The Trouble with Holly [Merricks, Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 1
Merricks, Montana 3
The Trouble with Holly
Holly Butterfield is a chubby, clumsy waitress, down on her luck. She moved to Merricks, Montana to start over. But things aren’t improving. She has smashed two cars and her house burnt down. To make matters worse, Holly has had a crush on Chase and Jarrod Walker from the moment she first saw them, but all they want is to be friends.
Chase and Jarrod Walker have had their eye on Holly, but know she has been burnt in love before. When trouble strikes, the brothers decide it’s time to step in and claim their woman. Chase and Jarrod are both doms and slowly introduce her to their lifestyle. Chase is a vet and a nurturer by nature. Jarrod has taken over the running of the family ranch and thrives on control.
Can they get Holly to trust them with more than just her heart or will her past catch up with her, bringing dangerous consequences?
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 54,340 words
THE TROUBLE WITH HOLLY
Merricks, Montana 3
McKinlay Thomson
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at
legal@sirenbookstrand.com
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
THE TROUBLE WITH HOLLY
Copyright © 2014 by McKinlay Thomson
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-185-3
First E-book Publication: August 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 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 The Trouble with Holly by McKinlay Thomson from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
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.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is McKinlay Thomson’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect McKinlay Thomson’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
For my dad. You may never read any of my books, but I love you anyway. Thanks for being the best dad a girl could need.
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
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
About the Author
THE TROUBLE WITH HOLLY
Merricks, Montana 3
MCKINLAY THOMSON
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Shit, shit, shit! Holly Butterfield swore to herself as she wiped up the spilt beer from the floor. At this rate the owners of Stephie’s bar and grill were going to start deducting her pay. This was the third time today she had spilt something and her shift was only half-finished.
First she’d knocked into another waitress and sent a whole tray of drink flying, and then when she was clearing used dishes, she had slipped in the kitchen and dropped everything, and finally she’d tripped on her own feet with her arms full of plates. The food had gone flying and landed all over Wolf, the owner of the BDSM club in town. Holly had never been so embarrassed. Wolf had accepted her apology, but she was still mortified. She had covered him from head to toe in spaghetti sauce, and then she had made it worse trying to clean it off.
One of the owners, Chris, had given Wolf and his friend Hawk their meals for free. Holly had offered to pay Chris back, but he told her no and not to worry.
She was thankful to both Chris and Wolf. Holly needed all the money she could get. She had moved to the small town of Merricks after her loser boyfriend had cleaned out her life savings and then taken off to parts unknown. Things had gone downhill from there.
Holly had always been a klutz and spent her life dropping things or tripping over things. She always had bruised shins and elbows from crashing into tables, chairs, walls, and corners of doors. In her twenty-three years, she had broken both her wrists, her left ankle, and two ribs, and she’d had a concussion four different times. It was a miracle that she wasn’t dead already.
Since moving to Merricks two years ago, she had crashed two cars and fell off a horse, and last month, her house had burnt down. Holly was ready to pull the pin and spend the rest of her days in bed. Only she didn’t have one. She was sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor at her friend Emily’s house.
Emily lived in a small one-bedroom apartment above her bakery, Half Baked. Holly felt bad putting her out like that, but Emily was a good friend and had assured her that it was okay and that she enjoyed the company.
Today couldn’t get any worse. To make matters even worse, Chase and Jarrod Walker had seen the whole thing. She had had a huge crush on the two men since the day they had first walked into the diner. It was her first shift and the brothers had come in for breakfast. She was hurrying around with the morning rush, not paying attention when she crashed into a solid chest. Hands had reached out and steadied her before she went flying to the floor.
&
nbsp; Looking up and then further up again, Holly’s jaw had dropped. He was absolutely gorgeous. Crystal-blue eyes stared back at her and she almost swooned. He had strong chiseled features and a three-day growth. Light-brown hair peeked out from under his cowboy hat, and when he flashed her a killer smile, she knew she was a goner. She and half the damned women in town.
Holly had quickly stepped back and was then able to take in the rest of him. The man was tall, well over six feet and full of muscle. He wore faded blue Wranglers and a well-worn flannel shirt covered his big solid chest.
Holly had looked over at the second man when she heard an interrupting cough. She’d felt her heart skip a beat. He was just as hot and every bit as solid as the first man.
He, too, stood well over six feet tall, but didn’t have the rugged outdoorsy look of the other man. He was clean cut, his dirty-blond hair was trimmed neat and short, and he was wearing black jeans and a bomber jacket over a black T-shirt.
Both men had the same deep crystal blue eyes, and Holly guessed they were related.
“Are you going to show these men to a table, missy, or just stare at them all day?” Michael, the other owner of Stephie’s, said. His voice had her jumping back in shock and scrambling to show them to a table.
“Here are your menus, and I’ll be back with the coffeepot,” Holly told them and then fled. She walked into the kitchen and took her time in catching her breath. She was dumbfounded. Never had men knocked her off her feet, the way that these two did, literally and figuratively.
How was she ever going to face them without embarrassing herself further? She was so attracted to them, her nipples had hardened behind her apron and her pussy had gushed. She didn’t even know their names.
Holly grabbed the coffeepot off the counter and rushed back out to fill their cups. Luckily she had managed to achieve that without spilling it everywhere. When it was time to take their order, she had looked everywhere but at the men. She heard one of them chuckle and was sure she had turned bright red.
“What’s your name, darling?” the cowboy asked. Holly had almost swallowed her tongue. She blinked at him a couple of times before she was able to answer.
“Holly…Um…Holly Butterfield,” she finally replied.
“Well, Holly. I’m Jarrod and this here is my brother Chase.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” she said and then walked off. It wasn’t until she had reached the kitchen that she realized she hadn’t taken their order.
Holly smiled back at the memory. She didn’t usually get so timid in people’s company, but something about the two brothers got her all flustered.
They had eaten nearly every meal in Stephie’s since. They always sat in her section, and she continued to find ways to embarrass herself in front of them.
Holly had gotten to know them quite well, and they had become some of her closest friends. They watched out for her and were very helpful when her house burnt down. Little by little, her shyness had left, which made her days at work much easier.
She actually dropped things less since she had gotten used to them. Which wasn’t saying much, since she dropped things constantly anyway.
Holly had thought they were interested in her, but they had yet to make a move. The longer time went on and the better she knew them, the more she felt that they just wanted to be her friend. Which was a bummer, because she was really attracted to them.
She tried to tell herself it wasn’t because of her weight. She had seen them around town with larger-figured woman, but the doubts crept in. Holly had always been ashamed of her size. Her old boyfriend had constantly called her fat and told her to diet, but then he was a bum who had fleeced her of all her money.
She was only twenty-three years old and felt she had already lived for forty or more years. She huffed and brushed her curly blonde hair from her face, which sprang straight back. Surely she wasn’t that bad. She had nice features and liked the hazel color of her eyes, and she didn’t have a big nose or anything.
Holly sighed and finished cleaning. She needed to finish serving her customers. Surely her day would improve. Thankfully Jarrod and Chase had already left. She wouldn’t see them for dinner since she had worked breakfast and lunch shifts.
At least Holly had her girls’ night to look forward to. She, Emily, Sarah, and Samantha from the boutique were going to dinner at Kate’s house. Kate’s men, Grayson, Pierson, and Brock, were evacuating for a while so the girls could have a night to themselves.
Holly wished that Jarrod and Chase would look at her the way Kate’s men looked at her. All she wanted was someone to love her for who she was, jiggly bits, clumsiness, and all.
“Excuse me, miss,” someone called. Holly sighed and got back to work.
“Be right with you,” she said. Men problems would have to wait. She needed to get her head together and earn some money.
* * * *
“Everything is looking normal,” Chase told his brother. “You should have a healthy calf within the next hour or so. I don’t know why you called me.”
Chase removed his hand from the bred heifer and slid the long glove from his arm before disposing of it.
“What’s the point in having a vet in the family if you won’t come out and check on our animals,” Jarrod replied. Chase looked over at his older brother. He was standing on the other side of the big brown heifer with his hand resting on her rump and one leg propped on the stall fence.
He could sense that there was more to it than coming to check on a healthy normal birth. His brother had been acting strange all week.
“Give it up, bro, and tell me what’s going on.” Chase heard his brother sigh. He walked from the stall and turned back to Jarrod.
“It’s Holly,” Jarrod said. Chase felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of her name and then thump back in his chest, hard.
“What about Holly? She’s okay isn’t she? We saw her at lunch.”
“She’s fine and that’s the problem. I think it’s time we made our move, brother. We have waited long enough.”
Chase knew that his brother was getting impatient to ramp things up with Holly, but he didn’t realize that he was this bad. They had agreed to take things slow. She was such a timid woman when they had first met her. Jarrod had nearly knocked her flat to the ground. They both had felt an instant flare of attraction for the young waitress, and when they left the Bar and Grill that day, they had decided to make her theirs.
It had started as an attraction for Chase, but the more time he spent with her the more he started to care. Now Chase was well and truly in love with her and Jarrod felt the same. But they weren’t sure how she felt about them.
She was always polite and friendly and leant on them when she needed support, but she never flirted with them and always moved back when they deliberately invaded her personal space. It was starting to make Chase feel like a leper.
“We agreed to keep things slow, but maybe we can turn up the heat a little,” Chase finally said.
“Good. I don’t want to sleep alone anymore. I’m thirty-four years old and I want a family. Something to make all this work worthwhile.” Jarrod was older than Chase by two years, but he wanted to settle down every bit as much as his brother.
“All right, old man, I agree. I’m ready to settle down, too. Shit. We are in a world of hurt if she doesn’t feel the same way.” Chase and Jarrod walked from the barn toward the ranch house, leaving the cow to the ranch hands—they would call when things got close.
“She is our future wife, Chase. She just doesn’t know it yet.” Chase smiled at Jarrod’s cockiness. He was always so sure of himself, and it had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. They couldn’t stuff this up though. It would break both their hearts.
Chase followed his brother into the big ranch house and slipped off his boots. He could instantly smell something cooking and knew his mother had something in the oven. His stomach grumbled, despite the fact he had eaten less than an hour ago.
&nbs
p; “Maybe we should build a house of our own. I can’t see Holly wanting to move in with our folks,” Chase said when they entered the kitchen. Living at home sure had its perks, but he didn’t want Holly to think they were momma’s boys.
It was just convenient for them both. Chase had saved money whilst at med school, getting his veterinary doctorate, and Jarrod ran the ranch for their retired dads. Now, though, it was getting to be a joke. They needed their independence and a place for themselves.
He watched as Jarrod snagged a biscuit from the cookie jar and went and poured himself a coffee.
“You might be right. A place to ourselves would give her a lot more privacy, and then we could build our own playroom.”
Jarrod and Chase were both hardcore Doms and usually went to Silk Ties and played, but they hadn’t been since meeting Holly. If they couldn’t have Holly, there was no point in playing. That’s how bad they had it.
She was so goddamned good-looking. Her curly blonde hair sprang from her head in an untamable fashion and she was forever pushing it out of her little pixie face. Her big hazel eyes would sparkle and light up whenever she saw them, and she was so curvy, he wanted to run his hands all over her soft, feminine body.
Chase knew she thought she was fat, which was ridiculous. She was voluptuous and so sexy. She had big heavy breasts that he wanted to suck on and a full ass just asking to be spanked.
They had threatened her with a spanking on more than one occasion for putting herself down. The woman didn’t know what she was talking about, and that idiot of an ex-boyfriend hadn’t helped matters. If Chase ever got his hands on him, he’d wring his neck.