Shifting Gears Read Online Free PDF Page B

perfect beginning for us.”
    “Can we start over?” He plucked her hand from her lap and traced the ridge of her knuckles with his thumb. “Lynn is planning one of her day trips tomorrow. Since we always try to take Sunday off, Sebastian and I intend to go with her. To Cheung Chau island. Off the coast, near Hong Kong. It’s supposed to be beautiful. Top-notch seafood too.”
    “Are you asking me on a date?”
    “Uh, yeah. A double date. Is that too weird, considering…?”
    “Not at all.” Sloan couldn’t believe he still had any interest untainted.
    “Psst.” Lynn hesitated at the edge of the booth. “Is it okay if we have a seat?”
    “Sure.” Mark nodded at Sebastian. The other man set a platter of fried rice on the table before the couple slid onto the opposite bench. “I was trying to persuade Sloan to go to Cheung Chau with us tomorrow. Why don’t you give it a try?”
    “Great beaches, a world-renowned fish market, souvenir shopping and a pirate’s cave! What’s not to love? You don’t want to miss it.” Lynn wiggled her eyebrows in an attempt to lure Sloan that set off another round of laughter.
    “I’d really like to go with you.” She trained her stare on the equally dinged face of the race car driver across from her. “But Sebastian better watch his step. If he lays a hand on my guy again, I’ll have something to say about it.”
    Only after the words had flown from her lips did she think of Mark’s confession the night before. Then she wished she could retrieve the jest but it was too late.
    The four of them exchanged a slew of awkward glances then burst out laughing. “Let’s strike that one from the record, huh?”
    “Sounds great.” Sloan reached up to kiss Mark’s cheek. “Thank you. For being so understanding about…everything.”
    “And on that note, this is for you.” Lynn handed a book, wrapped in pink ribbon, across the table.
    “You didn’t have to do this.”
    “I know, but I wanted to.” The other woman snuggled into Sebastian’s chest then sighed. “It’s the least I could do.”
    “I appreciate it.” Before Sloan could elaborate, servers delivered family style platters of steaming noodles and fresh stir-fried vegetables to their table. “This looks delicious.”
    “Dig in.” Sebastian handed her a plate with a wink before reaching across to spoon some of the food onto his own china.
    The next several hours passed in a flurry of laughter, great food, smooth wine and a failed experiment in using chopsticks. Mark fed her from his instead. Captivating conversation, interspersed with several rounds of story-telling, gave her more and more insight into her new friends.
    During one particularly colorful retelling about Sebastian getting caught with his pants down—literally—which made Sloan hope no one else spoke English, the driver winged a piece of carrot across the table at Mark. The guys escalated the battle until Lynn stepped in and got caught in the crossfire.
    She picked a pea from her hair while wrinkling her nose, but Sebastian took the opportunity to mock their alpha display from the night before. “Careful there, Marco , or you’ll be going down again.”
    “If I remember correctly, you were the one who went down first, Bastian.”
    “You’d like that wouldn’t you, amico ?”
    Lynn and Sloan’s wide-eyed stares met across the table in a flash. Thank God she wasn’t the only one who’d caught the undercurrent. She wondered if the men knew both she and Lynn frequently read books involving male-on-male interaction. Some of the bisexual ménage stories were her all-time favorites. After browsing Lynn’s to-be-read list on the blog, Sloan knew the other woman enjoyed the genre as much as she did.
    “I might like it.” Mark chuckled, breaking the tension. “But not as much as you, fuckwad.”
    With that, the duo flitted off to another topic. Another crazy story. Another adventure.
    Each thing she learned about the trio improved her