Awakening Veronica(Divine Creek Ranch 17)(12)

In the span of ten minutes as they neared their destination—a vacant, fenced pasture at the Divine Creek Ranch—Kate convinced her that she should look upon this time away from Montana as a working sabbatical, one that she could extend if she so desired. She couldn’t deny that she needed rest. She was tired to her very bones but the work still needed to be done, and getting her ass in the chair was the only way that would happen. Then Kate had filled her in on Grace’s alter identity as Caressa MacFarland, and Veronica had learned that not only was Grace a writer of bestselling erotic romances, most of which were ménages, she also lived the lifestyle quite successfully.

A half hour later, she stood in the quaint interior of what Grace referred to as the “old foreman’s house.” The fireplace was set up with fresh logs and several distractingly handsome ranch hands were bringing in her bags. An attractive, dark-haired, bearded man who had introduced himself to her as Duke Rivers was setting up her computer equipment. He’d brought a secondary loaner desktop computer for her to use, complete with a gigantic monitor that made her inner geek do a dorky happy dance. He was also making sure she had the best possible Wi-Fi connection and would be personally handling any issues she might have while she was there.

Grace had introduced Veronica to her husbands and the connection Grace shared with them was undeniable and fascinating to Veronica. Each man seemed to bring something completely different to the table with Grace. The way she interacted with her men seemed almost intuitive. They were a true foursome.

Don’t let your lurid imagination run away with you, Veronica. That’s exactly what her mother and her sister, Addison, would both accuse her of doing, jokingly referring to her “ultrasensitive writer personality,” trying to draw conclusions about people where none existed. Veronica shrugged as she looked around the cozy accommodations. She could unleash her ultrasensitive writer personality here and make a lot of readers happy in the process, if she so desired. Her mom and sister weren’t here to share their opinions and she was quite content with that fact.

Grandma Kate had convinced her that if she truly wanted to make the leap from writing sweet romances to writing erotic romance permanently, then this was her chance to do in-depth research, not only with Grace and her men, but also with several other ménage families who were open to talking with her and helping her understand the dynamics. There was even a wedding and ménage binding ceremony coming up that she’d been invited to. It was a golden opportunity she knew her publisher would tell her to go for wholeheartedly.

Grace had then told her that she could feel free to stay through Christmas if she so desired. She’d said she welcomed the company of a fellow author on the ranch, and mentioned that there was another writer in the area who would probably feel the same enthusiasm.

Grace had said, “Think of this house as your writer’s retreat, if you’d like.”

As long as she had an Internet connection, it didn’t really matter where she wrote from. That was one of the beautiful aspects of her career, one she hadn’t taken advantage of until right then. She hadn’t been able to resist. The quaint house and gorgeous surroundings were a definite step up from her dismal, cold apartment in Billings, with no view from her desk except for a brick wall, surrounded by yellow sticky notes and story diagrams.

As Grace showed her around the house, she said, “You’ll never guess who I heard from recently.” She didn’t exactly seem thrilled by the news she had to share.

“Who?”

“Remember that critique group a few years back? The one you and I met in.”

“Of course.” Her friendship with “Caressa” had been one of the benefits of being a part of that group.

“Okay, do you remember that guy who wrote the, um…I’m not even sure what to call it…”

Veronica chuckled as she guessed at who Grace was talking about. “Lucas?”

Grace’s eyes went big. “Yes. He contacted me online.”

“What for?”

“He wanted me to put in a good word for him with my publisher.”

Veronica blinked in surprise. “Your publisher specializes in erotic romance. He needs to find a publisher that sells a lot of…what he writes. Did you reply?”

“And risk the wrath of Lucas? Are you kidding? No, the e-mail somehow got caught in the spam filter. Yeah…that’s it…the spam filter.”

Kate was chatting with Duke when Veronica and Grace returned to the living room Kate said, “Well, I think I’ve had enough excitement for one morning. I’m going up to the ranch house with Grace, honey. Why don’t you take a few hours and get yourself settled.”