He caught her off guard and stole a kiss. It was just a quick kiss on the mouth, but she enjoyed it and wanted more. He was too quick for her, though, and closed the door behind him.

She frowned.

It took her all of ten minutes to unpack her clothes and put them away in the dresser and the ma.s.sive walk-in closet. She looked around the room and decided no one had ever stayed in it before. Why had they let her stay in it? There was another bedroom she could have used.

With her clothes put away and the room explored, Alexis had nothing left to do. She decided she might as well try to rest. Having never taken a nap once she had grown up, Alexis wasn't sure how to go about it.

She figured taking off her shoes would be the first step since she wasn't about to get on the nice bed with them on. Then she removed her jacket and climbed up on the bed. It was probably the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on that wasn't hers. h.e.l.l, it was probably even more comfortable than hers.

She wondered what their plans were to teach her how to relax. She hoped it involved s.e.x, and lots of it. While it didn't usually relax her, it certainly helped her to sleep. With that last thought, she closed her eyes.

19.

"So, what do you think?" Neal asked.

"I'm still not sure we're doing the right thing." Mark stirred the spaghetti sauce.

"I am. She needs to relax, and we've got plenty of experience in how to relax. Besides, I like her. She's pretty and sa.s.sy."

"Yeah, I will agree with you on that. My c.o.c.k has been hard ever since we saw her at the truck stop. Riding with a hard-on wasn't all that much fun." Mark lifted the spoon to taste the sauce.

Neal stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You weren't the only one with a hard-on riding a bike, man. I thought I was going to die before we got home." He sniffed of the sauce, then looked at Mark again. "So, are you in this with me or not?"

"f.u.c.k. You think I'm going to let you have all the fun? No way."

"Awesome. I was worried."

"No, you weren't. You knew I'd want her a.s.s as soon as you saw it." Mark laid the spoon on the spoon rest.

Neal grinned and popped him on the arm. "If everything is ready, I'll go wake up our guest."

"Not quite. Give me five minutes to finish cooking the noodles.

The bread is in the oven already."

"I think I can distract her for five minutes." Neal grinned and headed for the stairs.

He took them two at a time and had to stop outside the bedroom door to calm his racing heart. Why was he so excited about this woman? They'd had plenty of women between them. And why had they put her in the master bedroom? They had never done that before, either. They usually used one or the other's bedroom.

Neal lifted his hand and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He quietly opened the door and peeked in. Alexis was lying 20 on the bed on her side with one hand beneath her cheek. At least she'd managed to relax long enough to take a nap. That was a start.

He quietly walked into the room and stopped by the bed to look down at her. She really was a pretty woman, with soft hair and smooth skin. He fingered her hair then ran the back of his knuckle over her cheek. Her nose twitched. He grinned and bent over to wake her with a kiss.

She seemed to relax into his kiss for a few seconds, and then, as if realizing it wasn't a dream, her eyes flew open in alarm.

"WWhat are you doing?" she squeaked out.

"Waking you up. Dinner is ready." Neal smiled down at her.

Alexis blinked rapidly then moved to sit up. Neal reached to help her. She immediately began to smooth down her blouse and slacks.

He could see her mind racing as she processed everything.

"Um, I'll wash up and come right down," she said.

"Do you remember where the kitchen is?" he asked in a teasing voice.

"I most certainly do." She looked offended before realizing he was messing with her. "I'll find it just fine. Thanks, Neal."

"See you downstairs then." He turned and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door open.

He had little doubt she could retrace her steps through the house without a problem. She was obviously smart, as well as pretty. He couldn't wait to start work on her. He smoothed his hands together and walked back into the kitchen.

"So?" Mark asked.

"She's washing up. She was asleep. I woke her up with a kiss."

"How did she handle that?"

"Responded until she woke up. Then she was back in business mode."

"So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Seduce, seduce, seduce." Neal grinned.

"I can already tell I'm going to bed with my hand tonight."

21.

"Won't help her if she thinks all we're going to do is f.u.c.k her. She needs to learn to relax. Remember?"

"I remember."

Just as Mark was about to answer, Alexis walked into the kitchen with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Told you I could find it."

She seemed to expect them to applaud or something. Neal sighed.

She needed a lot of help.

"You sure did. Come on over here and have a seat. Mark made spaghetti for us tonight."

Alexis walked over and allowed Neal to seat her at the bar. She clasped her hands in her lap and smiled at them. He shook his head and walked over to where she sat. Before she knew what he planned to do, Neal had the top b.u.t.ton of her blouse unb.u.t.toned.

"There. That looks much more comfortable." He walked over to the stove and dipped out the spaghetti noodles and sauce for her before adding a piece of bread to her plate.

He set the plate in front of her then returned to dip up his own plate. Mark had already fixed his. The three of them sat at the bar to eat. Neal noticed she was even stiff when she ate. He decided they had a long battle ahead of them.

Less than an hour later, they had finished eating and were putting up the dishes when Alexis started asking questions.

"What is first on the agenda for learning how to relax? Do we start first thing in the morning? What time do I need to be up?"

"Whoa, slow down there. There isn't any formal agenda, and we've already started. First rule is that you can't b.u.t.ton your blouses all the way to the top. You have to leave at least the top one unb.u.t.toned." Neal shook his head.

"How does leaving the top b.u.t.ton open help me relax?"

"Reminds you to loosen up some. Don't be so stuffy."

"I'm not stuffy." She crossed her arms and glared at Neal.

22.

"See, there you go," Mark told her. "You're already tightening back up. Uncross your arms."

"Oh." She uncrossed her arms and let them hang by her side. "Is this better?"

Neal took both her hands in his and squeezed them. Then he pulled her over to the living room and the couch.

"First order of business is to lay down the rules."

"Rules. Good. I like to know what they are."

"Somehow I expected you to say something like that," Neal said.

"You sleep until you wake up each morning. You don't plan to get up at a certain time unless we have something planned for you. Then, we'll get you up."

"I'm not used to sleeping much past six. I usually go to the gym at six thirty and then shower and dress for work. I'm at work by nine each morning."

"Not while you're here. There is no real schedule when you're relaxing. When you work, you have to follow one. I understand, because we do, too. But when you're off, you totally relax. That means no regimens or schedules," Neal reiterated.

"You'll get the hang of it in no time," Mark promised her.

"What's next?"

23.

Chapter Three.

Mark shook his head. Neal had no idea what he had gotten them into. She was going to be a hard sell. Looking at how she sat and dressed told him quickly just how straitlaced she was. They needed to rework her wardrobe. That would go a long way to helping her relax.

He would suggest it to Neal as soon as they were alone again.

"Next, we watch a movie," Neal was saying. "What sort of movies do you like?"

"I don't really watch much TV or movies. Not unless it's CNN or the financial shows," she admitted.

"Hmm, well, you're in for a treat. Let's try something along the lines of an action thriller." Neal studied their vast a.s.sortment of DVDs and picked out one. "This will do." Mark took it from him and winced, but he didn't say anything.

Instead he inserted the DVD and turned on the TV. They all three sat on the couch to watch the movie. By the middle of the movie, Neal had his arm around her shoulders and had scooted closer to her. Mark followed suit and moved to where their thighs were touching.

Amazingly, she didn't balk at their moves. Instead, she seemed to relax into Neal's arms. He took advantage of it by rubbing her shoulder and upper arm as the movie played on. Mark took the opportunity to rest his hand on her thigh. He waited for a while to see how she would react. When she didn't, he moved on to gently squeeze it and relax, squeeze and relax. She responded by widening her legs so that the one on his side was pressed tightly against his and her crotch was now exposed.

24.