Interchangeable Read online

  “Let it go.” Todd’s tongue joined his.

  One last time, she glanced down. They were together. The two men she had always loved were working together again—their tongues interlaced, acting as one to bring her release.

  Todd placed his hand on Cooper’s back, rubbing him as if coaxing him on.

  “God!” she yelled, undone at the two of them touching, kissing, and she collapsed. Control fled, breath left.

  The first jolt of an orgasm seized her, the throbbing started on her clit and rippling swells of pleasure throughout her entire being. Every muscle tensed and she froze, hips in the air, pressing hard against their mouths as wave after wave of pure euphoria wracked her.

  The contractions continued and she shook, the fevered ecstasy taking over.

  “Help.”

  The waves subsided to quivers and at last, quiet contentment. Blackness surrounded her, the climax depleted her, leaving nothing to give or receive, yet they could do anything and she would be nothing but a willing player.

  As they disengaged from her, the men didn’t speak. They lowered her legs, and took their positions on either side.

  Then all three kissed, their tongues and their tastes all mingled into something all their own.

  “Wait!” She sat up and looked between the two of them, the only place she wanted to be. With reverence she touched each one of them, then took their hands and pressed them to her chest. For the first time they were truly one as she wanted. Before they forged forward, together or apart, she needed to address one last item. “I’m sorry.”

  They stared at her, staying silent and waiting for her to continue.

  “The money, the deception, everything. At the time it felt like my only choice, but it shouldn’t have even been one of my options.” She shook her head. Everything she touched, she destroyed. “I can’t take it back, and I can’t fix it, but I wish I would have done things differently.” A tear slid down her face.

  Cooper answered with a squeeze of her hand and lay back down.

  “We’re all here now.” Todd kissed her tear away.

  Could she love them both again or had she done too much damage? Could they love her after what she had done? While she deserved the names they called her, did they believe that was still her? Maybe one night needed to be enough; she needed to live the dream and let it go in the morning.

  Chapter Six

  “We have to make sure the company is more nimble than before.” Todd offered Dahlia his tablet computer. “We pigeonholed ourselves before, without even knowing it.”

  As if Todd handed her a pot of boiling water with no potholder, Dahlia snapped her hand away. “Are you sure you want me looking at this?”

  Cooper sat back in the chair, mesmerized by the exchange between the man he’d basically kissed earlier, and the woman who could give him an erection by simply talking technology. Yes, the sex was amazing, incredible even. Yes, she admitted to her wrongdoing, her indiscretions, but could they go back to how things were? The past would always be there, haunting all of them.

  “There is no one better than you to make sure this bird can fly.” With a soft voice and a smile, Todd placed the tablet in her lap. “We can do it different this time. Everything will be out in the open.”

  “I promise.” Dahlia nodded and scanned the screen. “Everyone thought they were going to be the next shopping platform. We need to work where the money is, business to business, and do a multi-channel, e-commerce platform with an app.”

  ’“That’s exactly what Coop and I were saying.” Todd slid closer to her. “Stay away from the consumers.” At the mention of his name, they both tore their focus away from the computer and looked at him.

  “That’s what I said.” Cooper rubbed his chin.

  Somewhere in the mix of clothes and sheets strewn about the bungalow, there had to be the white flag he needed to wave. Time to surrender and give Todd the award for Most Experimental. His bedmate personified cool. No awkward moments afterward, he sprang to life and spoke of the future. Somehow the man had changed in the last few hours, came into his own. In Todd-land everything turned out fine, they would scoop up their woman and their business plan, head back to Nor Cal and start again.

  Was that even possible?

  “Cooper.” She patted the cushion by her side.

  On instinct he stood, adjusted the sheet around his hips and sat next to her. “You called?”

  “We could really stand out with some amazing templates for small businesses, and then of course, custom solutions for large customers.” She peeked at him through her lashes.

  Up close, he took in the few miniscule freckles that dotted her nose. “Maybe we could try something more innovative than templates.” He had ideas, plans, things he could do with them. Maybe their dream could become…would become a reality.

  “We have the technology, the concept and the design.” She tilted her face to his.

  At the mention of their old business, his chest tightened even as she cued him to kiss her. “There is something we’re missing.”

  “I can’t think of anything.” Todd wrapped his arms around her waist. “I think we got it all.”

  “What else are we lacking?” Her lips pursed, preparing for Cooper’s kiss.

  With the few questions she answered, more and more stacked in his mind—pretty soon a ten-terabyte hard drive wouldn’t be able to hold them all. Hell, he wouldn’t be able to fit them in the cloud. He swallowed and voiced his concern. “Where are we going to get the funding?”

  “You asshole!” Todd put his hands over Dahlia’s ears as if he could prevent her from hearing their conversation. “She told us everything.”

  “All she did was apologize.” Someone needed to be the voice of reason.

  Dahlia’s gaze turned to her lap.

  “She said she loved us and we never even apologized for anything of the things we said.” Todd narrowed his eyes at him. “Does it even matter anymore?”

  Cooper crossed his arms, needing a moment to consider his response. For years he’d wallowed, waiting for this time. A solution, albeit an unconventional one, stared at him, but he wanted to argue, prove a point. The money remained gone, but Dahlia stayed, Todd stayed. They were all there. Maybe it could be as easy as going back to San Jose.

  “I think it does if we want to forget it.”

  Todd slammed his laptop closed. “You had to do this.”

  Cooper pointed at him. “This is why I didn’t tell you I slept with her.”

  Dahlia waited in silence, fingering the tails of his shirt she’d put on when they got out of bed.

  Todd stood. “I slept with her first.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He rose as well. “Did Dahlia tell you not to say anything?”

  Todd shook his head.

  “Why didn’t you tell me then?” Nothing would ever change, and he stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Everything was built on lies. “Let it out, this is the time for the truth.”

  Todd stared into his eyes.

  “Stop it!” Dahlia rose. “Just stop it. This will end up exactly like last time.”

  “We all just fucked and now you’re talking about starting businesses again, and you can’t answer a question?” Heat raged through him and he grabbed Todd’s arm.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He never flinched, only shot the question back to him.

  Unlike his supposed friend, Cooper would answer. “You loved her, but I wanted her, too.”

  Todd kept eye contact. “You wanted her, but I loved her, and I didn’t want you to leave.”

  With the truth out he let go, pacing in a circle and gritting his teeth, almost enjoying the scraping sound filling his head. “I loved her, too.”

  “You were both supposed to make it big.” She ran between them. “You were supposed to be this amazing success and forget about me.”

  They came closer, and Cooper rubbed her back. “It doesn’t matter.” Maybe what happened needed to be l
eft in the past.

  “It does. I lost one family and searched for my other family. When you told me to get out, that you would never trust me again and I was through with both of you, I lost everything. I considered the money my payment for the success I brought you. At least that’s what I told myself.”

  “You looked for your mother?” Whether she wanted to be touched or not, he took her into his arms. Her mother had walked out on her at the age of eight. Until the day she entered college on a special scholarship, Dahlia had been tossed between homes. They only discovered that much from a drunken conversation the night their first investor fell through. That night she told them she never wanted to see the bitch again.

  “Did you find her?” Todd took her hand.

  “I found a grave and another family who got her when I didn’t.” She shrugged. “Then I realized I’d done the same thing to the two men I loved, that my mother had done to me.”

  It hit him then. “Actually, we all did the same thing.” The hiding, the lying, the leaving, no matter for love, need, or acceptance, they all participated. “I never wanted you to leave. I was so damned mad. In the end we all deceived each other.”

  She lifted her head. “All of us?”

  “All of us.” Todd held his hand out to Cooper. “I never wanted either of you to leave.”

  He nodded, shook his friend’s hand and pulled Dahlia in close. “We just have to start again.’”

  Maybe they could do it without ruining each other.

  Chapter Seven

  Neither of them snored. Dahlia opened her eyes and considered that fact. When she’d slept with them individually, she never gave that little detail much thought.

  They’d left the panels open and the room chilled. The only sounds in the room their light breathing and the ocean. With her head on Todd’s chest and Cooper spooning her, it would make for a perfect lullaby if she allowed a happy ending.

  “You can’t be awake.” Todd combed her hair back from her face.

  “How did you know I was awake?” She found his hand and smiled when he laced their fingers together.

  “I just know.” He moaned. “And your eyelashes tickle my chest when you blink.” She couldn’t stop blinking. He arched his back.

  “She’s up because she’s starving.” Cooper wrapped his arm around her. “Can we just sleep for a few?”

  “How do you know I’m starving?” Her stomach growled.

  “I guess I’m clairvoyant.” He gave her waist a playful squeeze.

  “Remember back at the loft when we were hungry and she made us lunch?” Todd chuckled.

  “Cheese sandwiches,” the men said in unison.

  Cooper’s laugh vibrated through her and he tapped her back.

  Twisting around, she frowned at him. The slight bit of moonlight allowed her to make out the sparkle in his eyes and his one-sided smile. “Sometimes I had to get creative with what we had on hand.”

  “You know, just because it’s between two slices of bread doesn’t make it a sandwich.” His smile grew to the other side of his mouth.

  She shook her head. “Isn’t that the definition of a sandwich?”

  “I think a sandwich needs a vegetable, and definitely a spread of some sort.”

  “Since you only eat jelly and pick the vegetables off everything, I say I did a great job.” She settled back down.

  “Now that I think about it, I could go for one of D’s white bread and American cheese sandwiches.” He patted the top of her head. “No one could assemble like she did.”

  She shut her eyes. That was what she missed most—not the sex, not the business, but the banter, the familiarity and the history. The people who knew she slept in the nude, but needed four comforters, and preferred vegetable soup to chicken soup when she got sick.

  Though she searched for her mother and a family, she’d left the family she custom-made.

  Still, they forgave her and offered the life she wanted if she felt selfish enough to take it. She even allowed herself to believe they could do it again.

  For more times than she cared to count since arriving on the island, tears warmed her eyes. She’d started the evening trying to return a bit of what she took, and in the end only ended up taking from them again, wanting them to give her the life she always wanted with two men where she would never have to choose. They deserved more than sharing one woman who broke them before. How did they expect their relationship to work once they stepped out of the resort?

  She took a breath, waited for the tears to recede then sat up. This time when she left, it wouldn’t be for her, it would be for them. Eventually they would understand her decision and move on, and she could rest knowing for once she did the right thing.

  “Dahlia.” Cooper caught her arm.

  “I’m just going to take a shower.” Shimmying from under the covers, she shivered as the cold air hit her.

  “I’ll order some room service.” Todd stretched.

  Sliding out of the bed, she gathered her purse, dress and shoes.

  “Hurry up. I’m not used to lying in bed with only him.” Cooper pointed at Todd and fell back on the pillows.

  “I think you need to get over it since I spent half the night looking at your dick.”

  Both men laughed.

  One last time she glanced at them, silently giving thanks to them for letting her have the dream for a little while, precisely the reason she loved them. She had done too much damage to make them do this. Maybe one day they would thank her.

  Maybe her mother thought that when she never returned, either.

  Heading toward the bathroom, she caught the shine of the Mp3 player she’d left in the radio. She would have to abandon it.

  The soundtrack had ended anyway.

  Chapter Eight

  “How much breakfast are we planning on having?” Cooper turned over on his stomach.

  Todd hung up the phone. “She loves anything with syrup.” He’d ordered everything requiring copious amounts of maple syrup, hoping they could make Dahlia a sticky mess and then spend the rest of the day licking her clean. “So what you do think?”

  “Shut up.” Cooper put his pillow over his head.

  “Seriously. Speak.” He hit the pillow. “Wait…is it what we did?” They hadn’t discussed their sort-of kiss or tangling of tongues. He hadn’t expected it, but it wasn’t unwanted.

  Cooper reemerged from under the pillow. “Sort of hot.”

  “Agreed.” He really wanted to do it again. All of it.

  “You know,” Cooper cleared his throat, “I think we can make it work.”

  “We can.” For the first time in five years, Todd didn’t feel like an old man needing a cane and monocle. Instead, he felt the only thing he needed to do was go buy more condoms.

  “Are you asking me to marry you?” Cooper rolled to his back again.

  “Asshole.” He stared at the ceiling, still wanting something more definitive.

  “I say we go home, find some loft somewhere, and start all over again. We’ll save money since the three of us can live together. It really will be taking care of Dahlia.”

  They chuckled.

  “I assume we’re going with Madame Eve’s suggestion and moving forward without anyone landing in jail?” With Dahlia in the bathroom, he seized the opportunity to address that last issue between them and tightened his jaw.

  Silence took over the room, another time-bending moment that seemed to last much longer than the reality.

  “I’m not one for conjugal visits, and I’m not sure if our type would be allowed.” Cooper put his hands behind his head and let out a true laugh.

  Todd high-fived the air. “I say we join her in the shower. She’s been in there forever and now she can soap us up.” The vision stirred his lower half.

  Cooper shot up and faced him.

  “’You okay?” He propped up on his elbows.

  “She has been in there forever.” Cooper balled his hand into a fist. “Unless she’s shaving her
entire head, nothing she could do would take that long.”

  Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Todd processed his friend’s words. “Maybe she has a stomachache or something.” The lame excuse revealed the truth. She’d betrayed them once again.

  “No, we fucking gave her the out to walk away, and she played us!” Cooper threw the covers aside, jumped out of bed and found his pants. “She set us up so we didn’t press charges. I bet she didn’t go in search of her family, she needed more losers to support her.”

  Numb, Todd froze. He could step over hot coals right then and not get so much as a blister. Though he mirrored Cooper’s actions, he only managed to put on his briefs. “She just wanted to clean up.”

  “We deserve this one. A couple of fucks, that’s who we are.” Cooper motioned toward the couch. “Who takes their shoes and dress to hop in the shower? Robes are included in the room package!”

  Every calculation as to why someone would take all her belongings to the bathroom if she planned on returning to the bed ran through Todd’s mind. He caught sight of her Mp3 player.

  “She left her tunes here.” After removing it from the clock, he let it slip out of his hands to the floor. His friendship, his business and his love landed alongside the forgotten gadget.

  “There’s a window in the bathroom. My guess is she never even got wet.” Cooper picked one of the shells off an end table and threw it. It crashed into the wall, landing in pieces on the floor.

  The water in the shower continued to flow.

  Cooper put his hand to his forehead. “I actually wanted this to work.”

  Heat swelled within, Todd’s heart pounded, his muscles twitching to act. Always the peacemaker, the one who sat by docile, trying to make things work. The eternal torch he kept lit for so long would be extinguished. “Damn it!” Todd stormed toward the bathroom door.

  “Wait!” Cooper shoved in front of him, reaching for the knob.

  “You wait!” He shoved Cooper out of the way and stared the door down. No doubt she wouldn’t be on the other side, but his satisfaction demanded he find out. Once he confirmed the facts, he’d spend every penny he had finding her again, and then all deals were off. He didn’t care what he promised Dahlia or anyone, he would show her his word was as good as hers. Without second-guessing his next move, he inhaled and kicked the door in.