Sins of the Past (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

to get his stuff and get out. The last thing he expected was laughing. He sat there stunned as he watched Jacob throw his head back and laugh. The man laughed so hard he had tears streaming down his face by the time he started to calm down. Utterly confused, Cole could only sit and wait for Jacob to explain what about the situation he found so amusing.
    “Those two women have a lot of bad blood between them,” he said between breaths and chuckles. “I would have loved to see the look on Ashley’s face when Lorna claimed you. She did the same thing to me a few nights ago while we were at the fair.”
    “So you aren’t mad?”
    Jacob was quiet for a while before he answered. “As strange as it seems, no, I’m not mad. Honestly, it hasn’t bothered me one bit to see you flirting with her these past few days. Don’t get me wrong, I’m starting to care deeply for Lorna and if I saw another guy flirting or kissing her, I’d probably kill him, but for some reason with you it’s different.”
    They both sat there quiet and thoughtful. Cole thought about what Jacob said and was shocked to find that he felt the same way. Over the last few days whenever he saw Lorna and Jacob kissing or touching, it hadn’t bothered him. He was envious of the fact that Jacob had such a beautiful woman, but he was never jealous or resentful of their relationship. He was starting to realize that every time he thought of Jacob and Lorna together his thoughts were that he wanted her also . Not that he wished he had her instead, but that he wanted her as well.
    Cole frowned at the way his thoughts were going. Never in his life had he shared a woman with another man, but with Lorna, it seemed his thoughts were headed in that direction. He wouldn’t ever take her away from Jacob, but he couldn’t deny that there was a connection between him and Lorna as well.
    “What are we going to do?” Jacob asked.
    They spent twelve years together watching each other’s backs in some of the most dangerous places in the world. That meant that he and Jacob could read each other like a book. They probably knew each other better than anyone else in the world. So he wasn’t surprised that Jacob knew exactly where his thoughts were headed or his question. “Do you think she would be open to something like that?” he asked Jacob.
    The man sat back and grunted. “It’s not my story to tell, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I think you should know everything about Lorna’s background before you start contemplating anything.” He reached into a small cooler that was tucked next to him and pulled out two beers before handing one to Cole. “This is going to require a few beers.”
    Based on Jacob’s expression, Cole snagged the beer held out to him and settled back in his chair. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what the man had to say one bit.

Chapter 11
     
    Lorna punched her pillow for the thousandth time before bunching it back under her head. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was only five minutes later than the last time she had looked. That’s how it had gone since the moment she went to bed at ten. Now, at three twenty in the morning, she was still no closer to sleep.
    After she had left Cole at the diner, Lorna went back to her shop and threw herself into her work so she didn’t have to think about what she had done. She stayed at the shop working well past her normal time in hopes of wearing herself out so that when she got home, she would be too tired to think. It had worked up until the point of her head hitting the pillow. Lying alone in the quiet house, there was nothing to do but think and her mind was racing.
    If Lorna had to admit it to herself, there was only one thing that kept popping up in her head over and over again. It was something she didn’t even want to admit, but Ashley’s parting words had stuck with her. She could still hear the woman’s voice in her head telling her that it had only been a matter of time before she turned out just like her mother.
    Lorna was starting to wonder if there was some truth to the woman’s words. Why else would she have kissed Cole and claimed him in public only days after she had done the same thing to Jacob. She had meant every word of what she told Ashley, as well. Cole was hers. She wanted him just as much as she wanted Jacob.
    Knowing she wasn’t going to get any sleep, Lorna gave up and got out of bed. She went into the kitchen and started