by Becca Van
Slick Rock 8
Accepting Eva
Evana Woodridge has had to deal with disparaging comments from ignorant people her whole life. Because she walks with a limp and wears a supportive brace on one leg, she feels like men never look at her twice—not until the Badon brothers come along.
Quin, Gray, and Pierson, Slick Rock’s sexy new mechanics, are determined to overcome Eva’s self-doubt and show her the kind of love her new hometown has to offer. She’s convinced that what they feel for her is pity, not love, but no matter how hard she tries to keep the Badon brothers at arm’s length, her desire for them gets the better of her.
But just when the Badons think they’re getting through to Eva, her past catches up with her. Can the brothers get to her in time?
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Genre: Contemporary, Western/Cowboys, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 39,937 words
ACCEPTING EVA
Slick Rock 8
Becca Van
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
ACCEPTING EVA
Copyright © 2012 by Becca Van
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-085-8
First E-book Publication: December 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 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.
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PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my son. He was born with congenital hip dysplasia and had many operations from a baby and hopefully suffered through the last one earlier this year. He is now eighteen years old and is one of the most gentle, caring human beings I know. I am very proud of you, Chris. I couldn’t have asked for a better son.
Love always, Mum.xxoo
ACCEPTING EVA
Slick Rock 8
BECCA VAN
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
She spun around when hands gripped her hips from behind. Her grocery bags landed on the ground near her car and she cringed, stepping away until her back came up against the cool metal body.
“Don’t touch me again.” Evana Woodridge glared at the man angrily. Why did men think they could do whatever the hell they liked? He raised his arms and held his hands up, palms facing her in a nonthreatening manner. He looked down at her leg and then back to her eyes and took a couple of steps back.
“I saw you limping and thought you may need a steadying hand.” His gaze left hers and he stared at her leg again before sneering. “Obviously I was wrong.” He turned and walked away without a backward glance.
Evana slumped against the side of her car and sighed over her reaction. She had nearly bitten the poor guy’s head off. He probably was harmless and wanted nothing more than to genuinely help her, but he was a stranger and had put his hands on her. She didn’t need his pity or anyone else’s. She was sick and tired of being treated differently.
Looking across the parking lot, she met the eyes of a little boy being towed along by his mother. The boy was paying no attention to where he was going, staring instead at Eva. She was used to it and tried to summon up a smile for him. He looked up at his mom and asked loudly, “Mommy, what’s wrong with the lady’s leg?”
The woman glanced at Eva and then looked away just as quickly. Eva heard her mutter something to the boy, probably telling him not to stare, and then she tugged him away faster.
Eva sighed. She didn’t mind curious children so much, at least she didn’t now that she wasn’t a child herself. Some adults were a lot worse, though.
She looked down at the two metal bars running parallel to the length of her right leg. They were attached to a special boot she wore and held in place by a sturdy leather cuff. She grimaced at it. Normally she didn’t have a problem standing up for herself when people were rude, but today she just felt tired. She didn’t believe in self-pity, but for just a moment she reflected on the twenty-three years of putting up with other people’s hang-ups about her disability. It weighed her down.
She looked down at the grocery bags. A ready-made salad was visible in the top of one. Her stomach growled. You’re just tired and hungry. Driving for two days to get to Slick Rock had taken a lot out of her. That was why she was feeling so disheartened.
Unlocking her car, she tried to cheer herself up. She was going to her motel room, where she could relax and plan out her sightseeing. She’d take a river tour and maybe indulge in a spa day at the Gateway Canyons Resort. The thought of someone pampering her by giving her a massage as well as a full-body treatment made some of the tension in her body ease. It had been nearly two years since she’d taken a vacation and it was beginning to show. She couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t carried around any sort of stress. She was a stockbroker and had just been retrenched due to the worldwide economic downturn, which gave her the time she needed to take a break. Although she had loved her job, the stress had started to wear on her mind and body, and even if she could get employment with another stoc
kbroking firm, Evana wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“Are you okay, miss?”
Evana straightened and turned to face the man who was walking toward her. He was built! His shoulders were so wide she wondered if he would have to walk through a door sideways, but his strong chest tapered down to a flat, ridged abdomen and slim hips. The muscles in his thighs flexed beneath the denim of his jeans, and for such a big man, he looked graceful as he moved.
The man stopped a few feet away from her and perused her. Not once did revulsion or pity cross his handsome face. In fact his scrutiny was downright flattering.
His shoulder-length blond hair framed his square, rugged face, bristly with stubble, making his piercing blue eyes seem brighter. His height—he had to stand at least six and a half feet tall—and the tattoos she glimpsed on his muscled biceps made him seem slightly dangerous but no less enticing. She tried to peek at the design of the tattoos, but his tight black T-shirt covered most of them.
Evana cleared her throat and remembered that he’d asked her a question. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“Do you need help getting your shopping into your car?”
Evana glanced down at the two bags she had forgotten were at her feet. She bent down and picked them up. “I’ve got them.” She finally turned away from the drool-worthy man and opened the back door, placed her groceries inside, and closed the door again. When she turned around to face him once more, his eyes were glued to her lower body. Has he been checking out my ass? No, surely not. Most men ran away from her once they saw the bars on her leg.
He took another step closer and smiled in a chagrined kind of way, as if realizing that she’d caught him looking. Lifting his arm, he offered her his hand. “I’m Quin Badon. I run one of the car shops in town. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
She took his hand and barely managed to hold in a gasp when warm tingles pulsed between their skin and raced up her arm. Quickly snatching her hand away, she opened her mouth, snapped it closed again, took a deep breath, and tried again. “I’m Evana Woodridge and I’ve never been here before.”
“Well, I’m pleased to meet you, Evana. If you ever need someone to look at your car or to show you the sights while you’re here, give me a call.” Quin put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out a card. He handed it to her, gave her a mock salute, then turned and walked away.
Evana watched him go. He looked as good going as he did coming. His ass flexed and his shoulders rippled as he strode away with a loose-limbed gait. She sighed when he turned a corner and was out of her sight. Did he just offer to take me on a date? No, Evana, get that thought out of your head right now. He was only being friendly. She got into the driver’s seat and started her car. After one more longing look in the direction Quin had gone, she sighed, put her car into drive, and headed toward the motel.
Although Evana was tired and wanted nothing more than to shower, eat, and curl up in the motel bed, her muscles felt too tight. Warm water only did so much, and she knew she needed to walk to stretch out her constrained muscles before she settled in for the night. It was late afternoon, but she still had at least another hour of daylight left. So after putting her salad in the small fridge in her room, she pocketed her key and set out on foot.
The Slick Rock Motel was on the west side of town but still close enough that if she decided to walk into the town center, she could with ease, most of the time. She’d also seen there were rooms to rent at the Slick Rock Hotel, but the thought of renting a room over a noisy bar didn’t appeal. Apparently the motel was fairly new, so at least it should be clean and hopefully quiet.
Her right calf was tight after spending two days behind the wheel of her car, and experience warned that if she didn’t stretch her muscles, her night would be spent in debilitating pain from cramping. She was just thankful she didn’t suffer cramps as regularly as she had when she was a child.
Pain hit hard and fast. Evana cried out as her right leg collapsed beneath her. Her hands connected with the pavement, and the skin of her palms scraped on the abrasive surface, skinning them and her knees when the material of her pants shredded as she landed on all fours. Evana panicked slightly when she looked around. There was no one about since she had taken a route away from the town center. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t taken any notice of where she was walking. The only building in sight looked like a warehouse or a small factory.
“Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered and eased onto her ass. She pulled up the leg of her three-quarter-length pants and quickly undid both the cuff below her knee and her boot. She pulled off the boot, taking her sock with it. Digging her fingers into the knots only helped slightly. She wasn’t strong enough to massage the cramp away.
Pain shot from her calf and shin into her foot. The arch of her foot twitched and then contracted, making her toes curl under. Tears formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She hated giving into them, but the pain was so intense she couldn’t ward them off. There was no way she could even stand when she was swamped with such agony. She sobbed and dug her fingers in harder, but nothing she did alleviated the pain.
The pounding of boots hitting pavement was only a vague distraction as she gasped and writhed. Strong arms scooped her up from the ground, and she looked up to see Quin Badon’s grim face. “Put your arm around my neck, honey. I won’t hurt you.”
Evana did and then cried out as another excruciating cramp hit. Her body bowed, trying to get away from the discomfort, but she knew it was a useless endeavor. Coolness washed over her when Quin carried her into his shop, and then she was being lowered into a chair. He had brought her to the office off the side of his workshop.
“What’s going on?” a male voice asked from the doorway.
She looked up through blurry vision and saw two handsome men looking at her with concern. She arched in the chair when more pain swamped her.
“Gray, get the hand wash from the bathroom,” Quin ordered. He picked up her right leg, placed her foot on his thigh, and began to massage her calf.
Evana whimpered as his strong fingers dug into her contracting muscles. Even though it caused her more pain, she knew that eventually the knot would release and give her blessed relief.
“Can I do anything to help?” the other man asked.
“Yeah, go and see if we have something we can heat up,” Quin replied. “Wait.” He reached over to his side, pulled open a drawer in the desk, and grabbed a wheat bag. “Get this as hot as you can without it burning her and bring it back.”
Evana closed her eyes and tried to relax her tension-wrought body. It was nearly impossible with the cramping. Gray came back and handed Quin the bottle of hand wash. He stopped massaging, squirted some of the liquid into the palm of his hand, and then rubbed his hands together. Once he had coated his skin, he began to massage her tight muscles once more. The liquid helped his skin slide over hers as he dug into the massive knots, and he used his thigh to put pressure on her toes, bending them back toward her shin and stretching her sole.
How long Quin worked on her she had no idea, but when the pain finally eased and then her muscles released, she was really tired. She slumped back into the large office chair and covered her mouth, hiding a yawn.
“Are you okay, Evana?” Quin asked.
“Yes.” She opened her eyes and gave him a wan smile. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have…”
“I’m just glad I could help.” He looked over toward the office door, and the other man handed over a hot wheat bag. “I’m going to tape this to your leg. The heat should help keep the cramps away, then we’ll see about cleaning up your grazes.”
“Oh.” Evana looked at her palms. Blood was seeping out of her torn skin. She hoped she hadn’t spread it everywhere when she had been in pain.
“Pierson, Grayson, meet Evana Woodridge. These are my brothers,” Quin said as he taped the hot pack to her leg.
“Hi,” Evana replied politely but kept her eyes lowered. She felt l
ike a complete idiot now that her pain was gone.
“Let me see your hands, Evana. I’ll clean them up for you.” Evana looked up and went still. The brother Quin had introduced as Pierson had gold-green eyes. The color was so unusual, she couldn’t look away. She felt as if she were drowning.
When she managed to take in the rest of him, she found that he was as well built as his brother. His muscles rippled and bulged as he moved. His six-foot-two frame had to carry over two hundred pounds of solid muscle. She raised her eyes to his light-brown hair and saw his lips quirk. When she realized she was staring, heat suffused her cheeks. She shielded her eyes with her lashes and turned her hands over for him to clean. Pierson swabbed her skin with antiseptic pads. The sting of the alcohol was nothing compared to what she had just endured, so she didn’t even flinch.
Quin reached over and took another two packets from the first-aid kit Pierson had placed on the desk. He ripped one open and then cleaned her grazed knees.
“There you go. How’s the leg?”
“Much better. Thank you,” she replied, reaching for the tape.
A large hand covered hers. “No, leave it on, honey. The heat will help. Would you like a cup of coffee?” Quin asked.
She didn’t feel up to walking back yet. “Yes, please.”
Quin held her right ankle and maneuvered until he could reach another chair. He pulled it closer and then eased her foot down onto the seat.
“How do you take your coffee, Evana?” Grayson asked from the doorway. She drew in a ragged breath. All three Badon brothers were tall and ruggedly handsome. Gray had rich brown hair and brown eyes. His jaw was strong and square. Glancing between them, Evana noticed they all had indentations in their chins. Gray was taller than Pierson but shorter than Quin and no less muscular.
