Played: Chapter Eight - Jackie

We stood like three points of a triangle. Jake, the protector, had taken the side closest to the door. A large erection he made no attempt to hide jutted the front of his knit pajama pants. Those pants rode low on his hips and revealed a mouthwatering display of abdominal muscles. Looking equally handsome and sexy, Mike stood on the opposite side, near the windows. That left me near the center at the bottom of the platform bedframe.

Climbing into bed with my bosses was weird in the extreme, but I had to prove that I could play the role. Bottom line, this was business. Now, if I could only convince my jittery stomach.

I crawled up the center of the mattress and slid between the covers. Mike only had two large pillows on his bed. What was it about men not liking pillows? I snatched his from his side of the bed and pulled it under my head.

“You need new pillows,” I muttered. “This thing’s as flat as a pancake.”

He grinned and scratched his belly. The motion drew my attention to his well-defined six-pack and the happy trail leading to his man parts. I had difficulty pulling my eyes away. “You can purchase more tomorrow when we go shopping. Personally, I don’t use pillows. They usually end up on the floor.”

They both got into bed and lay on their backs. Suddenly, I was hemmed in by two walls of masculine flesh. Even a California king bed seemed small when there were three full-sized bodies lying in it.

The silence was uncomfortable. I lay stiffly waiting for one of them to make a move. That was the whole point of this sleepover, wasn’t it? Since Jake had initiated the kiss in the kitchen and was obviously aroused, my money was on him to be the first. I counted off the minutes in my head.

After a while, Mike sighed and rolled onto his side, facing away from me. Somehow, the change in position managed to push him closer into the territory I mentally considered mine. It took another few minutes before realization dawned that the guys didn’t intend we do more than sleep. I rolled onto my side facing Mike’s back, being sure to keep a certain amount of distance between us.

I never slept well in strange surroundings, and there was nothing familiar about this situation. Typically, I slept sprawled on my stomach with one leg drawn up to the side. Since this wasn’t an option, I couldn’t get comfortable. I flopped onto my back. Then carefully shifted to face Jake, who still lay on his back with one arm under his head. A few minutes later, I started the whole rotation again.

Not only couldn’t I relax, but the bedroom was chillier than I liked. Mike only had a sheet on the bed. The first thing he and Jake had done was pushed the comforter off the mattress. Both men put off heat like a furnace, but I didn’t feel comfortable snuggling up to one of them.

After my third round, Jake let out a long, drawn-out sigh and hauled me into the curve of his body. “Settle down.”

He placed an arm over my head, the other one across my waist, and slid one of his thighs between mine. Tucked in close like a lover, his body heat warmed my chilled flesh. Gradually, I unwound enough to drift off to sleep.

*****

“Jackie.”

“Hmm?”

“I need to get up.”

“Okay.” I snuggled in closer.

“Love, you need to move,” Jake said. I heard the humor in his voice.

I cracked an eye open. Tanned skin met my bleary gaze. Confused, I opened both eyes.

“You awake?” Jake asked.

“Why am I lying on top of you?” I asked sleepily. My head lay on his chest. My lower body was plastered to Jake’s side. I had an arm thrown across his waist and my leg was curved on top of his thigh.

“Because someone is a bed hog and it was either on me or the floor,” he said.

“Hey, you invited yourself into my bed. There’s plenty of room here for Jackie and me,” Mike said from behind me.

I pushed up onto one elbow and looked over my shoulder to see Mike lying on his side facing us with his head propped up on his hand. Jake was right. He and I occupied a small portion of the mattress while Mike sprawled across the rest like a big jungle cat.

“I’ll remember that next weekend when it’s my turn to host this little training exercise,” Jake said in a sleep-roughened voice.

Suddenly conscious I was still lying on him, I shifted to the side. Jake hissed as my knee dragged across his morning erection. “Sorry. What time is it?”

Only a small reading lamp illuminated the bed. The rest of the room was in darkness.

“Five a.m. We’re going on a run. You should lace up and join us. As team leader, I like to know the physical capabilities of my team members,” Jake said as he sat up.

Five in the morning? I flopped onto my stomach. “No.”

Pausing in the act of climbing out of bed, Jake said, “No?”

“It’s still dark outside. I’m going back to sleep,” I muttered, closing my eyes. It felt like I’d barely been asleep an hour. Early mornings were for workdays. Saturdays were for sleeping in.

The mattress shifted as Mike rose. “A good wife would have breakfast waiting for us when we returned, since you’re not going with us.”

“Good thing I’m not your wife.” Reaching out a hand, I felt around until I recognized the other pillow, and pulled it over my head.

“You get the feeling our Jackie is not a morning person?” Mike asked.

“She’s worked for us for four years and you’re just figuring that out?” Jake asked.

“Hmm, maybe she wasn’t the best choice for this little project after all,” Mike said.

I stuck up my middle finger.

Jake laughed. “I don’t know. The idea is growing on me more every day.”

Something in his tone had me lifting the pillow to glance at him. He was watching me. A small smile tilted the corner of his mouth and heat filled his gaze. I flushed, and involuntarily, my gaze scanned his body, stopping on all of the delicious parts. Nobody should look that good just getting up in the morning.

“Would you two like some privacy?” Mike asked.

Snapped out of my daze, I groaned and covered my face with the pillow.

“Be ready in ten,” Jake snapped. Seconds later, I heard the bedroom door shut with controlled violence.

“Was it something I said?” Mike mused.

Shaking my head, I thought, This is going to be a long six weeks.

I laid in bed until they left the condominium. Though tired, I was too awake to simply roll over and go back to sleep. Guess Mike would be getting that breakfast, after all. Not like I had anything else to do at this time of the morning.