Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion [Divine Creek Ranch 11] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Divine Creek Ranch 11

  Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion

  Sheltered Jayne Sheridan, the town librarian, is ready to live the fantasies she writes now that she’s free from the shadows of her past. The art buff she meets in the library sets all her creative juices flowing.

  Well-traveled Seth Carter, Divine’s new tattoo artist, believes life experience and globe-trotting are overrated. He encounters Jayne in the library and thinks she’s too good to be true.

  Matchmaker Grace Warner has enigmatic Seth and her cousin Jayne in her crosshairs. All she needs is an excuse to bring them together. Add in a Fourth of July celebration and a reunion with the Divine Creek Ranch family and what happens? Sparks fly!

  Sparks Fly! is a sexy little romp that intimately reacquaints readers with all the beloved characters in the entire series and introduces Seth and Jayne, the main characters in the upcoming twelfth Divine Creek Ranch novel entitled His Tattooed Virgin.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 52,981 words

  SPARKS FLY!

  A DIVINE CREEK JULY 4th FAMILY REUNION

  Divine Creek Ranch 11

  Heather Rainier

  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

  SPARKS FLY! A DIVINE CREEK JULY 4th FAMILY REUNION

  Copyright © 2012 by Heather Rainier

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-007-1

  First E-book Publication: July 2012

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2012 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 Sparks Fly! A Divine Creek July 4th Family Reunion 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.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Heather Rainier’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Rainier’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To the man who wrote the book on making sparks fly…my precious, loving husband.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to my hero and my publisher, Diana DeBalko. You continue to amaze and inspire me.

  Thank you to my brilliant editor, Caroline Acebo. You take the rough manuscript I turn in and make it shine. The smileys mean more than you might think. 

  Thank you, Lena, Erin, Kelley, Kristen and Kathryn and the rest of the talented Siren-BookStrand staff. You are a pleasure to work with, every one of you.

  Thank you, Christi F., you were right…you were right.

  Thank you, my dear friend and critique partner, Corinne Davies, for encouragement and laughter late at night, and to Stormy for your thorough, meticulous skills as a beta reader.

  Thank you, Righteous Perverts, for the fun, the laughter, and all the support. A writer never had a better group to hang out with. You’re all peaches!

  Thanks so much to Rana, and the energetic dynamos known as the Divine Divas. “Pimpage” never looked so divine!

  Most importantly, thank you to my readers and fans who e-mail me and interact with me on Facebook and Twitter and come to conventions. Your support makes this “job” an absolute joy.

  CAST OF MAIN CHARACTERS IN BOOK READING ORDER

  Divine Grace

  Grace (Stuart) Warner worked at Stigall’s Department Store and is co-owner of Harper Embroidery. She is 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 Grogan Home Theater as a bookkeeper. She now does the books for Discretion and is a new 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 Elias Wolf.

  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 Martinez 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.

  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.

  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 the 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 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 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.

  SPARKS FLY!

  A DIVINE CREEK JULY 4th FAMILY REUNION

  Divine Creek Ranch 11

  HEATHER RAINIER

  Copyright © 2012

  Chapter One

  July 3rd …

  Jayne stared up at her determined cousins, Grace Warner and Charity Connors, from behind the checkout desk at the Divine Memorial Library. She recognized the tenacious looks in their eyes. Her mind raced, looking for any reasonable excuse. “I wasn’t planning on going to the Fourth of July parade. I have car trouble. One of my tires was low this morning.” Yeah…that’s it!

  Charity Connors rolled her eyes. “Pfft! That is so lame. Take it by Torvel’s Tire Center before you go home tonight. It’s time to rejoin the land of the living, Jayne.” Jayne knew they’d never give up. Too many times she’d felt like giving up, and it was nice that her cousins never did.

  “Come on, Jayne. This would be easier if you’d just agree to come. You know you want to,” Charity said, then snickered. “It’s just a question of how much pestering it takes to get you there. It’s only one day.” The blonde bombshell had a reputation for being stubborn, which Jayne could attest to, having known her and her sister for her whole life. They’d lost touch for a few years, but some things never changed.

  Grace gave her the puppy-dog eyes and then used the magic bullet. Ten-month-old baby Rose Marie. She lifted the precious, blonde-haired baby from her stroller to her hip, and in a baby-talk voice, Grace said, “Come on, Cousin Jayney. Don’t you wanna come with me to the parade?”

  Rose Marie had green eyes like her father but bore a striking resemblance to her mother. Jayne did her best to ignore the little pang in her heart as she smiled at Rose Marie and held out her finger, which the baby grabbed and tried to gum before Grace handed her a teething ring. It would be nice to spend some time with them.

  Jayne scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to hide her amusement without much success. “Oh, all right. But only the parade and only because you used baby guilt. Evil wench.”

  Charity giggled and said, “We have lunch planned afterward at the ranch, and swimming, and then the fireworks out at Bowie Lake. You might as well bring your swimsuit because you know you’ll want to be there for all of it.”

  Swimsuit? Crap! What have I gotten myself into? “Um…I don’t own one. Oh, well. I guess I’ll—”

  “Just have to borrow one of mine,” Charity chirped, looking positively victorious. “You’ve lost so much weight, you can fit into one of them, no problem.”

  Jayne’s mind swirled back to the last time she’d been swimming with Charity. As a rule, Charity went with the more daring suits.

  Grace looked askance at her sister. “Charity, you’re scaring her, telling her that. Don’t worry, Jayne. Between the two of us, we’ve got you covered. Just bring sunscreen and a hat, and we’ll take care of the rest. Isn’t that right?” she asked her baby daughter. Rose Marie chortled when her mom blew a raspberry on her chubby little neck.

  Charity elbowed her sister. “We’re in a library. You’re being disruptive, heifer.”

  Grace snorted as she put the baby back in her stroller and she and Charity prepared to leave. “Heifer? I’m not a heifer, but that gal who was flirting with your husband at O’Reilley’s last night, now she was a heifer,” Grace said as they waved good-bye to Jayne and made their way through the metal detectors to the exit.

  “Nah. Skank ho is more like it. Heifer would be almost complimentary…”

  Jayne bit her lip to keep from laughing. She loved her cousin Charity, despite her lack of filter, and enjoyed that Grace seemed to take whatever she said in stride.

  The library was going to be closed the following day for the Independence Day holiday, along with all the other city and county offices. She’d hoped to have a quiet day to herself to work on her project. Looking around the tranquil solemnity of the library, she realized she had quiet pretty much all day, every day, except for Friday afternoons, which was Kookie Kid’s Club at the library. Those afternoons were anything but quiet. Still, she might manage to sneak away after the parade and accomplish something at home. She was sorting a stack of books on a cart when she felt the tap of a small hand on her elbow.

  “Mizz Librarian?” said a young boy of about nine years old.

  “What can I do for you, sweetie?”

  “Er, um. Um. We was…Er, um—um.” The little blond-haired boy swung his arms back and forth as he kicked the toe of his sneaker into the carpeting.

  Oh, Lord. What now? “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

  Ten minutes later, when she was done cleaning up vomit and felt nauseated herself, it was nearly time to close the library. She flipped the first two light switches, extinguishing lights in the far corners of the library, the traditional signal that they would be closing soon.

  She grabbed the first stack of books still needing to be returned to their place in the bookshelves and hurried to the young adult fiction section. Between herself and Rowena, the elderly assistant librarian, they had almost all of the books put back within five minutes. She returned to the cart for the last tall stack while Rowena handled the visitors who were checking out books.

  Jayne peered at the spine of an art book as she rounded a corner, heard a masculine gasp, and her world went topsy-turvy. Books thumped to the floor all around her as she took a tumble, landing hard on her hands and knees. Good going, klutz!

  “I’m so sorry,” a deep voice murmured beside her. Strong hands gently gripped her upper arms, helping her to right herself into a kneeling position. She swept her long brown hair from her eyes and looked up at the man assisting her. Where did he come from?

  She hissed when she shifted, noticing the burning sensation in both knees where they rested against the rough, short-piled carpeting. The painful throbbing was forgotten as she lo
oked up and lost herself in the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever seen. The beautiful eyes belonged to a handsome, serious-looking man in his mid-thirties. His neatly trimmed goatee and moustache framed sensual lips that made her fingertips itch to slide across them.

  He crouched beside her and assisted her as she gathered the books into a stack, then helped her rise to her feet with his hands on her upper arms again. He was roughly six feet tall and clad in a black T-shirt tucked into faded blue jeans. He wasn’t the type she usually encountered in the library. Soccer moms and play-date groups were more her speed. She noticed that his straight black hair was long, reaching past his shoulders. He looked like he’d be more at home on a motorcycle, rock concert stage, or some exotic locale. That hair. How did I miss him in here?

  “I’m sorry I tripped you. I shouldn’t have been sitting at the end of the aisle like that. Are you all right?” He reached out a tentative hand and smoothed back an errant lock of hair from her forehead. Her knees and palms stung and throbbed like crazy, but that was nothing compared to the embarrassed heat that flooded her cheeks because someone had witnessed her graceless tumble.

  “Jayne? Are you all right?” Rowena asked from the head of the aisle.

  “I—I’m okay. Just clumsy,” she called to her coworker as she slid the tall stack of books onto the bookshelf beside her. She dusted off her hands and hissed when she brushed across a raw spot on her left palm.