Hunt, Sofia - Riding the Circuit [Rodeo Riders 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

Mitzi smiled her sweetest, most charming smile. “Ethel, you’ve been working so hard we thought it’d be nice to buy you dinner and a beverage.”

Ethel’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “This is a bar, not a restaurant.”

“Yes, but they have wonderful food.”

Julian cleared his throat and drew Ethel’s attention. She glanced at him and did a double take. The handsome Latin oozed sex appeal with his exotic, dark looks and midnight eyes hinting of danger.

“
Señorita
, please have a seat. I’d be honored to serve as your companion this evening.”

Ethel’s stern façade thawed like an ice cube in one hundred-degree sunshine. “Oh, my, I–I–I guess I can forgo decorum just this once.” She sat in the chair he offered her. He slid her chair next to the table and snapped his fingers at the waitress.

“Bring the lovely
señorita
a glass of your finest red wine and put it on my tab.”

Ethel fanned herself. “Oh my, it’s hot in here.”

Mitzi bit her lower lip, and Riley squeezed her thigh. Jonah hid his face and concentrated on his hamburger as he rubbed her other thigh. Tanya smirked with satisfaction since the entire thing had been her idea, while Armondo sat back and watched his brother weave his magic spell.

Ethel’s eyes grew big, and her face flushed red when Julian leaned close and whispered something in her ear. She lifted a trembling hand and guzzled down half of her wine. So much for being hard to thaw, she’d melted at Julian’s feet once he’d uttered his first sentence.

“Whoa,” Riley said under his breath and winked at Mitzi.

“Unbelievable,” Jonah whispered in her ear.

Even Armondo, who’d no doubt watched his brother at work countless times, blinked as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The band played a slow, sultry dance. Julian stood and held his hand out to Ethel. “I would be honored,
Señorita
, if you would dance with me.”

Ethel batted her eyelashes and blushed some more. Mitzi choked. Julian bowed low and kissed her hand. Without further fanfare, his fingers tightened around her hand, and he pulled her onto the dance floor. A few minutes later Ethel’s body was plastered to Julian as if she’d like to crawl under his skin.

“Damn. He’ll have her naked before the night is over.” Riley spoke as if in awe.

“I’d bet within the next hour or less.” Jonah blew out a breath.

“He’s an artist when it comes to older women.” Armondo held up his beer bottle, and they toasted Julian.

One problem solved, now to find her stalker.

Riley had never seen anything like it. Ethel blossomed under Julian’s attentive flattery over the next two weeks. The woman didn’t look like the same person. She wore her hair down, along with a little makeup, and more flattering clothes. She actually smiled and laughed. She even quit nagging Mitzi, somewhat. At least, she butted out of Mitzi’s private life and only interfered with her rodeo queen duties, which was the woman’s job, after all, even though her constant nagging irritated the hell out of Mitzi

They hadn’t heard a word from the stalker. Riley briefly entertained the likelihood that Ethel might have been the stalker, attempting to scare Mitzi into behaving herself. Now that Julian occupied Ethel’s time, she might have abandoned the ruse. He couldn’t discount the possibility.

Or perhaps, the asshole hadn’t followed them from Colorado to Oklahoma. While Riley hoped like hell that was the case, he knew better than to let down his guard, as did Jonah. They tried to make sure one of them was near Mitzi at all times, which wasn’t always feasible or practical, but they covered the bases as well as they could.

And their nights, damn, he lived for those nights. He and Jonah had shared a few women in the past, but never more than a night or two. Even though minor jealousies reared their ugly heads, the arrangement worked amazingly well. Mitzi, for all her reputation as a superficial, self-centered brat, shared her time equally with the two men in and out of bed, never giving one more attention than the other. Her careful handling of their
fragile male egos
—her terminology, not theirs—bolstered their confidence in their unusual relationship.

Mitzi continually amazed Riley with her knowledge of horses and ranching. She proved to be much more than a pretty face with her sharp mind and quick wit. Riley respected her opinions and valued their time together, knowing the relationship carried an expiration date.

But he tried not to think about it.

* * * *

Mitzi cherished this brief moment alone with her horse. He’d always been her sounding board, the one steady rock in her life she could always depend on. Riley and Jonah had hurried off to collect their prize money after Mitzi convinced them she could be alone for a half hour.

She straightened Rowdy’s black forelock and pressed her cheek against his neck. “Oh, Rowdy, I wish my life was as simple as yours.”

Rowdy flicked an ear in her direction, an indication he was listening to her woes.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with two men at the same time.” Saying the words dropped the bottom out of her stomach. The admission came as a surprise because she’d been in denial even in her deepest, innermost thoughts.

She loved them?

Heck, she suspected she’d fallen in love with Riley that night over a year ago. But Jonah? How had he crept into her heart and staked a claim? In all her years, she’d never really been in love with a man. In lust, oh yeah. Even mistaken lust for love a few times, but not like this. Not this soul-deep connection to another person, actually two other people.

Riley and Jonah were as different as they were similar. Jonah laughed and joked his way through life, yet she saw the sorrow and pain in his eyes and wondered who had put it there. She’d wipe away his hurts if she could. Riley brooded and worried about things, but lately he’d been a little more relaxed, especially in bed. He surprised her with his wicked humor and devilish ways. They both strived to reach their dreams of raising and training stock and roping horses. Neither man shied away from hard work.

All her life, Mitzi had played the part of the tough one, out to prove she could do things as well as any man. She dismissed men’s attempts to coddle her or put her on a pedestal. Yet, she liked Jonah and Riley’s protectiveness. They made her feel safe, even with the stalker always hovering in the background like a bad dream. They listened to her ideas, respected her knowledge of cattle, horses, and rodeo. They even took to heart her advice on how to improve their runs or their technique. Mitzi wasn’t used to men respecting her opinions. Most of them considered her a pretty face and a hot body, but not a person. Riley and Jonah changed all that.

“Oh, Rowdy. This is all so impossible. It’d never work out with one of them, let alone both of them. I’m too stubborn, want my way too much.” Rowdy nuzzled her, rubbing his big, soft nose on her shoulder. He blew into her hair, a horse’s way of saying hello.

Footsteps tromped through the barn door. Mitzi heard her name mentioned and crouched down low in Rowdy’s stall. The voices came closer. She held her breath and listened. Her heart beat faster as she recognized the voices.

“Mitzi Garrison has a stalker?” Walter Craig asked his buddy.

“That’s what Brooke tells me,” Brent Black, Brooke’s current boyfriend, answered.

“Who’d be crazy enough to stalk that bitch?” The third voice belonged to Larry Maguire. Mitzi hadn’t seen him since he quit the circuit last year and blamed her for his poor performance in bed and out.

“Hell, it’s probably another one of her ploys for attention.”

“I pity the man who stalks her if she gets a hold of him. She’ll castrate him and hang him by his dick on the flagpole.”

The men chuckled. Mitzi bristled. How dare they make light of a serious situation.

“What’s with Backstrom and Yates? They’re hanging around her like flies to a pile of shit.”

“They’ve
gotta
be getting some.”

“Both of them at the same time?”

“Damn it all to hell. I’d love some of that action.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Not me, I’ve had my fill of that woman.”

“I’d like to see her pay for all the guys she’s fucked with.” Mitzi’s breath caught in her throat. One of these cowboys might be the stalker. She couldn’t make out who’d just spoken as the voices grew more distant.

More laughter. “Yeah, so would I.”

“Wouldn’t we all?”

“Whatever happens, I hope she gets what she deserves.”

The voices faded as they walked out of the barn.

Standing on shaky knees, Mitzi stared at her shaking hands. Word travelled fast on the circuit, and both of her secrets—her stalker and her lovers—didn’t appear to be secrets anymore.

Even worse, one of those men who she’d known and respected for years might know more than he was admitting.

* * * *

Jonah spotted Mitzi near the arena fence staring at the calves in the corral. He ambled over to her, but she didn’t look at him. Deep in thought, she continued to stare off in the distance.

Jonah chucked Mitzi under the chin and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours,
darlin
’?”

She turned her head away. “Nice-looking calves, aren’t they?” Mitzi chewed on her lower lip, a habit he’d come to recognize when she was worried.

“They look like any other calf. What’s really on your mind?” He put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her under his arm, relishing the feel of her soft woman’s body against his hard, muscular one. He’d explored every inch of her fine body in the past few weeks, and each time seemed as new and exhilarating as the first time. Even weirder for him, he’d lost his interest in flirting with other women. Hell, he’d considering flirting one of his favorite pastimes, yet with Mitzi in the picture, flirting with other women lost its allure. Only this feisty redhead mattered to him.

Mitzi looked up at Jonah with big liquid brown eyes filled with worry. “I heard them talking about me.”

“Heard who?” Riley walked up behind them. He stood next to Mitzi and propped a booted foot on the lowest rail of the fence.

“Some cowboys. They said I deserved whatever the stalker did to me.”

“Who the hell were they?” Jonah bristled and went into protective mode. By the muscle jerking in Riley’s jaw, Jonah knew he felt the same.

“Did you recognize their voices?” Riley touched her neck and pressed close to her other side.

“Yes, Walter Craig, Brent Black, and Larry Maguire.”

“I’ll fucking kill the bastards.” Riley’s knuckles turned white as he dug his fingers into the top rail of the fence.

“I’ll be right there with you.”

“No, no, that’s not the way to solve this. You’ll both be kicked off the circuit. Then where would I be?” Mitzi implored both of them to calm down with her eyes.

Jonah didn’t want to calm down. He wanted revenge for the fear and sadness they’d put in Mitzi’s eyes. Riley appeared to agree with Jonah. Yet neither could deny the truth in Mitzi’s words.

“Jonah, Riley, please. One of them could be the guy, but you can’t go off all half-cocked and start making accusations. We have to deal with this logically, unemotionally.”

Riley nodded, still pissed but under control. With reluctance, Jonah agreed, too, but if any of them laid a hand on Mitzi or so much as looked at her sideways, Riley would stuff them in a clown’s barrel and roll them into the arena with the biggest,
baddest
bull of all.

The thought of a guy stuck in a barrel while the bull charged the barrel and sent it flying calmed his temper somewhat.

They’d get this guy, and when they did, well, they’d make one mean bull mighty happy.

Riley pinched Mitzi’s ass as she stepped into the limo parked next to her trailer. He quickly followed her inside, effectively sandwiching her between Jonah and him. He’d been looking forward to this night ever since the thought of a ménage with Mitzi and Jonah entered his brain.

He salivated at the sight of Mitzi’s tight little dress. The sexy thing clung to her every curve. Her large breasts spilled over the low-cut top, and her hardened nipples were easily visible through the thin fabric. Obviously, she wore no bra. The bottom of the dress barely covered her ass, while her little g-string was damn indecent. Fuck, she was killing him, and not just with her body. He liked matching wits with her, talking rodeo with her, and just plain hanging out with her.

The limo driver adjusted his mirror and watched them, and a sly smile crossed his face. Riley exchanged a look with Jonah and knew his buddy was thinking the same thing. Riley winked at the driver and didn’t raise the privacy screen. Let the man enjoy the warm-up before the big show. A little exhibitionism would excite them all.

Mitzi made a move to press the privacy button. Jonah captured her wrists in one of his hands. Pulling her face to his, he gave her a slow deep kiss, which accelerated into an out-of-control make-out session. Riley glanced at the limo driver. The guy seemed to be adept at navigating the streets and keeping an eye on the backseat.