It meant he had to do everything he could to keep Mitch around so Mitch could keep Auntie Mara from being scared and leaving them.
It also meant he and Billie had to be real, extra good so they didn’t make Auntie Mara want to go away for other reasons.
He could be good, especially for Auntie Mara and he could be certain Billie was good.
As for keeping Mitch around, he didn’t figure he had to work too hard to do that. Mitch liked Auntie Mara like a lot. Guys didn’t look at girls like Mitch looked at Auntie Mara if they didn’t like them and like them a lot. And guys didn’t touch girls and get close to them all the time like Mitch did with Auntie Mara if they didn’t like them and like them a lot.
Still, he’d have to do his part to keep Mitch around.
He didn’t mind that, he liked Mitch. Mitch was an okay guy and bought Billie a pink teddy bear (twice, he knew, though Billie didn’t and Billy wasn’t going to tell her).
And anyway, Auntie Mara looked at Mitch (when he wasn’t watching) like Mitch looked at Auntie Mara (and he didn’t care if she was watching) so Billy figured she’d want him to stick around too.
* * * * *
Mitch
Four hours later, Mitch’s alarm sounded.
He was on his back and, just like last night, there was one beautiful adolescent female and one beautiful adult female pressed into his side, both their arms thrown over his gut. Billie’s head was at his ribs, Mara’s on his shoulder but this time, Mara’s leg was tangled with one of his.
He carefully but quickly threw out an arm, turned off the alarm then put his hand on Billie’s forehead.
Cool and clammy, her hair slightly wet, the fever had broken. It came on fast and broke just as fast. Thank Christ.
He turned his head and stretched his hand out again, reset the alarm for morning then cautiously slid out of bed, taking care to replace his body with a pillow under Mara and Billie but neither female moved even to twitch.
He didn’t think for a second of moving to the couch. Instead he walked out of his bedroom, went into the living room, locked the door, turned out the lights, moved through the apartment and back to his room.
Then he slid back in bed, settled on his back, moving the pillow and replacing it with his body and both beautiful adolescent and adult females snuggled back into him.
He stared at the dark ceiling thinking about hearing Mara call him “my Mitch”. He also thought of how she went wild with just the brush of his thumb on her hard nipple.
He grinned at the dark ceiling.
Then he fell asleep.
Chapter Eighteen
Dream Come True
My eyes slowly opened and, just like yesterday, upon waking, I was profoundly confused.
And just like yesterday, this was because my vision was filled with a criminally attractive smooth-skinned, hard-muscled wall of chest along with the top of Billie’s head pressed to the sculpted ridges of some ribs, Billie’s and my arms slung over a flat, carved stomach.
I blinked and, just like yesterday, the chest was still there and Billie was still there but this time I also felt my bare leg tangled with the soft-cotton covered hardness of Mitch’s.
Oh boy.
Drowsily, I asked myself again how this all happened and how it happened so fast.
Even if I wasn’t just awake, again, with a bare-chested Mitch (and Billie) and was fully cogitating, I wouldn’t have been able to come up with an answer.
Just because my life sucked (mostly, except the part about gentle, sweet, good guy Mitch, Billy and Billie being in it), I decided to give myself a gift and tipped my head back. As I did, I saw a familiar, corded throat, a familiar, strong, dark-stubbled jaw and then I was again, close up staring at Ten Point Five Detective Mitch Lawson’s profile in sleep.
I also saw his lips which now I knew not only could do amazing things when they were pressed against mine but they could also do amazing things when they were wrapped round my nipple.
And thinking these thoughts while looking at his male beauty and remembering last night (before Billie hurled), I couldn’t breathe.