ThreesACharm

 

by Myla Jackson

Copyright © 2011, Myla Jackson. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Editor: Layla Chase

Cover artist: Myla Jackson

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

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"Are you crazy?" Audrey hissed under her breath.

A smile lifted the corners of Charli Sutton's lips. "Maybe, but I've never been more sexually...stimulated as this." Her hand rose to touch her breast through her tank top with a beer advertisement plastered all over the front. With near-giddy anticipation, she glanced around at the people lounging in lawn chairs outside Ed Judson's new two-story ranch house. If she hadn't RSVP'd a week ago, she'd have skipped Ed's house-warming barbeque to prepare for the night ahead.

"You should have called the cops," her boss and best friend exclaimed.

Charli's brows rose, her eyes widening. "You think a cop would have joined and made it a threesome?" She bit back the laughter bubbling up inside at Audrey's horrified expression.

"No. I'd hope he'd arrest the bastards for gang raping you." Her voice rose with each word.

Kendall Mason glanced in their direction, a worried frown pressing her eyebrows together.

With a reassuring smile, Charli wiggled her fingers at Kendall then dragged Audrey farther away from the group. "Shhh. I was not raped."

"You willingly let two men pretending to be cops cuff you, blindfold you and do carnal things to your body on a public highway?"

Charli cringed at the recounting of the events. "That does sound awful, doesn't it?" But the sensuality of the experience flooded her. She couldn't hold back the smile for long, it burst through, her chest swelling with excitement. "I haven't been this turned-on in months. Hell, years.” She flung out her arms and spun in a circle laughing, staggering to a stop, still grinning. “You know the best part?”

“What, that you’ve completely lost your mind?”

“Yes, no. That we have another,” Charli frowned, hesitating before she finished the sentence, “date, tonight.”

“Date?” Audrey shook her head. “Is that what you call fucking in a pool and on the highway?”

With a shrug, Charli looked away. "Well, sort of."

"Did you go out to dinner?"

"No."

"Did you have a drink?" Audrey crossed both arms over her chest, a foot tapping the ground.

Charli didn't like the way this conversation was going. Mostly because Audrey had a point. She held her breath, knowing the next question Audrey would ask.

"Did they bother to tell you their names?"

To Audrey that had to be the deal breaker.

To Charli, that had been what made the last two mad, crazy, insane nights so incredible. A shiver ran over her skin. She still didn't know who her cowboys were. Especially her cowboy number one, or as she'd dubbed him...the Original Sin.

"Got you on that one, did I?" Audrey nodded, her mouth drawn into a smug line.

That warm tingly feeling bubbled up in Charli again and she hugged her arms around herself. "Nope. I still don't know his name and right now, I don't care. I like the mystery. That fact makes me crazy with lust."

With a shake of her head, Audrey sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Yeah," Charli agreed without remorse. "I am."

"Well, there's only one thing left to do?"

"There is?"

"Yes, ma'am. I have to go with you on your date."

"I beg your pardon?"

Audrey grinned. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't protect you from a man determined to take advantage of you?"

"Oh, honey.” Charli shook her head. “I want him to take advantage of me. Please, don't do me any favors."

Her friend smiled. "Okay, but I don't like all this secrecy. I wonder what he's hiding beneath his hat."

"Who cares? He makes me smile." Especially when he touched her in all the right places.

"He or they?"

"Mostly him—the Original Sin."

"Catchy nickname." Audrey shot a glance at the group of friends gathered in the yard. "Do you think he might be one of Ed's friends?"

Charli had been wondering that herself. Last night she'd have put money on Connor Mason being her man in the black Stetson. She gazed across at her colleague Kendall Mason sitting on Ed Judson's knee and sighed, wishing she had a guy she cared enough about to sit in his lap in public. Someone she wouldn't be bored with in five minutes.

Her gaze shifted to Kendall's brother stepping out the back door with a tray of raw hamburgers. Tall, light brown hair, blue eyes and ripped. Every muscle outlined by the tight T-shirt stretched over his shoulders. The guy was hot and he made Charli sizzle in all the right places.

Her pussy creamed as she studied Connor. Hell, ever since the first night her guy in the black cowboy hat had dared her to skinny dip in the judge's pool, she'd been studying every man at the Ugly Stick Saloon where she worked, and now here in Kendall's backyard. Her senses were heightened, especially those involving her sex drive. Everywhere she looked, every male could potentially be the one. She was a bitch in heat, sniffing out the dog she'd hook up with.

At the thought of doing it with her Original Sin, doggy style, her nipples tightened and another wash of juices drenched her panties. She glanced down at Connor's crotch, noting how it bulged nicely and wondering what he looked like naked. When she glanced up again, Connor was gazing her way, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Damn!" She shifted, turning away from the gathering, uncomfortably aware of how turned on she was and that Connor had caught her staring at his package. Did she have sex on the brain? Hell, yes. And to think she wouldn't even see her mystery man until midnight. With a glance at her watch, she groaned. Eight o'clock? Really? Four more hours?

"Penny for your thoughts?"

A deep male voice sounded next to her ear. Charli jumped.

Connor stood at her side. Having ditched the burgers, he held an ice-cold bottle of beer, his clear blue eyes twinkling in the sunshine.

Her body on fire, with no extinguisher to douse the flames, heat rose in Charli's cheeks and she coughed into her fist to disguise its cause. "I don't think you want to know my thoughts."

"That good?" His lips twitched as if he shared her joke.

Did he have any idea what she'd just been thinking? Guilt skittered at the bottom of her stomach. Could he read her like an open book? Probably, since she'd practically been drooling over his crotch.

He tipped the bottle, his throat working as he swallowed the cool liquid.

Charli couldn't help staring at where his full, sensuous lips caressed the rounded edge of the bottle's rim. Her sensitized nipples contracted, her belly clenching.

He tossed the empty bottle into a trash can and turned to Charli. "Still thinking of leaving Temptation?"

Charli's head spun with a dozen questions she wanted to ask. What did he mean? Why was he asking? Was he her Original Sin? Was he testing her to see if she'd had enough of the mystery dates? What if she was wrong?

Before she could push anything remotely intelligent past her lips, he chuckled.

"I take that as a yes."

"No," Charli blurted. "I mean, I haven't even thought of leaving, lately." The realization shocked her. For the past two days, not once had she been bored or thinking about moving back to Austin. All because of one man with a black cowboy hat and a body that completely rocked her socks. She pressed her thighs together. And he had friends!

"That's good. I'd like to get to know you better. What are you doing after the party?"

"Why?" Charli said before she pulled her head out of the sensual clouds induced by her midnight capers and concentrated on the equally alluring Connor. He wanted to get to know her better? What...had she struck the jackpot of men?

He shook his head. "Not the answer I was looking for. Want a cup of coffee or an ice cream cone at the drive through?"

Charli squirmed, she could have kicked herself for her inane response to his first question. Now she'd have to turn him down altogether. Damn it, any other evening she would go out with him, but tonight she had plans. She had to leave enough time to get dolled up. Her mystery man had left her a note to meet him at the back of the furniture store at midnight, wearing a dress, of all things.

Connor's smile disappeared. "Sorry. I thought you might be interested. My bad." He turned to walk away.

Charli reached out and touched his arm. "No, really. I'd love to go out for coffee. Just not tonight. I have...plans."

He faced her again and grinned. "How about tomorrow?"

Her excitement faded. "I have to work."

Connor's brow furrowed. "I forgot...at the Ugly Stick, right?"

"Right."

"That's at night, isn't it? How about lunch?"

Charli laughed. "I can do lunch."

"Great. Then it's a date." Connor stuck out his hand.

Charli took it and shook, all at once awkward and just a little bit disappointed. If Connor was trying to make plans with her for tonight, he obviously wasn't her mystery man. Then again, he was beautiful, Charli hadn't committed to ever-after with the cowboy and the date was just lunch.

"Excuse me, I need to check on the burgers." He hurried toward the grill where flames licked at the edges of the sizzling beef.

Audrey sidled close, her brows rising. "What was all the handshaking about?"

"Nothing." Charli brushed her hand across her thigh.

"Spill, lady, or I'll go ask Connor."

"Fine. I have a lunch date with Connor tomorrow."

Audrey squealed like a teenager. "That's more like it. Then you're not going to meet with the mass murderer at midnight?"

"Of course I am." Charli beamed. "I'm sure to have sex tonight. Whereas I'll probably only get lunch tomorrow."

Audrey slapped a palm against her forehead. "I thought I taught you better."

"Oh, honey, you did." Charli laid a hand on Audrey's arm. "You definitely did. Like you, I know what I want and I'm not waiting for it to find me. I'm going after it." Her core heated and her body hummed with excitement. Bring on the night. Charli Sutton was horny as hell and looking to get fucked thoroughly.