.
They tried to convince her to go out fishing with them, but when her housekeeping staff started trickling in, they beat a hasty retreat.
After everyone arrived, Paige went over the schedule and then gave them a tour of the inn and finished the training. Afterward, Paige had a couple of hours and went down to the beach with a lounge chair and a book. Her parents were going to be here in two days, and then her first guests two days later. This might be the only time she'd get to relax all summer.
The sun baked into her and she touched up her sunblock, even though she didn't think she'd get a burn. The breeze off the ocean was cool enough that she was comfortable in her shorts and T-shirt. Looking out over the waves, she didn't see Jack and Dean's boat, but they probably were going to head over to Half Acre to see if the bluefish were running.
Trying to concentrate on her thriller novel, Paige fought off the yawns and refused to let her droopy eyelids closed. But just as the words on the page began to blur, a person blocked out the sun. A leggy redhead dressed in denim and leather. She had a piercing in her nose and a scowl on her face.
"You're Paige Richards?"
"And you are…?" Paige quirked an eyebrow at her and peered over the top of her sunglasses at the woman.
"My name is Stephanie."
Paige wondered if she was that Stephanie. She was gorgeous and curvy and had pouty red lips she could see Jack and Dean being interested in. Maybe she was just looking for a room to rent for the summer. "Are you here about the Nutmeg Inn?"
"What? No. I'm here for my boyfriends."
So much for coincidences.
"Jack and Dean?" Paige asked.
Stephanie nodded.
"They're out on the boat today. But I'm expecting them back around dinner. I'm assuming they don't know you're in town." Paige was determined to handle this like an adult, but all she really wanted to do was rip the woman's hair out by the roots for hurting Jack and Dean.
Stephanie bit her lip and looked out to the water. Paige had a feeling she wanted to lie, but she said, "No, they don't know I'm here. I'm visiting my family, and all they could talk about was Dean and Jack seem to be carrying on with a dowdy innkeeper."
Ouch.
"What business of it of theirs or yours for that matter?" Paige tried for polite indifference, but she didn't think she was pulling it off.
"Dean was almost their son-in-law. And I dated both of them."
Paige wanted to smack that smug look off her face. "Well, Dean's married. To Jack now."
"I know that," she cut in bitterly. "Boy, do I know that."
"And I'm dating both of them currently."
Stephanie sighed. "How does that even work?"
"I'm sure I don't have to explain it to you. They told me all about you."
"They did?” Stephanie brightened. "That's good. I want to get back together with them."
Paige slammed her book shut and straightened up in her chair. All thoughts of relaxation flew out the window. "You want to steal my boyfriends?” Of course, Paige wasn't even sure if that was the right term. Lovers sounded too snooty.
"No." Stephanie crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm doing this all wrong. I want to join you."
Paige's sexual horizons had broadened, but they hadn't gone that far. "I'm sorry. I don't swing that way."
Stephanie waved her hand. "That's fine. Jack and Dean are enough for me anyway."
"They're enough for me, too. What makes you think they still want you after you dumped them?"
