The Trouble with Holly [Merricks, Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by McKinlay Thomson

  “So what’s our game plan, brother?” Chase asked. He poured himself a coffee and went to sit at the table across from Jarrod.

  “The girls are having dinner at the Carters’ tonight, and she is working the dinner shift tomorrow. I think we should invite her out on one of her nights off.”

  “Good idea. We can take her to that new restaurant that opened last month next to the bookshop.” Chase took a sip of his coffee and then snagged a biscuit. He’d sure miss his mother’s cooking, but having a place to themselves was more important.

  “Isn’t it run by some toffee English woman?” Jarrod asked.

  “Yes, some fancy chef from the city, but word is the woman can cook.” And boy did Chase like his food. He’d have to grab a burger beforehand. It was one of those restaurants where food was excellent, but portions were a little on the small side. A big man like him needed his tucker, but he wanted to impress Holly with his choice of venue.

  “Maybe Mom and Dads will give us some land to build on?” Jarrod said, changing the subject back to their living arrangements. “That way I’m close to work and we will be close if something ever happens to them.”

  “Got life left in me yet, son,” Mark, his pop, said as he walked into the kitchen.

  The brothers had grown up on this ranch with their mom Heather and her three husbands, Mark, Jason, and Daniel. It was the norm around these parts to have multiple dads, and Chase and Jarrod wouldn’t have it any other way.

  They always knew they were going to share a wife someday. There had never been any question. They were just lucky to find a woman that they both agreed upon. It wasn’t as easy as it looked. They had such different taste in lots of things.

  Chase was a vet, whilst Jarrod was happy with ranch life. Chase listened to hard rock and Jarrod liked country. Chase was into old classic and action films, whilst Jarrod liked comedies. The list went on.

  “Of course you and your brother can build a place on the land. You run the ranch now and will inherit it one day,” Mark said. Chase smiled at his Pop. He had the most wonderful parents and hoped he could be just as good a father to his own children.

  “Besides, your mother was starting to wonder if you’d ever move out.” His Pop’s huge bellowing laugh echoed around the kitchen. It wasn’t long before Jarrod and Chase were laughing, too.

  “What are you three cackling about?” his mom asked, entering the kitchen through the back door. “I could hear you all the way out back.”

  That just made them laugh all the more.

  Chapter Two

  Holly took a sip of her wine and went back to cutting the tomatoes. She was dangerous with a knife and it wouldn’t be long until she cut herself, but she had offered to help Kate with the food prep. She, Sarah, Samantha, and Kate, all stood around the bench in the kitchen, drinking wine and talking. Emily was running late, due to an emergency bread disaster at the bakery.

  “So then he said I was the prettiest little lady he had ever come across and he’d just die if he couldn’t take me out. Can you believe that?” Samantha said. As Holly listened to Sam tell them about the latest horrible man that had tried to get her on a date, she looked around Kate’s kitchen.

  A large island bench sat in the middle of the room with cedar cupboards lining two walls. The country-style kitchen had all the latest appliances and a large industrial-size oven. Holly could see herself in a kitchen like this. It had a small dining nook next to the windows and a huge walk-in pantry opposite. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the woods below and Holly noticed how high up they were.

  The three-story house was built into the side of a mountain. The entry was at the top of the house and stairs led to the rest below. The first level was made up of the office and living room, next was the kitchen and dining, and the last level was the bedrooms.

  “That is so cheesy,” Kate said, pulling Holly back to the conversation.

  “All I want is a nice man that won’t say stupid things and treats me well. Is it really too much to ask?” Sam added. Holly was starting to think, yes, it was. She had finally found two men who were wonderful and treated her with respect and they probably didn’t even think about her when they weren’t together. Holly, on the other hand, couldn’t get them out of her mind.

  “Maybe you are looking in the wrong places,” Sarah said. “You need a night out at Silk Ties.”

  “Yeah,” Kate said. “A Dom knows how to treat his woman.”

  “I’m not even submissive. If I ever go to Silk Ties, it will be as a Domme,” Sam told them.

  “We better start watching what we say then, Mistress Samantha. She might run and tell our Doms on us,” Kate said, giggling as she nudged her sister with her elbow. Holly smiled at their antics.

  “Don’t make fun,” Sam said. “I’ve signed up for one of Master Wolf’s classes. I fully intend on exploring this side of myself.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Kate told her. “We totally support you and will respect you as a Domme in the club, just as we would anyone else.”

  “Hey,” Holly added. “I’m not submissive or dominant. I’ll still support you though. It’s what friends do.”

  “You are so, too, submissive,” Sam said. That was the first Holly had heard of it. Yes, she was shy and she liked to please people, but she didn’t think she wanted to be tied up and spanked. She certainly didn’t want to kneel at anyone’s feet.

  “There is no way I’m a sub. I haven’t even been to Silk Ties and probably never will.” Holly was not going to admit that the thought of Chase or Jarrod Walker tying her up and making her scream did turn her on. The idea of calling them master sent shivers down her spine. She wasn’t going to even explore that thought.

  “What’s going on with you and the Walker brothers?” Sarah asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Holly. The room went silent as they waited for her reply. Was Sarah a mind reader or what? Holly was just thinking about them. Then again she was always thinking about them.

  “Nothing is going on with the Walker brothers,” Holly told them. “I’m not even sure they like me.”

  “Rubbish,” Kate said. “They follow you around like puppies. Everyone knows that those men have claimed you as theirs.”

  Holly looked at the three women nodding their heads in agreement, but she just couldn’t believe it.

  “She’s right,” Sam added. “Just the other week, they warned off a couple of cowhands from the Blackstock’s ranch.”

  “What?” Holly was confused.

  “Yep,” Sarah said. “I remember Blake saying something.”

  “No way.”

  “Apparently,” Sam told them. “Chase heard one of the men saying how he’d like to ask you out and then the other one commented that he’d like to take you to Silk Ties, tie you down and watch your ah—”

  “My what?” Holly asked. She was leaning forward, intrigued with where this story was headed. She just couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to take her there. She wasn’t submissive and she wasn’t beautiful. She was fat and had big saggy breasts and flabby thighs. If they wanted to see her naked bits it was because they wanted a good laugh.

  “Never mind,” Sam answered. “Let’s just say, Chase and Jarrod were not impressed and a fight nearly broke out before the cowhands backed off.”

  “They were only defending me because they’re my friends. Neither of them have shown any interest at all.” Holly downed her wine at the depressing thought. She wanted those men to want her so bad, it was a constant ache in her chest.

  “You are so clueless, girl,” Kate said, filling up Holly’s glass as she spoke. Holly wasted no time in downing that glass as well. A nice buzz was making its way through her body.

  “Slow down,” Sarah told her. “Or we will be carrying you home sideways.”

  Holly held her glass out to be filled up again. She didn’t want to slow down. She wanted to get drunk and forget that she was a clumsy loser pining after two of the hottest, sexiest, nicest men
she had ever met.

  Holly knew she had body issues. Kate, Sarah, and Sam were all big girls like her, but they were all sexy and beautiful in their unique ways. Kate and Sarah had found wonderful men that loved them, and Sam whilst still looking for that special someone, had men chasing her left, right, and center.

  Holly hadn’t had a date since her loser ex. No one had even looked in her general direction, despite what the girls said. She would never believe that the Walker men liked her more than just friends.

  “Let’s get this food going,” Sarah said. “Then I can tell you about my latest visit to Silk Ties dungeon.”

  “Oh yes,” Sam said. “I love to hear about your adventures with your sexy men.”

  “I don’t,” Kate added. “No one wants to hear about her sister’s dirty escapades.” Holly smiled and drank another glass of wine. She wanted to have fun tonight. It was a rare night out with her girlfriends. She would get drunk and have fun. Anything to take her mind off her troubles and the two men who with one look could have her in a puddle at their feet begging for scraps of their attention.

  * * * *

  Jarrod followed the Carter brothers out of Stephie’s Bar and Grill and climbed into his truck to follow them home. Yes, he was gate-crashing the girls’ dinner, but he needed to see her. Holly had been on his mind all damned night and he just wanted to see her smile, hold her in his arms, and make love to her.

  Chase climbed into the truck beside him and they took off. When Grayson had asked if they wanted to head back to his house and check on the girls, they had jumped at the chance. Stephie’s just wasn’t the same without her. The men had eaten quickly and then decided to leave. He had eaten so fast, he had indigestion.

  It wasn’t just that he missed her either. The two brothers had been hit on all night and it made him angry. Jarrod wasn’t interested in any of the women that had approached them. Yes, they had been good-looking, but they were too aggressive for his taste. They wore too much makeup. Their tops were too low and their skirts too high. Holly wore clothes that keep her secrets hidden and Jarrod loved that about her.

  Even if he was looking for a woman other than Holly, which he wasn’t, he liked to approach them and ask them out. He didn’t want some half-drunk floozy falling in his lap and rubbing herself all over him. The first couple of times he was polite about it. Then he had started to get annoyed and that made him rude.

  No, he only had eyes for a certain shy, curvy blonde who had worked her clumsy way into his heart. A woman that seemed to have no damned idea that Chase and him were even interested. Well, she would find out soon enough.

  “This is a bad idea,” Chase said. Jarrod pulled the truck onto the main road and toward the highway that led to the Carters’ property.

  “Why?” Jarrod asked. “We were invited and we are checking up on our woman. It’s expected.”

  “Technically she’s not our woman yet. She might get upset that we are gate-crashing her girls’ night. I don’t want to push her away.”

  Jarrod sent Chase a sideways glare. She was their woman. It was only a matter of time. They had every right to see to her well-being. The men of Merricks all lived by the same rules. They looked after their women. The only person who didn’t know Holly was theirs was Holly.

  “That’s not going to happen. Holly won’t even realize that we are checking on her,” Jarrod told his brother. They would just say hello to the women and go to another part of the house.

  Besides, they weren’t the only ones on their way to the Carters’. James was behind them in his truck to check on Sarah. Blake would be with him if the Sheriff wasn’t on shift. All three Carters were heading home to check on Kate.

  Wolf would be here, too, if Emily wasn’t still stuck at the bakery. Not that the little baker had any idea that Wolf was watching out for her. With three older brothers, she was well looked after in the town. But Wolf had silently laid claim on her. Not that he was going to do anything about his attraction to the shy woman. Wolf was under the impression that she was too sweet for the likes of him. The hard Dom thought he would only end up crushing her gentle spirit.

  Jarrod wasn’t so sure. Yes, Wolf was ex-military and one of the strictest Doms in town, not to mention he was the owner of Silk Ties, but he had a soft side when it came to Emily. But Wolf was adamant that Emily was too sweet.

  The woman had three older dominant brothers on her ass and had still managed to make a successful business by herself. She wasn’t the pushover that Wolf thought she was. She had backbone and strength. If Emily felt anything for the retired Marine, she would have to do the perusing.

  “I still think this is a bad idea. The women are going to see straight through it,” Chase said.

  “They very well might. But they know how things work in this town. Kate and Sarah both know how protective their men can be. I’m surprised that one of the Carters didn’t stay behind in the first place.”

  “Especially after more men came looking for Sarah. Can you believe she shot another cartel boss? The woman has grit.”

  Jarrod slowed the car and turned off the highway and onto the road that led to the Carters’ house. Sarah sure had been through a lot in the small time she had lived in Merricks. But then so had poor Holly. She had taken a good ten years off his life when he heard her house had burnt down. There had been an arsonist loose in the town and they thought for sure it was his handiwork. Luckily, or not so luckily, it had turned out to be just loose wiring that started the fire.

  Chase and Jarrod had rushed to the scene to comfort her. She had been devastated at the loss of her things, but they were just happy she was alive and hadn’t been in the building at the time.

  “If Holly gets upset, I’m blaming you,” Chase said. Jarrod pulled the car up to the house and parked behind Grayson’s SUV. As he turned off the engine, he turned to his younger brother.

  “Relax, will you. You’re nagging like an old woman. We have to start as we mean to go on. Holly will soon understand the way of things,” Jarrod said, before exiting the truck and making his way toward the Carters’.

  He could feel his heart pick up speed, knowing that Holly was so close. He rubbed a hand over his chest and followed the brothers into the house. Despite what he had told Chase, the fear of rejection weighed heavily on Jarrod. He had never been in love before and it was a hard pill to swallow.

  He had been in relationships and he had cared about the women he had dated, but when they split he hadn’t felt heartache. Loss, yes, but not true heartache, and he hoped to never experience it.

  Holly was the first woman he had felt this deep love and affection for, and he hadn’t even had sex with her. He was going to lay everything out for her and she could squash it all between her tiny little hands.

  Jarrod had to keep telling himself that taking the chance at love would be well worth it. Look how happy Blake, James, and Sarah were. So were Kate and Grayson and Brock and Pierson.

  He may talk big to his brother, but really he was petrified that Holly didn’t want them. Well, they would soon find out.

  Chapter Three

  Holly sat down on the couch with a thud. She had had way too much to drink and her head was spinning. The other women had finally let loose and they had polished off six bottles of wine between them. Holly had continued to drink hard as they laughed and told stories. Most had had Kate running from the room. Sarah loved to share her sexual adventures and it made Kate cringe. That just made them laugh all the more.

  Now Holly was well and truly drunk. She even thought she was hearing voices. She swore she could hear Chase’s and Jarrod’s voices, but that had to be wrong. This was a girls’ night and the men weren’t allowed. Kate had said that her men were going to Stephie’s Bar and Grill and wouldn’t be home until late. So why would Chase and Jarrod be here? No, she had to be imagining it.

  “Well, well, looks like our little Holly has had way too much fun tonight.” Or maybe not.

  Holly looked up from her position on t
he couch to see both Chase and Jarrod staring at her. Their equally smug smiles told her they knew just how much fun she had imbibed.

  “What are…um…you doing here?” she said, slurring. Her brain and mouth didn’t seem to be connected anymore.

  Holly swung her body off the couch and quickly stood up. Her sudden movement caused the blood in her head to come rushing back, and she swayed dizzily. Chase reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms as she fought off the need to throw up all her dinner.

  “Wow there, baby. How much did you drink?” Chase asked.

  “Too much, by the look of her,” Jarrod added. She sent him her best scowl and then turned back to Chase.

  It felt good to be held by him, so she wrapped her arms around his waist and stepped closer, snuggling her face into his big, hard chest. She inhaled his manly scent, taking in his natural manly smell along with the woodsy aftershave he wore.

  It was heaven to be in his arms, but the wine was winning the war and she swayed again, needing to sit down before she passed out. Holly wasn’t a big drinker and didn’t handle her alcohol well. She was going to have the biggest hangover tomorrow, but it had been worth it. She’d had a wonderful night with her friends. Friends who were in just as bad shape as she was.

  Kate had gone downstairs to her room and no one had seen her in a while. Sarah had been in the bathroom for about ten minutes and Samantha was asleep with her head on the kitchen table still littered with the empty bottles and what was left of the chocolate mousse desert they had devoured.

  “I think…um…I need…um…you,” Holly said. Did she really just say that? Holly tried again. “You…bed…please.” No, no, no, that’s not what she meant. Though she would love to take them to bed. She was trying to say she needed to go to bed.

  Chase smiled down at her and she reached up to touch his lips with her fingers. God, he had an amazing smile. She could get lost in one of his smiles.