Page 57 of Donovan's Men

“Probably not. You see people at their worst.”

“Yes. My job is to shepherd them through it. I don’t always succeed—but I do always put my very heart and soul into my job.”

“You take care of people.” Tyson grasped his hand. “Who takes care of you?”

“I have people I can turn to.”

“We want to be the people you turn to.” He said the words with vehemence.

“He’s right.” Here I could offer up total agreement. “We can lean on each other—that’s one of the reasons why this relationship will work.” Because it just had to. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing these men.

Hamish squinted. “I…that’s a tall order. I’ve been independent for a very long time.”

“In a sense, so have I.” I wasn’t going to launch into a recitation of my life. They didn’t need to know all the shit I’d been through. “Okay—so we’ve resolved that.”

“I’m not certain we have.” Tyson frowned. “But I’m willing to drop it for now.”

“Great! So on to games and fun.”

Hamish eyed me warily. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to be intense?”

“You and Tyson making out? It’s going to behot.”

Both men turned their full attention to me—Tyson arching an eyebrow, which he did a lot, and Hamish widening his eyes to an almost comical level.

I shrugged. “I don’t care if it’s hand jobs or blow jobs or—”

“Is this why you strategically placed a box of tissue on the coffee table?” Tyson’s voice was as dry as the Carcross Desert up in the Yukon.

Always seemed weird for me that a desert was up in the far Canadian north—which was probably why that peculiar bit of trivia had stuck.

I cleared my throat. “I thought one of us might sneeze.”

Tyson let go of Hamish’s hand and coughed hisbullshitinto his hand.

Hamish snickered.

Which drew attention from both Tyson and me.

Upon clearly realizing he was the new center of attention, his cheeks pinkened. “Well, you know, I just…”

Tyson grasped his hand again. “You can always sayno.”

“What if I don’t want to?” He jutted his chin. “What if…” He blinked. “What if I’m curious? What if I believe this is my one chance?”

“Chance for what, sweetheart?” Because I didn’t like the idea that he felt he would never meet anyone else. I didn’t want him to meet anyone else, of course. I wanted him to choose Tyson and me.

Forever.

You’re getting ahead of yourself. You barely know them.

Except…I know all that really matters.

Specifically their ethics. That they couldn’t walk away from their professions—even for me.

Hamish licked his lips. Then slowly, he raised the hand not clinging to Tyson’s.

Before I could respond, Tyson grabbed that hand. “You never need to ask permission to speak. We want to hear what you’re thinking. Know what you’re feeling. If we ever make you feel like your contribution is unwelcome, we want you to call us out on our bullshit.”