Rainier, Heather - Summer's Indiscretion [Divine Creek Ranch 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
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Divine Creek Ranch 7
Summer's Indiscretion
Summer Heston is ready to give up on men and has sworn off blind dates permanently. A chance text message and phone conversation with two mysterious friends of Grace’s changes her mind. A dangerous situation literally thrusts her into their powerful arms as the attacks on her ladies’ adults-only boutique escalate and the tone of the Divine Morality blog grows more blatantly hateful.
Ace and Kemp work diligently to protect the women of Discretion while simultaneously striving to win Summer’s heart. A minor mistake on Kemp’s part has big repercussions for their budding romance as their ability to withstand their growing attraction for Summer crumbles. When their passion finally flares out of control, their intimate tryst becomes much more than a minor indiscretion.
When an old flame knocks at the door, Summer must face her doubts and make a decision. Can she trust her instincts?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 85,478 words
SUMMER’S INDISCRETION
Divine Creek Ranch 7
Heather Rainier
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
SUMMER’S INDISCRETION
Copyright © 2011 by Heather Rainier
E-book ISBN: 1-61034-903-2
First E-book Publication: September 2011
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
Randy Rogers Band. Lyrics. “Steal You Away.” Burning the Day. MCA, Nashville, A Division of UMG. © 2010.
Scott, Ray. Lyrics. “Do It with the Lights On.” Crazy Like Me. Jethropolitan Records. © 2008.
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 Summer’s Indiscretion 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
Summer’s Indiscretion is dedicated to every woman who has ever been judged for her dress size or body shape and been found wanting, by others or by herself. My sincerest hope is that every woman reading this book, regardless of her size, will look in the mirror today and acknowledge in her heart that she is beautiful.
“…having lost 100 pounds...I only need to say this: It would have been wonderful to know and believe that I was beautiful, as I was.”
-Holly Sweet
For his devotion and unfailing belief in me, this book is also dedicated to the man who loves me just as I am. My husband. I love you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
People come and go in our lives and my acknowledgements have grown along with the Divine Creek Ranch Collection.
I’d like to thank my tireless cheerleaders who put up so forgivingly with my disappearances into the writing cave: Christi, Jennifer and Tonya.
Thank you to all my readers and the fans who send email and interact with me on Facebook. I love every minute of the time I spend visiting with you.
Thank you, Sophie Oak, for reaching out to me as a new author and becoming my friend. I love your perverted sense of humor and I’m looking forward to the next getaway weekend.
For giving me encouragement, love, and support when I needed it, thank you to the Righteous Perverts. Their creativity, uniqueness, naughtiness, and total supportiveness have meant more to me than I can express with mere words. Their rampaging rants are especially inspiring.
I offer my sincerest gratitude and respect to my publisher, Diana DeBalko of Siren Publishing. Your words of wisdom and encouragement still echo in my heart.
Thanks also to my editors and the staff of Siren Publishing. Without their tireless efforts and creativity the Divine Creek Ranch would not exist as it does today. They are worth their weight in chocolate.
SUMMER’S INDISCRETION
Divine Creek Ranch 7
HEATHER RAINIER
Copyright © 2011
Chapter One
Never again.
A lump of disappointment swelled in her throat as Summer Heston did her best to smile at her blind date, knowing this one was a dud, too. Grace Warner and Rachel Wolf had talked her into a blind date with a new coworker of Rachel’s. It had taken both of them to convince her, and now she wished she’d trusted her instincts. She glanced across the table and caught Grace’s apologetic grimace. Everyone had “off” nights, even Grace. The good Lord knew Summer understood that. She was having an “off” decade.
This time I’ve learned my lesson.
At least this guy wasn’t as insulting as that jerk Kent Hargrove had been the weekend before. Kent had been rude and belittling to her until Jack Warner had rescued her by inviting her onto the dance floor. Kent had been gone when she’d returned. No, this guy didn’t speak to her as though she were an ignorant child. He just flat-out ignored her.
After arriving for their blind date at The Dancing Pony, Taylor Vance had taken one look at Summer when Grace and Rachel had introduced them, and the disappointment had been clear in his eyes and his body language. He’d made polite conversation with her, fiddled with h
is phone a couple of times, and then one of his wingmen had conveniently shown up. They’d been involved in a conversation about work from that point on. Unless she spoke directly to him he seemed content to pretend she wasn’t there.
Never again. It’s not worth it.
Summer had a feeling she’d just hit bottom in the dating world. She felt bad for Grace, who sat there with an expression that alternated between embarrassment and disgust. Even Grace’s normally stellar instincts as a matchmaker couldn’t hook her up with a winner.
Grace leaned over to Summer while Taylor continued his discussion with his friend and said, “I’m so sorry, Summer. He seemed like such a nice guy when I met him in Rachel’s office. I thought you would hit it off. I saw the way he looked you over like he was disappointed. It was rude of him and stupid of me to misjudge him. Can you forgive me?”
Summer smiled and waved a hand dismissively. She could get through this night, no problem. “At least he’s not verbally insulting me. We didn’t click. Some men just don’t care for curvy women.”
I’m never doing this to myself again.
“Not even beautiful, vivacious, and clever, curvy women,” Grace said, frowning at Taylor’s back. Summer couldn’t decide who Grace was more disgusted with, herself or Taylor.
The intro for “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” began to play, and Grace’s face brightened up considerably. Summer grinned as Ethan helped his pregnant wife from his lap then kissed her before she walked to the dance floor. Many others left their tables, including Rosemary, Corina, Bernadette, Juliana, Teresa.
Maya was still recuperating at home, having just been released from the hospital a few days before. Her men, Kendall, Boone, and Richard Warner, were understandably protective of her after she’d been shot by her deceased husband’s business partner. It had recently been discovered that he had also been accused of murdering her husband.
Summer turned to Taylor to let him know she was off to dance also, but he was so caught up in his conversation he didn’t even notice as she slipped from her chair. She decided to leave him alone.
As they walked together, Rachel asked, “Want to bet on which of the guys is going to take Taylor’s head off for ignoring you like that?”
“Oh, no.” Summer turned to look over at their table, but couldn’t see as the club was too crowded.
“I don’t want any drama tonight. I wish they’d just let this date fizzle out without saying anything.”
“I can’t promise you that. The guys don’t take kindly to seeing their women mistreated, and I can promise you that they take his behavior as an insult to you. He should have better manners.”
Summer glanced again at the table.
“Stop worrying about him and let’s have some fun,” Grace called as they joined the others on the packed dance floor.
The evening couldn’t get any worse, so Summer decided to let her hair down and have fun wherever it found her. Taylor bought into the “stick thin is beautiful” stereotype, and that was his loss. Summer knew what she’d looked like tonight in her silky turquoise dress when she’d stood in front of the mirror. She was going to enjoy herself. How much did she really value his opinion? She hardly even knew the man.
No more blind dates ever again.
The pounding beat pulsed in her blood, and she moved with the music. Away from Taylor, her self-confidence returned. It wasn’t like she’d been hoping for a commitment. But it sure would be nice to be the object of someone’s adoration for a change. She smiled softly at Grace’s pregnant, but undeniably sexy, grinding moves and got into the dance.
* * * *
Ace Webster sat still in his chair, his gaze focused on the beautiful blonde on the dance floor. Her perfectly voluptuous body undulated with a flawless rhythm to the beat of the music, and he wasn’t a bit surprised when his cock hardened in response to her glorious display.
Ace’s business partner, Kemp Whittier, sounded a bit strained from where he sat next to Ace. “Tell me again why we’re not over there getting to know her better?”
Ace chuckled, sympathizing with Kemp. The woman they watched was all kinds of beautiful, but they were focused on a job tonight, doing a favor for friends who needed their help. He relaxed in his seat, casually surveying the crowd. Watching her.
He was vigilant for onlookers using a handheld recording device. The video posted on the Divine Morality blog appeared to have been made on a cell phone or small camcorder as the recording was zoomed in at times on one of the girls then zoomed out to capture a group. The subjects were always centered in the shots as though the person shooting the image was watching on a screen or through a viewfinder rather than merely aiming a spycam.
He scanned the approximate area from which the last two clips were shot, hoping the person doing the recording favored routine. They’d been watchful the weekend before and had actually followed a suspect home, but the lead had turned up no connection when Duke checked into it. The only good thing to come out of last weekend’s stakeout had been seeing Summer dance for the first time. Unfortunately, by the time they’d returned to the club, she was being escorted out to her car by Eli Wolf.
Kemp now sat with him at their table, alert but relaxed as he sipped his drink casually and murmured, “Damn, she’s beautiful.”
His appreciative tone of voice spoke volumes to Ace, and he didn’t bother to hide his grin. Kemp hadn’t shown interest in a woman in ages. Getting laid was one thing, but Ace couldn’t remember the last time Kemp had been involved with a woman for more than a night or two.
Kemp had liked Kathleen Stevens when they’d met two years before, but she and Ace had already been dating for a while. Ace had asked him if there was an interest in a threesome. Kemp had told him he could tell that what Ace felt for her was real and he didn’t want to interfere with what Ace had with her by bringing up the notion. Not that Ace’s feelings had mattered much in the end.
Kathleen had come to Ace’s house one day in a very emotional state a few months after they’d started dating and had told him that she needed to leave the area. He’d never gotten a good explanation from her, then or later. He’d missed her for weeks afterward but hadn’t heard from her since.
As a private investigator, he could’ve discovered her whereabouts at any time but figured that if Kathleen didn’t want to share her reasons for leaving he should respect that. It had hurt like hell, and a number of times he’d almost gone after her. She’d assured him she was doing the right thing and hoped he would forgive her but made no promises she’d ever return to him. Eventually, he’d moved on with his life.
Once again, Ace’s eyes were drawn to Summer. A man would have to be dead not to be turned on by that incredibly beautiful woman. She was a gorgeous, curvy armful of woman, and the thought of holding her to him made his dick harden even more. She had an hourglass figure with full breasts, a lithe waist that his hands itched to span, and rounded hips. He groaned as he imagined staring into her eyes while he sank balls-deep inside her. Her eyes sparkled as she danced right now, and Ace wondered what color they were.
Kemp shifted in his seat with a discomfited look on his face, and Ace grinned in commiseration. Kemp was probably thinking parallel thoughts of his own.
Summer flicked her long, thick blonde hair over her shoulder, and Ace imagined the feel of it running through his fingertips right before he kissed her. Her lips would be sweet, full, and soft. A delightful precursor to what else he wanted to do with her.
He shook his head and realized he’d been in full fantasy mode while on the clock, so to speak. This job was gratis for Grace and her friends. They had to find the creep—or creeps—who were posting hateful statements about her and the other girls.
His eyes scanned the crowd as the girls danced and gyrated, and growled softly in triumph. Across the room he could clearly see a man with a cell phone aimed right at the girls. Like the other men in the seats around him, he must’ve been too distracted to be more secretive in his actions.
“Hell, yes.”
“I’ll let Duke know.”
The only thing left to do was wait until the man left the nightclub then they would follow him. As the dance music faded, Kemp fired off several quick texts then slipped the phone back in his pocket. The sight of the cell phone gave Ace an idea.
Pulling his own out, Ace selected Grace’s number and sent her a text message.
* * * *
A few minutes after the song was over and they were all back at the table, Summer watched Grace remove her cell phone from her evening bag. Grace squinted at the display and then smiled widely. Summer observed as she sent back a brief text message.
Taylor continued ignoring her, having never acknowledged her return. Rachel drew Summer into a conversation, but a minute later she felt Grace’s touch at her shoulder. Grace placed her phone in Summer’s hand, pointed at it, and said, “For you.”
Summer looked down and gasped.
“He’s not paying attention to you like he should.”
Summer glanced up at her friend, and Grace whispered, “Trust me. You want to answer him.”
“Who are you?”
“A man who wants to take you away from that prick. I would, but I’m working.”
With shaking fingers, she typed, “Where are you?”