Chapter One
Max Cosgrove looked up at the knock on his office door. He wasn’t interested in visitors today, and he just wanted to get his work done so he could head home. Of course, he should have known it would be Dylan Crews, his best and only friend, as well as his business partner.
“I thought I’d come and see the thunder that has taken over my partner,” Dylan said.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Ah, so the bad mood is real?”
Max removed his glasses, clasped his hands together, and looked at his friend. “What do you want?”
“To come and see what has our employees running scared. What gives?”
“I’m working, which is what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Dylan pressed his hands to his chest and smirked. “I have been working, and unlike you slacking off, I got all of my work done so I was ready for tonight.”
“I’m nearly done, but we have a couple of incompetent employees who decided to order out-of-date meats and cheeses for our restaurant. They accepted them, and you know what a pain in the ass our supplier can be.”
“He’s a fucking bastard and because they’ve given you the extra work, you’re pissed you’re not going to get home in time to see Lake, is that it? Or is it the very sexy nanny we’ve been eyeing since we employed her?” Dylan asked.
Six months ago, Max woke up in the middle of the night to the news that his half-sister had died in a fire, and he suddenly was in charge of his five-year-old niece. At forty-five years old, he didn’t know a single thing about children. His cluelessness lasted all of a day before he put an ad in the papers and Raine Granthum, the saving-grace nanny, arrived.
She’d been the only one to apply and after seeing her résumé, he’d hired her to live in with him, Dylan, and little Lake.
Six months.
Six long months of craving the nanny.
He’d always been a workaholic, but one look at Raine, and he’d wanted her, badly. Nights around the dining room table were cherished. Catching sight of her, he craved her. She was only supposed to be a short-term fix to help him learn how to deal with Lake, but he loved having her around.
“And why are you still here?” Max said. “I thought you wanted time alone with Raine, anyway.”
Dylan shrugged. “You know my thoughts.”
“You do realize we’re her boss.”
“You do realize I don’t give a fuck. I’m not going to force her to fuck me, nor are you, but you’ve seen how flustered she gets when we’re both near her. You can’t say that’s a little addictive?”
“She’s fifteen years younger than me.” He was very much aware of how Raine responded to both of them. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought she stepped right out of their dreams.
“And she’s ten years younger than me, but you don’t see me complaining about it.” Dylan ran a finger across his lip. “She’s the one, Max. You know it. We’ve had women who have wanted to play before, but nothing like this.”
He couldn’t deny that. Women always wanted to play with them. The moment they found out he and Dylan liked to share, it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet and women wanted to gorge on them. It never lasted. The women who’d only wanted a piece of them often left them high and dry. The whole slam-bam, thank you for your dick, sir, and off they went.
Max was bored with that kind of treatment. He didn’t want a woman who was only interested in his dick.
Glancing down at his desk, he couldn’t help but think of Raine as he stared at the fabric mat she’d made for him. Their little nanny loved to sew and craft. She’d been able to draw Lake out of her shell, and his niece didn’t mind talking with him anymore. Lake loved to craft with Raine, and it was why his niece was already planning to decorate his house in garish Halloween decorations.
When she first moved in with him, she was skittish around him. Raine had talked with her and got Lake to admit she was a little afraid of him, which he hated. He tried to avoid seeming so intimidating, but it was hard.
“I’m not going to do anything that will take away Lake’s nanny. You know that.”
Dylan groaned. “What happened to my risk-taker best friend?”
“He grew up.”
“Nah, this is more than that. You’re afraid of pushing Raine away.”
Max dropped the pen he’d picked up, ready to get back to work. “Do you know the first thing about dealing with kids? Do you know what it takes to look after them? I sure don’t.”
“This isn’t about Raine being the nanny. You like her, don’t you? And I don’t mean a little either.”
Max didn’t respond. He knew it was pointless. Once Dylan had made up his mind, there was no getting away from it.
“Well, seeing as you’re here and being busy, I’m going to go and play with our nanny. Don’t be surprised if she hasn’t forgotten your name by the time you get home.”
He chuckled as Dylan disappeared out of the room.
Once he was alone, he sat back and looked over his desk.
He and Dylan had gone into business many years ago. They started with one nightclub and a restaurant, and twenty years later, they owned a whole flock of nightclubs, bars, and restaurants.
Ménage was their first nightclub and combined restaurant, and it took place in a building with multiple levels. People loved the experience, and this was where their main headquarters were. They felt this kept their feet firmly on the ground. Ménage had gone through many transitions and was a firm reminder to never allow ambition to exceed their abilities.
Were they putting too much faith in Raine?
He was worried Dylan was already too invested, but at the same time, so was he.
****
“Uncle Dylan!” Lake threw herself into his arms and Dylan laughed, picking up his favorite child in the whole wide world.
Ever since he and Max had come to a firm decision to find a woman to share, he’d put away the desire to father a child of his own. Finding a woman who wanted the two of them for more than a weekend fuck was, in fact, hard to do. More often than not, they just wanted a taste of two cocks.
He put those thoughts aside as he held a five-year-old. She wouldn’t understand how much he ached for a family of his own, which had occurred just recently, something he was surprised about. For the longest time, he didn’t want to have kids.
“If it isn’t the terror of my life. Ah, get her away.” He blew on her belly, and she burst into a fit of giggles.
As if on cue, Raine stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. It was then he noticed Lake was wearing an apron.
“You’ve been messing up Max’s kitchen?” he asked.
“With cookies. Chocolate chip cookies,” Lake said. “He will love them.”
“Where is Max?” Raine asked. “He sent me a text to say he was on his way home.”
“When?”
Raine reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “Fifteen minutes ago.”
He chuckled. “I have no idea because when I left him, he was only interested in working. That man is a stick in the mud.”