I sat across from Hollis trying to avoid talking about what had happened only a few nights ago. In the light of day, I was frankly a little embarrassed. It’s not every day that a girl makes love to two different men...at the same time. I felt my behavior that night had been a little scandalous, even for New York. Needless to say, when Hollis arrived at the shelter during my shift the next morning I tried my best to avoid him.

It had worked for a little while. However, I could only spend so much time hiding out in cages with dogs. And that’s exactly where he had found me, covered in dog fur, playing catch with a super energetic mutt who was just as loveable as Cola had been, if not more so. I nicknamed him Trooper.

“I’m starting to think you find my presence offensive.”

His voice startled me as I had my back turned and I hadn’t seen him coming. How had he found me? I had told my boss that I was going to run an errand. Had he sniffed me out or something? I thought sarcastically.

“Well, you are kind of offensive,” I teased, unable to help myself. I looked up at him shyly as he opened the cage door and settled on the floor of the cage next to me. He didn’t seem to care that his expensive wool blend pants were being covered in dog fur and God knows what else was on the floor of the kennel. I had cleaned it out earlier, personally, but it’s not as if it was pristine enough to eat off of.

“Were you hiding from me?” he asked, not bothering to beat around the bush and spare me any embarrassment. It was at that moment that I hated the fact that Hollis was such a straight shooter.

I still didn’t meet his eyes as I rubbed Trooper’s temples. He loved it and the steady thump of his tail as he lazily enjoyed the petting was an indication that he didn’t want me to stop.

“That’s a good boy,” I said, ignoring Hollis, biding my time. How did he want me to react? I was a small-town girl, not a sophisticated worldly woman. I blushed thinking how my actions last night hadn’t exactly reflected that. I probably could have taught a porn star a few tricks.

“Are you going to answer me or pretend that I’m not sitting here?” He said interrupting my thoughts.

“I’m going to pretend that you’re not sitting there and I’m going to continue hiding in this cage with this cute dog. I refuse to talk about last night.”

He didn’t let me continue as he said, “You read my mind.”

I looked up at him sharply and he gave me a slow telling smile that immediately made me blush. “I don’t want to talk about it. I want to repeat it.”

I could feel my nipples hardening and instantly my sex grew wet. I pressed my thighs together. I couldn’t believe how just his words could have that effect on me. However, I knew it was more than his words. It was his tone. His tone held promise and I feared that I very much wanted to repeat the other night with or without Winslow. Apparently, I was a wanton twenty-something who was into threesomes. God, I hoped my grandmother never found out.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before I turned away, unable to keep the blush from spreading across my cheeks.

“Your innocence is so attractive,” he said folding one of his legs over the other.

“Really? I wasn’t so innocent last night. Do you still find me attractive?”

“Ivy, you could be wearing spiked heels, a catsuit and carrying a whip and you’ll still have that air of innocence about you. It’s part of your charm.”

I was about to respond with some very un-charming words when a little voice said, “Mommy, why are those people sitting in the cage with the doggies?”

It was then that I realized we had a budding audience. There stood a child of about five years of age with his rather young mother. Blushing, I said, “Don’t mind us. We were umm...just cleaning up a little.”

Hollis looked at me with amusement as I slid out of the pin. He readily joined me and said to the five-year-old who looked at us suspiciously, “Are you looking for a new dog, buddy?”

The youngster nodded his head. “Well, not a new dog. An old one. Mommy said a new dog would be way too much work. And if there’s one thing my mommy doesn’t like, it’s work!”

I let out a surprised chuckle, while the woman gasped and quickly said, “Thanks for that, Junior.”

Hollis winked at the woman who promptly seemed to blush at his attention. “Well, miss, I’m sure you’ll find this dog here to be very old and trust me, not a lot of work. He’s barely moved an inch since I’ve gotten here.”

As if on cue, Trooper raised his head, sneezed loudly and lay back down. I couldn’t help but laugh. He was a character.

“You see? That pretty much just proved it.”

The woman smiled at Hollis, a bit too friendly-like, in my opinion. I looked at Hollis and gestured for him to follow me. He gave the mother and son duo a parting smile and followed me out.

“Is it just me or were you flirting with that mom?”

“Is it just me or are you showing a little jealousy?”

I ignored that question and said instead, “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to see you,” he replied simply.

I turned to him and folded my arms across my chest, ready to tell him off. His expression was unguarded though and I felt my annoyance at his presence disappear. He studied me with a look that made me uncomfortable, not because it was sexual. No, the look on his face was soft, appealing to me on an emotional level.

“Why did you want to see me?” I asked glancing around the hall, ensuring we wouldn’t be overheard again.

He shrugged, “Because I was in the area and figured that I should stop by and harass you. Maybe take you to lunch? But mostly I’m here to make sure you’re okay. So are you?”

He folded his arms across his body and I was reminded of how large his arms were and how they had felt, but I knew from his sudden serious expression that he wasn’t thinking about our sexual escapades. He was thinking about what happened before then.

But I had pushed that incident out of my mind. When the cops had come around, I really didn’t have that much to tell them about what had happened. I could barely wrap my head around the robbery and the aftermath. I just remembered the men, being attacked, and then Winslow coming to my aid before I fainted.

The cops hadn’t believed my story, but they chose not to pressure me when Hollis said that he was representing me and warned them to watch their tone as I endured their countless questions. They had clearly been intimidated and had immediately dropped the aggressive nature of their questioning. Eventually, they had just left me alone. And I hadn’t wanted to stick around any longer. I was thankful to Hollis but at the time, my gratitude had not been as strong as my sense of shame for what had happened sexually between us. I left Winslow’s apartment in the middle of the night, hailed a taxi and went home.

I made myself focus on the here and now. “I’m fine. Thanks for checking on me. It’s really kind of you.”

He narrowed his eyes, “The police haven’t been bothering you with any additional questions, have they?”

“No. Not at all.”

He lowered his voice, “And you don’t remember anything else after they tried to kidnap and hold you hostage?”

I shook my head, “No... it’s just all a blur. Just like I told the police. I remember Winslow showing up after they tried to kidnap me. I remember fighting them off and getting away somehow. I remember Winslow helping me get away, but everything else after that is a blur.” I sighed, “Who knows? I probably hit my head while I was fighting them. I think I even hallucinated seeing some sort of monster.”

“A monster?”

I looked away, feeling ridiculous. I didn’t want Hollis thinking that I was insane. Why had I shared that information with him? Even I thought I was crazy for hallucinating.

“You think you saw a monster?”

I tried to laugh it off and said with a shrug, “Trust me, I know how crazy I sound. But I really thought those guys were going to kill me and I probably did lose my mind at least temporarily.”

Hollis surprised me then by reaching out and stroking my cheek. Apparently, he didn’t care who knew of our relationship. Or, non-relationship rather.

“I’m just glad you’re okay. And for all my cockiness---”

“So you finally admit it?” I said with a smile, enjoying the feel of his hand against my cheek.

He laughed and slowly let his hand fall, caressing my cheek along the way. “As I was saying, I just wanted to be sure you were okay. You disappeared without saying anything and I wanted to go after you, but Winslow convinced me to give you some space. And you haven’t been answering my calls.”

“I’m sorry about that. Winslow was right. I just needed some space.”

“I hate that.”

“Hate what?” I said confused.

“When Winslow’s right. He already has a big head and now it’ll be even bigger.”

“Poor Winslow, he’s not even here to defend himself.”

“Actually, I am,” came a voice from behind me.

I turned around sharply and instantly felt my cheeks turn red. Winslow stood there looking exquisite in fitted jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. I turned to look back at Hollis who seemed remotely annoyed by Winslow’s presence.

“What are you doing here?” Hollis asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

“The same thing you’re doing apparently,” Winslow said in a bored voice, clearly unbothered by the tone of Hollis’ words.

“Well as you can see I have everything under control. You can go back to whatever it is you do all day while the rest of us work.”

“So is that what you’re doing here? Working?”

“For the most part...”

Winslow shook his head as he tried to hide a smile, “Now that we’ve determined I pay you to do nothing Hollis---Ivy do you have plans for lunch?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I didn’t know what to say. I felt outnumbered, which I was. And outmatched.

Hollis answered for me. “She’s already agreed to go to lunch with me.”

“No I didn’t,” I blurted out.

Winslow laughed, “I guess you’re not as charming as you thought, Hollis.”

I turned to Winslow and said, “I’m not going to lunch with either of you. I have lunch plans already. I’ll ummm...see you later, Winslow...and ummm...Hollis.” Winslow seemed amused and Hollis gave me an annoyed look as I walked away from the two of them.

I rolled my eyes as I walked and said, “Now that was awkward,” under my breath. I didn’t actually have lunch plans but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to spend lunch with either Winslow or Hollis. I knew choosing one over the other would just make me feel guilty. I was already feeling torn because I knew I couldn’t continue seeing both of them if I wanted to keep my sanity. But honestly, I questioned my sanity already.

What I had not told Hollis was that I had nightmares every time I dared to close my eyes. I relived those moments where the thieves attempted to kidnap me over and over in my sleep. I hadn’t had a decent night sleep since…well, I blushed thinking about it. I hadn’t slept well since after Hollis and Winslow had had their way with me. Or had I had my way with them? After all, hadn’t I enjoyed it and wanted more?

I wanted more now just thinking about that night. Feeling conflicted; I grabbed my purse and walked out of the building, hoping not to run into either one of them.

I was breathing a sigh of relief when I made it out the door without a sign of the two men when I heard my boss call my name.

“Ivy? Hey, sorry. I know you’re going to lunch but Hollis wanted to speak with you regarding the newsletter format. He had a few suggestions and wanted to add some legal jargon? Do you have a minute?”

I badly wanted to tell her no. But I knew I couldn’t do that without seeming lazy and losing my job so instead I smiled like a good little employee and made my way back inside.

“He’s in the conference room,” she said when I turned to go towards our shared office space.

With a sense of foreboding, I squared my shoulders and walked into the room.