Original Match [Ménage.com 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 1
Ménage.com 1
Original Match
Shea Brennan has the most brilliant market strategy an author could have—a ménage dating website. She convinces her two best friends, who happen to be her cowriters, the benefits of such an idea. They decide to separate the tasks of this start-up mission, and Shea's assignment is to hire programmers to create the site. Who would have thought that she would find a match of her own?
Grayson and Ian Stevens have finally found the woman they want to share their life with. Unfortunately, someone wants to make sure that doesn't happen. Shea has picked up a stalker who is obsessed with making sure she ends up his. Grayson and Ian change their job description to protect Shea—but will they succeed?
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 35,781 words
ORIGINAL MATCH
Ménage.com 1
Peyton Elizabeth
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
ORIGINAL MATCH
Copyright © 2012 by Peyton Elizabeth
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-575-5
First E-book Publication: October 2012
Cover design by Harris Channing
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.
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,
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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.
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www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
To my editor…your advice is invaluable, and it is a pleasure to work with you!
ORIGINAL MATCH
Ménage.com 1
PEYTON ELIZABETH
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
“I have an idea,” Shea Brennan said, blatantly ignoring the moans coming from her two best friends sitting across from her. Placing her chin in her palm, Shea stared them down until she had their attention. “It’s not as bad as you think, and it might even inspire us to come up with new story lines.”
“We have enough ideas,” Cyn said, taking a sip of her latte. “You said yourself last week that we didn’t have enough time to write the plots we’ve been coming up with.”
“She’s right, you know,” Elise agreed, taking Cyn’s side. She tucked her blonde strands behind her ears as she looked back down at the laptop in front of her. “Let’s just concentrate on this anthology.”
“Order up!”
Shea looked over at the girl setting two cups of coffee on the round serving area of their local coffee shop. It was spring break for the local college, and the place was empty with the exception of an older couple on the other side of the café and the two suits who were collecting their drinks. The town of Atherston, Illinois, was located around ninety miles outside of Chicago and relied heavily on the town residents to keep the local shops in business.
She looked back at her two best friends since their college days. They had been aspiring authors with ambitious desires. It had been Cyn’s idea to write their first anthology and try to sell the three of them as a package. To Shea’s astonishment, they not only managed to become published, but they had become very well known in the erotic romance circles.
Since they wrote their first anthology at this very shop, they didn’t want to jinx anything by altering their writing habits. Hence, they had been coming here once a week for years, loving the independently owned business and how well they were treated. It was owned by Marguerite Dupont, an elderly woman who had spent her childhood in France. She never shared her story of how she came to be in the middle of Illinois, but from her fond smile whenever they asked, the women couldn’t help but guess it was for love.
Marguerite only came into the shop in the morning, especially since her arthritis had set in. She made sure her employees had their instructions and that things were running smoothly before enjoying the rest of her day. The tiny shop reminded Shea of a little French bistro, with small tables in the center for an intimate setting. A single flower vase sat in the middle of each station, while the wrought-iron chairs had swirls that matched the design in the middle of the tables. Because of their laptops and notebooks, they needed more space, so they always chose the booth in the corner with the blue-and-white-checkered tablecloth.
“Just listen to me for a second.” Shea closed her laptop, wanting them to know she meant business. “A reader messaged me the other day, asking where I met the two men she thinks I’m involved with.”
Cyn choked on her drink, causing Elise to pat her on the back while holding back her own laughter. Shea rolled her eyes at their reaction, not really understanding why it was so funny.
“What? It’s not like I can’t have two men at the same time.”
“There’s a big difference between writing ménage stories and actually living that type of lifestyle.” Cyn wiped her mouth with a napkin and then concentrated on the stains that were now on her white shirt. Seeing that they weren’t coming out, Cyn rolled up the napkin in a ball and threw it in the middle of the table. “Besides, you haven’t had one guy in years, let alone tw
o.”
“Are you saying your new idea is to try to sleep with two guys at the same time?” Elise pushed her glasses up her nose. Her blue eyes went wide in astonishment, chasing away the humor that had been shining through a minute before. “Again, I agree with Cyn. That’s not one of your brightest ideas.”
“Score.” Cyn pumped her arm, bringing her elbow close in to her stomach and then doing a little jig in the booth. “I love when she agrees with me.”
Cyn was the most outgoing of the three of them, always upbeat and happy. It could be rather annoying, but Shea wouldn’t have her friend any other way. She was also the one who always pushed them to test the boundaries of their stories, much to their publisher’s delight. Cyn was the only one out of the three of them to have experienced a ménage a trois.
Cyn was stunning, taller than either her or Elise, with long black hair that Shea had only ever seen in commercials. She had rich brown eyes, with lashes any woman in her right mind would envy. Shea always thought of herself as average—average brown hair, average green eyes, and average height. It would be nice to have a man look at her the way she’d seen them look at Cyn.
“That’s not what I’m saying, Elise.” Shea looked over at Cyn. “And I resent the implication I couldn’t get two men if I wanted.”
“Honey, you haven’t been on a date since you and Jack broke it off. How long ago was that?” Cyn looked at Elise for help. Shea was glad when she just shrugged her shoulders. The last thing she wanted to discuss was Jack. He had been an ass with the personality of a rock. Cyn waved her hand in irritation and turned her attention back to Shea. “I bet between two or three years ago. No wonder I’m always trying to liven up your sex scenes. You forget what it’s like to do the deed.”
“I do not forget what it’s like,” Shea argued, not liking where this conversation was going. So what if she’d had to replace her vibrator lately, or that she was thinking of taking stock in a battery company. It wasn’t her love life she meant to bring up. “This reader wanted to know for a very specific reason.”
“No way,” Elise said, covering her mouth with her hand. “She wants to have sex with two men?”
“Yes, and I don’t see why that’s so shocking,” Shea chided, pointing a finger toward Cyn. “Cyn’s done it.”
“Once. I did it once, and you know that it was for research.”
Cyn picked up another napkin and made like she was working on the brown stain again. Shea knew she just didn’t want to talk about the two men who had broken her heart. Shea shared a look with Elise. Cyn would never admit that, but Shea was positive that Cyn had loved them. She had never fessed up as to why it didn’t work out and joked that it had been for investigation purposes. She and Elise could see it meant so much more, but never pushed the issue.
“Getting back to the subject at hand,” Shea said, shifting direction of the conversation, “this is a good idea.” She felt bad that she was the one to bring up Cyn’s past and wanted her optimistic friend back. “There’s this reader—her name is Anne—and she says there isn’t a good way to find two men who would want to do that.”
“Why doesn’t she just go to a bar?” Cyn asked.
“Who knows what kind of diseases she’d pick up there,” Elise chimed in, scrunching up her nose in disgust. “And technically, she’d be doubling her chances of getting an STD.”
“You guys, will you please let me tell you my idea?” Shea knew her friends could debate for hours, but ever since the e-mail she had received from Anne, she realized that there was no safe way to have a ménage without the risks Elise spoke of. Not waiting to see if Cyn and Elise would be quiet long enough for her to start, Shea kept talking in hopes they would really listen to her plan. “I think we should start a dating service for people interested in ménages.”
For her two best friends to become speechless, Shea knew she had finally grabbed their attention. She mentally pumped her arm the way Cyn had done earlier. They both sat there, staring at her as if she had just announced that aliens had landed outside the coffee shop. Shea figured she’d use it to her advantage and kept talking.
“We could use the platform as a marketing tool. It’s genius!” Shea leaned forward, getting as excited now as she was when she first thought of the idea two days ago. “The only start-up fees I can come up with are the technology it would take to get it running, because we’d have to hire someone to put the database together. Oh, and some research trips to find men who are interested in ménage. Once we have some people sign up, we promote the dating service with our books and the women who are interested in the lifestyle will flock to the site. Eventually, advertisers will roll in. And the first one we can get on board is our publishing company. So, what do you think?”
Cyn and Elise had yet to move from their original position across from her, both of their eyes wide in disbelief. Or maybe it was in agreement. Shea was having a hard time telling the difference, since their mouths were gaping open like fish. Not wanting to lose momentum or lose them in the process, Shea continued speaking.
“I figure we can split the duties. You know I don’t like to travel that much, so I will be in charge of finding someone who can set up a database for us. You two love research trips, so maybe you can incorporate this on your outings. Elise, didn’t you say you wanted to scope out Arizona?” When Elise tentatively nodded her head, Shea took that as a sign of agreement. “Well, I did a search on the Internet, and it is rumored that there is a ménage town near Phoenix. I think the name of the town is Triple. Isn’t that apropos? And Cyn, didn’t you say you were going to visit your aunt somewhere in Indiana? Maybe there are places out there that cater to the lifestyle of a ménage a trois.”
Shea waited for what she said to sink in to their minds. Yes, it was probably a crazy idea, but hopefully even they could see it was a win-win situation. Even their publishing company would cash in on it, the marketing strategy alone being brilliant.
“Will you two quit staring at me as if I have two heads!”
“I think you need to get laid,” Cyn said, finally breaking her silence.
“How long have you been thinking about this? We were here one week ago and you never said a word!” Elise pushed up her black-rimmed glass again, using her middle finger.
“What does me getting laid have to do with this?” Shea asked, leaning back in the seat with defeat. “And I started thinking about it two days ago, when Anne e-mailed me.”
“You obviously have too much time on your hands to come up with such a solid idea. My God, it’s fantastic!” Cyn leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. “Just think of the publicity this is going to give us!”
“Okay, that wasn’t what I thought you were going to say,” Elise interrupted, hitting Cyn on the arm with the back of her hand. “Seriously? Do you know how much time a project like this could take? We do have deadlines, you know.”
“We are way ahead of schedule, and you know it,” Cyn answered, focusing her attention back on Shea. “I’m kind of jealous that you came up with this idea and I didn’t. I’m always the one with the great schemes, and here you are, showing me up, girl. I love it!”
Shea smiled, loving Cyn’s enthusiasm. If both of them were on board, then it was only a matter of time before they convinced Elise. “Cyn, Dana loves you best,” Shea commented, bringing up their publisher. “You call her, tell her what we’re doing, and see if we can get her on board as an advertiser. That way, we have a little bit of income to pay the database people I’m going to find.”
“But what about—”
“I’ll call her on my way home,” Cyn said, cutting off whatever Elise had been about to say. “Do you have any idea who can do all the technical crap?”
“You two aren’t considering—”
“Not yet,” Shea answered, ignoring Elise. “I didn’t want to waste my time if you two weren’t going to be on board. But now, I’ll start looking first thing in the morning.”
“Would you two cut it out?�
�� Elise huffed out, blowing her bangs away from her forehead. “I hate when you two ignore me!”
“We wouldn’t ignore you if you agreed with us,” Cyn said, giving Shea a wink. “When that happens, let us know and we’ll let you join in on our conversation.”
“Fine. I’m on board. But I’m going on record that if we end up finding nut-jobs as applicants, we’re going to have women start burning our books.” Elise sat back against the booth seat, crossing her arms. “And I’ll be part of the reason, because you’re assigning me to find the men. Why can’t I take the tech stuff and you take Phoenix?”
“Because I hate to travel and you were going there anyway,” Shea pointed out, giving Cyn a high five that they had Elise on board. “Besides, you’re a tiny blonde with blue eyes and you’ll have better luck than me convincing men to sign up for a ménage dating site. I will handle the business end of it. Besides, I’m lazier than the two of you, so how hard could it be to find somebody to write a program for a dating site?”
Chapter Two
“What do you mean six months out?” Shea said, frustrated with the woman on the other end of the phone. She slammed her pencil down on her desk. “How could you not hire enough people to do incoming jobs? Do you really think I’m going to wait six months for somebody to write a software program? And once they start it, how long does it take to complete it then get it up and running? This is not how you should treat potential customers.”
Shea rolled her eyes as she listened to the woman ramble on. She leaned back in her office chair, spinning until she faced the window. Her apartment overlooked the town square, so Shea had picked up the habit of people-watching in between writing her scenes. Some of those men and women even provided some inspiration for when she had writer’s block. Right now, Shea was too mad to enjoy her latest obsession because the person on the other end of the phone was just jabbering on about technical jargon that made not one lick of sense to her.