Page 30 of The Rule of 3

“Oh,” Zoë said on a long exhale. “I… um… don’t know what to say to that.” Zoë stared intently at her goblet of wine.

“I also know Eli is crazy about you.”

Zoë’s eyes flew to Caro, and she looked nervous.

“Look, Zoë, I’m not making any judgment here. You may have heard that I spent a few of my ‘formative years’ touring with a rock band when I should have been finishing my degree. So… you might say that I have been known to, um,dabblein a few escapades that were pretty exciting—and I’m not referring to drugs. So, if—or when—you decide to take things to a new level with Tanner and Eli, you’ll get no criticism from me. I say, go girl!”

Zoë let out a relieved breath. “Too late. It’s a done deal.” She gave Caro a shy smile.

“Alright, Zoë,” Caro laughed. “Just be careful. If the public ever got wind of it—look out!” With a broad smile, she asked, “How do you feel about Eli? Sorry to be so nosy. I can’t help myself.”

“I think Eli is a terrific guy. It pissed me off that they took a while to level with me, but once the shock wore off, I realized I could never be the one to break them apart. Eli felt that way about Tanner and me as well. So, now that we’ve decided to try being a throuple… that’s such a silly word,” she said with a laugh, “I feel like we all somehow complete each other. Am I making any sense, or do I sound like a corny movie?”

“I get it.” Caro said with a nod.

“And oh, God, together?” Zoë continued, “hotter than blue blazes!” She blushed again. “Just shut me up. I shouldn’t even talk about this.”

“Do you mind if I ask something personal?”

Zoë laughed, “How do we get more personal?”

Leveling Zoë with a thoughtful look, Caro wondered out loud, “What do you think the guys are doing with you here and them at home? Does that bother you? Wait. You don’t need to answer that.” Caro looked down at her lap. “I can be awfully forward, I’m afraid.”

With a serious expression, Zoë answered, “Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to confide in anyone—well, another woman anyway—now that Madison lives in Louisville. I don’t mind the probing questions, especially since I understand you have our best interests at heart. You were as kind as can be to drop everything to come down to Podunk, USA to help out a country boy and his bumpkin wife turn into respectable people.”

“I did nothing of the sort,” laughed Caro. “You’re both wonderful people, and all you needed was a little fancy packaging. I know you’re going to have people eating from the palm of your hand. I adore Tanner, and when I met you, I knew you were someone very special. I also love my brother and wanted to be a part of what he knows is going to be a big deal. I decided that instead of letting the freight train run over me, I’d hop on and hitch a ride.”

“Such an appropriate analogy for life with those two. Tanner has all the ambition in the world and has the charisma to match it, and Eli has the power and the knowhow to get things accomplished.” Zoë stayed quiet for a moment, clearly pondering her next statement. “So,” she said with a sigh, “we’ve talked about just what you’ve asked. What do we do when two of us are together and the other can’t be there for one reason or another?” She sipped her wine again and continued. “We have made the promise to be one hundred percent exclusive—that goes without saying, and we’re careful with each other’s feelings at all times. I don’t mind if Tanner and Eli are intimate when I’m not there, and Eli is obviously fine with Tanner and me being intimate since we’re the married couple,” she laughed softly. “Tanner says he will be fine knowing that Eli and I may want to be intimate if he’s not around, but that’s going to take me a while to adjust to. We need to build on our relationship first. Does that sound crazy? I’ve done plenty of… um… stuff with the two of them together, so I ought to feel as comfortable as can be with Eli. It’s just going to take us a little bit of time, I think.”

“I understand that. There are many ways to be intimate with someone,” Caro said with a slow nod. “And I have no doubt you’ll get there. I just have to worry a little about Eli. He’s the most wonderful brother and he’s so loving, I’d hate for anything to happen so that he ends up getting hurt.”

Zoë smiled gently, “I know. It was gut-wrenching to see what kind of agony he was in after the wedding. I’d do anything in my power before letting that happen again. Eli was trying so hard to do the right thing, and it was killing him. And I guess Tanner has had similar trouble dealing with the possibility of losing one of us as well. So, believe me, we’re going to be very, very careful with each other’s hearts.”

“May I ask, Zoë, why did it take so long for you and Tanner to get back together? I understand you were high school sweethearts.”

Zoë got a flat look in her eye and said, “First,hewanted a clean break. That broke my heart, and I was too pissed off to listen to him when he wanted to try again. Then, as I became aware that he had such lofty political ambitions, I wanted to stay as far away as possible from him.”

“You dislike politics that much?” Caro asked with surprise.

“Not at all. I think it’s exciting.” Zoë’s eyes lit up. “I was afraid I’d slow him down or bring him down in some way. I’m a kindergarten teacher from nowhere who was raised by wolves,” she laughed. “I thought he needed someone more polished and sophisticated. Probably someone like you, actually.”

“Hah! Yeah, well, that didn’t exactly work out, did it?” Caro laughed. “Don’t sell yourself short, Zoë. I think, Eli thinks, and obviously Tanner thinks you’re perfect the way you are. And I’m also not so polished since my reputation was tarnished years ago.” She swallowed the last of her wine and gave Zoë a funny look, “I’m freaking jealous of you, lucky bitch! Where’s that bottle? I need another glass of wine.”

They both laughed at that.

“Since we’re getting down and dirty,” Caro explained in a droll tone, “I have to say that although I’ve definitely partaken in ménage sex, it was more just experimentation. It was fun—and hotter than hell—but I can imagine how much better it would be if all participants had strong feelings for one another. That has to be a whole new level of… wow.”

“Yeah,” breathed Zoë. “I’d read about it and that was titillating, but actuallyexperiencingit with Tanner and Eli is mind-blowing.”

Changing her tone to a more serious one Caro said, “Zoë, if you all need any help or just to talk, I’m here for you, alright?” She sloshed some more wine in her glass, but Zoë indicated she was fine with hers. “I like you and I think it’s going to be a blast being part of the Eli, Tanner, Zoë Team. Instead of Kentucky’s Power Couple, you’ll be the Power Throuple! We just need to keep the reality of it quiet. For now, anyway.”

“Caro, I’m so happy you came to town.”

Chapter 26

The next day they had a brunch in the hotel and then hit some larger stores where they bought Zoë a couple of jackets and coats and browsed the spring collections. They didn’t like the high-end boutique sections of the department stores anywhere nearly as much as what they’d seen at Spice, so they congratulated themselves on going there first.

Zoë was glad they’d ridden over in a limo so there was enough room for all the bags and boxes they dragged back to Honeybee Hollow. Caro told her to ignore all of the price tags because everything was to be Eli’s gift, and he had almost as much money as Mark Zuckerberg, but every so often Zoë caught a glimpse of one and it gave her heart palpitations.

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