Potential Match [Ménage.com 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Ménage.com 6

  Potential Match

  Bryn Russell has always been fascinated with ménages. When a dating website hands over her dream on a silver platter, Bryn doesn’t hesitate to join. Her first date leads her to Triple, Arizona, where Destry and Duke Winslow are blown away at the chemistry they have with Bryn. Unfortunately, a slight misunderstanding sends her running—straight into the arms of a killer.

  When the Winslow brothers manage to temporarily keep her from harm, they go out of their way to convince Bryn that she is safer in their arms. Do Des and Duke have enough time to assure Bryn that their potential match can turn into an amorous realization before the serial killer strikes again?

  Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 36,970 words

  POTENTIAL MATCH

  Ménage.com 6

  Peyton Elizabeth

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  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.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  POTENTIAL MATCH

  Copyright © 2013 by Peyton Elizabeth

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-798-7

  First E-book Publication: April 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 Potential Match by Peyton Elizabeth 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 Peyton Elizabeth’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Elizabeth’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To my sister, Alicia…I love you.

  POTENTIAL MATCH

  Ménage.com 6

  PEYTON ELIZABETH

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  “I still think you have a screw loose.”

  Bryn turned the volume down of her phone call using a button on her steering wheel. Her mother’s voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and considering how nervous Bryn was right now, that didn’t help her. She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror, making sure her lipstick hadn’t smeared and that her hair was still in place after such a long drive.

  Bryn’s little black four-door, gas-friendly car was equipped with every piece of technology she could have asked for. Since she traveled quite a bit for business, the handsfree phone system was her favorite accessory of the car. Although, for how little she paid for fuel, the gas efficiency was pretty good as well. Seeing as Bryn was the owner and sole employee of Bryn’s Unique Designs, saving money ranked right up there with finding a possible match on the ménage dating site she’d signed up for a month ago. Only one set of men looked like they had potential, which was how she came to be entering the town of Triple, Arizona.

  “Mom, what is so wrong with meeting someone for coffee?” Bryn tried not to cringe as she asked that question, knowing she hadn’t been totally honest with her mother. There was no need for her mom to know that she was interested in ménages, at least not quite yet. Bryn didn’t think her speakers could handle it if her mom’s voice rose any higher. It was best to let that conversation slide for another time and place. “Besides, we’re meeting in a public place.”

  “Call me the minute you get back into your car, Brynny,” Frances Russell exclaimed, causing Bryn to scrunch up her nose at the nickname. How could she convince her mom that she wasn’t three years old anymore? “If I don’t hear from you within an hour, I’m calling the police.”

  “An hour?” Bryn asked, looking through her windshield to see a population sign that read one thousand and twenty-eight. Apparently, Triple wasn’t a very big town. “Mom, if I really hit it off with them—”

  “Them? How many dates do you have tonight?”

  “I meant him,” Bryn said, lying through her teeth. “Triple is a very tiny town, Mom. The reception isn’t that good out here. You’re breaking up. Anyway, we might talk for a while, so I’ll call you when we’re done. Don’t freak out if it’s longer than an hour. Mom? Crap, I think I lost you. If you can hear me—bye.”

  Bryn hit the disconnect button on her steering wheel with a sigh of relief and tad bit of guilt. She knew she tended to ramble on when she was nervous, and that she’d just given herself away to her mother, but Bryn would deal with that later. Now, she just needed to locate the diner.

  The sun was setting, warning Bryn that she was running late for her coffee date with Destry and Duke Winslow. They had tried numerous times to meet up for dinner, but their schedules kept interfering. It had taken a few weeks, but Bryn had finally suggested grabbing a coffee on her way through the area this time. Sure, it was out of her way by around fifty miles, but it was worth it to see if the three of them had any chemistry worth pursuing. The e-mails they’d been exchanging seemed promising. In a roundabout way, delaying their date had turned into a way for them to get to know one another. What Bryn had read so far, she really, really liked.

  Destry and Duke had wanted to take her to a nice restaurant outside of town, but they’d had to settle for the town diner. Bryn didn’t think it would be that bad, but according to Destry’s e-mail, he and his brother weren’t too happy about it. When she responded that it was e
ither coffee at the diner or wait another few weeks until her calendar cleared, they’d opted for the earlier choice.

  Bryn squinted as the vehicle behind her turned on its headlights. She was grateful that her new car had automatic lights and that she didn’t have to worry about forgetting to turn them on. She eyed her speedometer and lowered her speed to thirty-five miles per hour in order to obey the speed limit sign. Looking back up, Bryn’s breath caught in her throat at the sight in front of her.

  The town of Triple was magnificent. Streetlights were turning on, one by one, illuminating the storefronts on either side of the road. Canopies were drawn over the sidewalks and several windows were lighted to present their displays. Main Street resembled an old western town, with just some modern updates. To the left of her, a barber’s pole was spinning its red, white, and blue colors. A gun shop had an orange neon light that had just blinked out, indicating it was closing time. Farther down, she saw that Braxton’s Mechanics had their garage door open, although a car was being lowered from whatever that thing was called that held them up to be worked on. Bryn looked down at the clock on her radio. It read five minutes after six o’clock at night. She was late, as usual.

  The right side of the street had a newspaper building, a retail shop, a bakery, and on the corner of this block was the diner. Her heart fluttered. Bryn turned her signal on to indicate she wanted to park, but didn’t see any spaces out front. Coming up to the stop sign, Bryn looked into the diner window and saw that the restaurant was crowded. Her stomach did several heave-hos, as there were numerous sets of men inside. Which two were there to meet her?

  Bryn made a right turn onto Third Street, hoping to find a parking place along this side of the building. Spotting one a ways down, she maneuvered her vehicle into place. Shifting her car into park, Bryn shut off the engine. Her stomach still felt like butterflies were procreating at a rapid pace, so Bryn took some deep breaths. Unfortunately, it only made her light headed. Figuring she should stop before she passed out and Destry and Duke found her unconscious over her steering wheel with the horn blasting, Bryn took one more look in the rearview mirror. Smacking her lips together, she knew this was as good as it got. Removing her keys from the ignition, Bryn threw them into her bottomless purse and reached for the door handle.

  * * * *

  “That’s got to be her,” Des said, craning his neck as he looked out the window of the diner.

  He spotted the petite brunette the minute she stepped out of her car. Bryn Russell was stunning. As a matter of fact, she looked vaguely familiar, but Des couldn’t put a finger on from where. She couldn’t be more than five foot three, but seemed to carry herself with grace. Her brown hair was long, with a slight natural wave embedded in the strands. She had it parted to one side and swept over her forehead in a sensual peek-a-boo way that played with her left eye. He couldn’t tell their color from here, but he was guessing brown. The black wraparound blouse accentuated her breasts, and Des was guessing they were C cups, at a minimum. Her waist was slim, but flared out to show a nice heart-shaped ass encased in denim as she rounded the corner—and straight into Mr. Ottmeyer.

  “Well, should we pay the tab and call it a night?” Duke asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He’d obviously seen the person Bryn had run into. Des looked across the table to see Duke sit back down. “By the time Mr. Ottmeyer figures out she’s not an alien, he’ll realize she’s a client of the dating site. Then he’s going to ask her who she’s meeting, and when she says us, that’s when we’re really screwed. You know that he’s going to say something to her.”

  “Would you just shut the fuck up, Duke?” Des said, getting angry that Duke always had to piss on everything. “We’ve corresponded with her for a few of weeks now. Haven’t we got a feel for her? I don’t think she’ll run just because we have a reputation. We were honest and upfront about our past, just in case someone said something to her.”

  “Alluding to something in an e-mail and having it spelled out for you by Mr. Ottmeyer are two different things, Des.” Duke rubbed his right shoulder, as he was prone to do when he was agitated. The old ranch injury bothered him more as he got older, but Duke was stubborn and refused to admit it. They were both in their early thirties, with Duke being the oldest, but ranch life could make thirty years feel like sixty. “I still say we would have had a better shot if we’d waited to meet her outside of town.”

  “She’s been traveling so much with her designer business that might not have happened for another month,” Des explained, suppressing a groan when he saw Mrs. Wheelock join Bryn and Mr. Ottmeyer. That wasn’t a good combination at all. “Bryn said she was due down in Tucson first thing tomorrow to design some office building, which means she’ll probably only have an hour or so before she needs to get back on the road. Bryn said she wanted to make it to her hotel in time to get a good night’s rest. Do you still have a clear visual of her?”

  “No,” Duke replied, picking up his coffee and taking a big gulp. “Why? What happened now?”

  Des frowned, wishing they’d arrived earlier to snag a booth alongside the window. As it was, they’d had to take a table, which was not the most ideal setting for a first date. He’d been standing every minute to look out the window, waiting for her to arrive. Des figured it was best not to share the fact that Mrs. Wheelock had joined the conversation outside. Duke was liable to throw in the towel and head for the door.

  “She looks familiar,” Des replied, deciding to go with the second thing that was floating around his head. Where had he seen her before?

  “Who looks familiar?”

  Des looked up to see Willow refilling Duke’s cup with more coffee. The young waitress seemed to be the only person in the town of Triple who got the fact that they wanted to turn their lives around. She had even said so a few weeks ago, but had given them the advice that the townsfolk needed longer to come to terms with the fact that the Winslow boys were hanging up their hats. What did they have to do to prove that they were done playing the field and having fun? Seeing their friends settle down, marry, and have families had made him and Duke realize they didn’t want to be alone anymore. Life would be fuller if they had someone to share the little things with. Cold beds were starting to equal a cold hearts, and their yellow lab, Spur, couldn’t warm them up like a woman could.

  “We’re meeting a potential match from the dating website that Elise, Cyn, and Shea put together,” Des answered, straining his neck so he didn’t have to take his eyes off of Bryn. Since she’d walked to the corner, he had a good visual. If her expression were anything to go by, Mr. Ottmeyer was wigging her out about his talk of alien abductions. Either that, or Mrs. Wheelock was sharing stories about their youth and how Des and Duke fucked anything with two legs and a pussy. Mrs. Wheelock would probably put it in a more diplomatic way, but Des was certain that Bryn would get the gist of it. “She looks familiar to me and I can’t place it.”

  “Oh man, Elise and Cyn will be thrilled if this works out. Their dating site has a very high success rate, you know,” Willow said, topping off Des’s coffee as well. “They said Shea was coming in from Chicago for a visit soon. She hasn’t been back since Elise got married, so it makes me wonder if Cyn, Cooper, and Brody aren’t secretly planning some nuptials.”

  “And when are you going to finally take pity on Deputy Thornton?” Duke asked.

  Des shook his head at Duke’s attempt to steer the conversation in another direction while still keeping his eye on Bryn. Duke was the superstitious type and didn’t want anything to jinx them. Des noticed that Mr. Ottmeyer had finally continued on, while Mrs. Wheelock turned on her heels and started to follow Bryn around the front of the diner. Shit, that wasn’t good either. Ever since Mrs. Wheelock’s husband passed away a couple years ago, she’d gotten into the habit of interfering in other people’s lives.

  “I hear Sheriff Whittington is thinking of retiring and that Luke is considering taking over,” Duke said, continuing on with his torment of Willow’
s love life.

  “Deputy Thornton is almost ten years older than me,” Willow exclaimed, fidgeting with the pencil that was behind her ear. “I’m sure his interests lie within his own age group. As a matter of fact, I heard that his old flame was back in town. She used to go to school with—Oh my God!”

  “What?”

  Des and Duke spoke in unison, not knowing what had shocked Willow. Des looked up at her and saw that she was looking at the door, which had just jingled the bell above it. Both he and Duke followed her gaze, although Des knew who was standing there. He just didn’t know why Bryn would cause such a reaction in Willow. That was when he realized the entire diner was staring at Bryn with what could only be called amazement. What the hell was going on?

  “Have you seen the paper today?” Willow whispered, as if afraid speaking too loud would cause Bryn to back up and walk back out the door. Mrs. Wheelock looked like a cat that just ate a canary for dinner. When her smile widened at the fact that she had everyone’s attention, Des figured maybe she’d eaten two canaries and expected to see yellow feathers sticking in between her teeth. What was going on?

  Des saw Willow reach out for the Courier that Mr. Turner was holding toward her, indicating he’d been listening to their conversation. It was obvious that everyone knew something that they didn’t. When Willow placed the Courier on the table, both Des and Duke looked down. Staring up at them was a picture of Bryn Russell, with a headline that read: Serial Killer Strikes Again!