Everything's Better with Three (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Everything’s Better with Three
Kayley Clayton has given up on Billy Wainwright and Craig Hayman ever noticing her. Nothing has budged them into taking her seriously. Frustrated, she decides to cut loose and forget about them, but trouble lands her square in their laps.
Billy and Craig didn’t think Kayley could handle two men like them. When she lands them all in jail, they start to question their decision to steer clear of her. Then she’s attacked and all bets are off. Kayley is theirs to protect.
Convincing Kayley that they are serious and are still planning to be around after the danger has past isn’t as easy as they thought it would be. She’s convinced the two men will get tired of bailing her out of trouble and leave her brokenhearted.
Can she learn to trust their pledge of love and loyalty? Will they overcome their anxiety that she can’t handle two rowdy mechanics and show her that everything’s better with three?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense
Length: 50,976 words
EVERYTHING’S BETTER WITH THREE
Marla Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
EVERYTHING’S BETTER WITH THREE
First E-book Publication: October 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 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 Everything’s Better with Three by Marla Monroe from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
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The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Marla Monroe’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Monroe’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
I want to dedicate this to Harriett, an amazing woman who loves the outdoors and knows what it’s like to grow up with the simple pleasures of life. Her beautiful personality and loyalty means more to me than anyone will ever know. Thank you for being my friend.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
About the Author
EVERYTHING’S BETTER WITH THREE
MARLA MONROE
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
“I’ve had it.” Kayley Clayton stormed into the beauty salon her best friend Beatrice Duncan owned. “This is it, Bea. Cut it off.”
Bea shook her head and continued rolling up Mrs. Pitman’s hair in tiny curlers. Kayley scowled at her friend and slammed her hands on her hips. Poor Mrs. Pittman had witnessed her almost monthly tirade about cutting her hair so often that she didn’t even bother opening her eyes this time. It pissed Kayley off. Maybe she had backed out each time before, but she wasn’t backing out this time. It had to go.
“Honey, have a seat and tell me what’s wrong,” Bea said.
“I can’t sit down. I’m too mad.” She huffed out a breath before collapsing into the chair at the station across from Bea and her customer.
“Kayley, you’ve had long hair since we were in kindergarten together. The most you’ve ever allowed me to cut off was two inches, and then you about stroked when you saw it on the floor. How will cutting all that gorgeous hair off help whatever is wrong?” Bea finished rolling Mrs. Pittman’s hair and helped her out of the chair to sit under the dryer.
“Durn it. I always end up under the dryer just when things get good. I’ll never find out what has Kayley going this time under here,” the older woman said.
“Believe me. It’s nothing gossip worthy. She gets upset when her brother leaves ruts in her yard with that big truck of his. Now sit still until the buzzer sounds. I’ll check on you in a few minutes.” Bea patted the older woman’s hand and set the dryer’s controls.
Kayley waited until Bea motioned her toward the back of the shop where she had a small kitchenette complete with a table and four chairs. She realized that she’d been pouring out her guts to Beatrice at that table for the last six years without changing a damn thing in her life. Well, this time would be different. She was cutting her hair.
“Now what is going on?” Bea asked as she poured them both a glass of iced tea.
“Oh, Bea. I’m tired of watching Billy and Craig date every woman in town except me. Why can’t they see how much I care about them? Those other women just use them to satisfy their curiosity about having two men at one time. I’d stick with them. They would be it for me.”
Her friend sighed and leaned back in the chair. “Kayley, you can’t make them want you. Changing your hair or how you dress only works in those books you like to read. Real life isn’t like that.”
Kayley clamped down on her tongue to keep from pointing out that Bea was happily married to her best friend, Sam. If Bea could have what she wanted,
why couldn’t Kayley? Bea kept telling her that she hadn’t been asking for the world and Kayley was.
“Well, you’re not talking me out of it. I’m cutting my hair. Now are you going to do it for me, or do I have to drive to Jackson and get someone else to do it?” Kayley asked.
Bea’s lips thinned as she watched Kayley for a few seconds. “Fine. I’ll cut your hair. If you bitch or cry about it later, I’m cutting you out of my will. Do you understand?”
Kayley relaxed. “Yeah. I understand. I’m not going to fuss. I just need to do something different with my life. I’m twenty-eight years old and tired of doing the same thing day in and day out.”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about, Kayley. You act like cutting your hair is going to change your life overnight. You’re still going to be you. You’re a computer programmer with a psycho cat and me for a best friend. Don’t expect too much, honey. I hate seeing you disappointed.” Bea reached out and squeezed her hand.
“As soon as I finish Mrs. Pittman’s comb out we’ll get started. Why don’t you look through the style books and pick out some things that interest you.” Bea drained the last of her tea and stood up. “I’ll bring the books back here.”
Kayley watched her friend walk back up front. Beatrice had the perfect figure with a nice size bust, tiny waist, and narrow hips. So unlike her size fourteen, sometimes sixteen figure that she hated. Her hips were huge, and nothing she did would totally flatten her rounded belly. No matter how hard she exercised at the gym or tried to count calories, her love of food always got the better of her.
Bea had never had to watch her weight and had gorgeous red hair that brushed her shoulders with soft curls. Her bright blue eyes and fair skin had always attracted the boys in high school and later when they’d attended the local community college together. Still, Bea had stuck by Sam, and as soon as Sam had finished school and gotten a job teaching at the local high school, they’d gotten married in a sweet church wedding there in town.
Remembering still made her misty eyed. She was happy for her friend, really she was, but she wanted that for herself. And she wanted it with Billy Wainwright and Craig Hayman. She had a crush in high school on first Billy, then later, Craig. That teenage crush had grown into young love by the time she got ready for college. By the time she’d graduated from Mississippi College in Clinton with her degree in computer science, Kayley knew what she wanted, and that was to marry Billy and Craig.
The little town of Cougar Den, located south of Jackson, Mississippi, was known for its quirky community that didn’t much like outsiders moving into their town. They mostly kept to themselves and didn’t judge anyone based on what was normal for the rest of the world. As long as you didn’t break the law and no one got hurt, no one really cared what you did.
As far as Kayley was concerned, marrying the two men was as right as anything else there in Cougar Den. They wouldn’t be the only ménage relationship in town. There were three other ménage families living there. As far as she could tell, they were all as happy as any of the traditional families around. She wasn’t delusional in thinking there weren’t problems, or challenges as she preferred to think of them. All families had growing pains. It was how you dealt with them that mattered.
She absently thumbed through the books and magazines Bea had given her to search, but she didn’t really see the pictures. Instead, she daydreamed about warm, lazy days and hot summer nights under the stars with her men, as she liked to think about them.
When Bea walked back to get her, Kayley didn’t have a thing picked out to show the woman. She just shook her head and gathered everything up with a sigh. Kayley wanted to ask for a few more minutes to look, but one look from her best friend warned her she was already on thin ice.
“Well, you had your chance to choose. Now you’re stuck with whatever I do to you. Step into my parlor, friend-girl. Let me work my magic on you.” Bea pushed her toward the front with a chuckle.
* * * *
Craig wiped his brow with the back of his shirtsleeve to keep from getting grease on his face. He’d been screwing around with Mr. Truman’s old truck for the last two hours and wasn’t sure he could fix it this time. The damn thing was strung together with bailing wire and duct tape as it was. He needed to put it out to pasture and get another one, but the old man didn’t want to part with it.
“Fuck!” Billy’s voice came from under a sporty Mercedes in the next bay. “Damn crappy, foreign piece of shit.”
Craig chuckled and returned to trying to force parts to fit that didn’t want to. His best friend and partner in the shop had a colorful vocabulary to say the least. He could string together a line of curse words that would amaze and embarrass you without stopping to think about it, and the thing about it was they always fit the situation.
“What the hell are you laughing about over there? I don’t see that old pile of bolts and screws blowing any smoke yet.” Billy pushed himself out from under the car, wiping his hands on a grease rag.
“Nothing. Just wondering if you want to wager on how long this thing will run this time once I finish.”
“Hell, no. I lost the last time. I know you did something to be sure it tore up right on time for you to win. I don’t bet against cheaters.” Billy walked over to the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles of water. Throwing one to Craig, he unscrewed the top on his and drained it in less than a minute.
Craig downed half of his then slowed down. “What do you have against Kayley, Billy?”
“Where the fuck did that come from?” The other man tossed the empty bottle across the bay, sinking it in the trash barrel without a problem.
“She’s interested. It’s more than obvious, but you always steer clear of her. Why?”
“She’s trouble, Craig. That’s all.”
“I don’t get it. She’s exactly our type. Curvy, with hips you can hold on to and a rack that makes your mouth water. I’ve seen how you watch her when you think no one’s looking.”
“Bullshit. I don’t have any interest in her. Craig, she’s a scatterbrain that’s too smart for the likes of us. We’d spend all our time trying to keep her straight. I don’t want someone I have to pull out of trouble every time I turn around.” Billy dropped his head back, looking up at the rafters.
“She’s not that bad,” Craig said, taking another drink from the bottle.
“The hell she’s not. What about all the times we had to pull her out of the ditch on Barefoot Road? The same fucking ditch three times! She couldn’t even pick a different ditch to run into,” Billy said throwing his hands up.
“Maybe she was just trying to get our attention. Have you thought about that?” he asked.
“The same ditch, Craig. If she had wanted to get my attention, she should have picked a new ditch by the third time,” Billy said with a scowl.
Craig sighed and finished his water. Walking over to the trash barrel, he threw it in and figured there was no use trying to get Billy to reconsider. He had asked him often enough about taking out the cute chestnut haired beauty and pretty much got the same answer then, too. There was just something about her that Craig couldn’t get her off his mind.
“We going out tonight or doing a run of movies?” Craig asked as Billy rolled back under the car he was working on.
“Hell. I’m tired of movies, tired of going out. Maybe we should think about planning a weekend camping trip, go fishing for a change.” Billy’s voice was muffled under the car.
“I do like how you think,” Craig said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been. Been too hot.”
“Let’s plan for next weekend. Get everything we have waiting finished and put off starting anything that’s not an emergency.”
“I can do that. There’s nothing major to work on outside of Gabe’s car that we’re waiting on a part for. It should be in by Tuesday, and I can have that ready to roll by Thursday at the latest.” Craig was already looking forward to a lazy weekend of fishing and shooting the shit.
/> “We need to get the tent out tomorrow and check it for rotten places that might need stitching. Get the poles out and check the lines.”
Craig smiled. Billy really seemed to be into the camping idea. It was good to hear a little enthusiasm in his voice for a change. Lately, Billy had been restless, and nothing kept his attention for very long, not even sharing a sweet woman between them. He’d been worried about his buddy and wondered if he was getting ready to pick up stakes and move for a change of scenery. He liked it here and didn’t much want to go anywhere else, but if Billy took to the road, Craig would be right there with him. He couldn’t imagine life without his best friend by his side.
“I can hear you thinking all the way over here, man. What’s going on?” Billy asked, pushing out from under the car once more.
“Just thinking about everything we need to do to get ready for next weekend. Figure I’m going to need to make a list so we don’t miss something.”
“You and your fucking lists. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a girl. We’ve been camping enough times since we were old enough to sneak out of the house that we don’t need a list. Hell, if we forget something, we’ll improvise. That’s why it’s called camping.”
Craig hid a smile as he bent over the old fossil of a truck. Billy referred to his lists as often as Craig did, pretending he was scoffing at them to cover up that he wasn’t sure he’d remembered everything. His partner cussed, fussed, bitched, and moaned like an old woman, but he was used to it. When it came down to it, there wasn’t a better friend than Billy. He’d follow you into hell if you needed him.