Page 6 of Conveniently Theirs

Worry nips at my swirling thoughts. “There’s a time limit? Is your uncle okay?”

“He’s fine. No official limit, but I sense, and Devin agrees, that the sooner this issue is taken care of…”

“And I’m sure you don’t want to give me time to change my mind after I’ve agreed to your plan.” As if I would. This is my one and only opportunity to be as close to Josh as I can. We might not share a bedroom… I’ll deal with that like I have all these years. A buzzing toy and fantasies are all I need.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

“Keni, darlin’, I didn’t think that. You’re as good as your word. Always have been. We’ll do this thing however you want.”

“How I want, huh?”

“Of course.”

“Then tomorrow we’re getting fake married. What do we need to do first to get this going.”

Devin turns from the window. A wide grin brightens his face. “First, we go shopping.”

four

Devin

From the look on her beautiful face, I’ve surprised Kendall. Josh is only slightly less astounded by my statement. We’d talked about this. What needed to be done to make sure their fake marriage appears as real as possible. And knowing Keni, she hasn’t packed any kind of clothes that would be appropriate for their ceremony.

One of my goals for this—arrangement—is to help her discover how beautiful she is, how desirable. She’s lived too long in the shadows of her own perceptions of herself, her body image, her intelligence and drive. I need her to see herself through the eyes of someone who loves her. Like Josh does.

Like I do.

It wasn’t long after we got together that a blushing Josh admitted he was in love with Kendall. I wasn’t surprised, but did shock him when I admitted to finding women attractive as well. So there we were, a couple of bi guys who eventually came to realize there’s an empty space in our relationship. One we ached to fill with lush female curves. For him, that has always been Kendall.

Once I met her, it didn’t take long for me to fall as well. But it never seemed the right time, or the right thing to do, to tell him I share his feelings. Keeping the attraction and my love hidden isn’t difficult. When she’s around, I fade into the background, and I’m free to love them both from a distance.

Some might say that’s not healthy. I suppose not. It will come to light soon enough though. I won’t be able to keep my emotions under such strict control when she moves in with us. I don’t know if there will ever be the right time for this discussion. Even though we’ve talked about the possibility of becoming a throuple with a woman, and Josh dreamed of that woman being Kendall, I’m not sure how welcome I’ll be. Maybe he’ll want her all to himself after all.

Either situation is complicated. Just like my desires. My love for the two of them. But there won’t be a situation if tomorrow never happens.

Moving back to my chair, I perch on the arm and study the two of them for a long moment then nod as though I’ve made up my mind. Of course, I have the plan already well in hand and I’m ready to initiate the workflow.

God, I hate it when I think like a businessman.

“Yes, shopping. I will not allow you to be married in jeans, sweets.” As she opens her mouth to complain I hold up one finger and continue. “You know I’m right. In order to carry out this deception, we need all the pieces to be in place and realistic. There will be photos.”

“No, not pictures,” she whines and sinks back against the couch cushions. “I hate photos of me.”

Josh leans close and strokes a strand of escaped blond hair behind her ear. My fingers twitch in response. “You always look beautiful,” he says.

“Nuh uh. Pictures always look like me.”

“That’s what I said, darlin’. Beautiful.”

She examines his earnest expression for a long serious moment before grimacing. “Okay, fine. Pictures. Not too many. And only because I know they’ll serve as proof.” Her gaze slides back to me. “Please don’t make me wear a wedding gown.”

“As much as I’d love to see you in that official attire, sweets, no, no gown. There’s not enough time. I… umm… I’ve scheduled the ceremony for early evening tomorrow. You don’t need to know details but suffice it to say there was some under the table dealing to assure that the marriage certificate is real at first glance, but not legal if one were to check out the accuracy of the officiant’s signature.”

She blinks before her eyes go wide. “We’ll need to get that, too, won’t we. The license, I mean.”

Josh eases closer and wraps his arm around her shoulder. I swallow back the rise of jealousy when she snuggles against him and rests her palm over his heart. I can do this. I will do this. For Josh.

“That’s first on the list in the morning. Then an outfit for you. Josh’s suit will do fine. And rings.”

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