The Lusty, Texas Collection
Love Under Three Valentinos
Kat Lawson can take care of herself. But when she ends up in the ER, she immediately reaches out to Paul, Lucas, and Wesley Jessop, screenwriters with the moniker The Three Valentinos. Kat knows the men aren’t players and they’ve been courting her so she decides to indulge in them.
After being ambushed and beaten up, they’re the ones she reaches for. She didn’t know they were Doms but that goes a long way toward explaining why it is she feels compelled to lean on them. Because the other thing she learns, which she’s already suspected, is that she's more than a little submissive—under the right circumstances.
The brothers Jessop are determined to help their woman heal, and they pull out all the stops. Even when part of that healing process puts her in the sights of those who want to harm her.
It just remains to be seen if they can find a balance between independence and partnership.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 71,763 words
LOVE UNDER THREE VALENTINOS
The Lusty, Texas Collection
Cara Covington
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
LOVE UNDER THREE VALENTINOS
Copyright © 2015 by Cara Covington
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-474-7
First E-book Publication: June 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 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 Love Under Three Valentinos by Cara Covington from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is the 25th book in the Lusty, Texas collection. Such longevity would not be possible were it not for you, the reader.
I am so very grateful to each and every person who has bought a copy of one of my books. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading the words I have written. I’m especially blessed because so many of you have reached out to me to let me know how much you’ve enjoyed my stories. You make the hard work of crafting a book worthwhile.
A huge shout-out and high-five to my street team, The Lusty Ladies. I had the extreme honor of meeting some of you in Dallas in May. You’ve given me your friendship, and it’s a truly treasured gift. Thank you for all you do to support my work. I never imagined such awesome folks as all y’all are, wanting to be on my team. I am truly blessed.
In the writing of this book, I ventured outside of Lusty for a few chapters, all the way to the west coast of California. So I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my friend, D. B. Reynolds, author of the Vampires In America series, for her help and guidance with regard to all things Los Angeles, and all things film industry. Any errors I’ve made in the scenes taking place in or around the City of Angels are entirely my own.
Thanks to Bea of A Better Way To Write, for her invaluable work as my author’s assistant. I really couldn’t do it so well without you.
Finally, I am so very proud to be a Siren author. The hard working professionals at Siren, and Siren-Bookstrand are unfailingly supportive and helpful. And, as always, I am grateful to my publisher, a wonderful and caring woman, who did the most amazing thing ever: she said “yes” to my dream.
Cara Covington
March, 2015
DEDICATION
To my husband, David, who continues to be my most ardent supporter. On the plane on our way to Dallas last month, he was handing out bookmarks, bragging on me. One lady grinned and pointed to the side showing some of my book covers. She asked him, “Which one of these heroes are you?” He answered without missing a beat, “All of them.”
Gotta love a man who knows his worth.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
About the Author
LOVE UNDER THREE VALENTINOS
The Lusty, Texas Collection
CARA COVINGTON
Copyright © 2015
Chapter 1
Late January, 2015
The door to the sheriff’s office closed behind them with a solid thunk. Paul Jessop turned and looked at the woman standing to his right. The sigh she released sounded as if she was very relieved to be outside.
And not inside, behind bars.
Somewhere, around about the time Adam
Kendall finally relented, Paul realized that the entire scene had been crafted by the sheriff for the benefit of him and his brothers.
Now he took a chance and quickly shot a glance to each of his womb mates. Luke’s expression was as relieved as Trina—no, not Trina, but Kat—had just sounded.
Wes looked as if he was going to roll on the floor laughing. Since the floor at the moment was the sidewalk of Main Street in Lusty, Texas, Paul didn’t think that would be a good idea.
Cousin Adam gave you this chance. Are you just going to waste it?
“Kat.” He met the gaze of the woman who’d had him and his brothers wrapped around her baby finger and tied up in knots since they’d first laid eyes on her more than two months before.
She had been taking in the view, but at the sound of her name, she turned to face him. “Paul.”
He looked around for just a moment, his gaze sweeping the area, wondering how it appeared to her, what she thought of this town. Then he met her gaze once more. “Welcome to our hometown.”
“You’re actually really from here? Lusty is actually your home town?” Surprise laced her tone.
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her if she thought they’d somehow tracked her here. He bit the sarcastic comment back. It’s time to get my head out of my ass. “Small world, isn’t it?” he asked.
“When you think of it,” Wes said, “it’s pretty incredible that you showed up right here, of all places. Don’t you think?”
“I just followed the trail of my skip—although I knew from my contact in the NYPD that this might be where Ricky Wilde was headed.”
“Katrina.” Luke’s voice, soft and deep, actually drew another sigh from her.
Paul made a mental note to think about that, later.
“All right, yes. I get it. It’s certainly surprising.”
“This is a tiny town, filled with family—our family.” Paul kept his tone as casual as he could. “What are the odds, really, that you’d end up here?”
She straightened her purse strap on her shoulder. “I stay away from Vegas,” Kat said.
When he just looked at her, she exhaled deeply and then nodded. “I’m willing to concede that they’d be pretty long odds.”
“Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something,” Wes said. “Maybe, we should listen.”
“Jessops listening. That would be a nice change.” Kat’s whisper of a grin pulled his own out of hiding.
“All right, about that. I’m sorry if I came on too strong out there.” It had been only a couple of hours ago, but the fear was still a cold, heavy knot in his belly. He pushed that aside to say the words that needed to be said. “I do know you’re a professional. I didn’t mean my words to sound as if I didn’t. I was just—we were just really, really scared. That gun went off, and we immediately imagined the worst.”
“I guess I can understand that. Scenes like the one in that barn aren’t a part of your reality, the way they’re a part of mine. So I guess I accept your apology.”
“Thank you.” Paul had begun the process—as he did when they were sitting down to write a new screenplay. Only this wasn’t a screenplay. This was far more important. Still, he looked to Wes. In their writing lives, Wes, even though he was the youngest, filled in the middle—giving form, fleshing out the scenes, adding the bits that gave flavor and provided continuity.
Wes didn’t miss a beat. “Do you have to rush off right now?”
“I haven’t booked my return flight, yet.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know how long I’d be when I flew from LA to New York—or where I’d be when it all wrapped up, for that matter.”
“Maybe you have a bit of time, then,” Lucas said. “For a cup of coffee?”
“Yeah, I have the time for coffee.”
“The restaurant is just down the street.” Paul pointed toward it.
Kat followed his finger and obviously saw the sign that hung out over the sidewalk. “Lusty Appetites. Catchy name.”
He grinned. “And between here and there is the museum. It’s not very big, but it tells the story of our families—which is the story of the founding of Lusty. There’ve been Jessops here since the beginning.” He looked at his brothers. When they nodded, he met Kat’s gaze again.
I could get lost in those beautiful gray eyes of hers. He pushed that thought away, too. “Touring it would only take a few minutes, but we think it will answer a lot of questions you probably already have—about what you’ve seen since you’ve been here, and even the questions you had back in LA when we first met.”
She looked at all three of them in turn, and Paul could see she was thinking. He wouldn’t characterize her expression as suspicion, exactly. It was more like wariness.
“I’d like to do that because you’re right. I do have a few questions—from then and now.”
“Thank you.” In the back of his mind, he knew she might really become suspicious when she met their mother. But that was all right. A part of him wanted his mother’s opinion of Katrina Lawson. He’d learned a long time ago that Anna Jessop had an almost eerie knack for assessing people within moments of meeting them.
Paul gestured for her to proceed. He walked beside her, with his brothers following behind them. One good thing about being really familiar with our own family history. It gives us a pattern, of sorts, to follow.
“Your town is very neat and tidy.” She stopped and looked in the window of the Lusty Glow Day Spa. Paul took in the shelves easily visible. There were pieces of jewelry tantalizingly displayed, enticing the passerby to come in and shop.
“Chloe gets accessories from all over the area—unique handmade items by craftsmen and women, many of whom, I’ve been told, work from their own homes.”
“Chloe owns the spa? Is she family?”
“Yes, and yes. Chloe Jessop. She’s married to our cousins Grant and Andrew Jessop.”
Kat’s only reaction to that was to raise one eyebrow and nod. For anyone who was a trained observer, it would have been difficult to miss the triads that had been at the community center during the meeting earlier that morning. The husbands in Lusty tended to snuggle their women every chance they got. He’d seen Tasha sitting between Gord and Clay—and he knew Kat had as well because both men had spoken up. Colt and Ryder had tucked Susan in, the men cocooning her and their two-year old son, Michael, as he’d dozed against his mother’s shoulder.
Paul brought his attention back to the moment. They’d arrived at the museum. He opened the door and let Kat enter first.
He gave a quick glance to his brothers. This was the make-or-break moment for them. By the time they left this building, Katrina Lawson would have absolutely no doubt as to what it was they were interested in.
* * * *
The first thing Kat realized when she stepped into the museum was that it lacked the mustiness she’d come to associate with small-town historical buildings. In her years chasing after clues and fugitives, she’d had occasion to step into more than a few of them.
The second thing she noticed was the large sepia print on the wall.
The photograph was of six people, two women and four men. Each of the women sat, and now that she looked closer, Kat could see that each woman had a man positioned at each shoulder—and that each of those men touched the woman he was standing behind.
She inched closer to read the caption. “Caleb, Joshua, and Sarah Benedict, with Adam Kendall, Warren Jessop, and Amanda Jessop-Kendall. July 4, 1883.”
She turned to look at Paul. “Jessop-Kendall?”
He nodded. “Amanda married Adam and Warren, who were also lovers to each other. She took both their names. When their children were born—she had four sons—she gave two of them the last name of Jessop, and two the last name Kendall. Her daughter-in-law, who happened to be the daughter of her cousin and her husbands, the Benedicts, was the last to take a hyphenated name because she, too, married a Jessop and a Kendall. After that, state regulations changed the way names were registered at birth
, so there were some Jessops and some Kendalls.”
“Wow. So anybody named Benedict, Jessop, or Kendall in this town really is family. Even the sheriff.”
For one second, Paul felt guilty as hell. But then he smiled and shook his head. “Adam is our cousin, yes. But that doesn’t mean he won’t give us a hard time every chance he gets. And he won’t cut any of us any slack when it comes to the law. Not even, I’ve heard, his own brothers.”
“That’s how Kendalls do things,” Wes said.
“Yeah, but Jessops are like that, too.” Lucas grinned.
Kat shook her head and then walked farther into the museum. She took her time looking at the photos and reading the plaques. There were a couple of glass cases that contained various artifacts from the past. One item, a long, slender knife, drew her attention. “Pocahontas? Amanda named her knife Pocahontas?”
“Oh my yes. Amanda Dupree was a woman ahead of her time even before she married Adam and Warren.”
Kat turned at the sound of the dulcet tone. The woman who stood just inside what Kat guessed was an office gave her a large grin and then stepped closer.
Oh my God, it’s Mrs. Santa Claus!
The woman nodded as if to underscore her own comment. “Amanda Dupree was the daughter of a demimonde, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Because of the circumstances of her birth, she was considered, by so-called polite society, to be ‘unmarriageable.’”
The woman’s snort told Kat what she thought of that opinion. She thought to introduce herself since the Jessop men hadn’t, but Mrs. Santa Claus hadn’t stopped speaking.
Love Under Three Valentinos [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1
