I wipe the counter as Heath watches me. His gaze is as lecherous as always, and for the millionth time, I find myself wishing these stupid diner uniforms were a couple of inches longer. Or maybe floor-length.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon and the diner is nearly deserted. There are a couple of business-man types, but they’re both sitting in Colleen’s section. Because of course they are. She’s stuck me in the back again, and my section’s been empty since the lunch crowd cleared out.

I’ve been trying to find things to do to keep busy but I’ve literally done every bit of housekeeping and organization I can think of. I’ve refilled the sugar bowls, stuffed those little square dishes until they were bursting with packets of every kind of sweetener. I’ve dumped generic ketchup into all the Heinz bottles. I’ve refilled every napkin holder and salt shaker and even though almost no one ever uses them, I’ve even restocked the tampon machines in the women’s washroom.

The bus boy and the cook are in the back shooting the shit, and Colleen and Heath are chuckling about something — possibly the fact that I just spent the last five minutes picking up tampons from the box I’d spilled on the floor after my restocking.

There’s literally nothing else for me to do, so I drag a stool behind the bar counter and sit down. It’s rare for us to get a chance to sit down at work, and we’re not really supposed to — that’s why there are no chairs back here — but I decide Heath can just deal.

I dig my notebook out and open it up to a fresh page. I’ve been pecking away at this whenever I have time, making notes for the story, but it’s been slow going. Especially since Bennett and Sam and I started spending so much time together.

I sigh. Just thinking about them makes me feel swoony. When I’d first met them, I thought they were arrogant and entitled. And I guess they are, a little. But where Bennett had seemed so stodgy and stern, Sam so cavalier and carefree, I was starting to see other sides of them now. Bennett had a fun playful side, and Sam could be stern and commanding too.

Boy, could he. I flush just thinking of our last night at Orchid. Never in my life had I imagined experiencing something like that.

Because as much as I had come to care for them both individually, the three of us together are truly something special. The fact that they would open themselves up to me in that way, that somehow our relationship had enabled them to push beyond their own comfort zones …

That touched me more than anything. It made me feel honored, and proud. That even though I was just a silly girl who worked at a diner, I could bring something valuable to them.

I chew on the end of my pen as my gaze drifts to the window. I let out another sigh.

All of that is why it’s so hard to write this stupid article. I don’t know how I can write about Sam and Bennett. Even if I make them anonymous, it still feels like a betrayal.

No — it is a betrayal, I correct myself. They don’t know the truth about why I was at Orchid that night, and that means our entire relationship is built on a lie. All that fragile trust that we’ve worked so hard to build could be shattered in an instant.

I have no idea what to do. I should withdraw from the article, and I’ve considered it. To be honest, the one reason I haven’t is because it’s always been my dream to be a journalist. And this story really is my big chance. I keep telling myself there’s a way to write the article that doesn’t betray the trust Sam and Bennett have put in me. I haven’t figured out what that way is yet, but I’ve convinced myself I’ll be able to find it.

I scribble down some notes in my pad — details I don’t want to forget, about what Orchid looks like, how the business seems to run, the type of people I’ve observed on the nights we’ve visited. Of course, that only makes me think of Sky — another person I’d be betraying if and when this article comes out.

Not just Sky — Ava too, and Sadie the bartender, and all the women who work there. All the men whose business keeps the place running, who keep Sky and Ava and Sadie employed.

I’d be hurting all of them. The exposure would hurt them, leave them vulnerable to all kinds of creeps and harassers and protestors. Plus, they risk the city coming in and taking away their license. If they even have a license? I’m pretty sure what they’re doing isn’t exactly legal —

God, what if Ava got arrested or something? Could I forgive myself if that happened?

I shake my head, pushing the thought away. I barely know Ava. I don’t owe her any loyalty.

Bennett and Sam, on the other hand …

I let out a long sigh. If anyone here deserves my loyalty, it’s them. My lie eats away at me, making my gut clench. I feel nauseous at the idea of betraying them.

I chew on the end of my pen. Maybe I should get out of this — just call Brian at Full Boom and tell him I have to back out. I won’t tell him the real reason, just that I can’t do it anymore. I could try telling him there’s no story here — just a few people living their lives — but somehow I doubt he’d buy it.

From in the pocket of my apron, my phone buzzes. I’m not really supposed to have my phone on me while I’m on shift, but lately I’m always anxious to get any messages from Bennett or Sam, so I’ve been keeping it stashed in my pocket and checking it on the sly.

This time, it’s not Bennett or Sam though.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. Caroline. Speak of the devil.

I let the call go to voicemail and shove the phone back into my apron. I’ll deal with her later. I’ll deal with this whole thing later.

I head back into the employee room and shove my notebook into my purse. When I come back out, there’s a bus pulling up into the parking lot. There’s Chinese lettering on the side of it. Tourists.

Usually I hate when these big buses full of tourists show up, but today I welcome the distraction. They start streaming into the restaurant, and I grab my order pad and put on my brightest smile.

“Welcome to Earl’s,” I say. “Can I interest you in a table in the back section?”

* * *

Two hours later, my feet are ready to fall off, but my shift is finally over and I didn’t have to deal with any more down time to overthink my situation.

As soon as the clock strikes five, I’m in the bathroom, changing out of my uniform.

Sam had offered to come pick me up at the diner so that I didn’t have to waste time going home, so I’d brought clothes with me to change into. Of course, I’d not accounted for the fact that changing at work meant having to parade around in my slinky dress in front of Heath-the-creep. Oh well — he’ll just have to deal. And if he gets too creepy about it, I’m sure Sam will only be too happy to kick his ass. I snicker to myself at the thought.

I slip on the green dress and trade my converse sneakers for a pair of stilettos. My feet are screaming but the heels are sexy as hell and totally worth the pain and discomfort. Plus I know Sam and Bennett will love them. Just thinking about them makes me smile.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt this happy. Not before Dad got sick, I’m sure. The was the last time I’d let myself feel at all carefree. Since then I’d been a ball of worry, a complete stress case.

I grab my make-up case out of my bag and throw on a little blush and mascara. No point wearing too much make-up — after a couple of hours with Sam and Bennett, I’m usually a hot mess anyway.

That thought thrills me too. Just thinking of the things Bennett and Sam and I get up to makes my sex tighten and my nipples pearl. Watching Sam fuck Bennett the other day was probably the hottest thing I’d ever seen in my life ... and the crazy thing is, they seemed to feel the same way. It was a dream come true.

I grab my handbag and head out of the bathroom, studiously ignoring Heath’s lecherous gaze. I wait at the window, watching for Sam’s yellow Ferrari.

My heart leaps when I see him pull into the parking lot, but it’s Heath that lets out a low wolf whistle.

“Wow, look at Richie Rich out there. He must be lost, because no way is he coming in to Earl’s.”

I roll my eyes as I sling my bag over my shoulder.

“My ride’s here,” I say casually. “See you tomorrow, Heath.”

He gets it immediately, and it’s fun to watch his jaw drop. I push the door of the diner open and stroll out into the lot where Sam is idling the car, waiting for me. He hops out to pull the passenger door open for me, but not before planting a long and passionate kiss on my lips. Hope Heath caught that too.

I climb into the car and Sam hops back in the other side. He peels out of the parking lot, leaving half his tires behind on the asphalt as he does. We hit the highway and then head back into the downtown. We’re meeting Bennett for dinner near the Marina, and then Sam has promised to take us both out for a boat ride. The sun should be going down then and it’ll be nice to watch the sunset with them from out on the water.

Though how much attention we’ll be paying to the sunset is up for debate.

“What’s so funny?” Sam asks, catching my barely suppressed smile.

“Nothing,” I say. I comb my fingers through my hair. “Just thinking of how crazy this all is.”

Sam chuckles. “It is pretty crazy, I’ll give you that. Certainly never expected to find myself here … and especially not with Bennett. You, on the other hand …” he grins, glancing over at me.

“Me what?”

“You, I knew the second I saw you. That you were someone special. That’s why I kinda lost my mind a little bit during the bidding.” He’s grinning, but he looks almost bashful saying the words.

I grin back, but inside I’m touched by his admission. “Well, if you guys hadn’t both lost your minds a little, none of us would be here right now.”

He chuckles at that. “Yes, you’re right about that. And I think where we are is pretty great.”

“Me too,” I say softly. I gaze at his profile as he drives. He looks happy, I realize. Sam’s always had a quick grin, but it never quite reached his eyes. Now his whole face looks relaxed, more at ease, and when he smiles at me, the corners of his eyes crinkle up. I lean back in my seat and sigh happily. Sam puts his hand on my knee, stroking it gently with his thumb.

We get to the marina about a half hour later, and Sam pulls up in front of the restaurant, tossing the keys at the young valet who jogs up to meet us. He puts his hand lightly on my lower back and guides me into the restaurant.

My eyes are already scanning the place, looking for Bennett, but he’s nowhere to be seen yet. Sam speaks to the hostess and she leads us to a circular booth near the back. I catch the way she keeps darting her eyes back to check out Sam, but his hand never leaves my lower back. When he catches me watching, he winks and strokes his thumb along my spine.

Even that small touch is enough to make my tummy roll. It’s crazy how Sam — and Bennett — can undo me with just the simplest touch. Part of me wants to tell him to just screw dinner and take us straight to the boat, but I’m actually kind of hungry and I know I’m going to need my stamina for later.

Sam and I are seated and he orders us a bottle of wine while we wait for Bennett. He asks me about work and I tell him about the bus load of Chinese tourists and how fascinated they all were by my red hair, and he tells me about some new condo sites he spent the day scouting. Our jobs are very different, but somehow it’s easy to talk to him.

After a half hour, Sam and I have made it through half the bottle of wine and nearly an entire bread basket, but there’s still no sign of Bennett. I reach into my purse and pull out my phone to see if he’s texted, but there’s no message.

“Maybe I’ll text him,” I say to Sam. There’s no need to explain who ‘him’ is.

“Sure. He probably got lost,” Sam jokes.

Where are you? Waiting at the restaurant.

I add a kissy face emoji for good measure and send it off. I can see the dots appear right away, indicating that he’s typing back, but it takes awhile for a message to come through. When it does, it’s just one word.

Outside.

I frown at the phone. Why is he outside?

Well, are you coming in, silly?

I type, adding a tongue-out emoji.

I don’t know.

I frown again and then point the phone at Sam so he can read the exchange. His brow furrows.

“Tell him Sam said to get his ass in here right now because I’m hungry.”

I giggle and type exactly that, sending it off.

This time there are no typing bubbles. I set the phone down on the table, biting my lip.

“That’s weird, right?” I ask Sam.

He shrugs. “It’s Bennett. Who knows?” But his brow knits together.

I’m about to say something else when I finally see Bennett coming towards us. My face breaks into a smile and I stand up to give him a hug, but as he gets closer, my smile fades away.

He looks … different. His face is hard, though his hair is tousled. He’s wearing a well-cut suit but somehow it looks rumpled, or like he’s not carrying it off quite the way he usually does.

He leans in to give me a kiss on the cheek and I finally smell the alcohol wafting off him.

Christ. He’s been drinking. No, scratch that — he’s drunk.

He pushes me into the booth and then flops in beside me. He’s already reaching for the bottle of red wine and the empty wine glass we’d asked the server to leave for him.

I glance nervously at Sam, who’s frowning.

“Hey, maybe try some of this bread, Bennett,” Sam says, shoving the bread basket over towards him.

Bennett looks at the bread but not at Sam. Then he goes ahead and fills up his wine glass anyway.

Sam and I exchange a glance. I may not have known Bennett for very long, but this seems incredibly out of character for the man I do know.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, gently touching his elbow. My mind is turning through every possibility, wondering what could have happened.

“Of course everything is okay,” he spits. “Why wouldn’t everything be okay?”

He drains his wine glass and reaches for the bottle again but Sam whisks it out of his grasp. Bennett shoots him a glare.

“Why don’t we get a bottle of sparkling water for the table?” Sam asks, raising his hand slightly to try to catch our server’s attention.

“Why?” Bennett snarls. “So you can fuck me up the ass with it?”

It’s like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Sam drops his hand and glares at Bennett.

“Bennett, seriously. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” he growls. “I already said that.”

“Well, you’re sure acting like something’s wrong.”

I look back and forth between the men on either side of me. Sam is glaring at Bennett, all his earlier cheer completely wiped away. Bennett, on the other hand, is still staring intently down at the bread basket. I realize he doesn’t want to look at me — or at Sam.

I put my hand on his and squeeze. “If this is about the other day, we can talk about it. Sort it all out.”

Bennett whips his hand out from under mine. “What makes you think I want to talk about what happened the other day? What makes you think I have any desire whatsoever to bring that up again?”

“Um, maybe because you just suggested I fuck you up the ass with a bottle of Perrier,” Sam hisses. His eyes blaze with fury at the way Bennett is acting.

Tears are filling my eyes, just because his abrupt change in attitude is so startling. Everything had seemed fine when we’d left Orchid the other day. In fact, it was just a few hours ago that I was thinking about how happy we are. Jesus.

“Don’t feel you need to bother with the bottle, then,” Bennett spits. “I’m sure you’d be happy just to use your dick again. You and Lila would both like that, wouldn’t you?”

I try to blink back the tears but they’re spilling down my cheeks now, painting a line down to my chin. Why is he being such an asshole?

“Bennett,” I try to start, but he cuts me off.

“Shut-up, Lila. Just shut-up.”

“Don’t you fucking talk to her like that,” Sam blasts, standing up. He eases out the other side of the booth and then reaches his hand down to me, helping me out his side so I don’t have to go past Bennett. I clutch Sam’s hand as he glares at Bennett.

“I get that you’re upset,” he says. “It was a big step — for all of us. But you don’t get to be an asshole about it. And you especially don’t get to take whatever issue you have with me out on Lila.”

Bennett doesn’t answer. He doesn’t even look up at us. He’s still staring at the bread basket, though thank God he hasn’t reached for the wine bottle again.

After it becomes clear that Bennett isn’t willing to discuss this, Sam sighs and throws some cash down on the table.

“Come on, Lila,” he says. He leads me out of the restaurant.

I sneak one look back at Bennett before we go, but he’s still sitting there with his head down, staring at the focaccia like it’s got all the answers in the world.