Perfect Match [Ménage.com 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

Dakota moved around them to help Tim into a standing position. Someone must have gotten napkins to help with the bleeding, because they were shoved into Tim’s hands. Dakota pulled up a chair and made Tim sit down.

“Russ, thanks for stopping the fight, but we’ll take it from here. I’m sure Brent has already phoned the sheriff’s office and Luke will be over shortly. Glad to have you two back in town.”

“That’s one of us, because I sure as shit wish we had stayed away,” Russ said, stepping back from Dale. Without another word, Russ walked off toward the front door.

“Sorry about that,” Cam said. “A lot of personal stuff going on, if you know what I mean.”

“For the record, Elliot and Mitch haven’t gone near Emma, no matter what the gossip mill is saying.”

Cam just nodded his head, although Chad wasn’t too sure it was in agreement. As Cam went to follow Russ toward the door, it swung open to reveal Elliot. Chad looked over at Dakota, figuring they were about to have another mess to clean up. Russ and Cam stopped a few feet from the door, while Elliot came to a standstill as well. The bar got quiet, and everyone turned to stare, waiting for a showdown.

No one got what they wanted, though, because Russ and Cam started moving again. This time, they passed Elliot without a word and exited the bar. Chad and Dakota were probably the only ones who gave sighs of relief. That was one less thing to worry about. Chad turned back to Dale, who was now standing upright, holding his wrist.

“Did you see that? That was assault! I’m pressing charges when Sheriff Whittington gets here. Everyone saw what that asshole did to me!”

“No one saw a thing, Dale. But everyone did see that you swung at Tim first and broke his nose. I’m sure the sheriff or Deputy Foster will consider that an offense that will get you a night in jail.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it! Besides, Tim was talking shit about Tracy. No one gets to badmouth my family!”

Dale was Tracy’s cousin, and after tonight, Chad could definitely see the family resemblance. They were both too stupid for their own good. He didn’t believe for a second that Tim had said one word against Tracy, but the way this evening was going, anything was possible.

“And here I thought you would actually make it for a full month without getting in trouble, Dale.”

Chad turned to see Luke standing behind them in uniform. Since Luke was here in an official capacity and would take over, Chad walked over to where Dakota was talking with Tim. His nose had stopped bleeding, and Tim was in the midst of saying that he wasn’t sure what had set off Dale.

“I swear, all I said was that it looked like Tracy was upset when she left here a few minutes ago. I turned and Dale swung at me.”

A few murmurs of agreement went around the area. Chad took a glass of water that had been sitting on one of the tables and wet another napkin. Although Tim’s nose had stopped bleeding, dried blood surrounded the area.

“Here. Wipe off what you can, and then we’ll get you to Doc Jones.”

“Tim, you have every right to press charges. What’s it going to be?” Luke asked, leaving Dale standing beside the pool table looking smug.

“Nah, Deputy. It’s a waste of time, and you know it. He’ll get a slap on the wrist. It’s not worth the hassle of having to deal with him later.”

“So you’re going to let him get away with breaking your nose?” Luke shook his head. “Tim, I’m advising you to press charges. He’ll think he has run of this town if people keep letting him get away with this shit.”

“Let someone else do it,” Tim said, shaking his head. “I’m not pressing charges.”

Luke just shook his head, but walked over to Dale. They spoke in low tones, although Chad could hear Luke enough to know that he was warning Dale off starting bar fights. Dale just nodded his head and smiled. Chad would discuss it with Dakota, but it was time to ban Dale from the bar. They didn’t need trouble like that, especially now that Tracy had been fired.

Chad looked over to where Elise was, wondering what she was thinking of all this. His heart stopped. She wasn’t at her laptop, which was still sitting open. Thinking she had wanted to see what had been going on, Chad looked at the surrounding people. No blue-eyed blondes stood around the pool tables. Trying to control the panic that was trying to take over, Chad started searching every inch of the bar with his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Elise is gone.”

“This is such a setup,” Elise muttered under her breath, dipping her fry in ketchup as if it were Dakota’s head being dunked under water.

“What’s a setup, girl?”

Elise looked up from where she sat on a barstool to see the double-D waitress from yesterday. Looking at her nametag, which was certainly sticking out for everyone to see on her little black shirt, she saw that her name was Tracy. Elise gave a fake smile, not wanting to appear impolite.

“Sorry, I was just talking to myself.”

“No worries. I do it all the time.” Tracy cracked her gum and gave her back a smile. “Can I get you another refill on the water? Are you sure you don’t want a beer or something?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you.”

“So how long are you in town for? I saw that your car was over at the Braxton brothers’ garage. Have an accident or something?”

“I’m not sure. As for my car, something is wrong with the engine, although it should be up and running soon.” Elise took a bite of the soggy fry. She had definitely been dipping it for too long. “Hey, are you into the lifestyle?”

“I came to Triple because of the lifestyle,” Tracy said, with another pop from her chewing gum.

“Well, here,” Elise said, wiping her hands on a napkin before handing over the flyer she had made that afternoon. “This is a website that caters to ménages. Please check it out, and if you’re interested, we would love to have you sign up. Who knows? Maybe you can find the two men you’ve been looking for.”

Elise was grateful she had the flyers made up. That was one less thing she had to worry about. After refusing to argue with Dakota any more, they had come into town and checked in at the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Whittington had no news on the man who had attacked her but advised against leaving town on her own. He went on about making herself a target by being by herself on the road. Seeing the sheriff had brought back those feelings of helplessness that she had had during the attack, and she agreed to give him a few more days to see if he could make an arrest.

After the sheriff’s office, they made a pit stop at Elliot and Mitch’s garage. Chad had tried to keep the conversation light, but she and Dakota refused to speak with each other. When Dakota could see things rationally, that is when she would talk to him. Until then, he’d see just how stubborn she could be. Things went from bad to worse, though, when Elliot told her that the part they needed for her car would take another day or two before it arrived. When she said she could just borrow Chad’s truck to go and pick up the part if he was too busy to do it himself, Elliot said it was being shipped from out of state.

Now that she thought about that meeting, it sounded odd. What type of part would he need that he couldn’t get from a nearby town or city? Elise looked over at Chad, who was standing behind the bar talking with Brent. The bartender was listening closely, his bald head shining underneath the lights. Elise immediately shook her head as a random thought popped into her mind. There was no way they had messed with her car, because she had been with them the entire time before she left the bar yesterday. Which meant there was something really wrong with her vehicle. A part of her felt guilty for even thinking they would resort to such measures.

“I don’t think I’ll need your website service, but thanks,” Tracy said, bringing Elise’s attention back to the waitress. “I’m already involved in a relationship.”

“Oh, well, if you have any friends you think would be interested, please let me know. Or at least give them one of my flyers.”

Elise had used Chad’s phone again to call Shea, gathering the information she needed for the flyers. Shea had somehow heard something in her voice that led her to believe something had happened. Now how had she known that? With Chad and Dakota by her side the entire day, Elise hadn’t wanted to spill the beans to her best friend and had cut the call short. Because she and Dakota weren’t really speaking, a knife could cut the tension in the truck. Chad had taken pity on her, though. While Dakota opened the bar, Chad had walked with her to the library so she could obtain the research she needed for her current book. All in all, the day was a huge success. The only problem was, she couldn’t leave town.

Now, here she sat at the bar, because those two overbearing males wouldn’t let her sit in the back in one of those comfortable leather booths. They claimed they couldn’t see her all the time if she were back there. Like someone was going to attack me in the middle of all these people, she thought. Elise shook her head at their precautions.

“I’ve got to run these beers over to the guys playing pool. But sure, I’ll hand them out. Chad and Dakota would have a fit if I joined that site,” Tracy laughed, picking up her tray.

“What do you mean?” Elise didn’t like the feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach.

“Oh, well, we’re trying to keep our relationship on the down low, if you know what I mean,” Tracy said, giving her a wink. “As an employee, we have to be careful about who knows.”

Elise watched as Tracy made her way over to the pool tables, the guys surrounding her to get their drinks. And more, considering the burly-looking one had placed his hand on her ass. Elise felt like she was going to throw up. How could Chad and Dakota make love to her this afternoon while having a relationship with another woman? They didn’t seem like the type, but then again, Elise would be the first to admit she didn’t have experience in this area. And from the ache in her heart, she didn’t want to gain any more than she had this afternoon.

Elise knew that she was probably being unreasonable, considering she had told Dakota this afternoon that she didn’t want anything serious. But that had been based on her decision, not because they were two-timing scumbags. She knew it shouldn’t matter as much as it did, but Elise felt as if someone had taken out a piece of her heart. Reaching up, she rubbed her chest, willing herself to stop being emotional.

Elise couldn’t help but look down at the end of the bar, where Chad was still speaking with Brent. He was looking her way, a questioning look on his face. She quickly glanced away, looking in the mirror and seeing Dakota making his way up to the bar. Even though they still technically weren’t speaking, she didn’t want to take that chance that he would come up to her right then. She needed some space. Looking to her right and seeing the restroom sign, Elise slid off the stool and made a beeline for the safe haven it would provide.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, Elise was happy to see that no one else was in the restroom. Walking directly to one of the stalls, Elise shut the door behind her and leaned against the side. She figured she didn’t have much time before one of the guys came looking for her, but Elise needed time to compose herself. She needed to convince herself that this shouldn’t hurt as much as it did, them being involved with Tracy. She angrily wiped at a tear that tried to fall.

Hadn’t she been the one to tell them that she didn’t believe in relationships? She was the one who had originally tried to set the ground rules, so this shouldn’t be such a big shock. It wasn’t like she had any claim to them. Although, why did they feel the need to lie about falling in love with her? Elise thought of herself as a realist and had no problem with other people’s choices. But the one thing she always demanded was honesty, so to find out they had lied by omission didn’t make her feel any better.

The outer door to the restroom opened and then she heard the other stall door close. She grabbed a few sheets of toilet paper and wiped her nose. There was no way she was going to let them see her cry. Making sure her ponytail holder secured her hair, Elise finally opened the door and walked to the sink. Looking down, she turned on the faucet and was just about to place her hands underneath the water when someone came at her from behind and slammed her head into the mirror.

The shock of the pain delayed her reaction, and before she could defend herself, the man behind her grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head back. She tried to scream when he covered her mouth with his other hand. With her back up against him and his strong grasp of her hair, she couldn’t move. His hand was so big that it was covering up her nose, blocking her airway.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave town, bitch?”

His hot breath drifted across her cheek. His menacing tone would have had more of an effect on her had she not started to panic about not breathing. She brought her hands up, scratching at his arm. She raked her fingernails over his skin, knowing it was deep enough to cause blood. She heard him curse, but her actions had made him loosen his hold. She sucked in air, drawing as much oxygen as she could.

“Elise, are you okay in there?”

Chad’s voice was a lifeline. She tried to yell for him, but before she could shout out, the man pushed her back. Her body slammed into the sink, her hip taking the brunt of the impact. She saw her attacker rush for the door and then crash into Chad. They both ended up hitting the outer wall. The bathroom door closed, blocking her view of what was happening.