To his credit, Mason realized I’d asked how it might be possible, not for permission. He nodded and let me go with a small nudge on my back in Jude’s direction.
When I reached Jude’s corner, I suddenly felt shy. He was such a talented man. He played guitar beautifully enough to make me weep. He could play anything at all on the piano. And when he was with his band, he was like a rock god. “Would you dance with me?”
Jude’s smile warmed me, as it always did. “Of course. But what should we—” He broke off as music filled the room. I looked back to see Mason setting his phone down on the table, the screen glowing. He’d come through for me. For us.
I liked the way Jude held me as we glided around the room. It was somehow half possessive and half respectful. I couldn’t quite explain it, but it seemed very in character for him. He was occasionally possessive and always respectful.
As the song ended, I didn’t want to leave his embrace—both because of the way he made me feel and also because I was slightly chilled.
“It’s cold in here,” I observed.
Mason appeared at my side. “We have a plan to keep you warm tonight.”
I grinned. “I bet you do.”
Jude smiled down at me. “That wasn’t innuendo—we actually do have a plan.” He held out his arm and I linked mine through it. He led me toward the kitchen, but I stopped when I realized the door to the balcony was open slightly.
“No wonder it’s cold—”
“Shh,” Jude whispered, and I stopped talking because he’d never led me astray before.
Parker stood in the cozy little seating area that we never used because it hadn’t been the right weather for a fire. I saw something flicker behind him and I understood. The guys really did have a plan for tonight—one they’d obviously worked out beforehand.
Parker smiled at me, and it almost made my heart break to see how handsome he looked in his suit. “Since it’s such a cold night, we figured it was a good time for a fire.”
I beamed at him, feeling immensely fond of him.
Jude spoke softly in my ear. “Parker overheard you saying you’d never seen us use it.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I whispered back. And I hoped against hope that I’d experience more than one first time with them this evening.
Mason sat down on the loveseat opposite the fireplace. I settled next to him while Jude and Parker took the armchairs on either side of the coffee table.
“What’s the next part of the plan?” I asked.
“Now, hopefully, you take off your dress,” Mason said, with equal parts of desperation and lust in his voice.
“I can’t,” I said lightly. “I’m not wearing anything underneath it.”
His face broke into a scowl until he processed what I’d said. “Wait, you’re not wearing any panties?”
“No. You tore one pair off me and tossed another pair at Jude. I figure my panties aren’t safe around you.” I winked at him.
“God, I love your reasoning,” he said, perking up. “Who said girls weren’t logical?”
“Wait, someone said girls weren’t logical?”
“No, never,” Jude said quickly. “Can we get back to the fact that you’re not wearing anything under that dress? Please?”
“She’s shameless,” Parker said, with a quick wink at me. “Can you imagine a good girl going on a date with no panties?”
“No,” Jude said.
“And no good girl would go on a date with three men,” Mason added.
Though I knew they were messing with me, my stomach tightened with delicious tension.
“As I said, she’s shameless,” Parker said, shaking his head.
“She should be punished for that,” Mason said gruffly, and my breath caught in my throat.
“How?” I said hoarsely.
Jude’s eyes gleamed in amusement when he noticed my reaction. “Spanking seems appropriate for a first offense.”
I gasped, trying to wrap my head around the thought of it. I expected Mason to take the idea and run with it, but instead, he said, “Or we could order her to take off the dress.”
I started to roll my eyes and then I caught myself because he truly seemed bothered by it. “How about you take off your shirt instead?”
“Gladly.” He got to his feet and pulled off his suit coat. I watched, mesmerized, more and more of his powerful chest was exposed as he undid each button. He looked incredibly sexy in a suit, but he also looked amazing bare-chested, too. He pulled the shirt off his arms and started to toss it onto the loveseat, but I grabbed it instead. Then I tugged on his arm and he sat back down. I got to my feet and put my arms into the sleeves. It was huge on me, but I rolled up the sleeves so they wouldn’t cover my hands. Then I did up the buttons.