Caroline sits up straighter on the couch and turns toward James. “You picked out awoman?”
He grins. “Yeah.” He shrugs. “We were talking about what we’d like to do on that rainy night together…Hannah was the perfect answer to the question.”
Caroline’s eyes are still wide when she looks at me. “And what didyousay?”
“I said, ‘it’s very nice to meet you, Hannah,’ of course. I’m a gentleman.” Then I give Caroline a wicked grin. “At least Ican bea gentleman. Hannah was totally fine with menotbeing a gentleman from then on.”
Caroline just stares at me.
“You okay, Caro?” James asks.
She nods, still staring at me. “Yeah. Fine.”
“Be honest. Are you something other than fine, too?” I ask, leaning in. “Like…curious, maybe?”
She wets her lips. “Do you…did you…do that a lot?”
“That?” I ask.
Of course, I know what she’s talking about, but she needs to say it. We need to have it out on the table.
“That. Like with Hannah.”
“What did we do with Hannah?” I ask. “What do you think happened?”
She looks at James. He smiles, almost encouragingly.
“I’m guessing you didn’t take turns reading chapters of a murder mystery,” she says.
His smile grows. “No. No, we didn’t.”
She takes a breath, then she looks at me. Our gazes are locked when she says, “You fucked her. Together. Right?”
I smile. “Good girl,” I say. “And yes. That’s exactly what we did.”
She blows out a breath. “Got it.”
“And no, not a lot,” I say, answering her previous question. “Sometimes. For fun. With full transparency and consent between all parties. We make sure the women know James and I are together and that we’re not looking for anything from them but sex, and we share limits and make sure everyone knows whatever they want or need to know.”
“But not now?” she asks. “Now that you’re married?”
I smile, but it’s James that answers.
“Sometimes now, too. Though not since we came back to Honeysuckle Harbor.”
She seems to be thinking that over. She’s just opened her mouth to reply when there’s a sudden knock on our door.
Caroline startles, and I frown. Damn it.
I look at James. He shrugs.
Begrudgingly, I get up and go to the door.
Grayson Ross is on the other side, his baby daughter in one arm.
“Hey, Grayson, is everything all right?” I smile at Evelyn and get a frown in return.
“Yes.” He sighs. “Well, they’re mostly all right.” He holds up a phone. “Caroline left this at my place. She mentioned she was having dinner with you, and I hoped to catch her.”
