“Are you making early mornings a habit?” Mandaline asked her. Technically, Sachi didn’t need to be there any earlier than a quarter ’til nine.
“I am for now. Is that Ellis’ car parked out there?”
“Yeesss?”
“He’s in my spot.” She arched an eyebrow as she walked into the back room and looked over the mammoth pile of the men’s laundry. “What. The. Frak? I ain’t doing that. That’s above my pay grade.”
Mandaline laughed. “I’ll ask him to park somewhere else. And no, you don’t have to do any of this.”
“Oookay. Again, I ask. What. The. Frak?” Her gaze narrowed, brow furrowing. “Spill it, boss.”
Mandaline smiled. “I figured it out. Brad was right about the house making him sick, but it wasn’t supernatural in origin.” She related the story.
By the time she finished, Sachi grinned and hugged her. “So you finally got laid?”
“Um, no.”
“No?” she asked, incredulous. “What do you mean, no? They’re sleeping in your fricking bed for Goddess’ sake!”
“I mean no.” Sachi’s jaw dropped in disbelief as she stared at Mandaline. She felt her face heat as she added soap to the load and closed the front door of the washer. She started the wash cycle and still Sachi stared at her.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Sachi finally asked.
“I’m waiting for me to get my head out of my ass, is what I’m waiting for. I don’t want to screw this up with them like I’ve screwed up with every other relationship I’ve ever had.”
“Kind of hard when you aren’t doing anything with them, isn’t it?”
“My point exactly. Ellis is fine with waiting. We’ve known each other less than a week. Everything happened so fast.”
“Week, schmeek. They’re gorgeous and they want you!”
“And I want them.”
Sachi looked like she was seconds from her head exploding. “Then why are you waiting?”
“Because I don’t want to jump into something just because my heart’s broken over Julie, okay? I don’t want to substitute great sex and hot guys for the love I feel…felt for my best friend. Why is that so hard to understand?” She even surprised herself by bursting into tears.
Sachi’s entire demeanor immediately changed as she engulfed Mandaline in a teary hug. “That, sweetie,” she softly said, “is what I’ve been waiting to hear you say.”
Sachi sank to the floor with Mandaline as she sobbed in Sachi’s arms. “What am I going to do without her?” she cried. “She was my best friend. No offense.”
Sachi gently smiled. “None taken.”
“We knew each other, what, twenty years? She was always there for me. She always helped me pick up the pieces. What happens if I fuck this up and now there’s no one to help me pick up the pieces? What do I do? I miss her so fucking much.”
Sachi slowly rocked with her. “It’s okay. I know I’m no substitute, but I’m here for you, and so is everyone else. You need to let it out. You’ve been holding it in the past couple of days. I knew you were close to this. I also knew I had to wait you out until you finally broke down.”
“I’m so scared, Sachi. I’m so scared I’m going to do the wrong thing. With them, with the store, with everything. Julie always helped me believe in myself. I feel like I’m adrift without her. I just feel…paralyzed.”
“I know, sweetie. I know.”
Mandaline’s back was to the doorway. After a few minutes of sitting there and bawling on Sachi’s shoulder, Sachi cleared her throat. “Um, I hate to bother you, but naked hunk alert.”
She sniffled. “What?”
She sat up and turned to see Brad standing there in the doorway, butt naked and looking worried. She let out a schnurfly laugh.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
From his tone, and the look on his face, she knew the “more there” Brad was back.
She nodded.
Sachi untangled herself from Mandaline and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m going to hand you off to Hunk Muffin here.”
Brad smiled at Sachi as he walked over and knelt beside Mandaline. “Are you okay?”
She wanted to say yes, to nod and suck it up and deal with it, but she found herself shaking her head and bursting into a fresh round of tears.
“Okay,” he said. “That’s it. Back upstairs.”
She couldn’t protest because he scooped her up and headed for the stairs.
Mandaline was vaguely aware of Sachi making bow-chicka-wow-wow noises under her breath as they passed her.
“Keep her up there until she’s feeling better,” Sachi ordered.
“That was my plan,” Brad replied.
Yes, he definitely sounded like he was back to himself. Whatever that meant. His voice sounded strong, in control.
Sexy as hell.
He carried her back to the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
“You can’t go downstairs naked, you know,” Mandaline said. “Not in the daytime. Not that I mind, but health regs say people need clothes.”
He smirked. “Well, since someone seems to have taken all my clothes, and I heard you crying, my priority was making sure you were okay and not whether or not I was going to embarrass anyone or freak out a health inspector.” He sat next to her on the bed. “I’m not complaining that I’m here, but I have a few questions.”
She nodded.
He scooched closer and pulled a pillow into his lap, then snuggled her so her head was on the pillow. “How’d I get here? I remember something about naked rain dancing in the middle of the night. Did that really happen? And why’s my throat sore?”
“You don’t remember?”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “It’s like a bunch of jumbled-up stuff. I remember some of you and Sachi being at the house Sunday.”
“You were right. The house was making you sick. Literally.” She retold the story. As she did, his expression grew more serious. When she finished her tale with putting him to bed, but leaving out her morning tryst with Ellis, he grabbed her hands and kissed them. “Thank you. I wish you hadn’t risked your safety over me, but thank you.”
“I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“It bothers me that I lost time like that. A lot of time. That’s not just a few overnight hours.”
“Ellis said we need to get you tested for a full range of allergies.”
His playful smile warmed her heart. “What did you leave out of that story, young lady?”
She felt her face heat. She wondered how these two men had the power to make her do that. “This morning, Ellis made up for interrupting us the other day.” She retold the story.
When she finished, he let out a laugh. “Well, you might regret inviting us to stay with you. I’m liable to be following you around like a horny puppy and humping your leg every time you stand still long enough.”
It felt so good to laugh. She felt guilty about that, about shifting from grief to happiness in such a short time frame.
He must have read her expression. “Tell me what’s going through your brain.” He laced his fingers through hers.
Why hide it? She did. The fear, the worry.
And, yes, the lust.
“Let me pose a question,” he slowly said after thinking about it for a moment. “If your positions were reversed, if you’d died in that house and this was Julie dealing with me and Ellis, would you want her to feel guilty that she lived? Would you want her to mute her happiness, or would you be happy for her?”
“Of course I would want her to be happy.”
He kissed her hand. “Okay, then. I’m not going to rush you either. But like Ellis, don’t be surprised if you walk in on me rubbing one out.”