Hunt, Sofia - Riding the Circuit [Rodeo Riders 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

Mitzi groomed Rowdy for the grand entry parade. She’d ridden in so many rodeos, they were all beginning to run together. A few stalls away, Riley and Jonah saddled their two horses for the team-roping event.

She paused long enough to watch the play of muscles under Riley’s T-shirt as he went about his tasks. Jonah’s big biceps bulged as he
heaved
the heavy roping saddle onto his horse, Rawhide. Her heart ached with fondness for these two men.

They worked hard and played harder. The pleasure they gave her far exceeded anything in her wildest dreams, and she’d had some wild dreams over the years.

For the past few weeks, she’d traded sleep for tangled sheets and sweaty bodies, and didn’t regret it for a minute. Besides, sleep was highly overrated when a girl had two scalding hot cowboys to warm her bed.

When it came to sex, she thought she considered herself pretty well versed, but Jonah and Riley’s inventiveness never ceased to amaze her. Still, they held back, initiating her to the pleasures of two men a little at a time. There was more, so much more she wanted to experience with them. She doubted a lifetime would be enough to satisfy her.

But she didn’t have a lifetime.

The clock ticked off the days, then weeks, with amazing speed. She dreaded saying good-bye to Jonah and Riley at the end of the circuit, almost as much as she dreaded contact from her stalker, who’d been incredibly quiet the past few weeks.

Brooke walked by leading her barrel horse. She stopped in front of Rowdy’s stall, essentially blocking the two women from Riley and Jonah’s view.

“Have you no shame?” she hissed.

“Probably not,” Mitzi shot back, tempted to do something juvenile like stick out her tongue, or even better, flip off the bitch.

“You’re fucking two men at the same time. What would the NARA say if they heard about that? What about your daddy?”

Mitzi ignored her, but her entire body tensed. Brooke’s threats couldn’t be taken lightly. The woman would do anything to get the crown. Obviously, she didn’t have proof or she’d have filed a complaint by now. But then, what would she complain about exactly? How would she prove her accusations? They’d been discrete ever since the incident with Ethel. That little fact gave Mitzi the courage to speak her mind.

She rounded on Brooke. “You’ll fuck anything that crooks a finger at you. You don’t even need to know their name. What would the NARA board think of that?”

“You’re a vicious bitch.”

“Better than being a jealous whore.”

“How dare you.” Brooke’s entire body vibrated with anger.

“Not too loud, Brooke. The boys will hear.”

Brooke glanced over her shoulder. Both Riley and Jonah stared in their direction. “I’m not finished with you. You’d better watch your back.”

“Get in line. I already am.”

Brooke sashayed off, tossing the men her most winning smile as she walked past them. Her horse followed obediently beside her.

Mitzi picked up the brush and ran it over Rowdy’s coat again. Her hands shook, which pissed her off. She couldn’t let a tramp like Brooke get to her. The woman had nothing over her. Nothing.

* * * *

Mitzi watched her two men through the small window over the sink as she made a salad for dinner. Outside, Riley cooked steaks on the portable barbeque while Jonah placed paper plates and silverware on a small table. The domestic scene warmed her heart, despite the niggling fear everything was about to come crashing down on their arrangement.

They’d averted disaster by hooking Ethel up with Julian, but two big problems still loomed in front of them.

Namely, Brooke and the stalker. Brooke seemed to be a known quantity, but what Mitzi knew scared the hell out of her. Brooke hated losing, and never conceded losing the rodeo queen crown to Mitzi, always maintaining
Mitzi’d
cheated in some manner, slept with the male judges, and bribed the female ones. While Mitzi wouldn’t discount bribery of the judges as one of her father’s sins, she lived with the confidence she’d out-performed every other woman at the tryouts. She’d earned her crown.

Mitzi’s cell rang. The display lit up with her father’s number. Speak of the devil himself. She considering not answering it, but he’d track her down eventually.

She tapped Answer on the phone. “Hi, Daddy.” She adopted her best daddy’s-little-girl tone, perfected over the years to melt her father’s heart and allow her to get her way.

Her father sighed, the sound of a man weary of trying to keep his rebellious daughter in line. “Mitzi, let me get right to it. You’ve been riding the working stock.”

Dread washed over her. “Daddy, I’ve been riding Rowdy just like I always have.” Mitzi played the innocent card.

Her father wasn’t biting. “You know very well what I mean. I’m talking about the fling you’re having with the two cowboys I hired to protect you.”

Mitzi ran through her options—continuing to play dumb, admitting to a lesser crime, or reminding him she was an adult capable for making her own decisions. She doubted any of her options’ effectiveness. “A fling, Daddy? Honestly. Riley and Jonah take their jobs seriously.”

“A little too seriously, I’d say.” Her father actually chuckled, which knocked Mitzi for a loop. Maybe the old man was mellowing.

Her first priority centered around Jonah and Riley. “Daddy, this was all my doing. Please don’t hold it against them. They’re the perfect gentlemen.”

“I doubt that, too. Believe it or not, honey, I didn’t call you to criticize your choice of male partners or the quantity. Not that I agree with either. I called to extend an offer.”

Mitzi gripped the phone and dropped down onto the dinette seat. “What?”

“Get those two men out of your system by the end of the circuit because once your duties as NARA queen have ended, you’ll be coming back to the ranch and working with your brother.”

“Working with my brother?” Mitzi’s heart beat faster.

“I’m giving you your chance. Prove to me you can run this ranch and be a stock contractor as well as any man.”

“Mark isn’t working out, is he?”

“I must admit you inherited my drive and my work ethic. It appears Mark takes after his mother. Perhaps I indulged him too much as a child.”

“You indulged me, too.”

“I did at that, but you’re a fighter, a scrapper, while Mark is content to let others do the work for him.”

Mitzi resisted the urge to roll her eyes—as if Mark’s laziness came as a great revelation to anyone who knew him. “You won’t regret this, Dad.”

“I’d better not. I’m making a big concession here. I have my misgivings that a woman belongs in this business. It’s up to you to prove me wrong.”

“Oh, I will. I promise, I will. You won’t be sorry.”

“One other thing.”

Mitzi’s stomach dropped to her knees. “Okay. What?”

“Have your fun now. At the end of the circuit, you dump those two losers and don’t look back.”

Mitzi felt like a traitor, but she didn’t have a commitment from Riley and Jonah. She’d be an idiot to reject the gift her father offered on the chance she might have a future with two men. How stupid. And she wasn’t stupid. Even if they wanted to prolong their relationship, the threesome’s track records with long-term relationships sucked. None of them were good candidates for happily ever after.

“I expect you to settle down and find a nice man to marry, like my foreman.” The sound of her father’s voice slammed her back to the present.

Mitzi’s skin crawled at his mention of Scott Trimble. The arrogant asshole gave her the creeps. “I’m not interested in him.” Just because Trimble worked for her father, the jerk assumed squatters rights on her. Not on her life. Never. Even when she’d been a teenager, the man had looked at her with lust in his eyes.

“You would be if you gave him a chance. Wait until you get to know him.”

“I know all I want to know.” Mitzi stuck her finger in her mouth and gagged, knowing her father couldn’t hear or see her. She’d be stuck working side-by-side with Trimble because heaven knew her worthless brother didn’t do a lick of work. To achieve her life-long dream, she’d work beside the devil himself. But she wouldn’t sleep with him. A girl had to have her standards.

“You won’t be sorry, Daddy. I promise.”

What about Riley and Jonah? She shook off her thoughts of the future.
Live in the present. Take each day one at a time.
She’d get through the circuit with her reputation in tatters, but tatters beat nothing at all. She’d enjoy her time with Riley and Jonah, keeping the promise they made to each other in the beginning. No expectations. No promises.

End a good thing while it was still good, like a bull rider quitting at the top of his game instead of at the bottom.

Mitzi sat in the stands and watched the end of the team roping. Riley and Jonah finished their go-rounds, hopefully, in the money, but that depended on how well the last two cowboys did. For once, she followed orders. They’d asked her to stay in the relative safety of the stands until they came back for her after they’d put the horses away.

“Mitzi, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Mitzi lifted her head in the direction of the familiar voice. Her father’s foreman dropped into the empty seat next to her. “Scott, what are you doing in Oklahoma?”

The man was obviously distressed and out of breath, as if he’d been running. “Mitzi, you have to come with me now. Your father’s been taken to the hospital in an ambulance.” The alarm on his face got her attention.

“Is he in Cheyenne?” Mitzi’s heart pounded in her chest. Her throat constricted so tight her voice only came out as a squeak.

“No, he’s here. We’d just flown into town to look at some rodeo stock. He planned on surprising you. After we checked into the hotel, he experienced shortness of breath and sharp chest pains. I called for an ambulance immediately. They rushed him to the hospital. I promised him I’d find you and take you to him.” He stood and motioned to her. “Let’s go.” Without waiting to see if she followed, he headed out of the stadium. Mitzi sprinted after him.

“I need to wait for Riley and Jonah. They’ll be here in a minute.” She looked around frantically for her two lovers as they came to a stop behind the chutes.

“There’s no time. Call them when we get there.” He grabbed her arm, and for a split second she resisted. Images of her strong father, pale and hooked up to all kinds of monitors, assaulted her.

“Okay, where to?”

“We need to take your truck. I took a taxi here.” Scott headed toward the RV parking, as if he knew where to go.

“How do you know where I’m parked?” Mitzi hesitated. Something seemed off. She’d never liked Scott. Major warning bells jangled, and her instincts signaled red alert.

“The security guard at the gate told me where your trailer was parked. I checked there first.”

His explanation seemed logical, but a sliver of doubt settled in her gut. “Take my truck.” She handed the keys over to him. “I’ll meet you at the hospital as soon as Riley and Jonah are ready.”

“No, you won’t.” The man’s firm insistence backed Mitzi up a step. He seemed to realize his abruptness concerned her. He tempered his voice. “There’s no time for that.”

Mitzi shook her head. She’d stall until Riley and Jonah came looking for her. Silently, she cursed her stubborn streak. If she’d stayed at the arena and waited for them like they’d asked, they wouldn’t waste precious time looking for her. “I need to call Riley and Jonah.”

They neared the truck. The man gripped her arm so tight she’d be bruised. “You won’t be calling anyone right now. There’s no time.”

His warning sent a stab of fear through her, but what if it was unfounded? He’d never been known for his tact, and he was obviously stressed. What if Scott was telling the truth, and her father lay dying in the hospital? She pulled her cell out of her pocket and dialed her father’s number. Scott’s eyes narrowed, and he lunged for her. His strength shocked her as he wrenched her arm behind her back. She cried out in pain.

“I’ll break your fucking arm if you scream.” He yanked it back further, bringing tears to her eyes.

Despite the pain, her chances of survival hinged on her ability to fight him. She screamed for all she was worth. He slammed his fist into her jaw. Agony reverberated through her body. He threw her to the ground and knocked the wind out of her then slapped duck tape over her mouth. With a spine-chilling laugh, he slammed her head against the metal step on her trailer for good measure. She tried to catch her breath as he shoved her onto her back and bound her hands behind her with tape. Mitzi’s head spun, and blackness threatened to overcome her. She struggled beneath him, but her movements were sluggish. Her head throbbed. Needles of pain shot through her jaw.

“You little bitch. I’ll show you what a real man feels like instead of those two losers.”

Standing, he kicked her hard in the ribs with the toe of his cowboy boots. She heard a distinct crack, and more pain rolled over her in waves. Scott kicked her again. Grabbing her arms, he hauled her to her feet and dragged her toward her pickup. He threw her in the backseat. Her head banged against the armrest. After binding her ankles with the tape, he jumped into the driver’s seat. A second later the engine roared to life. She worked the bindings, but they held tight, not yielding a fraction of an inch. The truck rocketed out of the RV parking area, spraying gravel, and onto the blacktop street behind the arena grounds.