Unexpected Pleasures [Pleasure, Montana 11] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Pleasure, Montana 11
Unexpected Pleasures
Sometimes, nothing can be done to stop the past from coming back to haunt you.
When the man who kidnapped Sarah Jacobsen a few months ago is tossed in jail, rumors abound about revenge. Sarah’s terrified, and her nightmares return worse than before. The two men, Liam Richland and Mason Sax, who watched over her after that fateful incident, fear Sarah’s life might be in danger and insist she move in with them. Sarah fears she might fall for them but knows there is no way two hunky men would ever want a dumpy math teacher. Then her favorite professor from high school is murdered, and everyone believes this is a sign to her.
Now more than ever, the men are determined to find out who wants to harm the woman they’re falling hard for. Too bad Sarah has no idea who she can trust. How can they keep her safe and love her at the same time?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 55,413 words
UNEXPECTED PLEASURES
Pleasure, Montana 11
Melody Snow Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
UNEXPECTED PLEASURES
Copyright © 2013 by Melody Snow Monroe
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-033-5
First E-book Publication: December 2013
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
About the Author
UNEXPECTED PLEASURES
Pleasure, Montana 11
MELODY SNOW MONROE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
“Stand still,” Ceci commanded. She tugged the zipper up Sarah Jacobsen’s back. “There. Turn around and let me see how you look.”
Sarah remained in front of the mirror and sucked in her gut, but her stomach still bulged. “I look fat.” Until her abduction two months ago, she’d stayed quite fit and had been happy with her life. Now, her anxiety-driven eating binge had made her gain at least fifteen pounds. “Maybe you should go to the reunion without me.”
Ceci Armstrong spun her around and raked her gaze up and down Sarah’s body. “What’s gotten into you? You are not fat. Yeesh.” Ceci waved a hand. “You look the same as you did in high school.” She appreciated her good friend knew how to lie well. “You loved going last year. Why should this year be different?”
Ceci knew why, but she had the decency not to mention Sarah’s near death experience. “Our tenth reunion was an important year. Going to our eleventh is stupid. Besides, we see most of the people all the time, anyway.” She smoothed her hands down her dress, realizing how lame that sounded. “Okay. The truth? Maybe I don’t want to go because I’m out of shape now, and I don’t have a real date.”
Ceci huffed. “What do you call Liam Richland and Mason Sax? Chumped meat?”
“No.”
“Shit, girl. They are only two of Pleasure, Montana’s most eligible bachelors. Need I remind you that any girl who snags a newcomer, let alone two, will be revered?”
Now Sarah laughed. “Is that how you see yourself? Revered?” She nodded to her friend’s engagement ring. “You’re going to love prancing in with Gabe and Dylan on your arm, aren’t you?” They’d moved to Pleasure about the same time Liam and Mason had and were considered newcomers.
“Hell, yeah.” Ceci did a little dance that made Sarah laugh. “Maybe they’ll even vote to give me another homecoming crown for my stunning achievement.”
She couldn’t be happier for her friend. When Ceci returned home a year ago, she was a completely different person than what she was now. With the help of her two men, she’d at least partially banished her guilt over her former boyfriend’s suicide and had found true love in the process.
Sarah inhaled. “Fine. Let’s do this.” Ceci and she had been inseparable in high school. Where Ceci had worn the prom queen crown, Sarah had been head cheerleader.
“That a girl. It’s a little too late to chicken out now. Your hot dates will be here any minute. Besides, you told me your principal strongly recommended everyone
go to the reunion regardless of when or if he or she graduated from Pleasure High, right?” Ceci cocked a brow.
“I know, I know.” She had always enjoyed these get-togethers, especially when some of the retired teachers showed up, but there were always a few of those in her graduating class who still held a grudge and sent ugly stares. The doorbell rang and her nerves ratcheted again.
Ceci ran a hand down her shoulder. “Relax. It’s just the boys.”
The boys. Right. During the time Liam and Mason had been her bodyguards, they’d been totally professional, but once the man who’d kidnapped her had been patched up and tossed in jail, they kept asking her out. She’d accepted their invitation to dinner once or twice and had even enjoyed a motocross event where Gabe, Ceci’s fiancé, had competed, but Sarah wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. Not with her nightmares.
Ceci snapped her fingers in front of her. “You going to answer the door or what?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She rushed down the hallway, reached for the handle, and pulled open her front door. Whoa. That was one big wall of men. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Come on in.”
There was that uncomfortable moment when Gabe and Dylan peeled off and embraced Ceci. That left Mason and Liam standing there, their gaze soaking her in.
Awkward. “Hi.” She inhaled. “I know Gabe and Dylan are coercing you, but thank you for coming. High school reunions are dull if you don’t know anyone.” You’re babbling. Her people skills had just evaporated.
Liam grinned. “That’s not the case at all. I love being in a room full of people I don’t know.” He tilted his head to the side and raised his brows as if he was going to tell her a secret. “I make up stories about who they are. It can be fun.”
She relaxed a little. “I’d like to see if you can pick out the jocks and the beauty queens from all the aging folk.” It didn’t matter most present would be between twenty-eight and thirty-three. The graduating classes were so small, the reunion committee had clumped them in groups that spanned every five years.
Dylan dangled his keys in front of Mason. “Sarah, I hope you don’t have an issue riding alone with these two bozos. We’re going to take Ceci’s car.”
Mason snatched the set from his fingers.
“Sure. No problem.” Unless you call nervous sweat an issue.
As soon as everyone stepped outside, Sarah locked up.
Mason leaned close. “I’m glad to see you’re still taking precautions.”
She’d never locked her door before the murder happened. “I remember Gavin or Riley saying that these drug men were like cockroaches. Step on one and others show up.”
“You’ll be fine.”
Mason wrapped an arm around her waist. While he was usually the quiet one, he liked to touch. His warmth sent a sizzle up her spine. Stupid body. She was a mess emotionally, and these two fine men deserved someone better.
Dylan looked at Mason and nodded to his car. “Be careful.”
He smiled. “Always am, amigo.”
Ceci and her men headed to her car. Now it made sense why the four men had driven together. Liam opened the side door, and as she slipped in behind the driver’s side, Liam scanned the neighborhood. His paranoia must be built-in. Maybe part of belonging to the Elite Detective Services meant he always had to watch out for the bad guys. The problem was, it only made her jitters worse.
She fumbled with the seatbelt, trying to figure out which metal clip went to which latch.
Liam walked around to the other side and slid next to her. He reached across her and snapped the belt into place. His cologne was subtle and spicy and did things to her insides. She wasn’t supposed to be attracted to these men, but she was. Try as she might, she had yet to exorcise them from her mind.
Mason started the engine. “Watch out, folks. The time machine is a go.”
Sarah chuckled. Mason rarely made jokes, but she liked that he had. She then twisted toward Liam. “Why did you look around?”
He smiled. “Habit.”
“That man Dylan shot is still in jail, right?” His trial wouldn’t be for another month, though, so maybe he’d made bail.
“He is. Now relax. You’ll have six bodyguards in the gym. No one’s going to harm you.”
Relax? She’d forgotten what that word meant. Her therapist said it would take time to get over being blindfolded, her mouth duct-taped closed, and her hands secured, but how long would that be? Another month? A year? She wanted this nightmare to be over. After two months, she believed she was relatively safe from Harrison Kaplan and his drug men, but her dreams still haunted her.
Mason followed behind Ceci’s car. When they pulled into the high school parking lot, about sixty cars were scattered in various spaces.
“Looks like a good turnout,” Liam said, helping her out of the backseat.
“It does.” Now she’d be more nervous with so many around.
Both men must have sensed her reservation because they each entwined an arm through hers. At least now she’d enter with two gloriously muscled men. Their presence boosted her confidence.
Ceci and her two fiancés led the way. Inside, the gym was dripping in red, gold, and black streamers. Ceci glanced back at her. “Doesn’t this remind you of all the basketball games we used to watch?”
“Maybe, but I do work here, remember?” When she’d peeked in yesterday after her summer school class had let out, there were no decorations. Whoever organized this sure had worked fast.
“True.”
No sooner had Sarah set her purse and sweater on one of the round tables, than Mary Sue Elmwood rushed up to her and gave her a hug. “You came!”
Mary Sue and she had been on the same cheerleading squad. Now she worked at Thomas’s Hardware store. She married five years ago and already had three kids one right after the other. Sarah could never live with that kind of chaos.
“I did indeed.”
“The rest of the team is over by the stage. Come and say hello.” She leaned close and nodded to her escorts. “Who are they?”
If Mary Sue hadn’t been married, Sarah might have thought she was angling for a date. “These two men are—” What should she call them? Her former bodyguards? That sounded pretentious. “Liam and Mason.”
They shook hands. As if Liam could tell Sarah wasn’t sure how to handle this quasi date, he dragged a hand over her shoulder. “Let’s go meet these girls, hon. I’d like to hear what they have to say. I’m betting you and Mary Sue have aged the best.” His gaze shot to Mary Sue.
First off, Liam had never called her “hon” before and secondly, she wasn’t sure they should hear about some of their exploits back them. And what was up with him being so flirtatious? She didn’t like that.
“Come on.” Miss Pep clasped Sarah’s hand and half-dragged her through the crowd.
Four of the seven girls on the squad were there, all chatting at once. Of those missing, one had moved to Colorado right after high school and the other had passed away from an overdose. If the women had brought someone, they must have wandered off. Only Liam and Mason represented the opposite sex. While Mason didn’t ask any questions, Liam, like the good detective he was, tried to find out what the women were doing now. Too bad every time he asked a question, all four answered at once.
Mason squeezed her hand. “You want some punch or something?”
From his pained expression, he needed a break. “Sure.” She smiled and glanced to the ceiling.
He disappeared and Sarah once more got caught up in the chatter. One of the girl’s husbands came over to retrieve her and Sarah took advantage of the lull in conversation to excuse herself and Liam. “I need to check on Ceci.” She hoped he understood her need to change venue.
In the middle of the gym floor, she and Liam met Mason with the drinks. He handed her a cherry-flavored one. “See that girl doling out the punch? The one who’s wearing a black T-shirt and jeans?”
Sarah tried to be nonchalant and look over his
shoulder at the table. “That’s Debbie Litner. Why?”
He shrugged. “She gave me the evil eye.” He raised his brows as if he, too, found it interesting and fun to scope out people.
Sarah shook her head. “I think she’s just jealous that I’m with a hot guy.” She looked over at Liam. “I mean two hot guys. Ignore her. Let’s find Ceci.”
Ceci and her men were chatting with the former quarterback for the Pleasure Patriots. “Who’s he?” Liam asked with a lot of interest.
“Billy Jackson. He played ball for us.”
She caught the slight stiffening of Mason’s shoulders. “He any good?”
Sarah laughed. “Not any more. Look at him. He’s probably still strong since he works in the lumber department over at Thomas’s, but he drinks too much—or at least he used to.” She hadn’t seen Billy other than when she’d needed a piece of wood to board up a broken window a few months back.
Billy’s eyes lit up. “Hey, Sarah!”
She inwardly groaned. Mason’s hand slipped around her waist. Sure she and Billy dated their senior year, but they never professed undying love for each other. Maybe that was because after the team lost the regional finals, he dumped her and took up with Molly Anderson, a volleyball player, who quickly became pregnant. After a quiet marriage and a newborn seven months later, they divorced. As fast as was humanly possible, the entire Anderson family moved to Wyoming and was never heard from again.
Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Debbie, who’d moved from serving punch to speaking with Sarah’s favorite math teacher—Mr. Dunwoody, who’d retired the year she graduated. He was looking pale, but then again, he’d been old back when he taught her.