Saving Treasure (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

Saving Treasure

Treasure Lane was on the run from an obsessed roommate when she met James just when she needed someone to lean on. She left New Mexico with no more than the few things she could sneak out of her apartment. She allowed fate to take her where she may. She has never had roots.

James Calloway was on the way home when he saw a woman who called to him in a way he had never experienced before. He and Chad Hardin are already involved in a relationship that they cannot seem to define. When Chad discovers Treasure in his bed, he is stunned and surprised. Chad and James nurture Treasure while helping her to heal and to love. They develop a life and discover each other. Friendships are formed, passions burn brightly, and roots are formed. When Treasure's trouble follows, they must survive together.

Genre:
Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length:
40,855 words
 

Rose Leigh Woods

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

SAVING TREASURE

Copyright © 2012 by Rose Leigh Woods

E-book ISBN:
1-61926-552-4

First E-book Publication: April 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston

All cover 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
 
Saving Treasure
 
by Rose Leigh Woods 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 Rose Leigh Woods’s livelihood.
 
It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Woods’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

This book is for my husband who supported me, my mom who jumped up and down for joy for me, my Alyson who dared and inspired me, and my cousin who was shocked and proud of me.

SAVING TREASURE

ROSE LEIGH WOODS

Copyright © 2012

Treasure Patience Lane sighed as she slipped back into her car. It had been a truly bad day. Moments like this made her wish that her daddy were still alive and well. She had never wanted him to rescue her from anything, and she always gladly took her bumps and bruises from her decisions, but she was starting to wish for a helping hand despite the fact that accepting it would mean she had to admit she had ignored something to get in this type of situation. At that point, she would just have to swallow what pride she had and take it. This last stop proved that there were people that would help her just a tad, though, and that she wasn’t doing a spectacular job of blending in with the other people around her.

Stopping for gas made it obvious that she was going to have to work harder to escape without any trace.

She knew her slightly curly light-brown hair didn’t exactly dredge up a lot of interest with the way it twined and turned down her back, but the bruise surrounding her eye and cheek did. Those dark marks were practically impossible to hide. They drew the attention of others’ eyes like moths to a flame. Luckily, she could keep her head down to disguise it just a bit. Her five-foot-two-inch frame meant she had to raise her face to look directly at most people, helping her to keep her face partially hidden without looking like she was purposefully avoiding looking at people. She was, for once, happy rather than perturbed at not having those few extra inches in height that she normally longed for. The long sleeves that she opted to wear were making her stick out, though. The temperature was hovering in the midnineties with a persistent humidity. Her clothes clung to her like a second skin. They may be uncomfortable, but the shirt and jeans were definitely less conspicuous than the dark marks that ran along her arms and shoulders. Thankfully, she wasn’t the only one around wearing jeans though.

She was trying to keep it casual by just wearing the button-down open over her tank top, but it didn’t seem to stop people from glancing at her curiously. Even the guys who had on long-sleeved shirts had them rolled all the way up their forearms. A huge handprint on one arm would show if she did that, and the other had several bruises scattered that would show as well.

When she stopped, she had quickly grabbed a few bottles of water and something to eat. Her escape had taken a lot of careful planning.

She couldn’t seem to focus on any other thoughts with the exception of two. The first thought dealt with how much she missed her daddy. She hadn’t really known her mother, since she passed before Treasure had even entered school, but she had been close to her daddy. That was how relationships worked when a parent was in the military. The familial relationships were the strongest. It had always been just her daddy and herself. They also had some good friends from within his unit, too, but those guys would transfer to be replaced with new faces. There were a few who stayed in his unit for as long as she could remember. They were like family, but she had almost no contact with them now. It had been hard to keep in touch after her daddy had passed on.

The other thought circled around how she came to be in this situation. She had always shaken her head and tried to figure out how women could get into and stay in a relationship with a guy who would beat them regularly over nothing. She knew she didn’t exactly fall in that situation in the standard way, but it was still a similar story all the same. He’d seemed so nice at first, treated her well, and lost his temper. Of course, he’d had something to hold over her by then.

The heat was climbing, and the sweat starting to trickle down her back drew her full attention to what she was doing. The air-conditioning was running full blast, but it just didn’t feel like it was winning against the climbing heat with its humidity.

The highway she was taking was fairly deserted, so she shimmied out of her long-sleeved shirt. She was hoping that it would cool off that night. With the humidity, she didn’t think that was likely though. The air was hot and heavy with it, lending to the feeling that she was being steamed. She fished a second bottle of water from the bag. She wanted to put as many miles as possible between Larson and herself.

She wasn’t sure if he was looking or not, but she wouldn’t put it past him. She wasn’t sure how far-reaching Larson’s dad’s influence was, but she knew despite jurisdiction, police and sheriffs could make friends amongst different forces and counties and even across state lines.

Larson could be vindictive.

She knew that she had been traveling for about fifteen hours. Still, she was afraid of being caught. She wasn’t even that sure of where she was going. She had no family that she really knew. Her mom had a sister, but Treasure had never met the woman and was not really sure where she lived. Her daddy had been adopted into a family, and they didn’t really keep in touch other than holidays, and that had ended since he was no longer there.

She groaned once again at her situation as well as what she considered her stupidity before clicking on the radio. After finishing her second bottle of water, she felt calmer than she had since sneaking out of the apartment at two o’clock that morning.

Flipping through the stations, she finally settled on a station that seemed to play a rock mix. Angry music might be good. She hoped it would keep her awake at least.

She needed to stop at a rest stop soon. She didn’t want to stop, but even the angry music wasn’t helping her eyes stay open. Plus, her legs were starting to feel the effects of driving too long. Her bladder was also protesting. She needed to stretch her legs, catch a short catnap, and check the map to keep a general idea of her location. She knew she had breached Louisiana a few hours ago.

She felt relief as soon as she saw one of the blue signs announcing a rest area that didn’t contain another sign about it being out of order, just as it was starting to darken. A chance to relieve herself and stretch her legs would be a welcome break to help keep her awake for a little while longer.

Looking around, she didn’t see too many other people, which was definitely fine with her. She locked her car and headed inside the restroom.

She kept surveying the three other vehicles that were also there. One was much newer than her nearly ten-year-old car. It was a silver SUV that would have been fun to try to board with its incredible height from the ground. The color refracted the last bit of fading sun with an interestingly dazzling effect.

There was a little red four-door car, much older than her small green two-door car. It was nice with a hatchback.

The third vehicle was a truck. All of the mud and dirt would have to be removed to say what color it really was. It contained some scraps of wood and other materials that were sticking out of the back along with a large tool box that was definitely used rather than decorative. Just by looking at it, she could tell that it was heavy and filled with tools, and the scuffs told of its rough livelihood.