STORY EXCERPT

“You can’t be serious, Victoria?” Riley Willis smoothed her hand down her side. She never should have let Victoria pick her dress for tonight. The rough feel of the gold fabric against her palm had her longing for her normal, comfortable cotton and denim jeans.

If she could have gotten away with wearing them tonight she would have. But the Frostbite Falls Christmas Ball was the most important event in town all year long, and there was no way Victoria would let her miss it. Or arrive in anything short of her Sunday best. “It’s so gold and glittery.”

“You look fucking hot, cous.” Victoria never minced words. She might be Frostbite Falls’ unofficial princess, but she didn’t always act like a princess. Though she always looked the part, especially tonight. She worked the whole year on the Christmas ball, planning the night to perfection. She wouldn’t let anything disrupt it. Not even her homely cousin showing up in jeans and cowboy boots.

“You look fantastic, Riley.” Lydia, the newest and nicest member of Victoria’s inner circle, smiled at her from the bed where she sorted Victoria’s shoes into pairs.

Riley stared at herself in the mirror, wishing she could agree with the other girls, but she couldn’t. The gold dress molded to her body, showing off all her lack of curves. She looked like she should be standing on the top of an award for awkward teenage girls instead of attending a fancy party. But there was nothing to be done about it now. If she knew her cousin, it would be the only option she’d be given. When Victoria was determined, she’d get what she wanted or die trying.

Riley pushed her hair back from her shoulder, unaccustomed to the long strands falling in her face. Yet another reason why she kept the mass tied out of her way most of the time. That, and it was just plain easier than all this fuss. A lot easier.

Maybe if she looked more like Victoria, elegant and beautiful, with her hair pulled up in a perfect twist on the top of her head, Riley would dress like this more often. But she just looked awkward and goofy, like a dog in a costume, that didn’t know quite how to move.

“Glittery works for you, Riley.” Grace Perry, Victoria’s best friend and the town librarian, smiled from the opposite side of the bed as Lydia. “If those boys of yours have any eyes in their heads, they won’t be able to look away from you.”

Grace didn’t have to mention their names. Riley knew who she was talking about. “We’re just friends,” she protested. Riley had been hearing that all her life. From the other kids in school, her cousin, the nice old ladies at the church bake sale. You’re interested in Jasper and Logan. Logan and Jasper want you.

Why was it so hard for everyone to believe they were just friends?

“Oh, come on, Riley, we all know how much you want those two.” Victoria turned toward her dresser where she’d spread out an array of shiny tubes and metal items that looked on the edge of being torture implications. No way was Victoria using those on her. Not a chance.

“They’re my best friends. I don’t want them. Not that way.” Why was it so hard for everyone to believe that men and women could just be friends? Was it really so impossible? She spent all her time with men, all her time on the ranch, was it surprising her best friends were male, too?

Victoria only smiled smugly at her. “Whatever you want to tell yourself, cous.”

She wasn’t telling herself anything. It was the goddamn truth. Relationship, sex, love. That was too complicated. Riley didn’t like complicated. She liked simple, easy, predictable. Counting on other people was never predictable. But she counted on Logan and Jasper. If her relationship with them changed, so would that. And she wasn’t sure she could handle not having them in her life.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Riley stared her cousin down. When it came to determination, Victoria wasn’t the only Willis in the room with stubbornness in spades. She might not be able to match Victoria, but she could get damn close. If it was a battle Victoria wanted, Riley was happy to give her one.

Victoria shrugged her shoulders and dropped the argument before it even started, which almost shocked Riley’s eyes right out of her head. Letting the argument go was not Victoria’s style. Maybe she was distracted by the party tonight or all the tasks she still had to do. No matter the reason, Riley would take it. She doubted she’d get the chance again.

So why did it bother her so much that Victoria wasn’t fighting with her? She should be grateful for the respite from her normally demanding cousin. But she didn’t, not at all. Which was scarier by far.

ADULT EXCERPT

“You look so beautiful like this,” Logan whispered across her skin, his lips brushing along her jaw. Just a touch—a taste of what was to come—but nowhere near enough. “I can’t wait to enjoy all of you.” The double entendre in his words had her knees going weak. Then his mouth was on her, dancing across her skin, nipping on the spot just below her ear. Any semblance of stability vanished from her mind, taking with it the last rational thoughts she possessed.

This was heaven. Pure, sweet, unadulterated heaven. It was almost impossible to understand how they’d never done this before. It had been there, almost in her grasp for most of her life, yet they’d never grabbed for it. What had they been thinking?

Logan looped his arm around her hips, holding her lower half with the same strength—but not the same intensity as Jasper did her neck. For one crazy moment she wondered if they’d ever done this before, taken a woman together to their bed. It shouldn’t matter. It didn’t. But she rather liked the idea that this was their first time, too. That this was something special, only to be shared between them.

Yet with the sweep of Jasper’s tongue across hers and the scratch of Logan’s teeth on her earlobe, the thought vanished. It didn’t matter. Once, twice, or never before, either way they were together now. That’s all that really mattered.

“That was definitely more than friendly.” She blinked up at Jasper, and the masculine pride on his face set her heart pounding hard. Damn, even that looked good to her. Her brain must have really gone to mush, if she found arrogance attractive.

“No, there wasn’t.” She panted back, not bothering to set him straight, which had nothing to do with him being right. Not a damn thing.

Without missing a beat, Logan tugged her closer into his body and away from Jasper. Any reservations she might have at the separation burned away beneath Logan’s heat along her back. She moaned as the hard bulge of his cock pressed into her skin an inch to the right of her spine.

“I love this dress, sweetheart.” Logan licked the back of her neck, sending a shower of shivers across her nerves. “But I think I might like it even more on the floor.”

His fingers tickled the back of her neck, grasping the tag of her zipper and pulling it down before she realized what he was doing.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Jasper traced his lips across her ear to the hollow of her throat.

She tightened her grip on Jasper’s biceps as Logan used his lips to explore each inch of newly exposed skin. His tongue licked across her skin, setting every inch of her sizzling.

Logan’s lips traced across the dimples above her ass, and she giggled at the brush. Her hips pushed forward, away from Logan’s touch, and slammed right into Jasper’s hard groin. A deep growl rumbled from his chest at the caress, not quite a moan but still enough to have her shivering.

“Ticklish,” she justified, but she wasn’t sure why.

“We’ll have to remember that,” Jasper whispered in her ear, his voice so deep and husky it set her jittering.

God, she loved how he said that. Like there would be a lot more nights like this to come.

Jasper yanked her dress down her arms, peeling the gold fabric from her body, and dropped it to the ground. Clad only in underwear, she should have felt cold and exposed. It was winter, for goodness sakes. Instead she was hot, like she was burning from the inside out.

“Black lace, very sexy.” Logan stroked the line of her briefs with one finger. His touch spread a line of fire across her skin and settled deep in her stomach.

“I don’t know,” Jasper added in, tracing his hand up her side to cup her naked breast. She arched her back, leaning further into his hot palm. It felt too good not to. “I think she’d look sexier with them off.”

She couldn’t see Logan’s smile, but she could feel it against her skin as he pressed a kiss to her throat. “I guess we’ll have to take them off to see.”

Hooking his fingers in the edge of the underwear, Logan yanked them down her legs. His fingers brushed against her skin and sent tingles shooting through her whole body. She spread her legs automatically, stepping out of the underwear. Her body reacted on its own, fulfilling its own needs regardless of anything else.

“What do you think, Jasper, is that sexier?”

Her face heated as they talked about her so intimately. But the jumpy feeling in her stomach wasn’t all bad. It felt pretty damn good.

“It’s a close call.” Jasper thumbed her nipple into a point. She fought back a moan at the sensation. “I’ve always been a fan of the au natural look.”

“I’m with you.” Logan’s breath ruffled against her ear as his fingers stroked across her ass and between her thighs. She cried out at the touch along her slit, unable to stop the sound, and not finding any reason to bother.

“I think it might be about time we move to a more comfortable location.” Placing his knuckle under her chin, he tipped her head up to look in his eyes. Something about the way he stared at her gave her the distinct feeling they were treading toward even deeper uncharted waters.

Unlike many of the other hurdles they’d jumped, standing naked sandwiched between her two men, the answer rolled off her tongue without a thought. There was no reason to think. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to be with them. With every fiber of her being.

“Sounds good.”

The room froze for a second, as if waiting for them to catch their breath. Then Logan growled, “Let’s go.”