STORY EXCERPT

“In the kitchen. Now!”

Cali felt the tug on the sleeve of her T-shirt, heard her boss’s order, and winced. Shit. What had she done wrong? She’d never tended bar, never fixed a drink in her life for someone other than herself before she’d accepted the job at Bull’s-Eye Billiards. Only a few hours into training and Marsha had pronounced her to be a natural. Had her apparently inborn skills suddenly boarded a trip to the Netherlands?

Dread formed a knot in her belly as she followed Marsha through the swinging door to the kitchen area. “Did a customer complain?” She hoped not. Being a perfectionist had its downfalls at times, but that had never stopped her from trying. “We’ve got a hell of a crowd out there tonight, but—”

“And Allie can handle that crowd while you and I talk for a minute,” Marsha cut her off, her tone as stern as it was friendly. “Allie is the reason we’re talking. She’s worried about you. What’s going on?”

“There’s nothing going on.” Except for the fact that I’m seeing three of the same customer, only he’s not the same, and my panties are ruined because of it, and I can’t think straight, and I’m—

Mentally babbling!

The stare Marsha gave her made it clear the woman wasn’t buying her “I’m fine” spiel for a second.

Cali huffed a breath up her face and caved. If there was anyone in Spring Valley besides Heather that she could confide in, it was Marsha. Landing the bartender position at Bull’s-Eye Billiards hadn’t been in her plans when she’d relocated to Spring Valley nearly six months ago. Hell, she hadn’t planned to work anywhere for a while, but that changed her very first night in town. When she and Heather had come into the bar for a celebratory drink, Heather introduced her to Marsha, who was looking to hire a bartender. One thing led to another, and, despite Cali’s lack of experience, the woman had offered her the job on the spot. Marsha had taken her under her wing, trained her, and in the months since, Cali had started to think of the woman as a close friend. She only hoped Marsha would still think of her the same way after she spilled the beans.

“I’m losing my mind, Marsha.” Cali pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. Closing her eyes proved to be a big mistake. All she saw in the darkness behind her lids was the guy, or three, that overturned her world. “I mean really losing it,” she stressed as she let her balled fists fall to her sides. “As in, totally tripping the fuck out!”

Marsha folded her arms beneath her breasts and studied Cali. “Stress doesn’t get to you. We’ve had busier nights than this and you handled them like a pro.”

Cali shook her head hard enough to send her ponytail swinging. “It’s not stress.” Marsha was right about that. Stress didn’t get to her. The high-powered lifestyle she’d lived in Knoxville had taught her to thrive under pressure, not break under it.

“Then what is it?”

“I just served the same uber-sexy hottie out there three times.” Cali held up her fingers for emphasis. “Three times! Except, it couldn’t have been the same hottie because he ordered a different beer each time and he looked different…well, his hair looked different each time.”

Marsha’s lips twitched and Cali swore she heard the woman attempt to stifle a giggle, but it was the bark of laughter near the fryer that drew her attention to Donnie, the cook.

“Wondered if the rumors were true,” he said as he pulled a basket of French fries from the grease. “Heard the Trip triplets were back in town.”

“The rumors are true,” Marsha confirmed, still grinning. “I saw them walk in myself about forty-five minutes ago.”

Cali blinked at both of them. “The Trip triplets?”

Marsha nodded. “Cord, Riley, and Wilder Trip. They’re identical triplets. Or, as you noticed, nearly identical anyway. They’re Constance Trip’s sons.”

Relief washed through Cali like a Tsunami, causing her to lean against the wall behind her. “So, I don’t need to have my head examined?”

Marsha’s expression turned serious, but evidence of her amusement still danced in her eyes. “You may still need to make an appointment with Doctor Mitchel first thing in the morning.”

“At the very least, get Heather to give you a quick check when you get home tonight,” Donnie chimed in as he flipped burger patties on the grill. “Heather might be a pediatrician, but she’s still a doctor.”

Marsha shot a look at the cook over her shoulder. “You heard it, too, huh?”

“I did, and now I’m as worried about her as Allie.”

Cali straightened, planted her fisted hands on her hips, and glared at both of them in turn. “Will you two stop talking about me behind my back in front of my face? I mean—” That hadn’t come out right, but her fumble had Marsha and Donnie cracking up.

“I wish you could hear yourself,” Marsha said, still laughing. “This is priceless.”

“I can hear myself,” Cali grumbled, “and I’m not making any damn sense, which is completely unlike me!”

“Mmm-hmm,” Marsha agreed, tongue in cheek. “So is calling not just one, but three guys uber-sexy hotties. Not that they aren’t supremely good looking, but don’t you have this personal rule about not acknowledging the sex appeal of our customers because you refuse to date anyone you meet in a bar?”

“I do have that rule.” Cali had adopted it the second she’d accepted the job. Not that she had any intentions of dating anyone at all no matter where she met him. After the bitterness Steven’s deceptions had left in her, she didn’t want a thing to do with any man. “Nothing has changed. I’m not going to date any of them. I just—”

“Then date all three.”

ADULT EXCERPT

His finger left her cheek to dance down the side of her neck. It detoured when it reached her collarbone, tranced it to her throat, and continued down to the neckline of her dress. “Tell me how wet your pussy is, sweetness.”

This was it. One of them was finally making a move and, now, she was scared shitless.

No, not scared. She didn’t fear any of them. It wasn’t nerves making her insides feel as if an earthquake had erupted in her system. It was anticipation and a truckload of desire.

On her other side, she felt Riley ease closer again, felt his lips graze over her bare shoulder. “We know you’re wet, darlin’. We can smell your arousal.”

They could smell her? Heat flamed in her cheeks. Of course, they could. They were SEALs. They had been trained to hone every sense, to heighten them until they detected everything with pristine perfection.

“It’s…” she began, but had to swallow before she could get the rest of the words out, “very wet.”

Cord stretched out an arm, closed his large hand over her ankle, and dragged his hand as far up her leg as he could reach. “Do you want us to take care of that for you, sweet thing?”

They were doing it again. Their touches, their low, sexy voices, their heated gazes had her brain blowing fuses. There was a reason they couldn’t take care of it for her now. She knew it, but damn if she could think of what that reason might be.

“I…umm…”

“Take off your panties for us, sweetness.” The hint of domination in Wilder’s tone didn’t surprise her. She’d already guessed he would be the one to make demands during sex.

“Here?” It sparked. That was the reason they couldn’t take care of her now. They were at a public place, out in the open.

“There’s no one around, sweet thing,” Cord assured her.

“That’s why I pointed out this spot for Cord to stop,” Riley added.

So, Cord had staged the romantic setup and Riley had added the ulterior motive. That didn’t surprise her, either.

Cali rose to sit on knees that quivered, reached beneath her skirt, and pulled her panties down. She had to sit back on her ass again to pull them the rest of the way off. Cord snagged them when she slid them off her feet and shoved them into the pocket of his jeans.

She was going to do this. She was really going to let them do…whatever it was they planned to do to her…right here by the river, right in the open where anyone could happen upon them.

You wanted them to make a move.

“Good girl,” Wilder praised in that low, sexy voice that kept her insides quaking. Her dress fastened in the back at her neck and she felt Riley lower the zipper as Wilder continued to speak. “Now, take off your bra for us.”

The bra she wore was strapless, which made it a whole lot easier to follow Wilder’s command. She understood what they were doing now. They were keeping her dress on her in case anyone came up on them, while bearing her girly parts for them at the same time.

“Have…um…you ever done this before?”

“Done what, sweet thing?” Cord asked.

“Shared a woman like this?”

“You’re the first, sweetness,” Wilder told her.

Riley’s hand was still on her back, and he skimmed his palm down her spine. “Have you ever been with more than one man at the same time before?”

Cali shook her head. “You’re the first.” They damn sure seemed to know how to work well together, though. She supposed that had something to do with them being brothers, triplets even. Cord shifted to sit up at her feet, his hands doing tantalizingly sweet things to her calves. Riley used the slack he’d created by lowering the zipper of her dress to pull the neckline down until her breasts were exposed, even as he guided her to lay flat on the blanket. Wilder pushed her skirt to her waist, baring her pussy.

“Christ,” Cord breathed.

“Hell yeah,” Riley said gruffly.

“Fuck me, you’re so goddamn beautiful,” Wilder told her.

At that moment, with the way they looked at her, she felt beautiful. She felt excitedly naughty, too, with her breasts and pussy out in the open for them to see.

Wilder slipped a hand between her legs and gave her right thigh a gentle tug. “Open yourself for us, Cali. Let us see how wet you are.”

“Damn, she is wet,” Cord confirmed, his tone rusty with his own need. “Her pussy is covered with juices.”

Wilder moved his hand to cover her pussy and delved a finger between her folds, drawing a soft moan from her throat. “She’s soaking wet.” He pulled his finger back and held it up as if to examine it. “My finger is covered in your cream, sweetness.”

Obviously determined not to be left out, Riley eased a hand between her legs, parted her pussy lips, and sank a finger deep in her channel. Her hips bucked off the blanket, greedily searching for more as a soft cry escaped her lips. But he didn’t give her more. Instead, he pulled the digit free and lifted it to his mouth, cleaning it of her juices.

He growled. “She tastes freaking amazing, too.”

Listening to them talk about rather than to her should’ve made her incensed or, at the very least, embarrassed. It didn’t. It made her feel desired, pampered, and so primed she couldn’t stop the whispered plea from bursting through her lips. “Please.”

“Please what, sweetness?” Wilder took her right breast in his large hand, palmed it, and flicked the calloused pad of his thumb over her already hardened nipple.

“Please touch me, taste me, do something to me!”