Nuit Aux Trois by Melinda Barron

Chapter One
    "You could sue him, you know."
    Quinn Nicholas pushed on her end of the mattress and sighed. God bless Dev. She loved him, really she did. But now was not the time.
    "Dev. Do me a favor. Let's get this huge thing you bought up the stairs and then we'll discuss legal advice."
    "I'm just saying..."
    From beside her, a second deep male voice rang out.
    " Merde ! It's slipping, Dev. Pull, ya bioque , pull."
    Quinn fought back a laugh.
    "I'm the idiot?” Dev's voice was angry.
    The mattress slipped further down and Quinn's laughter died. “Dev! You're going to crush us. Pull!"
    "Take it back, Fletch."
    " Embrasse mon techeue ,” Fletch said, his Cajun accent strong. “Jus’ move ya’ ass!"
    "We'll see who's kissing whose ass later,” Dev said, pulling on the mattress.
    They made it up a few more steps and Quinn thanked the stars above they'd already set up the frame for this huge bed and moved the two box springs, which held up the California King bed Fletch and Dev had just bought for their bedroom. The springs hadn't been hard to move up the stairs. The top mattress, however, was huge, and unwieldy, and was proving difficult.
    She peered around the edge to see how much further they had to go and sighed—at least ten more steps until the second floor, then another flight until the third.
    "We're going to have to take a break on the second,” she said, panting with exertion.
    "No way,” Dev said. “If we stop we won't start again. We need to get this done."
    "Slave driver,” she whispered under her breath. She sighed with relief when Dev pulled the mattress onto the landing and the three of them paused to take a breath.
    "Okay. Maybe just a second or two,” Dev said, leaning against the wall.
    Quinn swallowed a smile and wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
    "I've got to hand it to you two. You know how to take a girl's mind off her work troubles."
    "That salaud you work for don't know his ass from his lips,” Fletch said. “If he was smart, you'd be the new anchor at WXBJ, no’ that bimbo, Stephanie Marks."
    She shook her head in exasperation. “Well, Stephanie's a perfect size two, and I'm not, am I? He gave me some excuse about me being too valuable a reporter to put behind an anchor desk, which is a load of crap. You're right, Fletch, he's a bastard."
    "Sue them,” Dev said, standing up and pulling his end of the mattress toward the stairs.
    Quinn and Fletch both let out weary breaths.
    "That was a short break,” Fletch said.
    "It won't take long if we just get our asses in gear,” Dev said. “Now push."
    Ten minutes later, they arrived in the master bedroom, which took up almost the entire third floor of the house. They placed the cumbersome mattress on the box springs and the three of them collapsed on top of it, Quinn in the middle, their chests all heaving as they fought to get their breathing back under control.
    After a few minutes, Dev pushed himself up on his elbows and stared down at Quinn.
    "So, are you going to sue?"
    "For what? Being passed over for a job? That would pretty much make me unemployable in this town, and I love New Orleans. I don't want to leave."
    "She's right,” Fletch said. “I say we contact my Aunt Margrette, she's a voodoo priestess."
    "Have you lost your mind?” Dev shook his head and stared at his lover.
    "No,” Fletch said, standing and heading toward the bathroom.
    Quinn laughed as Dev stood and stalked after him. She could hear their voices carry across the room as they argued the pros and cons of a voodoo priestess and whether she could actually help with her problems.
    She lay back down on the mattress and sighed. She'd lived in New Orleans for three years now, and she'd loved every minute of it. She'd been very lucky to find a room to rent with the handsome men who were now arguing twenty feet away from her.
    Memories of their first day together flooded through her mind. When she'd first been hired at WXBJ, she knew she wouldn't make enough money