Chapter 14

"You seemed to get along with Toby and Cole." I glanced up from my computer screen as Oliver stepped out of his treatment room.

"They seem like good guys who genuinely care about you," he said. "If they weren"t, I would have chased them both away while you were in the ladies room." He walked over to my desk and gave me a boyish grin that made my heart flip, like it always did.

"I would have liked to see you try," I said. "Together they"d give you a run for your money."

"Together, they would," he agreed. "Separately, not so much." He tossed a cardboard packet onto the desk. "I figured I"d pick these up for you while I was getting some other things."

I glanced down to see the brand of my birth control pills. "That"s sweet of you." I scooped them up and dropped them into my bag.

"That"s me, sweet." He smiled. "Although, I don"t remember being called that before."

I stood up and moved around the desk to stand in front of him. "You"re very sweet. You always put the needs of everyone else before your own. I don"t think you have a selfish bone in your body." I slid my arms around his neck and softly kissed his mouth.

"This is selfish," he said, kissing me back. "If I wasn"t selfish, I would never have laid a hand on you."

"I thought you did it to make me happy," I said, half teasing.

He looked me in the eyes and smiled. "When you put it that way, maybe you"re right. I"m as selfless as they come." He made a face, clearly poking fun at himself.

"I think you are." I kissed him again before stepping back.

Lucky I did, because the door opened a handful of moments later and Eden walked inside. In her hand she held a huge bunch of flowers.

"These are for you. I figured I"d deliver them directly." Her florist shop was in the building beside this one. We met when I went in there one day to buy some fresh flowers for the surgery.

"They"re beautiful." I took them from her and looked at the card.

Hey beautiful, can"t wait for dinner tonight. Love, Toby

"That"s so sweet," I said. I glanced at Oliver, who seemed unsurprised and pleased at the gesture.

"Very sweet." He gave me a secretive smile before heading back into his treatment room.

"So, things are going well with Toby," Eden said. She leaned her hip against my desk. "And Cole?"

"I like both of them and they both like me," I said. I hurried over to the sink in the surgery"s kitchenette and filled a vase with water to put the flowers in. I placed the vase on the corner of my desk.

"How do you feel about dating two guys at once?" Eden asked.

I desperately wanted to tell her there were three, but I didn"t. Instead I said, "I can already tell communication is going to be really important, from all sides. Lucky for me, I like to talk."

I walked back to the kitchenette and turned on the kettle.

Eden laughed. "I"ve noticed that about you."

I grabbed three mugs and spooned in coffee and sugar. "What can I say, I"ve never been shy."

"That"s one of the things I like the most about you," she said. "You don"t mind saying what you"re thinking. There"s no pretense like there is with so many other people. You"re honest and loyal. I adore that about you."

"Yeah, loyal like a Scorpio," I said.

And lying through my teeth about my relationship with Oliver. I was starting to wonder if there was any way I could possibly tell her and Cat without losing both of them. And Oliver too, if Cat forced him to pick a side. I could lose everything.

Was wanting to be with him selfish? Could I let him go to stop my world from imploding?

I didn"t want to. I couldn"t imagine the rest of my life without him in it. Thinking about it made my heart hurt.

I pushed my glasses back up my nose and poured hot water into the mugs. I gave them all a stir and handed one to Eden.

"Excuse me for a moment." I took another coffee over to Oliver"s treatment room and tapped on the door before stepping inside and placing his on his desk.

He was talking to someone on the phone, so he nodded his thanks and turned his attention back to his call.

I gave him a long look before slipping out of the office and closing the door behind me.

"He"s lucky to have you, you know," Eden said. She tucked a strand of purple hair behind her ear.

I gaped at her for a moment before realising she meant he was lucky to have me as an employee.

"Right." I cleared my throat. "Yes. Yes, he is. Lucky for him, he knows it too. Who else would bring him coffee?" Or choke on his cock several times a week?

"You do a lot more than bring him coffee," she said with a laugh. "I"m sure he"d be lost without you. You know what they say about good staff being hard to find."

"I"m sure he"d find another office manager to replace me if he had to," I said. "Tons of people can do what I do." Not exactly what I did. I shouldn"t like the idea that he"d be lost without me as much as I did, but here we were.

"But how many can do it by looking as good as you do?" she asked.

I glanced down at my sage green blouse, black pencil skirt and kitten heels. "Probably tons, but thanks for the vote of confidence. I adore how supportive you always are."

She put down her coffee and gave me a hug. "What are friends for? To share all our secrets and lift each other up."

Once again, I itched to tell her what was going on. If it wasn"t for Cat"s pregnancy, I would have spilled everything then and there.

"What is it?" Eden asked. "You keep getting this look on your face like… I don"t know. Something is troubling you. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Anything but this.

I forced a smile. "I know. Everything is fine. I'm a little overwhelmed with the whole Toby and Cole thing. I mean, I"ve been admiring Cole"s ass for the longest time, and now here we are. It doesn"t feel quite real, you know?"

"I was wondering how long it would take one of you to make a move," Eden said. "I saw him looking at you plenty of times. It"s about time you got together. And Toby, he seems nice."

"He is nice," I agreed. "They both are."

I couldn"t get the memory of Cole bending me over the couch, his hand in my hair, ramming into me like that, out of my head. I couldn"t wait for round two. Him taking what he wanted like that, it was hotter than hell. It was one of my fantasies brought to life. Surrendering control to him, while knowing I could tap out at any time, was amazing.

"I"m happy for you," Eden said. "I hope you get your happily ever after, just like Cat. Maybe with lots of babies too."

I smiled softly. "I"m not ready for babies yet, but some day." Not until things with Oliver were sorted out. Not to mention I wanted to get to know Cole and Toby better. There was plenty of time later for that conversation.

"You"ll be an amazing mother," Eden said. "I"m looking forward to having babies to play with and then hand back."

I snorted. "You sound like my mother." I mimicked her voice. "The best thing about being a grandmother is that you can fill them full of sugar and hand them back to their parents." I rolled my eyes and laughed. "She"s going to be the absolute worst."

"Isn"t that what grandparents are for?" Eden asked. "To be the worst, but the best at the same time."

I thought for a moment about Cole"s father. There was no way in the world he was going anywhere near any child of mine, grandfather or not. I doubted Cole would want him anywhere near us either. Fortunately, any child I had in the future would have plenty of other grandparents to spend time with. Especially if all three guys were involved. There would be no lack of love in their life.

"That sounds about right," I agreed. "I"m sure Oliver will spoil Cat"s baby as rotten as their dads will. That little one is going to have everyone wrapped around their little finger."

"Especially Oliver," Eden agreed. "He seems like the doting grandfather type. Although, being a doctor, he"ll probably worry about them just as much." Her eyes widened slightly.

"That sounds accurate," I said. "He certainly fusses over Cat until she"s ready to climb the walls." When she was training for the Olympics, he was her coach as well as her father and doctor. It was basically his job to fuss over her. One he clearly enjoyed doing.

"Who fusses over Cat?" Oliver stepped out of his treatment room, empty coffee mug in his hand.

"All of her boyfriends," I said. I gave him a smile so he knew we definitely were talking about him. Of course, we"d never say anything bad about him. I wouldn"t, anyway. He was, after all, my boss.

He responded with a grunt-laugh. "That sounds about right. Cat never did like being the centre of that kind of attention. She"s always been very independent. She has her hands full with those three boys."

"And now Marley is following in her footsteps," Eden said. She grinned at me. "Now you need a third guy."

I almost choked on my last mouthful of coffee. I coughed a couple of times before I caught my breath.

Oliver lightly patted me on the back before stepping away to put his mug in the sink. It was just the length of contact anyone would expect of a boss and his employee. Not a moment more or less.

"Right. A third guy. I"ll think about that." I forced myself to look anywhere but at Oliver. If I did, I was sure Eden would see and immediately understand why. Honestly, she was so perceptive, I wasn"t sure how she hadn"t noticed before. I could only assume we were better actors than we thought we were, or maybe it never occurred to her something might happen between us. If that was the case, she wouldn"t have thought to look for it.

"Maybe you could get a cat instead?" Oliver suggested. "Lucifer is very good company for me now I"m living all alone."

Now I looked over at him. "Of course she is." Lucifer was very sweet, nothing like her name. According to Cat, her younger sister, Bree, named the cat, and didn"t care that Lucifer was female. She"d insisted and the name stuck.

I hated to think of Oliver at home alone on the nights I couldn"t stick around, with no one to talk to but a cat. I wanted to stay with him every night. I wanted to wake up every morning beside him.

I forced myself to look away. I hoped like hell everything wasn"t just about to blow up in our faces.