“I used to.”
“Well, if you’re ever in California, I’ll take you to Rodeo Drive and buy you a good pair of sunglasses. You’re going to need them if you’re hanging around the South.”
Dakota smiled, relaxing.
“What?” Mary Beth asked. “What did I say?”
“You know… Rodeo Drive… and we’re at the rodeo.”
She laughed, the whiskey coursing through her blood. “To the rodeos!” she cheered, picking up her pint glass.
“I never thought I’d hear those words coming from you,” Owen said, appearing next to them.
She pushed her pint away, her buzz suddenly vanishing. “What do you want?”
“To apologize for earlier. It ain’t never right for a man to act that way to a lady. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” she declared, enjoying the mood of the tent once more. “Now buy me another shot of whiskey. And Dakota too. She’s my new friend. And don’t call us ladies. We’re not that old.”
Owen looked at Dakota knowingly. “Did she kidnap you?”
“I let her,” Dakota answered, still smiling.
“Well it’s good to see you in high spirits. Both of you.”
“You know each other?” Mary Beth asked.
“We recently met,” Owen answered, signaling for the bartender to refill their whiskey glasses. “She’s dating someone from the clan.”
“Wow,” Mary Beth said to Dakota, impressed. “It takes courage to get cozy with a bear. Which one of the Tyrell Clan is it? Please tell me it’s Holden. He’s hot, isn’t he, with his dark hair and air of authority. Or is it adorable little Jacob? No, wait. Colby. I tell you, a man in a uniform is something special.”
“I’m with Eddie,” she answered.
“Really? The gambler?”
“He doesn’t gamble anymore.”
“Okay. I hope so. For your sake.”
Owen stepped in. “How do you even know all of this?”
Mary Beth sipped her pint. “Papa talks. I heard about the stunt you pulled out in Texas with the pigs. You’re lucky it wasn’t my papa’s show. He would have banned you from the rodeo for a year.”
“Nah. Your papa couldn’t stay away from me for that long. Maybe a month,” Owen speculated as Eddie stormed into the tent, frantic, causing a scene.
“Talk about summoning the devil,” Mary Beth muttered.
“Dakota!” he cried with relief when he saw her, and he came to them. “I was worried when you weren’t by the horseshoes. I thought maybe Girey was back.”
“I was kidnapped,” Dakota said lightly. “By your boss. I didn’t think I could say no.”
“She ain’t my boss,” Eddie said with disapproval. “No way in hell I’m ever gonna let a stuck up city girl tell me what to do.”
“Hey,” Owen said, stepping forward. “There’s no need.”
“There really isn’t,” Dakota agreed. “I like her. She’s nice.”
“She loves me,” Mary Beth claimed, pushing away the sting of his judgement. “I’m good company to be around, unlike unruly bears who burst in here trying to ruin the party.”
Eddie ignored her. “There’s a dance starting in a little bit,” he said to Dakota, pushing a strand of her hair aside. “Would you like to go?”
“Sure.” She stood from the counter, leaving her pint behind. “Thank you,” she said to Mary Beth. “It’s been fun.”
“It would have been more fun, before the clan arrived. I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, see you around.”
Eddie put his arm around Dakota, holding her close, and the pair left.
“So what is he protecting her from?” she asked Owen. “The look in his eyes when he came in was something I’ve rarely seen. He loves her. And he’s scared for her.”
“It’s a long story,” Owen said.
“I have all night,” she answered.
His expression shifted, as if her words taunted him. “As fun as that sounds, how about we go to the dance instead.”
“No,” she declined, thinking of her papa.
He read her thoughts. “It’ll be okay,” he assured her. “I spoke to the hospital. He’s doing well.”
“Yeah, they said the same to me, but I don’t think it’d be appropriate.”
“You know it’s what Ray would want,” he coaxed as he took her hand. Once again, they steadied her. “Come on. It’ll take your mind off things.”
Because what he said was true, that it was what her papa would want, she obliged, but she removed her hand from Owen’s. The last thing she needed was a press storm about how the rodeo superstar and the boss’s daughter were an item.
***
“How do you know the moves?” Dakota yelled over the music as the dance floor did the Country Slide while a live band played behind them.
“I’ve known the Country Slide since I was a little bumpkin,” Mary Beth told her, turning with the other dancers. “Don’t tell the guys, but I actually enjoy line dancing.”
“Me too!” Dakota said. “Who knew?”
Like the arena, the dance hall – an old grange that had survived three generations of scout meetings, charity bingo, and the jive – was a permanent fixture on the grounds. Mary Beth’s parents had danced here, once upon a time when they were young and carefree. She liked the history of the place, but the she didn’t care so much for the elk skulls attached to the walls.
“I used to dance back home,” Dakota revealed. “I took ballet. My favorite time to dance was at night, when it’s quiet and peaceful.”
A new song began, and the formation changed, taking Dakota away before she could tell more of her story. Mary Beth did her best to keep up with the moves, but she wasn’t familiar with the dance. She felt like a lily pad trapped on the sea.
“You lost?” Owen asked as he made his way across the floor to her. “Here, let me show you.” He bent his knees down and twisted his foot out, following the lead of those around them.
She immediately burst out laughing. “You have got to be kidding me. The bear dances?”
“I wouldn’t have asked you here if I didn’t,” he said, flashing her his superstar smile.
“Are we here together?” she asked softly, subdued.
Owen snapped his fingers at the band. Instantly, the music melted to a song that was as slow and sensual as country could get. “I like to think so,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Is that okay?”
“I’m not sure,” she said truthfully, enjoying the scent of his muscles, which were earthy and intoxicating. She moved her body with his, careful to leave breathing room between them. “I don’t like you.”
“You like me,” he asserted. “You just don’t want to admit it.”
“Why haven’t we gotten along?” she asked. “Besides the fact that you’re intolerable.”
“I think it goes back to the first time we met,” he reminisced. “We were fourteen and at a rodeo in Colorado. You’d just gotten the news your mama was sick, and you sat on the fence of the corral crying. I asked if you were okay, and you pushed me down and ran off.”
“I don’t remember that.” She was skeptical. “How could I push you down? You’re all muscle.”
“You did. You’re strong, sweetheart. I think since that moment, you’ve always associated me with your mama’s death. I understood. It’s why I didn’t tear down the walls you built between us. And it’s why I’ve waited so long to do this.”
He kissed her, a gentle kiss on the lips, discreet in the crowd of dancers around them, but it was a tease that ignited her, leaving her body shivering and burning for more. When it was over, she was speechless, so she rested her head against his chest, comforted in his arms.
“You should hear the way your papa talks about you,” he told her. “He’s so proud of you.”
“He talks about me?” she asked, surprised. “We live in two separate worlds. I can’t imagine he has a whole lot to say.”
“He h
as everything to say. You’re his daughter. There’s nothing you can do that’s wrong.”
“Except slight everything he cares about. I’ve been such a bitch when it comes to his commitment to the rodeo. He must hate me for it.”
“Never. He’s proud of how individual you are. And how smart you are. And generous.”
“Are we still talking about my papa?” she whispered, her voice thick with longing. She looked up into the gold of Owen’s eyes, which were filled with a wilderness she wanted to know.
“Girls off the floor!” the singer of the band hollered from the stage. “It’s time for the dance-off!”
Before they had a chance to kiss again, she was pulled off the floor by unknown arms. “What’s going on?” she asked Dakota at their table. “What the hell is a dance-off? I don’t remember this.”
“Maybe it’s new,” Dakota offered. “They divide the girls from the guys. The guys always go first. A random song is picked, and they have to dance to it. It’ll be something crazy, like hip hop or emo. It’s pretty hilarious. Some of the guys are good, but most are bad. So bad,” she said, smirking. “The girls always win.”
“Hmmm,” Mary Beth said, taking a sip of her drink. “Interesting. I can’t wait to see Eddie and Owen falling over themselves on stage.”
“Oh, we won’t be here for that.” Dakota stood and pulled Mary Beth towards the exit.
“Wait! I want to watch.”
Dakota stopped. “If you stay, you also have to play. You’ll be up next. Do you really want to shake your good stuff to a room full of strangers?”
She often did at the clubs in LA, unashamed of her goods, but she wasn’t in the mood tonight. “No,” she relented, heeding Dakota’s wisdom. “I think the fresh air will do me some good. I haven’t sweated this much since I made my premiere on the red carpet.”
“You were on a red carpet?”
“A few, but no one really paid attention to me. I have no desire to be famous. Just adored.”
They stepped outside into the night. Above, the stars sparkled down, and Mary Beth couldn’t help but think of her mama, wondering if the stars were a gate to heaven.
“Seems like Owen adores you,” Dakota stated. “I saw him kiss you on the dance floor.”
“It was innocent,” Mary Beth insisted. “But it was a mistake. My emotions are bubbled up at the moment like bad champagne.”
“I didn’t want to ask, but you do seem a bit sad behind your smile.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“It’s my family. I miss them,” Dakota admitted. “Especially my brother. It’s not so lonely with Eddie in my life, but I still miss them.”
“Family is everything,” Mary Beth agreed. “My papa is in the hospital. He’s in pretty bad shape. He has a virus that could destroy his heart.”
“I’m so sorry to hear it,” Dakota said. “So that’s why you came out here? To stand-in for him?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know why he sent me. I’m not really needed, except for a few press calls here and there. His staff has it under control. They don’t know about his condition, of course. No one knows.”
As they talked, they wandered. The events of the day were finished. The grounds had all been abandoned, except for a few stragglers who stayed behind to care for the barn animals. Everyone else was in the dance hall. The music and lights pouring from the dance hall was a beacon, summoning them back, warning them of dangers, but they continued on.
They stopped in an alley between the beer tents, the same where she and Owen had talked earlier. She wanted to believe it was a coincidence, but her more rational side told her she’d subconsciously returned, Owen on her mind.
“Dead end,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” Dakota said, distracted. She grabbed Mary Beth’s arm like a nesting crow grasping at straw. “You know how you confided in me about your father?” She talked quickly. “Well, I have something to tell you too. A few weeks ago, Eddie got on the bad side of a bookie named Girey who tried to kidnap us so he could drown us. He’s got some beef against the Tyrell Clan, but especially Eddie. Obviously, he didn’t succeed, but he got away.”
“Dakota, you’re shaking. What’s wrong?” she asked, trying to process the story. It was shocking to hear. “Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay. And neither are you. Someone has been following us. I thought I was imagining it, that I was being paranoid, but he’s walking towards us now, and I’m pretty sure he’s one of Girey’s men.”
Mary Beth looked. Sure enough, a guy in a leather jacket and ski mask stalked towards them, full of menace. Whatever his intentions were, they were not good.
* * *
Chapter Four
Beside her, Dakota continued to shake, a fear within her that Mary Beth knew little about but made her heart break for the woman. “Don’t worry,” she reassured her new friend. “I’ve got this.”
She focused on the man. “I’ll give you one chance to leave,” she said coolly.
“Or what?” he sneered.
Mary Beth removed one of her stilettos. “Because my papa never made me go to the rodeo, but he did make me take self-defense classes, and I was damn good at them.”
“I’d like to see what you’re good at, but first I have to take her to Girey.”
This caused Dakota to scream out Eddie’s name as loud as her lungs allowed. “Eddie! I need you!”
Minutes later, two bears charged into the alley, large grizzlies with fangs that could kill. Though bears, the fear and love in their eyes was evident, shining through the gold. It wasn’t just Eddie’s eyes. It was Owen’s too. They roared, claiming their dominance, but it was unnecessary. Mary Beth already had the man pinned to the ground, her stiletto raised over his head, threatening to impale him if he moved.
“Don’t worry, boys. I’ve got this under control.”
The bears changed back into their human form. As they did, the man pushed Mary Beth off and ran. Eddie chased after him, but he returned soon after, empty-handed. He went to Dakota and held her tight.
“I’m okay,” she reassured him. “Mary Beth was amazing.”
It didn’t calm Eddie. He remained tense and protective. “I’ll take you back to the trailer. This party is over.”
“You did good,” Owen praised her when they were gone. “How did you overtake the bastard?”
She blew on the heel of her stiletto like it was a smoking gun. “A girl doesn’t tell. What was that all about, anyway? I like Dakota, but she certainly has her secrets.”
“That’s trouble you don’t want to get involved in,” he warned.
“Are you telling me not to be her friend?”
“No, I’m telling you not to ask around about Girey. I don’t want you to have to defend yourself again.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can.” He took her stiletto from her and put it back on her foot, his hand lingering on her leg. “You can handle anything.”
Bear Anchor (BBW Shifter Romance) (FisherBears Book 2) Page 12
