Boots and Buckles

by Myla Jackson

  Grant straightened. “Shut up, Dalton.”

  “Why?” Dalton gave Sam a wide-eyed innocent look. “Oh, wait. Is it because Sam doesn’t know?”

  Sam never had liked Dalton, but the man knew something Grant was keeping from him and his curiosity was piqued. “Know what?”

  “Come on, Sam. We’re up next.” Grant ignored Dalton, grabbed his reins and led his horse toward the arena.

  Sam looped his reins in his hand and set off after Grant but didn’t get far before Dalton stepped in front of him.

  “Saw you dancing with that pretty little beautician last night. Nice little piece of ass, isn’t she?”

  Sam’s fists bunched. “Don’t talk about Mona like that.”

  “She gives a really fine blowjob, if I recall.” Dalton rubbed his crotch as if he was speaking from experience.

  “A real man doesn’t talk about the women he sleeps with.” Grant had stopped a few steps ahead of Sam and leveled his statement at Dalton. “Don’t let him get to you, Sam,” he warned.

  “It’s true. She’s got a great body and can swallow a man’s dick whole.” Dalton chuckled. “Isn’t that right, Grant?”

  Anger bubbled up in Sam. What did the jerk mean by including Grant in his remark? “Grant doesn’t even know Mona.”

  Dalton glanced from Grant to Sam. “Is that what he told you?”

  Grant blew out an angry breath. “Let it go.”

  “He didn’t bother to tell you that not only does he know her, but he and I had her in a threesome?”

  Sam’s chest tightened so hard he thought it might implode. He turned to his partner. “You know Mona?”

  Grant sighed. “I met her three years ago when I was here for the rodeo.”

  “Yeah,” Dalton said. “But you’re still panting after her like a dog in heat, if your trip to town at lunch is any indication.”

  Sam stared at Grant. “You had lunch with Mona? She told me she didn’t have time today.”

  His fingers tightened on the reins. “I made an appointment.”

  “Fuck, Grant. You know I was with her last night. Why didn’t you tell me? What else should I know?”

  “I’m sorry, man. When you left with her, I wasn’t sure I had a chance in hell. I wanted her to make her own decision without pressuring her.”

  “And she chose you?”

  He scraped his hand over his head. “Can we discuss this after we compete?” His gaze shifted to Dalton. “And out of earshot of him?”

  “What?” Dalton raised his hand. “I’m only letting your partner in on the fact you’ve been lying to him.”

  “You’re a big help, like you always were.” Grant’s lips pressed into a tight line. “We only have five minutes to show up for our turn. I suggest we get a move on.”

  Sam took the lead, marching ahead of Grant, mad as hell and ready to punch his partner in the face.

  Grant hurried to catch up. “I was gonna tell you.”

  “Yeah?” Sam didn’t turn around. “When? After you sneaked off and took her to lunch? Hmm, it’s been three hours since lunch. You’ve been with me ever since. When were you planning to tell me?”

  “Actually, we didn’t go out to lunch, we ate in her shop. And I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how.”

  “Telling the truth is that hard for you?” Sam shook his head and stopped walking to turn back toward him. “I slept with her last night. Did she tell you that?”

  Grant’s lips twisted. “Yeah. She did.”

  “Holy hell! Did you and she laugh about it too?” Sam resumed walking.

  “Look, we can talk about this later and I’ll tell you everything. Just understand this, Dalton brought it all up now to throw us off our game. He’s messing with your head.”

  “And it’s working.” Sam ground his teeth together. “Okay. We’ll talk later. Right now, we have a competition to win. I’ll be damned if I let Dalton screw with our record. The bastard.”

  “Good. He’s at the root of all that went wrong between me and Mona. I’ll understand if you stay mad at me, but if you really want to be mad at someone, he’s the guy. I came back to Temptation to ask Mona to forgive me.”

  “And seeing me leave with her last night was your way of doing it?” Sam entered the arena, leading his horse to the holding area where they’d await their cue.

  “Look, I didn’t know you’d fall for her the first time you met.” Grant’s boots crunched the gravel behind him. “Hell, you haven’t known her all of twenty-four hours.”

  “But I want to know her. You had three years to get your shit together. Three years.”

  “I know,” Grant admitted, his voice fading. “And I’ve kicked myself all those years.”

  “Well, I’m not giving up on her like you did.” Sam paused at the entrance to the arena. “If you want Mona, you’ll have to convince her you’re worth having.”

  “You think I don’t know that?”

  Sam faced him. “Why did you leave her in the first place?”

  “That’s a long story. I’ll tell you when we’re done here.”

  “Damn right you will.”

  “And you might as well know before Dalton tells you, I’m taking Mona out for dinner tonight.”

  “Fuck!” Sam’s hand bunched into a fist and he took a step toward Grant.

  “Grant Raleigh and Sam Whitefeather, you’re up at gate six!” a voice shouted through the entrance.

  “This discussion is not over,” Sam promised. He had a lot more to say to his partner. Waiting their turn to ride wasn’t the time or place.

  Sam led his horse into the maze around the area and stopped in front of the wood-slatted box of gate number six, on the right of the chute with the steer.

  Grant stopped behind the box on the left.

  They waited in silence for the team in front of them to go.

  The steer burst from the chute. When it got to the end of the barrier rope, the horses leaped from the boxes. In eight seconds, the cowboys had the steer’s head and heels roped.

  Sam shook off their argument, gathered his lasso in his hand and focused on the task ahead. As he sat astride his horse, he stared across the fencing to Grant.

  “Mona’s special. She deserves a man who’ll be there for the long haul,” he called out.

  Grant’s lips pressed together and he nodded.

  The man holding the gate of the chute took that as his cue to release the steer.

  Caught off guard, Sam barely held his horse back the requisite time for the steer to reach the end of the barrier rope.

  Then his horse and Grant’s exploded from the boxes. Grant, the header, roped the horns and quickly dallied his rope around the saddle horn. The rope jerked taut and Grant led the horse and the steer to the left.

  As the heeler, Sam charged at the steer from the rear and let loose his lasso, catching both back hooves on his first toss. He’d performed this task a thousand times, but each time was unique. The steer could dart a different direction. The header could miss the horns, the rope could bounce off a hoof. This time was perfect. As soon as he had the steer’s hind legs captured, Sam’s horse dug his hooves into the dirt.

  Grant’s horse turned toward the steer and both horses backed up until the steer’s hind legs were pulled out from under him.

  The official’s flag waved and they released the tension on the steer, easing him to the ground.

  Once they released the ropes from the steer, Sam gathered his and rode out of the arena ahead of Grant, without checking the score. Now that the event was over, his anger returned and with it, his determination to get to know the beautiful hairdresser and show her that he was the better man. It would serve Grant right for sneaking around.

  He rode back to the trailer, tied his horse near the rear and went through the routine of brushing and feeding Dakota.

  Grant arrived twenty minutes later. “We had the best time.”

  Rather than the usual high-five and back-slapping, he went right to work
on his horse, the atmosphere strained.

  Sam hit the shower before Grant, finishing in less than five minutes. Grant entered the trailer, glanced at the clock, grabbed clean jeans and headed for the shower.

  Stewin’ in his own juices, Sam paced the short length of the trailer, wondering what to do about Grant and Mona. Before the water shut off in the shower, he had a plan.

  He was going to dinner with them.

  Chapter Eight

  “I’ll have the money to you in two weeks.” Mona sighed and clicked the end call button on her cell phone. “Damn.”

  “That the bank?” Bunny stopped spinning in the chair in Mona’s salon long enough to stare at her.

  “Mr. Spillman said the real estate company wants to move on the sale of the property. I only have two weeks to come up with the additional thousand dollars or they will sell it to a man who put in a bid on it after my contingency bid.”

  “Holy hell, Mona. I don’t want an insurance salesman moving in next to my flower shop. Who will I talk to? Who’ll be there when I need a quick trim?”

  “I won’t let it happen. If I have to dance with nothing but a fig leaf and pasties in front of the entire rodeo of cowboys, I’ll do it. I’ve worked too damned hard to build my business at this location, I’m not giving up on it now.”

  “Pasties, huh?” Bunny tipped her head. “I might have a pair you can borrow. Ones with long red tassels.”

  “Bunny!”

  “What?” She raised her hands. “I’m just trying to be helpful.”

  “I need to earn cash fast.” Mona grabbed her broom and swept the already clean floor. “Tonight I’ll ask Audrey if I can be first in line for any requests for strippers. That’s the only way I know of to get quick cash.”

  “You’re really good. You could stand to make a couple hundred dollars in a single night if the crowd’s big and drunk enough to tip indiscriminately.”

  “I already have a couple hundred from the past couple nights’ tips. And tonight I should have maybe another hundred. If I work the rest of the week I’ll have close to five hundred in tips. With the money I have saved in the bank, I only need another four hundred and I’m good.”

  Bunny rose from the chair and laid a hand on her arm. “Let me loan it to you.”

  “No way. You were just telling me last week that you were in a cash crunch yourself. If you loan me the money, you won’t be able to make your bills.”

  “Audrey has the money to loan, let her help. I heard her offer.”

  Mona shook her head. “I can’t. When I took over this business, I promised myself I’d do it on my own. Besides when you start borrowing from friends, it mucks up the relationship. I won’t let that happen. I value your friendship and Audrey’s too much to jeopardize it.”

  “At least keep us in the back of your mind if you run up against a time crunch. I could loan you at least a hundred without breaking my bank.”

  Mona hugged Bunny. “Thank you. You don’t know how much you mean to me.”

  “I hope as much as you mean to me.”

  “More.” Worry weighed her down, but having a friend like Bunny made her burden lighter.

  “Call Audrey now.” Bunny released her, grabbed Mona’s cell phone and shoved it into her hands. “See if she’s got a gig lined up.”

  Mona hit the speed dial for Audrey’s personal cell phone. It rang several times before Audrey picked up.

  “Mona? Please tell me you’re not calling in sick. The place is going to be packed tonight and I have a special program planned for after midnight.”

  Her fingers clenching the phone, Mona asked, “Need any strippers?”

  “As a matter of fact—”

  “Count me in.”

  Audrey laughed. “I was just about to call you and offer you first dibs.”

  “I’m your gal. My timeline has moved up and I need the cash.”

  “You’re on then. Plan on a late night.”

  “Thank you, Audrey.” Mona hung up and let go of the breath she’d been holding. “I’m stripping after midnight.”

  Bunny clapped her hands. “One problem mitigated. Now, aren’t you going to change for your date with Grant?”

  Mona glanced down at the jeans and T-shirt she wore. “What? This isn’t good enough for a man who dumped me three years ago by telephone?”

  “Hell, it’s too good for him. But you’ll want to make sure he realizes just what he missed when he let you go. If not to get his attention, it’ll make you feel better when you dump his ass.”

  Mona laughed. “You know how to make a girl feel better.” Her laughter died as she thought about Sam. “I still don’t know what to do about Sam.”

  “He was awfully cute coming out of your apartment this morning with his shirt hanging open and that fresh-from-sex smile on his face.”

  “He was smiling?” Mona sighed. “He was really good in bed.”

  “Yeah, so why are you wasting your time with Grant?”

  “I don’t know. I still feel all soft and squishy inside when he’s near. And he still hits all my buttons when he makes love to me.”

  “Huh?” Bunny grabbed her arms. “And when did that happen? Sometime today? Holy hell, girl, you move fast when you make up your mind.”

  Mona laughed. “He brought me lunch and we had a picnic right here in the shop. And other activities…”

  “You didn’t say a word about that. How could you keep something that titillating to yourself? ’Fess up, girlfriend.”

  “You were busy. I was busy.” Mona sighed. “And confused. Two men in less than twenty-four hours. I should be ashamed.”

  “I’d say you can’t have both,” Bunny said. “But that would be a big fat lie. I mean, look at me.”

  Mona’s core heated at the thought of having both Grant and Sam at one time. “I don’t know. Grant and Sam haven’t been together very long. Grant might go for it, but I doubt that Sam would.”

  “You don’t know until you ask.”

  “I couldn’t.” Mona shook her head.

  “How’d you ever get with Dalton and Grant at one time?”

  “Grant walked in on me and Dalton in their shared trailer. Dalton asked if Grant wanted to join us.”

  Bunny waved a hand. “There you go. Have sex with Grant tonight in his trailer and invite Sam to join you.”

  “I’m not even sure Sam knows about my prior relationship with Grant.”

  “Hmmm.” Bunny tipped her head. “It might not be the best time to spring it on him. You might want to own up to it with Sam tonight. Cowboys don’t like those kind of surprises.”

  “You’re right. I’ll tell him tonight at the Ugly Stick.”

  “Are you seeing Sam tonight? After you’ve gone out to dinner with Grant?” Bunny grinned. “Girl, when you decide to get a life, you do it with a vengeance, don’t you?”

  “I didn’t plan it that way. For all I knew, Grant wasn’t interested when I decided to sleep with Sam.” Mona wrung her hands. “Oh, Bunny, am I making a big mistake? I have no idea who to choose.”

  “Then give them both a shake and see who raises your cream to the top.”

  “Bunny Leigh! Since when did you start talking such trash?”

  She had the grace to blush. “Cory and Jack are teaching me to say what comes to my mind as soon as it comes. Maybe I’m not ready for prime time.”

  “Oh, no, honey, you’re ready, all right.”

  “Then let’s lock the front door, slip up to your apartment and pick the perfect dress.”

  “Dress?” Mona twisted the lock on the front door and faced her friend. “Who said anything about a dress? I was planning on wearing a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt.”

  Bunny grabbed her hand and dragged her through the shop and out the back door and up the stairs to her apartment. “Strip.”

  Mona’s lips quirked upward. “Only if you turn on the music.”

  Bunny punched a button on her cell phone, brought up her playlist and scrolled down thr
ough the titles until she smiled and selected one and turned up the volume.

  The bump and grind of “Nasty Naughty Boy” by Cristina Aguilera blared through the tiny speaker, filling the little apartment.

  Bunny pointed her finger and dropped her eyelids with a sexy wink. “Strip.”

  “This is silly.” She hadn’t danced to that song since her hairstyling business had started making enough money she could afford to quit stripping for Audrey’s parties.

  “You’re the one who liked the fact that I’d worked all day without wearing panties when the boys were trying to win me over. Put up or shut up, little girl.” Bunny set the phone on the arm of the couch and grabbed the hem of her blouse. “If it helps, I’ll strip with you.” Her shirt came up and over her head, as she circled her hips in a figure-eight pattern.

  Mona’s belly tightened and her pussy creamed as her gaze skimmed across Bunny’s peaches-and-cream skin, noting the narrow waist and perky breasts encased in a frilly pink lace bra.

  “Honey, if we ever give up men, I’m yours for the taking.” The music swirled around Mona and she couldn’t help swaying her hips. The rhythm brought out the sex kitten in her.

  Bunny chuckled, her hands smoothing down her breasts and lower to the button on her slacks. She flipped the button free, slipped the zipper down and let the fabric fall in a pool around her ankles. “You’re on.”

  Mona shed her jeans first, kicking them to the side. The cooler air on her legs made her widen her stance, her hips rotating to the beat, a gush of liquid slicking her channel.

  As if someone turned up the heat in the room, Mona’s body burned and she couldn’t shuck her shirt fast enough.

  “Now you’re getting into it.” In her bra and thong panties, Bunny spun and dipped, her hands sliding down her body.

  Mona did the same, her hands stopping at the triangle of silk covering her sex. “Damn, Bunny. If I keep this up, I’m going to come before he gets here.”

  “Nothing like being in the mood.” She danced her way slowly across the room and flung open the closet door. “The mood to pick something sexy to wear.” She plucked out a black, strapless dress that was so short, it barely covered Mona’s ass.