Overheard

Gracie Evans is a woman tired of the men in her life not satisfying her in bed. She’s had a string of boyfriends, but none of them have come close to satisfying the vivid fantasies she has. Two weeks before Valentine’s Day, she breaks up with her latest boyfriend after a night of lackluster sex.

When her good friend, Luke Forsythe, overhears her talking to their friend Shelly about what she really wants, he’s stunned. And very turned on. Gracie thinks there isn’t a man alive who can satisfy her in bed. Luke aims to prove her wrong.

Warning, this title contains explicit sex, graphic language, ménage a trios.

To Bianca and Gwen. Ganging up on Jess is awfully fun. We should do it again sometime.

Gracie stretched in her lawn chair and watched lazily as Jeremy Miller tended the barbeque while his wife, Gracie’s best friend Michelle, hovered nearby.

“Come on, Gracie, get up and play,” Wes Hoffman hollered from the yard.

She looked over to see him and Luke Forsythe tossing a football back and forth. Boneheads. She was more than comfortable right where she was. After a long week at work and not sleeping worth a damn last night, sitting up to eat was about as energetic as she planned to get.

Luke flopped onto the chair next to her. “What’s up, Gracie? You’re not usually such a stick-in-the-mud.”

She shot him a dirty look. “Busy week at work. I’m just tired.”

Of course, the worst part of the week had been last night. Her date with her current boyfriend had ended with the usual boring, obligatory sex, and quite frankly, she was tired of being disappointed in that area. She’d stayed up most of the night mustering the courage to call him this morning and break things off.

He hadn’t taken it well.

“Earth to Gracie.”

She blinked and looked back at Luke. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Lot on my mind.”

Luke gave her a curious stare but seemed to sense she wasn’t in the mood to talk. He got up and ambled over to talk to Jeremy. Wes joined them on the patio, a beer in hand.

Gracie let her gaze flit appreciatively over the men. Not bad considering they were her best friends and all. She wouldn’t mind finding someone like Luke or Wes. Problem was she usually ended up with the frogs. Ugh.

Michelle eased into the chair next to Gracie, and Gracie looked over with a smile. “How you feeling, girlfriend?”

Michelle returned her smile. “Good. Tired but good.”

Gracie eyed Michelle’s cute little pregnancy pooch with a little jealousy. Jeremy was over the moon in love with his wife, and Gracie wondered what it felt like to have that sort of devotion. From what Michelle said, Jeremy was also dynamite in bed. Really, what more could you ask for in a man? Undying love and the know-how in the sack.

Gracie shook her head. She was really going to have to up her standards when it came to boyfriends. Boyfriend. Maybe that was her problem. She didn’t need a boy. She wanted a man. Someone who could take her fantasies and make them reality.

“You sure are quiet today, Gracie.”

Gracie grimaced. “Sorry. I broke up with Keith this morning.”

Michelle jerked around in the lawn chair and all but pounced on Gracie. “Gracie, you didn’t!”

“Shhh,” Gracie hissed, looking up to see if the guys had heard. They already gave her a hard time about the men she chose to go out with. They’d be gleeful that her current relationship hadn’t worked out. The “I told you so’s” were already ringing in her ears.

“What happened?” Michelle whispered.

“I’ll talk to you about it later,” Gracie said, looking pointedly at the guys.

Michelle huffed but she didn’t protest further.

The two women lounged in the chairs while the men puttered around the grill. Gracie loved these times with the people she considered her best friends.

They got together pretty much every weekend. During hunting season, they spent weekends at the camp and hunted the mornings and evenings. When the weather was warm, they spent all their time at the beach, fishing and soaking up the sun. Gracie loved their group. She felt free to be herself.

Jeremy and Michelle had been married a year and they hosted most of the get-togethers. Jeremy and Wes were both local cops, while Luke was a building contractor.

Wes was handsome in a carefree “I don’t give a shit” kind of way. He had blondish brown hair, and in the summer, it was liberally streaked with lighter shades. His sense of humor was what Gracie loved the most about him, that and he didn’t tend to get his underwear in a bunch at the least provocation. A more laid-back guy you wouldn’t find.

Luke, yeah, he was good looking. Blue eyes, light brown hair, and abs you could bounce a nickel off. But he was also a pain in the ass. A mouth-wateringly gorgeous pain in the ass, but an irritant nonetheless. His and Gracie’s relationship was a study in competition. Neither could stand to lose, and neither would ever back down from a dare.

Every year the outhunt and outfish contest usually boiled down to Luke and Gracie. Last year, Gracie had crowed when she’d bagged the biggest buck any of the group had ever killed. Luke had sworn to one-up her the following season.

But still, she wouldn’t trade him for anything. The group worked well together. They were extremely loyal, and more importantly, they were always there for one another. Which was why she didn’t want the guys to know she’d broken up with Keith. They’d make a huge deal out of it, and she simply wanted to forget the whole thing.

A shadow fell over her chair, and she looked up to see Wes standing over her with a beer in hand. He pressed the cold bottle to her arm, and she yelped and flinched.

He laughed. “Thought you might want a beer, Gracie.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He handed the beer to her then winked and ambled off again.

“Lug nut,” she grumbled.

Michelle laughed. “You know you love him. He’s cute when he’s not being a pain in the ass.”

Gracie nodded. “Yep, the two days of the year he’s not a royal pain, he is downright cute.”

“I heard that!” Wes called from the grill.

“You were supposed to,” Gracie returned sweetly.

“I’m about ready to dish it up,” Jeremy said. “Michelle, if you want to set the table, I’ll have it up in about fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll help,” Gracie said as she heaved herself out of her chair.

Luke turned his head and watched Gracie follow Michelle into the house. Her auburn curls jiggled down her back as she walked. He’d always loved her hair. It fit her carefree personality perfectly. Only she didn’t seem so carefree today. He wondered what was bothering her. It wasn’t like her to be quiet and withdrawn. And he didn’t buy that line about a busy week at work. Gracie could do her job in her sleep.

“Do me a favor and take this in to Michelle,” Jeremy said, ramming a tray into his gut.

Luke looked down to see a platter of sausage.

“Tell her the rest will be ten minutes.”

Luke grunted. “Sure.”

Luke walked toward the sliding door of the patio and eased inside. He strode through the living room and toward the kitchen. When he reached the doorway, Gracie’s voice stopped him.

“I called him this morning and broke up with him.”

Luke backed away and stood to the side. She’d broken up with Keith? Somehow that didn’t surprise him. The guy was a complete pussy. No way he could keep pace with someone of Gracie’s caliber.

He strained to hear the rest of the conversation.

“You called him the morning after you had sex and dumped him?” Michelle asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Gracie replied.

Whoa. Harsh. Luke couldn’t wait to hear why.

“Good God, girl. That must have been crushing to his ego,” Michelle continued.

Luke nodded his agreement.

He heard Gracie sigh. “I don’t care, Michelle. I’m tired of hooking up with guys who suck in bed. And I don’t mean my tits either.”

Michelle dissolved into laugher and Luke’s eyebrows shot up.

“Was he that bad?” Michelle asked.

“He wasn’t good,” Gracie muttered. She sighed again. “Damn it, Chelle. I want something…”

Luke nearly hurt himself trying to press his ear closer to the doorway. What did Gracie want? This had to be good.

“I want someone who lights my fires. Who makes me think of nothing but taking every stitch of clothing off him and licking him from head to toe.”

Luke shifted, an uncomfortable surge of heat racing to his crotch. Damn if the woman wasn’t direct. He liked that in a girl. Didn’t like stupid games and fluttering eyelashes.

“That’s the problem with you, Gracie. You always settle for men who can’t stand up to you,” Michelle interjected.

Luke nodded in agreement. Michelle was right on there.

Another sigh from Gracie. “I want someone who can make my fantasies come alive, Chelle. Is that too much to ask? A guy who can be adventurous in bed and not come across like a freaking fruit loop?”

Fantasies? Luke shifted again and rubbed his palm across his shirt. Gracie had fantasies? Who knew?

“What kind of adventures are we talking about here, Gracie?” Michelle asked in a cautious voice.

Yeah, what kind of fantasies? Damn it, he only had a few minutes before Jeremy was going to come busting in with the rest of the food. Then he’d never find out what made Gracie tick.

There was a long, silent pause.

“Nothing illegal,” Gracie cracked. “At least I don’t think they are.”

“Quit joking and spill it,” Michelle said. “The guys will be in soon.”

“Oh, I fantasize about bondage, a little spanking, maybe a whip or two. The idea of being tied up gets me hotter than I’d like to admit,” Gracie said ruefully. “But…”

But what? Luke wanted to yell.

“More than anything I’d love to experience a ménage.”

“Gracie!” Michelle exclaimed. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Gracie said in a low voice. “Two sexy men, all their attention on me, pleasuring me? Yeah, I think about it a lot. I just don’t know how to make it happen.”

“Holy shit,” Michelle whispered loudly. “Have you thought about taking out an adult ad or something?”

“Yeah, I have,” Gracie replied. “I’ve thought about it a lot. But the thought scares me. Who knows what kind of freaks are out there.”

Adult ad? Luke wanted to march in and throttle her. He would have but he was still thrown for a loop by what she’d admitted. Gracie,
his
Gracie, had triple X fantasies.

“Face it, Chelle. I’m not sure there’s a man out there who can satisfy my needs in bed. Maybe I’m expecting too much. I just know I’m not settling for less ever again. I’m done with the Keiths of this world. If I can’t find a man, I’ll stick to my toys and self-gratification.”

Not sure there’s a man out there who could satisfy her huh. Luke’s mind whirled with all he’d overheard. So she wanted a threesome. It was obvious Luke had spent far too much time looking at Gracie as a best buddy and a hunting/fishing partner. It certainly wasn’t every day he found a woman who wanted all the things that had gotten him tossed out of so many women’s beds.

Ménage. She wanted a ménage. He couldn’t wait to talk to Wes. He had a feeling his buddy would be very interested in what their good pal Gracie wanted out of her sex life.

Man enough? She didn’t realize it yet, but she’d thrown down the challenge. And damn if he wasn’t going to be the man to answer it.