“Changing the subject, are you?”
Her smile returned in a flash. “Yes.”
He smiled back. “I can respect that. Sometimes it’s as boring as all get out living in Hailey but I know everyone, good or bad, and for the most part I get along with the locals. I work too much and don’t have a lot of free time to ponder my life choices. I left for a while but then returned. I’m not sorry I did. I missed my brothers, not that many of them are around all that much.”
Brit arched an eyebrow.
“Drake is the oldest and he’s an attorney in Dallas. He’s been visiting home more often recently though since he got divorced. I can’t say I’m sorry about that. He married this real snooty type, kind of cold and bitchy. Navarro is solid and he’s a homebody so I get to see him all the time. River used to travel the rodeo circuit until he got hurt and now works with horses, just not ours.” He paused. “Ryder is in a band and they travel a lot unless the bookings dry up or one of the members needs time off. Dusty is in town but he tends to hole up with his new friends for weeks at a time so yeah, I wish they were all around more. You’ll get to meet all of them eventually if you stick around. Of course Trip used to be solid. He and Navarro have always run the ranch.”
“Where did you go when you left here?”
“Here and there.” He shrugged. “I―”
“Britney?” a familiar male voice interrupted.
Something inside Brit froze for a second and then her heart pounded hard. She stared up in alarm at a face from her past. Brad Pillow hadn’t changed much in the four years since she’d seen him last. What had brought him to Hailey was a mystery and a nightmare. Fear gripped her, making her mute, as she gaped up at him in horror.
“I knew it had to be you.” Brad grinned. “The hair is longer, you’ve lost weight, but I’d recognize you anywhere. You still have the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”
She couldn’t breathe. She had to force air into her lungs when her chest started to burn and her face tingled hot but it took her seconds to get it past the lump in her throat. She took a breath and then another but still couldn’t form words. Brad Pillow stared at her, waiting for her to say something.
“You know her?” Adam glanced at Brit, then frowned at Brad. “I’m Adam Raine. I―”
“He just met me.” She scooted for the edge of the booth to put distance between herself and Adam. “I’m on my way to Dallas and stopped in here for a meal. It’s a long drive from New Mexico. That’s where I’ve been living,” she lied. She stood on shaky legs that she prayed would support her weight. She trembled and her fingers curled into fists at her sides to attempt to hide that fact. “It was good seeing you but I need to get back on the road again. I have a job interview there in the morning.” She darted a terrified look at Adam. “Thanks for the conversation, mister.” She tried to inch past Brad when she faced him again.
His hand grabbed her arm and he frowned, not allowing her to move around him. “Kyle is out and he’s looking for you.”
A moan rose in her throat but she managed not to utter it. She fought the urge to tear her arm out of the loose hold and bolt for the door. “I’m aware. I don’t want anything to do with him. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention seeing me or telling him I’m on my way to Dallas.”
Brad had light green eyes and they narrowed while he stared down at her. His hold tightened a little. “What kind of friend would I be if I did that?”
He wasn’t her friend, he was Kyle’s. The two had grown up together, run in the same circles, and had gotten into some of the same bad habits. “Please, Brad? Just let me go.”
He cocked his head. “I don’t think so. Not unless you want to persuade me.” His gaze lowered to the top edge of her shirt where the swell of her breasts began. “I always did envy him when he found you under that rock. Watching him with you made me wish I were the one touching you.”
Bile rose. She knew exactly what he offered. Blackmail. If she let him touch her, he wouldn’t tell Kyle he’d seen her. Brad had always given her the creeps with the intense way he’d watched her sometimes. She’d suspected he was interested in her more than he should have been, but he had never hit on her for fear of Kyle’s rage. They might have been close friends but her ex-husband had an insane possessive streak when it came to men touching his wife. His thing had been showing off what he had, making sure others envied him, but never allowing them too close.
“Let me go,” she whispered.
“Is there a problem?” Adam stood, leaving the booth.
Brad frowned and turned his attention on the other man. “No. Britney and I are old friends. We’re going to go get aquatinted again.” He looked away and turned, his hold on her arm tightening. “My truck is right outside. We’re going for a drive and have a talk. We’ll catch up while we discuss old times.”
Her mind tried to work around the terror that filled her. Should she go with him and then escape outside? Make a scene in the bar so he couldn’t take her? He took a step and pulled her, making her numb legs stumble. A hand grabbed her other arm and jerked her back.
“You’re not taking her anywhere.” Adam shook his head, glaring at Brad.
She looked up at Adam. He held on to her arm but his focus was fixed on Brad. He frowned deep enough that lines crinkled the corners of his mouth and his eyes had narrowed dangerously.
“Release her,” Adam demanded. “She doesn’t look willing to chat with you.”
Brad turned to face him. “Britney is none of your concern. Stay out of this.”
Adam shook his head. “Take your hand off her or you and I are going to go get acquainted outside in the parking lot.” He paused. “I’m a fighter, not a lover, when it comes to men.”
Frustration was an easy emotion to read on Brad’s face as he studied Adam. “I’m not going to fight with you. You’re putting your nose where it doesn’t belong.” His chin lowered and he glared down at Brit. “Tell him how much he doesn’t want to get involved, Britney. Mr. Raine here has no idea how nasty Kyle can get.”
Brit knew a threat when she heard it. Adam had said his name and Brad had caught it. He’d tell her insane ex-husband she had spent time with Adam Raine and he’d come after him. Her mouth went dry. Her terrified gaze flew to Adam.
“It’s okay, mister. Just sit down. I’ll go with him.”
Adam frowned at her, searched her eyes, and then nodded. His fingers released her arm. “Fine.”
Brad smirked in satisfaction that he’d won and turned away, took a step, and his hold on Brit tightened when he tugged on her arm.
“Hey!” Adam called out.
Brad turned his head but never saw the fist coming until it slammed into his jaw, causing him to fall to the floor. Brit gasped when she was jerked forward by his tight hold on her arm but she didn’t land on top of him. A beefy arm hooked around her waist and yanked her back, tearing her free from Brad’s grip. She found herself locked against Adam’s body until he gently lowered her back to her feet.
“Are you all right?” He stared at her with concern.
Her mouth opened.
“You just made a big mistake,” Brad yelled, fighting to get to his feet.
Adam gripped Brit’s hips, lifting her as she gasped, and spun her around. Her feet came down on the booth seat. The hands left her and she twisted her head just in time to see Adam turn back to take on Brad. Brad took a swing with his fist but Adam ducked, plowing one of his own into his opponent’s stomach.
Brad made a loud sound when the air was forced from his lungs and his body was thrown backward. He hit a table, landed on his back, and beers were knocked over. Glass broke and the voices in the bar silenced until only music could be heard.
“I don’t know where you’re from,” Adam said loudly. “But we don’t manhandle women in Hailey.”
“Damn it,” the bartender shouted. “Don’t break up my bar. Take it outside, Adam!”
Brad rolled to his side and clumsily staggered to hi
s feet. The music died, the room going eerily silent except for the sound of beer running off the table to splatter on the floor. He glared at Adam, rubbed his lower stomach, and then roared out something that wasn’t even a word as he lunged forward.
Adam tensed before they both slammed into the table inches from Brit. She flinched, lost her balance and fell back but the wall stopped her from tipping over. She saw Brad pull back his fist but Adam caught it, then they rolled so the table creaked loudly but didn’t crash to the floor. They wrestled, both struggling to free an arm to punch each other.
“I said take it outside!” the bartender shouted again. “Do you hear me? Don’t bust up my tables.”
Movement drew Brit’s focus from the fight to the person who walked up behind the combating men. River grabbed Brad and lifted his body to pull him away from Adam. He pinned the slightly smaller man’s arms behind his back.
“Knock it off,” River ordered in a gruff voice. He frowned at Adam. “What the hell? You know to fight outside. What happened?”
Brad struggled but River had a good hold on the man and he pulled him off balance to force Brad up onto his toes. Adam straightened, running a hand through his blond hair, and took some deep breaths.
“He tried to force Brit outside with him.”
River’s head turned and his angry gaze pinned Brit where she stood. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I just want to leave, mister.” She really hoped he caught on and didn’t say anything that would give their connection away. Fear for River’s safety had her trembling. “I just stopped in for a meal and now I’m out of here.” She inched along the wall and then carefully got down from the seat. She kept her eyes on River and then fled for the door, not missing his confusion. “Please keep hold of him until I drive away,” she called out over her shoulder before quickly going for the exit.
The sun had gone down when she burst out the door of the bar and she quickly turned for the parking lot. She saw the ranch truck and headed for it. She’d wait there. It wasn’t as though she could grab a taxi in the small town, certain it didn’t boast one, and she sure couldn’t walk back to the ranch. She would get lost. Worse, if she walked Brad might find her on the road. She shivered over that concept.
She opened the passenger door, glad that no one locked their doors in Hailey, and climbed inside. She huddled low on the seat, scooting down until she was sure that Brad wouldn’t spot her when he came outside. She heard the bar door bang loudly as though someone had kicked it open. She peeked up a little over the dash and sure enough, Brad stormed out. She ducked and held her breath. Minutes later she heard an engine roar to life and a vehicle left the parking lot in a hurry. She guessed that Brad had taken off after her in hopes of catching up with her on the road.
Seconds later someone yanked open the driver’s door and she gasped, staring at River. He froze, his expression thunderous, and his lips pressed tightly together in anger. He only hesitated a second before he climbed in. He muttered something she didn’t catch, jerked the keys from his front jeans pocket, and then started the truck.
“Do you want to tell me what the hell that was about?”
“Please get us out of here,” she pleaded.
“Are you going to sit up?”
“No.”
He turned his head, stared at her with narrowed, suspicious eyes that were still angry, and then he faced forward, throwing the truck in drive. Brit stayed down, worried that Brad lurked out there, driving around searching for her, and didn’t want him to spot her inside the truck clearly marked with the painted side doors that said Raine Ranch.
“I want answers, Brit.” He paused. “Or is it Britney?”
She could hear rage simmering in his tight voice. She sighed. “I told you I have a past. That man knows my ex-husband. I need to leave when we get to the ranch, River. You have to fix whatever you did to my car.”
“It isn’t happening. You’re staying.”
“Damn it!” Frustration rose and some of her fear drained away. “He knows Adam’s last name, which is yours too. I can’t stay. It would be…” She closed her mouth.
“It would be what?”
“Dangerous, River. Stupid too. I won’t put your family in jeopardy, and if I stay, if that guy tells my ex-husband he saw me here with Adam Raine and he finds me at the ranch…” She swallowed the lump that formed. “I have to go.”
The silence in the truck grew uncomfortable as River drove. Minutes passed. He finally spoke.
“When we get home we’re going to talk and you’re going to tell me everything.”
Shit, she thought. It definitely would be one conversation she didn’t want to have.
Chapter Nine
“Eat and talk,” River demanded, slamming a plate with a ham sandwich down on the table in front of Brit.
Brit licked her lips, wetting them, and watched as he stiffly sat in the chair across the table from her. They were alone in the kitchen and so far she hadn’t seen any of his other family. She didn’t want to share her story with anyone but she knew she at least owed him an explanation.
“When I said I had some familiarity with horses, I meant it. My father owned a horse stable in Northern California. I worked with him growing up. We boarded a lot of them that people didn’t have time for. The money wasn’t that good but we got by. I saved and put myself through college to become a physical therapist. It took longer but I did it.”
“I bet your father is proud.”
Pain sliced through her. “He was.” She fought tears and won. “I moved to Nevada to work at a children’s hospital but Dad had a harder time holding on to the stables without me there to help out. After a couple of years, he decided to sell it. I had a few weeks of vacation time so I came home.” She paused. “Kyle, my ex-husband, and his father showed up interested in buying it for some company I assumed they worked for.”
“So that’s how you met the asshole?”
A grin flashed. “Yes. He was handsome, blond, funny, and really down to earth. I liked that about him. His father bought the stables and I returned home. A week later Kyle showed up at my apartment saying he couldn’t live without me. To make a long story short, he swept me off my feet, add in a few drinks and it being Nevada where you can literally get married in the blink of an eye, and I woke up with a hangover and a new husband.”
Dark eyebrows rose. “That’s fast.”
“Yeah. I freaked out but Kyle acted really happy about it. He talked me into giving it a try, and to be honest, I wasn’t on the birth control shot back then. With my work schedule I never dated and I figured with my bad luck I’d gotten pregnant. Stupid move on my part but I agreed to at least see if we could work it out. A few weeks with Kyle and I realized I’d make a mistake.”
“Not a great lover?”
She hesitated. “He drank.”
“Alcoholic?”
“I didn’t know at first because he hid it but yeah, he had a serious problem. I thought I could fall in love with him but he became a different person when he got drunk. The sober Kyle had a fun, loving personality but after he drank he turned into this brooding, dark man.”
“I know a little something about it.”
She studied him.
“My brother and father.”
“Right.” He’d mentioned that about his father. “Your brother too?”
“You haven’t met him yet. He is recovering and off the booze now but yeah. He and Dad were drinking buddies.”
“I’m sorry.” She adjusted in the chair, getting more comfortable. “Every time I got to the point where I wanted out he’d beg me to stay. He promised to get help.”
“They tend to make those gestures but don’t follow through on them for the most part.”
“Yeah. That summed up Kyle.” She looked away from his dark gaze and studied the table instead. “Only it wasn’t just the drinking.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “Everything he’d told me turned out to be a lie. He not only had a drinking pr
oblem but his so-called job didn’t even exist.”
That had River’s eyebrows lifting.
“When Kyle and his father bought the stables he’d let me believe they worked for the company that purchased it. I discovered they were the owners. My husband turned out not to be so poor.” She blew out a breath. “You have no idea how shocked I felt. I mean, we lived in a dive of an apartment, he drove my car since he didn’t have one in Nevada, and he had millions of dollars.”
River’s mouth dropped open and then he closed it, frowning. “Millions?”
She nodded. “Loaded. He gave me this sob story about how women chased after him for his wallet and how for the first time in his life he knew he was with someone who actually loved him since I hadn’t had a clue about his wealth.”
“I bet that helped.”
“Wrong. It hurt me deeply that he had lied to me from the get-go. I found myself married to a stranger. I almost wished the truth hadn’t come out. Everything changed. He said there wasn’t a reason to lie anymore and I needed to go home with him. It turns out his master bathroom ended up being bigger than the entire apartment we’d spent the first year of our marriage living in.”
“That must have been better at least.”
“No.” She frowned at River. “My dad raised me pretty basic. Suddenly I found myself thrust into this life I hated. Have you ever been to some stuffy rich-guy club? I stuck out like a sore thumb. His friends were rude, their wives downright vicious, and Kyle hadn’t been easy to live with but he became unbearable at that point.”
“So you divorced him?”
“I tried. It was the first time he hit me. We got into a screaming match and he told me Marthums don’t divorce.”
River’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say Marthum?”
Brit’s heart did a little flop in her chest as she hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah. Kyle Marthum was my husband.”
The chair hit the floor as River launched to his feet. One hand ran through his hair while he paled, staring at her with a horrified expression on his face. “Kevin Marthum’s only son? That Kyle?”
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