Diving Creek Ranch 16
Maizy the Bear Charmer
Maizy Owen is living her dream, working as a kindergarten teacher. Her profession gives her purpose, but her personal life is another story. Recently rejected by her fiancé, Maizy struggles to hide a part of her nature that she longs to freely express.
Cody Welsh , Heath Lindsey, and Spencer Ketchum, affectionately known to their friends as “the bears,” have been searching for the mysterious belly dancer who laid claim to their hearts nearly a year ago. Their paths cross on a rainy morning when Spencer can’t take his eyes off of a bubbly, dark-haired beauty with an unconscious urge to dance.
Far from overwhelmed by the bear’s immense combined presence, Maizy finds comfort and acceptance in their arms. They set out to discover if their growing bond can thrive, realizing her dream job may be jeopardized. Thanks to the gossip mill in Divine, it quickly becomes clear that Maizy has a choice to make. Keep her job or lose the men she loves.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 131,546 words
MAIZY THE BEAR CHARMER
Divine Creek Ranch 16
Heather Rainier
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
MAIZY THE BEAR CHARMER
Copyright © 2013 by Heather Rainier
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-868-4
First E-book Publication: November 2013
Cover design by Les Byerley
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 Maizy the Bear Charmer by Heather Rainier 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.
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This is Heather Rainier’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Rainier’s right to earn a living from her work.
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www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
To the man who charmed me from the moment I laid eyes on him twenty-three years ago. My husband.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to all the readers who have demanded Cody, Heath, and Spencer’s story. I’m so glad I gave in when they clamored for an introduction in Tiny Dancer. I’m thrilled to finally reveal who their mysterious belly dancer was.
Thank you to the Divine Divas, a lovely group of ladies and gentlemen on Facebook. Your encouragement, laughter, irreverence, and compassion have made a big difference in this writer’s world.
Thanks also to my beta reader, Stormy, for taking on the huge task of critiquing and proofing this story for me. She has a direct hand in helping me to bring readers and my publisher a polished story. Thank you also to Corinne Davies, who helped to inspire the bears.
And special thanks goes to my publisher, Diana, who so patiently puts up with my anal tendencies and continues to inspire and encourage me. I feel blessed to be writing for her. My editors and the staff at Siren-BookStrand also have my sincerest gratitude for their hard work and diligence with this book and all the others that came before it.
CAST OF MAIN CHARACTERS IN BOOK READING ORDER
Divine Grace
Grace (Stuart) Warner is co-owner of Harper Embroidery. She’s also invested in and works at Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique located in Morehead.
Jack Warner, Ethan Grant, and Adam Davis. These three distant cousins are owners of the Divine Creek Ranch, a horse ranch specializing in the breeding of Andalusian horses. Jack is also a building contractor. Adam is an HVAC and electrical contractor. Ethan co-owns The Dancing Pony nightclub, located in Divine.
They have one daughter, Rose Marie.
Her Gentle Giant (Part One & Two)
Rachel (Lopez) Wolf was employed at Thorne Home Theater as a bookkeeper. She now does the books for Discretion and is a stay-at-home mom.
Eli Wolf was one of the bouncers at The Dancing Pony and is now licensed as an EMT.
They have one son, Levi.
Heavenly Angel
Teresa (Palacios) Martinez worked at Stigall’s with Grace and is now invested in Discretion and works there part-time when not caring for her children.
Angel and Joaquin Martinez are brothers and horse breeding specialists who handle the breeding operation on the Divine Creek Ranch.
They have two sons, Michael and Eleazar, and an infant daughter, Isabella.
Rosemary’s Double Delight
Rosemary (Piper) Garner splits her time between the family business, Cheaver’s Western Store, and her husbands’ business, Garner Custom Furniture.
Wes and Evan Garner are brothers and self-employed custom furniture craftsmen who have known Rosemary since kindergarten. They have one son, Thomas Daniel.
Spurs and Heels
Juliana (Meyer) Peterson, an admitted perfectionist, was the manager of Stigall’s Department Store and is now a buyer for Discretion Boutique.
Ash Peterson, a former bareback bronc riding champion, is the foreman of the Divine Creek Ranch and runs all of the day-to-day operations.
They have a son named Will.
Maya’s Triple Dare
Maya (Daire) Warner is a registered nurse specializing in obstetric and pediatric care. She works with Doctor Emma Rivers.
Kendall, Boone, and Richard Warner
are brothers, and first cousins of Jack Warner. They are partners in the MWTD Cattle Ranch, which backs up to Divine Creek and borders the Divine Creek Ranch.
Summer’s Indiscretion
Summer (Heston) Webster and her sister Margot are proprietors of Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique in nearby Morehead, Texas.
Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier are adopted brothers who are also partners in a security and private investigation operation. Ace and Kemp have assisted a number of the heroes and heroines in Divine, Texas, including their wife, Summer.
Lydia’s Twin Temptation
Lydia (Webster) Carlisle is a professional chef. She came to the Rockin’ C Ranch as a chef and wound up falling in love with both Chance and Clayton Carlisle. Her older brother, Ace, was not pleased.
Chance and Clayton Carlisle are twin brothers who own the Rockin’ C Ranch, a very large cattle operation outside of Divine.
Their Divine Doctor
Doctor Emma (Guthrie) Rivers is a family practitioner in Divine, Texas.
Duke Rivers and Gage Randall are cousins who were raised as brothers. They are IT consultants and also work on a contract basis for Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier.
Divine Phoenix
Lily (Valentine) Cook is a Divine native, recently returned home. She is a student and works with her husband at Clay Cook Jewelry.
Clay and Del Cook are brothers who are long-lost friends of Lily’s. Clay is a jeweler and sculptor and Del is a rancher, recently returned from a long stint as a contractor for a private military company.
Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion
Jayne (Sheridan) Carter is head librarian at the Divine Memorial Library
Seth Carter is a tattoo artist and owner of Divine Ink Tattoo Studio, located in downtown Divine. Sparks Fly! features their introduction to each other and sexy reunions with all the previous main characters in the series, centered around a July 4th family reunion.
Margot’s Hunger
Margot Heston and her sister, Summer, are proprietors of Discretion, a ladies’ adults-only boutique located in nearby Morehead.
Jake Redman is a private investigations and security subcontractor.
Gil James is the foreman at the Rockin’ C Ranch.
His Tattooed Virgin
Jayne (Sheridan) Carter is the head librarian at the Divine Memorial Library.
Seth Carter is a tattoo artist and owner of Divine Ink Tattoo Studio located in downtown Divine. They have a son named Toby. Jayne and Seth were introduced to each other in Sparks Fly! Their full love story is told in His Tattooed Virgin.
Tiny Dancer
Camilla (O’Neal) Parks is the owner of the Twisted Bull night club and Chantilly’s Steakhouse, located in Morehead.
Ben Lawrence and Quinten Parks are business partners with Ethan Grant in the Dancing Pony nightclub.
They are the parents of brand new twin boys, James and Joshua.
Tangled In Divine
Gwen (Henderson) Alvarez is a retired world barrel racing champion and a consultant specializing in horse training and teaching barrel racing techniques.
Julian Alvarez and Chris Potter are full-time ranchers who run the Bucking H Ranch in Colorado and the Bucking H2 Ranch in Divine.
Lucy’s Revenge
Lucy Carter is a self-employed licensed massage therapist and owner of A Divine Retreat located in downtown Divine.
Patrick Owen is an architect and single dad to his five-year-old son, PJ, and Beck O’Malley is a beekeeper.
I hope you enjoy the next installment in the Divine Creek Ranch Collection…
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Cast of Main Characters in Book Reading Order
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
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
About the Author
MAIZY THE BEAR CHARMER
Divine Creek Ranch 16
HEATHER RAINIER
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
“Come on, girl. Live a little,” Lucy Carter urged Maizy Owen as they browsed the lingerie.
Maizy put the catsuit back on the rack. “It would be a waste of money, Lucy. Where would I wear it? Parent teacher conference night?”
Her soon-to-be sister-in-law giggled as she removed the sheer black lace confection from the rack and held it up to Maizy, looking her up and down with speculation in her piercing blue eyes. “The right man is just waiting to see you in this. With your curly black hair and gorgeous looks, you’d knock some poor guy dead in his tracks.”
“Well then what good would he be to me?” she asked with a giggle as she put the catsuit back again. She wanted it so much that it hurt to walk away from it but there was no point in spending money that wouldn’t have a return on the investment. And if she ever did find a guy to wear it for, with her luck, she’d slip into it, show off the cat’s tail, kitty ears, and split crotch, and wind up scaring the poor guy off with her rowr.
Because that’s how my luck is with men.
They were in Discretion, the adults-only ladies’ boutique situated on the outskirts of Morehead, Texas, shopping for lingerie for Lucy, for her wedding and honeymoon. Lucy had also hinted that Maizy needed a little girlie fun before she started gearing up for the new school year which would begin in a month.
Lucy grinned, lifted the catsuit off the rack, and put it in Maizy’s hands. “Try it on.”
“I’m not modeling that for you!”
Lucy snickered. “I never said I wanted you to. Go try it on for yourself. Summer? She can try that on, right?”
From across the shop, Summer Webster looked up at what Maizy held in her hand. “Be my guest, just leave your panties on. Let me know if you need help.”
Lucy grinned triumphantly. “Try it on just to see what it would look like, before you put it back.”
“I’m too short.”
“Try it on.”
“And dumpy.”
Lucy coughed. “Bullshit. Try it on.”
“No one wants to see me in this.”
“It’s for you. If anyone else ever sees it, that’s just bonus. Do something just for you.”
“I’m on a budget.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, looked at her watch, and whispered, “Chickenshit.”
Maizy tried for indignation. She really did. The twinkle in her Amazonian future sister-in-law’s eyes made Maizy giggle. She was really grateful to Patrick for bringing Lucy into her life.
“I’m not a chickenshit.” She pushed the garment into Lucy’s hands.
“Of course not because you’re trying it on.” Lucy put it back in her hands.
“Lucy,” she moaned. My ego does not need the hit right now. “Fine. Have it your way. But I’m not modeling.”
Lucy smiled, evidently satisfied. “Model it for yourself. You’re the one who matters.” Her eyes filled with compassion. “That ex-fiancé of yours is a dumbass and didn’t deserve you. I think you need something to feel good about right now, Maizy.”
Just like that, the lump rose in Maizy’s throat. “Oh, stop. Today is supposed to be about shopping for you, for the wedding, and about having fun.”
“Who’s to say I’m not having fun? Try that on and I’m gonna go look at dildos.”
Maizy burst into laughter along with Lucy, as she stepped into a changing room, feeling even more grateful to her. Lucy had a way of knowing what people needed.
She dropped her purse on the bench and sat down to take off her shoes. She glanced in the mirror and sighed. The first thing she saw as she sat there was her abundant thighs. Next, she saw heavy breasts that made her bra straps dig into her shoulders and her back hurt at times.
The face in the mirror was a nice one and she’d been told that she had a great smile. Great hair. Great eyes. Great skin that tanned easily. Her friends had always been jealous of that fact. She didn’t think it was all that great because nearly everyone in her family teased her about being the Native American throwback while all the rest of them were fair. But the fact remained that when people pointed out how great her eyes, or her hair, or her smile was, she knew that they meant the rest of her was flawed.
Once barefoot, she stood and undressed, avoiding looking in the mirror.
Fine, damn it. I’ll try on the catsuit. Shut Lucy the hell up. And get out of here with what’s left of my shredded ego. She immediately felt bad for thinking that about her future sister-in-law.
Maizy the Bear Charmer [Divine Creek Ranch 16] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1