Page 30 of Lying Lainey

“I know you wear suits all the time, but damn, there is something about the way this one fits that is just fucking sexy,” Kerian shared, pressing another quick kiss before getting comfortable, resting his hand high on Halstead’s thigh.

Kerian’s warm amber eyes met mine, telling me I’d been blatantly staring at the two of them. “Don’t you agree, Elaine?” he asked, not breaking the hold he had on me.

My mouth had gone dry, but I recovered quickly. “It’s the cut of the suit. The others I’ve seen him wear are a looser style, and this one is far more tailored, showing off his well-earned physique.”

This had a wide grin appearing on his face, lighting up his features and making him even more handsome than he already was. “Then I think I’m just going to have to get rid of all his other suits and replace them all with these.”

“No,” Quintin snapped. “If you did that, then we’d run into the same problem we’re having with Elaine wearing this dress. He’s chosen to keep our relationship quiet, which comes with benefits and challenges. Having others believe they even have a chance with him is bad enough, but alerting them to the fact he has the body of a Greek statue will only make it harder on us.”

I choked on my spit at the directness of Quintin’s words, but damn, if that wasn’t the truth. “Speaking as someone who unfortunately experienced this situation, I have to agree with Quintin,” I commented after I stopped coughing.

“Elaine, please don’t think that was directed at you. It’s not the first time someone has made the wrong assumption, but it just happened to be the one time Halstead let it get out of control. Normally, he would have cleared the air and made you sign an NDA regarding that matter,” Quintin explained.

Kerian groaned. “Quinny, you’re totally not making this situation any better. We promised to do our best not to bring up the matter unless she did.”

“I made no such promise. H requested I do that, but I never agreed,” Quintin stated. “Personally, I think it’s best we get it out in the open. Then we can clarify that we hold nothing against Elaine for what happened, which would provide closure for her.” He shifted his attention to look at me. “Don’t you agree?”

“I agree that I would like there to be closure and for us all to pretend the situation never happened,” I answered. “I’m here to do a job, he is my boss, as are all of you, for that matter. If we are to do dinners and such like this, then we all need to be on the same page, but once this discussion is over, I’d like the matter to die with it.”

“There’s no reason why I don’t see that being possible, right, guys?” Halstead asked, but his tone didn’t give them room to argue.

Kerian leaned forward, loosely intertwining his fingers as he rested his elbows on his knees. “I have one question, then I’ll drop the matter altogether.”

“That’s fair. Quintin, do you have any questions before we put the matter to rest?” I inquired.

“No,” he answered succinctly.

Satisfied, I motioned for Kerian to go ahead and ask, bracing myself for what I assumed would be a brutal question.

“At the core, I supposed it’s two questions, but they go together in my mind,” he clarified. “Did you want him to kiss you? Would you want him to do it again if there was a possibility to make that happen?”

My mouth fell open at his question. Out of all the things I thought he’d ask or say, that wasn’t even close to what I considered. However, since he did ask, I had to take a moment to consider my answer. My gut reaction was fuck no, I didn’t want anything to do with that man other than fulfilling my mission. Things were already risky enough being their scent-pair and not saying anything about it. Now I was being asked flat out if I would want to experience that mind-blowing kiss again. Fuck.

“To answer the first question, yes, I one hundred percent wanted him to kiss me. In fact, I goaded him into it when he seemed to hesitate. Of course, now that I understand the reason behind it, I simply thought it was the boss-employee aspect,” I shared, then dropped my gaze from his. Needing to do something with all these chaotic emotions that didn’t draw attention, I stroked the glass surface of my watch with my thumb.

A hand came to rest over mine, stilling the motion causing me to look up at Quintin. “No matter what your answer is, I promise you we will not treat you any differently. While this particular situation didn’t start on the best foot, it’s not uncommon for people in our society to fall for someone outside their current partners. What matters most in these situations is communication, which I think Kerian is trying to do. In his roundabout way, I believe his intention is to ascertain if you have any interest in developing something beyond a work relationship.”

That had me frowning. “Why would you be okay with that?”

“Because this is how Kerian joined us,” Quintin explained. “He knew I was with Halstead but took a chance to see if I was interested in him. We went on a few casual and innocent dates, and the moment we decided that something deeper might come of our time together, we both went to Halstead to share our intention. From there, as a group, we found the best way to manage work and relationships. Halstead might be too selfless and would never ask Kerian or me to share him with another person. Yet both of us love Halstead too much for him to give up on something or someone who could make him happy. Possibly all of us, as was the case with our third.”

Returning my attention to Kerian, I searched his face looking for anything that would clue me in on some scheme or trick they were trying to pull, but all I saw was an open and honest expression. “Is Quintin right?” He just nodded.

My gaze flicked to Halstead. “I feel that question should come from you unless your partners are making incorrect assumptions. However, I feel like that would be odd since the three of you have clearly had conversations on this matter today.”

“I was going to bring this up later, after dinner, in a more pleasant atmosphere,” Halstead offered with a sigh. “That being said, it would seem my partners had other ideas on how this should happen.”

“Well, if you don’t ask her out, then how the hell am I supposed to? Wouldn’t it be more awkward?” Kerian questioned, getting a glare from Halstead that had the man throwing up his hands. “All right, all right, I’ll leave you to it.”

Sitting back, he tucked his hands behind his head like he needed to forcibly keep himself from interacting. Halstead watched him for a second, almost as if he didn’t trust his lover would let him do this himself. When he was satisfied, he fixed his gaze on me, a firm hold on my attention as he spoke.

“Elaine, I would greatly enjoy the chance to get to know you in a setting outside of work… or your home,” he added. “You have captured my attention in a way that not many people can, and I would jump at the opportunity to see where all the possibilities might take us.”

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, but a snort slipped out, betraying me. That was all Kerian needed before he burst into laughter, and even Quintin chuckled.

“You know what, fuck you both. I told you I wasn’t good at this shit,” Halstead grumbled, shoving Kerian. “Look, Elaine, that kiss has been living rent-free in my mind since it happened. Not only are you drop-dead gorgeous, but that brilliant mind has to be the sexiest thing about you. My hope is that if we could have a chance to drop the roles we have to keep while at work, it would be nice to see if there is anything deeper than initial infatuation.”

That offer had been honest, blunt, and far truer to the person who I was coming to know as Halstead. “I’m assuming, since you’re asking in front of them, that both are fine with this? It’s a little late to ask, but I really don’t want any trouble.”