Read Maya's Triple Dare Online
Authors: Heather Rainier
Maya's Triple Dare (2 page)
Tell her whatever you have to. Show her this letter if you think it will
help. But keep her out of his hands.
Please go after her and take care of her, before some unworthy
bastard beats you to her. Love her for both of us. You’ll be a lucky
man if you do.
Sincerely,
Morgan Daire
PS: I hope by now you’ve made something of that shithole you
call a ranch house. Maya deserves a palace.
Kendall felt like he’d been poleaxed. There was a date stamp from the law office on the outside of Morgan’s envelope. They’d received it roughly six months before Morgan’s death, evidently with instructions for when to mail it to Kendall, if necessary. He found it unsettling that Morgan’s words mirrored Boone’s of just moments before.
“Damn, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Boone commented as he handed Kendall another beer.
“Heard from one is more like it.” Kendall handed Boone the letter.
Boone sat down and read with Richard looking over his shoulder.
Kendall sat on the couch in shock.
20
If he had the chance for a do-over with Maya, would he let her slip through his fingers again? Hell no. Boone handed him the letter, and Richard sat in the recliner. This involved more than just him. It concerned the two of them as well. Maya Daire’s new social status had been the topic of conversation for weeks. Living in Divine and getting to know his cousins had changed the way he thought about relationships, just as it had for his brothers. If she’d loved both Morgan and Kendall was there a chance she could find happiness with the three of them?
Richard gazed at Kendall through piercing, pale eyes and asked,
“You going after her?”
“Yes.”
Kendall sensed their reactions in their body language. They both looked ready to charge through the front door and climb in the truck.
The three of them wanted—no,
craved
what their cousin Jack had with his wife, Grace, and Jack’s distant cousins, Ethan Grant and Adam Davis. They wanted a woman to love and to share. Kendall smiled and looked at them both.
“Do you think lightning can strike twice in the same place?”
“Of course,” Boone replied. Richard remained silent on the couch, but nodded.
“Well, let’s see if it’ll strike three times.”
21
Chapter Two
Maya sat on the couch with the stack of mail in her hand as she laid her phone aside. Something about Kendall’s soothing voice always made her feel better, especially since Morgan’s death, but before then, also. He’d talked her off more ledges than she could recall, some small and some larger than he probably realized.
She finally reached for the envelope and opened it.
Another one.
After helping his mother deal with the sudden death of his father due to a heart attack, Morgan had decided to write Maya a series of letters to help her in the event she had to deal with his death. His mom had been totally unprepared to handle tying up his father’s loose ends and making financial decisions that would affect her livelihood. Maya was grateful for every letter she’d received, both as a tie to him and because she’d been in a fog those first few months and had needed his counsel on many occasions.
Her heart clenched with the pain of Morgan’s loss for a moment, and she waited for the buried-under-an-avalanche feeling that always accompanied these letters. Each time one came, her emotional response to it was not as bad as with the previous one.
This time she only felt like skipping supper and going straight to bed. The last time, she’d wanted to stay in bed for a week. Steeling herself, she tore open the envelope. A small key fell into her lap. She lifted the cover letter from Morgan’s attorney and close friend and read it.
The key was to a safe-deposit box at Hill Country Bank and Trust in San Marcos. In the letter, the lawyer apologized for the delay in
22
getting the key to her. Somehow the key had been placed in the wrong envelope, and she should have received it much sooner. It had only recently been discovered in the envelope with the final letter. Laying the key aside, she carefully opened the envelope and slid the enclosed letter out.
Lovely Maya,
This is my last letter. The reason for that is not because I’m tired
of writing them. That would be like getting tired of making love to
you. If it was the only way I could be there for you, I’d go on for years
with letters, but I can’t back up what I’d write with action.
I want you to do something for me. Live your life. If you’ve
already begun to move on, I’m proud of you. But will you do one
thing for me? Go to Kendall. Tell him you’re ready to move on. Be the
daring girl I married and ask him for what you’ve needed for so long.
He’s loved you since the moment he laid eyes on you, and I know
you’ve loved him just as long.
If I could have one wish granted, it would be that we lived in a
world where we could’ve shared our lives together. No, Kendall and I
aren’t in love with each other, but we are both in love with you. I was
the lucky guy who asked first, and being the stand-up guy he is, he let
you go.
I can’t fulfill that wish, but this one I can. Go love him and have
the life you wanted and didn’t dare ask for. If you’ve followed my
suggestions in previous letters, the house should be paid off and you
should be through with your degree. Sell the house. Put the money
into your investments or the JWB.
I love you with my whole heart,
Morgan
23
Her hand shook as she reread the letter.
Be the daring girl I
married…
Could she? She’d never stopped missing Kendall when he’d moved on after they’d gotten married. He’d stayed in touch and they’d visited him, but something had always been missing. No, some
one
was missing. She looked down at Morgan’s careful script, and a tear splashed onto the page.
She missed Morgan so much. What she’d wanted, she’d wanted
with
Morgan. To love them both. Whether that made her a deviant, she didn’t know or care. She knew what her heart had wanted, and evidently Morgan had understood what she desired, as well. Her heart ached with old grief for him at how he’d loved her despite knowing that about her.
Without bothering to fix supper, she went to her room, undressed, and crawled in under the covers.
As soon as she was comfortable she groaned. “Shit.”
She’d forgotten all about calling Frank. After lying there for a few seconds, she decided she was down for the count and he could wait until tomorrow. She closed her eyes and fell sound asleep. It wasn’t even dark outside yet.
* * * *
Maya was startled awake by her doorbell ringing. Fuzzy-headed, she crawled from bed, donned her robe and stumbled down the hall.
She turned on a light in the dark living room and squinted at the screen on her cell phone as she went to the door. It was half past ten.
There were several missed calls and text messages. She must’ve really been out of it to not hear her phone. She gazed into the peephole and gasped. A wave of heat blasted through her torso.
“Kendall.”
She fumbled with the deadbolt and flung the door open. His sandy-blond hair looked mussed, like he’d run his fingers through it a number of times. His hands rested casually on his denim-clad hips as
24
he stood there. He must’ve gotten in his truck after their phone call and driven straight to San Marcos from Divine.
The look in his eyes sent another bolt of heat through her, this time straight to her pussy. Funny, none of the men she’d dated in the last few weeks had inspired any sort of sexual reaction in her at all, including Frank Reeves.
In another life she might feel guilty for the warmth that pulsated through her body at the sight of him, but she’d always reacted to him this way. She’d done her best to hide it once Morgan had declared his love for her, but where Kendall was concerned she couldn’t help it.
She leaped into his arms as he whispered, “Babydoll.”
He smelled of sunshine, hard work, and leather. Breathing his scent in made her mouth water. His muscular arms felt good, holding her securely, and she wondered if he noticed the tremor that rippled through her. She welcomed him into the house, remembering self-consciously when her nipples hardened that she was clad only in her satin robe.
He looked like a sin waiting to be committed, in denim and leather. Where Morgan had been the tall, dark, and handsome Mister
GQ
, Kendall was the blond, sexy, and risqué cowboy, and she’d always enjoyed the contrast between the two of them.
Maya didn’t miss the tension in his jaw and the set of his lips as he looked her over. She was about to excuse herself to go change when she saw the letter he held in his hand, written on familiar-looking stationery.
“Is Morgan telling the truth in this?” Kendall asked plainly as he handed it to her. That was Kendall’s way, to get right to the crux of the matter from the beginning.
With a trembling hand, she took the wrinkled letter from him, changing clothes all but forgotten. Her cheeks heated as she read Morgan’s words. Evidently neither she nor Kendall had been very adept at hiding their feelings from Morgan. The letter went on to say Kendall loved her.
25
Maya looked into his brown eyes, responding even more strongly to the heat smoldering there. Morgan’s voice whispered to her.
Be the
daring girl I married…have the life you wanted and didn’t dare ask
for. Dare.
Kendall grasped her shoulders through the black satin of her robe, and moisture pooled in her slit in a lightning-quick response. “Is it true, babydoll? Tell me.”
Relief that he finally knew, mixed with sorrow for the reason he knew, surged through her, and she bit her lip as she nodded. “Yes.”
A breath he must have been holding escaped Kendall in a great gust as he crushed her to him. His body shook and he groaned, kissing the top of her head.
“Will you come back home with me?”
Struck by the suddenness of his request, Maya stammered, “I–I don’t know. For how long? For what? Kendall, I—”
He cradled the back of her head as he gazed into her eyes for a few, lingering seconds. His handsome face radiated desire, and she felt completely right and safe in his arms. Gently, he gripped her hair as he closed the distance between them and kissed her. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, stroking lovingly. He tasted minty and clean, and his day-old whiskers rubbed against her cheeks and chin, making her skin tingle and her pussy pulse with need for him.
She’d fantasized about what it would be like to kiss him for years and even more so in the last couple of months. As a matter of fact, her fantasies of late had extended to include Boone and Richard. The three of them surrounding her, kissing her, and even loving her.
Should she go home with him?
Kendall released her and looked intently into her eyes. “For how long? Let’s start with a week. If you can put up with us then we’ll see about forever.” His eyes told her he was serious.
“What about Boone and Richard? You’re living in a small house right now.”
26
“Not that small. Boone and Richard have to work in the morning.
Otherwise they would’ve ridden with me.
They
want you to come, too.”
The emphasis in his statement only gave rise to more questions in her mind, but he chose that moment to lay another bone-melting kiss on her. Maya slid her palms up his solid biceps and wrapped her arms around his neck. The belt of the robe slid loose as she raised her arms, and she felt a draft when the edges parted.
She released his shoulders and pulled the robe back together, feeling conflicted. His kiss turned her on, and she wanted him. That much was certain. But this was so sudden, and she couldn’t afford a misstep. Not with Kendall.
Evidently sensing her hesitation, Kendall released her as she asked, “What Morgan told you in the letter doesn’t bother you? That I wanted you both?”
Maybe she should stay in town and get her head checked. Boone and Richard’s handsome faces floated in her mind, adding to her uncertainty. She pictured herself with Kendall, Boone, and Richard in that scenario.
They were all so different from each other. Boone was dark-eyed and handsome, mysterious, and tattooed. Richard was larger than life, rugged, a quiet, immensely deep person, with beautiful pale blue eyes she swore could see into a person’s soul.
She didn’t know anybody who had the kind of committed relationship she’d always fantasized about. She didn’t even know if it would’ve worked. What if this was a disastrous idea and she lost Kendall’s friendship as well as his love?
“Babydoll, I’ll never regret being there for you, but I don’t want to be your ‘go-to’ guy anymore. I want to be the
man
you go to. I would’ve been there if that’s what you and Morgan had wanted.”
Questions and confusion swirled in her mind, but one fact remained. He knew the truth and still wanted her.
27