by Zoey Thames
Lucas had talked about luck. Christie kept telling her the universe was going to send something wonderful her way. Dan was talking about love. All of them were right. She only had to believe. To accept it. To trust, move on from the times she’d been hurt, and take a chance on love again. Because these were good men. Rich or poor, they were good men, strong and dedicated and kind. Men she wouldn’t hesitate to introduce to her father. Men she knew her friends would envy her for having in her life. She had sent them away…and they had come right back. Not only that, but they were crazy, buying a restaurant even though they had no clue how to run one, but allowing Jim to have the retirement he’d always dreamed of.
And then they intended to sell the place to her. Not give it to her. She would earn it and own it. She would pay for it, even if she had to make payments. But the place would be hers alone. A place to take pride in, to really make shine.
But even if they hadn’t done all that, she still couldn’t deny her true feelings. Her feelings, her love for them, had been clear long before she’d learned they were billionaires. She was simply going to trust those feelings. Those feelings shouted to the world that she loved these two men with all of her heart.
“I love you,” she whispered. She looked each of them in the eye, her voice tight with emotion. “God, I love you both so much. I don’t even have the words to describe how I feel inside.” She clenched her fist over her heart, staring at them, desperate that they believe her.
Dan kissed her again. Then Lucas was capturing her mouth with a kiss that had her toes curling with pleasure. When he finally ended the kiss, he left her breathing hard and the tight ache of desire gathering in her pussy.
Loud applause broke out. They all jumped and glanced toward the dining room through the opening of the kitchen pass-through. Christie was there, grinning like a fool and wiping at her running mascara, along with dozens of other faces. Folks of Junction Falls she’d been serving for years. They were grinning and cheering. There was even a pizza delivery guy, who appeared a little confused by the hubbub but seemed game enough.
Dan and Lucas held her as the people cheered. When the cheering finally died down, Lucas reluctantly let her go and faced them.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight. And thank you for your support. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. To us. Now…pizza’s here. Who’s hungry?”
Another cheer went up, the loudest one yet. This time, Josie joined in. She was happier than she’d ever been. With two wonderful men, men she loved and who loved her for who she was.
As simple as that.
EPILOGUE
Six months later…
Josie tipped back her yellow hard hat and stared at the Highland Grill’s new kitchen she’d help design. State of the art grill, industrial hood, all new stainless, reworked storage that increased the available workspace, deep prep sinks, and better overhead lighting. The workmen had just finished putting in the new industrial dishwasher, and now everything was complete. Back here anyway.
The dining area was also receiving a huge facelift and update. Even the stage for live music had been redesigned to make it easier to set up equipment. New booths, tables, and flooring, but the same style of country decor, with all the “classic” Highland elements kept. The restaurant was too much a local feature to mess around with completely. Besides, she loved it as is. Her favorite upgrade was her revamped menu. She’d expanded to include a slew of dishes with her own recipes: okra, gumbo, a chicken fried steak to die for, and a new cornbread recipe, but they remained the kind of hearty meals the Highland Grill was known for. She wanted to perfect all the menu items before opening another Highland Grill in Raleigh. And if things went well, opening a chain of restaurants across the state. She wasn’t ready to set her sights further out than that. At the moment. She had a lot of work ahead of her, but she’d always been more than willing to roll up her sleeves.
As for the future, who knew what exciting things that held?
Well, except for her friend Christie and her horoscopes…
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and she instantly knew who it was by the feel of his body. Lucas. He pressed his big mass against her and brought his lips close to her ear. “Looking good,” he said in his deep-voiced rumble.
“I know. It’s perfect. Workflow will be improved fifty percent, and all prep times reduced. And all this new stainless just gleams.”
“Oh, you mean the kitchen. I was actually talking about you looking good.”
She laughed and slapped him lightly on the arm. “You’re obviously trying to seduce me away from admiring my amazing kitchen.”
“Guilty as charged.” He began kissing his way up her neck until he nibbled on her earlobe.
She moaned softly. “You’re making me want to drag you up on that table, tear off your clothes, and ride you like there’s no tomorrow. And that would be a clear health code violation, so don’t make me a criminal. I’m too sweet for jail.”
He laughed and hugged her tightly. “You can say that again. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She took one last look around the remodeled kitchen before giving a final nod of approval. She had a blank check from Lucas and Dan for renovations, but she’d still set a budget, chose her bids carefully, and came in under that budget with more than she’d first expected. She was also taking night classes for a business degree, in addition to plenty of one-on-one coaching from Dan and Lucas. Coaching that usually ended up in passionate kissing, but that was the advantage of learning from men who loved you. Every lesson concluded with a happy ending.
She was grinning when Dan walked in. He was covered in dust and wearing a yellow hard hat like hers because construction was still going on in the dining area. Besides, wearing hard hats was strangely fun. It made her feel like work was getting done.
“Looks like I got here just in time,” Dan said, smiling back at them. “I wouldn’t want you to two starting without me.”
“Never,” she said, biting her lip. “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
He headed toward them. “That’s right. Everyone’s finishing up for the day. What do you say we go have some fun?”
“You read my mind,” Lucas said. “Let’s all head home, shower, and change. I’ve got tickets to that downtown dinner theater Josie wanted to go to.”
“Sounds like heaven,” Dan said, putting his arms around them, kissing her first, then capturing Lucas’s lips. She stared up at them as they kissed. She loved when they got physical with each other. Not only was it an incredible turn on, but it made her feel a warm, tender love for both of them. Like drinking the best hot chocolate by a roaring fire on a winter day. Heat and comfort and happiness.
She walked out of the restaurant with her two men, one on either side of her, their arms around her shoulders and around her waist. The sun was setting. Cool evening air brushed her hair back from her face. She took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly. She was more than happy to accept their love, accept that she was worth it, deserving of it, and knew she had plenty to give back. After all, sometimes the universe gave you a chance at true happiness…and she was lucky she hadn’t missed it.
Because this was happiness, and she wouldn’t trade her two men for the world.
END
~ About the Author ~
Zoey Thames writes romance of all flavors, but right now she’s obsessed with billionaires and sometimes hot werewolves! She watches superhero movies and loves peppermint coffee.
Her book Curves for Three, the first of the Quick & Sexy Wolves series, released in May 2016 and Curves for Fighters released in September 2016. Curves for Shifters released in October 2016. Curves for the Cage is the newest in the series, released in January 2017. Table for Three is the first book in her new Big Girls and Billionaires series of contemporary MMF ménage.
She’s busy at work writing the next book in the series, filled with billionaires and the curvy women who love and are loved by them.
<
br /> You can find Zoey Thames here
Website: http://www.ZoeyThames.wordpress.com
~ Also by Zoey Thames ~
Curves for Three
Quick & Sexy Wolves Book One
Zoey Thames
Two alpha wolves on the prowl for curves...
BBW Vicki Thompson drives a limo for a living, working for a high-end limo company in New York that specializes in catering to the needs of wealthy paranormal VIPs. Tonight she’s taking billionaire Davidson Kenner from a private airport to Central Park—but what she doesn’t expect is for him to bring along his sexy, heavily muscled bodyguard Mick. Or how turned on she’d be at the first sight of Davidson’s piercing blue eyes. When she catches a glimpse of Davidson kissing his bodyguard, she just might explode with lust...one way or another. So much for keeping a cool and professional demeanor, especially around werewolves who can scent her arousal. Vicki has always kept her distance, but tonight these two incredible men might finally drive her over the edge of her inhibitions and into something wild.
Billionaire alpha wolf Davidson Kenner is looking to blow off some steam. He’s in the City That Never Sleeps with his best friend and bodyguard Mick, and they are both ready to cut loose. Shifting, fighting, love—they are up for anything and everything. The pretty limo driver immediately catches Davidson’s eye, and Mick is always up for a threesome. But he knows there’s always a challenge to a woman, and Vicki is more special and intriguing than anyone he’s come across in a long time. He intends to have both the curvy beauty and his powerful bodyguard. Have his cake and eat it too? Exactly.
Reader note: contains m/m/f, ménage elements, BBW and billionaires, and male male love
Curves for Fighters
Quick & Sexy Wolves Book Two
Zoey Thames
Two powerful werewolves. One irresistible woman.
Ruth, a curvy, good-hearted Oklahoma girl, drives limos for Mirage Confidential, a company that specializes in chauffeuring wealthy paranormals around New York City. When she's dispatched to a rundown martial arts studio to pick up a billionaire werewolf alpha, she's certain she has the wrong information. What would a rich and powerful man like Brian Barrington be doing at a fighting ring in the Bronx? Yet, after watching an intense sparring round between the attractive Brian and his equally hot MMA trainer, the sight of the two half-naked men has her imagination in erotic overdrive. And that was before she accidentally stumbles upon both men locked in passion in the back of the gym. She's going to need a miracle to survive this pair of clients, who already have her internal thermostat dangerously close to overheating...
Brian might be one of the world's richest and most powerful werewolves, but that doesn't mean he's let it go to his head. In his downtime, he trains as a mixed martial artist with his best friend and fellow shifter, Dominic. Being bisexual, they enjoy each other's company in every way possible, but what they really enjoy is sharing a woman between them. And the sweet little BBW in the chauffeur uniform is already setting them both on fire. Trouble is, winning the trust of the fascinating human woman is trickier than either of them imagined. Both men agree, she's one worth fighting for, but are they ready for a no-nonsense, full-bodied country girl with curves that have them ready to beg for mercy?
Reader note: contains m/m/f, ménage elements, BBW and billionaires, and male male love
Curves for Shifters
Quick & Sexy Wolves Book Three
Zoey Thames
With these two alphas, a curvy girl will need all the luck she can get.
Michelle Ross always brings her lucky charm bracelet along for the ride when she's chauffeuring shifter clients for Mirage Confidential. So when a bodyguard refuses to let her onto the luxury jet where she's supposed meet her client, the billionaire werewolf Aaron Duval, she's forced to get creative. And ends up barging in on one of the sexiest things she's ever seen. Aaron Duval and Jackson Smith, two drop-dead gorgeous males, are locked in a passionate kiss no one else was supposed to witness. Now there's going to be consequences. Too bad this time she left her lucky bracelet behind in the limousine...
Alpha Aaron Duval can't believe things have gone this wrong. Even though he runs a successful security firm providing bodyguards for the rich and powerful, one beautiful human woman has just evaded his guards and crashed his kiss. A kiss with his business rival and ex-lover, Jackson Smith, a man Aaron's wolf still considers his mate. Now Jackson is claiming the human is a spy, that Aaron is plotting something underhanded, and he's demanding a hearing before the High Shifter Council. In Chicago. Tonight. Oh, and the curvy chauffeur? Jackson's practically kidnapped her to stop her from talking to the media about their kiss. One thing is certain—this is no way to impress a woman his wolf is also claiming as a mate.
Jackson knows right away the hot little BBW is two things: his mate and big trouble. Even if she's not a reporter, he can't risk her selling the story of him kissing his business rival to a gossip rag right before he expands his security company. Unfortunately, that leaves him in conflict with his inner wolf. The stubborn beast believes both his ex-lover Aaron and Michelle are his mates. But Jackson's not above pulling out every trick in the book to win. He has that alpha pride after all. And if that means a fight in the ring with Aaron to prove himself right, well, he hasn't trained half his life as a mixed martial artist for nothing. Too bad he still secretly loves the man...
Reader note: contains m/m/f ménage and erotic romance elements, BBW and billionaires, MMA werewolves, and male male love
Curves for the Cage
Quick & Sexy Wolves Book Four
Zoey Thames
A billionaire werewolf. A champion cage-fighter. A curvy human girl who will bring them to their knees...
Dixie Campbell always wears a smile for the wealthy paranormal shifters she chauffeurs around Las Vegas. But when billionaire alpha Pierre Bouchard and his fighter, Mackey Mackay, arrive for a high-profile shifter MMA tournament, things quickly get off on the wrong foot. Pierre might be handsome as sin, but everything Dixie does seems to irritate him. She much prefers Mackey, the tough-on-the-outside, sweet-on-the-inside, built-for-sex cage fighter. But when the two scorching-hot men share a kiss in front of her, she thinks her fantasies of Mackey are over. Until she learns they're both bisexual. And they like threesomes... Too bad the hot, alpha Pierre seems to hate her guts.
Pierre is in Las Vegas for one reason: to see his lover Mackey win the tournament. Among all the highly ranked wolves, jaguars, and bears, Mackey's favored to win. But Pierre doesn't expect Mackey to start seeing their curvy human chauffeur as his second mate. Even though Pierre and Mackey are bi, they haven't shared a woman in a ménage in over a year. After all, Mackey is his true mate, not some sexy BBW whose incredible curves happen to ignite both their fleeting desires. Even if Pierre can't stop wanting her either.
While Mackey is battling in the cage, Pierre fights to keep Dixie at arm's length. Mackey doesn't need the distraction, and neither does he. An unscrupulous billionaire jaguar shifter has just made a million-dollar bet against Mackey, and the shady jaguars lurking in the shadows make it clear they'll do anything to win. And now, just as things are heating up in the cage, they've set their sights on Dixie…
Reader note: contains m/m/f ménage and hot romance elements, BBW and billionaires, MMA werewolves, and male male love. A complete, stand-alone story with a happily ever after.
More Romance from Etopia Press
Three-ways Till Sunday
Lea Cruz
A weekend threesome with two sexy billionaires could be more than she ever dreamed...
Margarita Acuna—Margo to her friends—arrives in Miami with her boorish boss to discuss a business merger with Wilson Berretta, the hottest financial firm on the East Coast. The PR photo of Damien Berretta has Margo fantasizing about his exotic good looks—and wondering if he likes curvy girls. But a string of bad luck on the way to the terminal leaves her anything but prepared to face the smooth, sexy billionaire, whose dev
ilish green eyes awaken images of the primal, misty jungle.
Damien Berretta's clearly losing his mind. He's scheduled a session with his personal trainer, the perfect Liam McCabe, owner of the Perfect Body fitness line. Only he's late for his meeting with the folks from Pinnacle Financial to discuss a possible merger. He should have rescheduled, but he figured ten minutes with Liam McCabe was better than nothing at all. Was it just too cliché to have the hots for your personal trainer?
Liam McCabe knows Damien lied about "forgetting" he had an important meeting. He can't help wonder if maybe—just maybe—the way Damien looks at him might mean he's interested. Liam can only hope. His conscience tells him he'll have to break it off with the woman he's seeing—she deserves a lover who's not thinking of someone else when they make love. But ugh, does that make him the creepy guy that preys on his clients?
When fate arranges for the three of them to meet at one of South Beach's most exclusive restaurants, it's three-way fireworks all around. But when Margo's boss decides to put the kibosh on her weekend getaway, their relationship hits the wall. Unless Damien and Liam can convince Margo that there's only one kind of merger that's important...and it's all about the three of them.
Reader note: contains m/m/f ménage elements, interracial/multicultural romance, BBW heroines, male/male love, and mansions on the water with kitchens we can only dream of
Maggie’s Mates
Alexa Fox
A werewolf P.I. A reluctant alpha. And a jaguar princess who just wants to mate...
