Lucy's Revenge [Divine Creek Ranch 15] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
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Divine Creek Ranch 15
Lucy’s Revenge
Lucy Carter is striving to succeed as a self-employed licensed massage therapist and to bolster her flagging self-confidence. The ménage of her fantasies, featuring her best friends, seems to be on the back burner.
Single dad Patrick Owen has been refined in the fires of betrayal. Now he knows exactly what he wants—Lucy Carter—and he’s ready to claim her along his best friend.
Beekeeper Beck O’Malley’s heart has been shattered, and he withdraws from the world until Lucy heals his heart. He’s held the spirited woman at arm's length, until he can no longer fight his attraction to her. Unfortunately, Beck and Lucy clash nearly as often as they kiss, and his possessiveness sets her on edge even as she falls deeper in love with him.
When Lucy is drawn into a life-threatening crisis, all of their differences and struggles are brought into perspective. But by then will it be too late?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 124,462 words
LUCY’S REVENGE
Divine Creek Ranch 15
Heather Rainier
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
LUCY’S REVENGE
Copyright © 2013 by Heather Rainier
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-579-9
First E-book Publication: September 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
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Lucy’s Revenge by Heather Rainier from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Heather Rainier’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Rainier’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
To Mr. Rainier, who has taught me so much about what it means to take joy from serving others.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks first, to all the readers who love my stories. The encouraging and edifying e-mails I receive truly humble and thrill me. I’m exceedingly grateful to the fabulous Divine Divas on Facebook who make Online promotion seem more like play and less like work. Because of their tireless efforts, Divine, Texas, is so much more well-known and well-loved.
Thank you to Candace R. for her help with several scenes. I like story elements to be as accurate as possible and I very much appreciate her sharing her expertise and experience with me.
Thank you very much to my beta, Stormy, for her tireless efforts helping me put forth the best possible story. She has been an enthusiastic cheerleader and a sympathetic ear when I’ve struggled.
Thank you to Morgan Ashbury, also known as Cara Covington. Creating the next Divine/Lusty crossover has been a pleasure. Morgan is such a sweet and caring person, easy to work with, and so patient with my questions and mental mishaps. I look forward to creating more with her in the future.
Thank you to my publisher, Diana DeBalko, and her amazing staff at Siren-BookStrand. If I’ve had any luck at all in my career, it has been finding my niche in digital publishing with these wonderful, professional people, many of whom I also value as friends. I can never say thank you enough.
And to you, the reader. Thank you for purchasing this book and making it possible for me to continue to share more Divine stories with readers.
CAST OF MAIN CHARACTERS IN BOOK READING ORDER
Divine Grace
Grace (Stuart) Warner is co-owner of Harper Embroidery. She’s also invested in and works at Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique located in Morehead.
Jack Warner, Ethan Grant, and Adam Davis. These three distant cousins are owners of the Divine Creek Ranch, a horse ranch specializing in the breeding of Andalusian horses. Jack is also a building contractor. Adam is an HVAC and electrical contractor. Ethan co-owns the Dancing Pony nightclub, located in Divine.
They have one daughter, Rose Marie.
Her Gentle Giant (Part One & Two)
Rachel (Lopez) Wolf was employed at Thorne Home Theater as a bookkeeper. She now does the books for Discretion and is a stay-at-home mom.
Eli Wolf was one of the bouncers at the Dancing Pony and is now licensed as an EMT.
They have one son, Levi.
Heavenly Angel
Teresa (Palacios) Martinez worked at Stigall’s with Grace and is now invested in Discretion and works there part time when not caring for her children.
Angel and Joaquin Martinez are brothers and horse breeding specialists who handle the breeding operation on the Divine Creek Ranch.
They have two sons, Michael and Eleazar.
Rosemary’s Double Delight
Rosemary (Piper) Garner splits her time between the family business, Cheaver’s Western Store, and her husbands’ business, Garner Custom Furniture.
Wes and Evan Garner are brothers and self-employed custom furniture craftsmen who have known Rosemary since kindergarten. Rosemary is expecting their first child.
Spurs and Heels
Juliana (Meyer) Peterson, an admitted perfectionist, was the manager of Stigall’s Department Store and is now a buyer for Discretion Boutique.
Ash Peterson, a former bareback bronc riding champion, is the foreman of th
e Divine Creek Ranch and runs all of the day-to-day operations.
They have a son named Will.
Maya’s Triple Dare
Maya (Daire) Warner is a registered nurse specializing in obstetric and pediatric care. She works with Doctor Emma Rivers.
Kendall, Boone, and Richard Warner are brothers, and first cousins of Jack Warner. They are partners in the MWTD Cattle Ranch, which backs up to Divine Creek and borders the Divine Creek Ranch.
Summer’s Indiscretion
Summer (Heston) Webster and her sister Margot are proprietors of Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique in nearby Morehead, Texas.
Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier are adopted brothers who are also partners in a security and private investigation operation. Ace and Kemp have assisted a number of the heroes and heroines in Divine, Texas, including their wife, Summer.
Lydia’s Twin Temptation
Lydia (Webster) Carlisle is a professional chef. She came to the Rockin’ C Ranch as a chef and wound up falling in love with both Chance and Clayton Carlisle. Her older brother, Ace, was not pleased.
Chance and Clayton Carlisle are twin brothers who own the Rockin’ C Ranch, a very large cattle operation outside of Divine.
Their Divine Doctor
Doctor Emma (Guthrie) Rivers is a family practitioner in Divine, Texas.
Duke Rivers and Gage Randall are cousins who were raised as brothers. They are IT consultants and also work on a contract basis for Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier.
Divine Phoenix
Lily (Valentine) Cook is a Divine native, recently returned home. She is a student and works with her husband at Clay Cook Jewelry.
Clay and Del Cook are brothers who are long-lost friends of Lily’s. Clay is a jeweler and sculptor and Del is a rancher, recently returned from a long stint as a contractor for a private military company.
Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion
Jayne (Sheridan) Carter is head librarian at the Divine Memorial Library.
Seth Carter is a tattoo artist and owner of Divine Ink Tattoo Studio, located in downtown Divine. Sparks Fly! features their introduction to each other and sexy reunions with all the previous main characters in the series, centered around a July 4th family reunion.
Margot’s Hunger
Margot Heston and her sister, Summer, are proprietors of Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique located in nearby Morehead.
Jake Redman is a private investigations and security subcontractor.
Gil James is the foreman at the Rockin’ C Ranch.
His Tattooed Virgin
Jayne (Sheridan) Carter is the head librarian at the Divine Memorial Library.
Seth Carter is a tattoo artist and owner of Divine Ink Tattoo Studio located in downtown Divine. They have a son named Toby. Jayne and Seth were introduced to each other in Sparks Fly! Their full love story is told in His Tattooed Virgin.
Tiny Dancer
Camilla (O’Neal) Parks is the owner of the Twisted Bull nightclub and Chantilly’s Steakhouse, located in Morehead.
Ben Lawrence and Quinten Parks are business partners with Ethan Grant in The Dancing Pony nightclub.
They are expecting twins.
Tangled In Divine
Gwen (Henderson) Alvarez is a retired world barrel racing champion and a consultant specializing in horse training and teaching barrel racing techniques.
Julian Alvarez and Chris Potter are full-time ranchers who run the Bucking H Ranch in Colorado and the Bucking H2 Ranch in Divine.
I hope you enjoy the next installment in the Divine Creek Ranch Collection…
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Cast of Main Characters in Book Reading Order
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
Epilogue
About the Author
LUCY’S REVENGE
Divine Creek Ranch 15
HEATHER RAINIER
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
The heavy scent of early spring rain filled the air as Beck O’Malley charged out the front door of the Dancing Pony, his cell phone held to his chest. The noise of the downpour wouldn’t make it much easier to hear the phone call outside but at least he had a little privacy. Two nightclub patrons exited the club as he took a couple of breaths and tried to swallow around the tightening in his throat. An unwelcome sense of foreshadowing hit him as he heard the chorus of “Wanted You More” by Lady Antebellum playing inside the club before the door swung closed.
He’d hoped to hear from Chloe Rhodes for the better part of a year. He needed to hear her voice but was afraid of what she’d say, and his heart was in his throat. Was she ready to come home? Did she need him to come get her? He hadn’t prayed in a long time but he sent a fervent prayer heavenward.
“That’s better. I can hear you now,” he murmured as he strained to hear every sound, every nuance of her voice on the other end.
“I called your place and left a message on the machine, but I really wanted to give you my news myself. In real time.” Her voice was like silk sliding over his nerve endings, her familiar accent a caress to his soul. Then her words and the hesitancy in her tone registered. The damp chill in the air sank into his skin through his shirtsleeves and gooseflesh rose on his skin. No.
He swallowed again. “What news, Chloe?”
“I’m…I’m getting married. I…you know I’m living in Lusty. I met someone…” He heard a raspy chuckle and knew that sound. She was fighting tears. “I met a couple of someones, actually. Grant and Andrew Jessop. They’re good men.” Her words registered and pain flared in his heart and his head. His jaw felt locked shut as she quickly continued, speaking faster. She always talked a little faster when she was nervous. “You are a good man, Beck. I know there’s someone special out there, just waiting for you. I know you’re going to find her.”
“Yeah, there was, and I already did.” He clenched his jaw until the pain swelled in his head. He’d held on all that time, holding out hope that she’d come back to him—that she’d change her mind.
He could barely hear her as she replied. “No, Beck. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t be that someone for you. And maybe—” His heart clenched when he heard her sob. “Maybe someday when you do meet your one and only, you’ll understand.”
“You’re crying. You cried when you left.” She had such a tender heart and she’d cried as she’d left him the year before. He’d thought everything was fine between them and had even bought an engagement ring, bartering his services to Clay Cook to help cover the cost of it. The proposal hadn’t gone anything like what he’d hoped for. She’d cried and refused him. A week later she was gone. He’d never understood why his love hadn’t been strong enough to make her want to stay. “Chloe…I never wanted to make you cry.”
Her voice was stronger as she said, “You didn’t. You have never made me cry. It was just the circumstances. Any pain inflicted on me I did to myself. And you. God, I’m so sorry I hurt you. But I think that all along, I knew I wasn’t the one for you…and you weren’t the one for me.”
No. No. No! You were perfect for me. So perfect! The center of his chest felt like it was being torn open from t
he inside out. An involuntary quiver shook him and his jaw trembled. He held the phone to his ear and clutched his arm, trying to hold it together.
“I still love you, Chloe Diane.” A hot tear tracked down his cheek, followed by another one. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to stop loving you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and he could hear her heart in her words. “I wish…well...” Please don’t say you wish we could be friends. She let out a shaky breath. “Good-bye, Beck O’Malley. Take care of yourself.”
“Chloe—I—” Don’t beg. You’ll only hurt her worse and humiliate yourself besides. “Good-bye, Chloe Rhodes.” He held the phone to his ear until the connection ended. Tight with agony, Beck stepped out from under the deep awning, into the downpour. February rain was cold rain but he didn’t feel it as it soaked his shirt, his hair, his beard, and jeans, running into his eyes and blending with his tears.
He stumbled to the truck, fishing his keys from his jeans pocket, grateful that they weren’t in his jacket pocket back in the nightclub. There was no way he would go back in there. He didn’t feel like being pelted with questions.
Pulling open the door of his truck, he slumped into the driver’s seat, too weary to climb all the way in and close the door and shut out the weather. He welcomed it, actually. Maybe the cold would ease the pain that lanced his heart like a hot poker.