Heather's Challenge [Cattleman's Club 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jenny Penn

  “Fine, then. Go collect your damn child support.” Alex doggedly followed after her, offering suggestions now with a hint of desperation. “Let Hugh pay a few of the bills while you have a little fun. The wire is at the bank, so you got the money. What do you say?”

  Alex tried to pin Heather up against the next booth but she wasn’t in the mood to play mouse to his cat. Not anymore. “How do you know about the wire?”

  Alex blinked at that question, hesitating long enough to confirm Heather’s suspicions, but they were hard to accept and she couldn’t help but press for a full confession.

  “How do you know about the wire?” Heather repeated, calmly this time but with enough sharpness to prove that she was far from ready to give up the fight. Of course, she might have taken a different tone if she had any idea of the thoughts running through Alex’s head.

  * * * *

  Heather couldn’t possibly know because she had no idea just how tempting she looked right then. Glowing with a rosy, pink hue that reflected the twinkle in her eyes, she looked as cute as a kitten pretending to be a lion. The small smirk lingering at the edge of her lips only heightened her appeal, riling his more primitive lust with the challenge she presented.

  That was just why he’d picked this fight, because he was already addicted to the delicious tingle of anticipation thickening in his stomach. It flowed through his veins like a heady wine, hot and free, setting his blood on fire until it pooled in his balls and became a blinding ache. His cock swelled painfully, growing thick and hard enough for him to feel the wild beat of his heart pounding in the thick pain that ran the entire length of his erection.

  He wanted her and he wanted her now. The feral hunger threatened to overwhelm him, but Alex refused to give in so easily. More than anything, he wanted this to last. He didn’t think he was the only one.

  She could act as uppity as she wanted to, they both knew she wouldn’t be complaining about the accommodations. In fact, Alex was certain Heather was standing there with her rounded thighs clenched tight in a vain attempt to smother the sweet, tempting aroma of a cunt already wet and begging to be eaten.

  His nostrils flared as he drew her essence in deep, allowing the heady, intoxicating scent to flood his senses until they sharpened with a primal surge that had him suddenly aware of the men gathered all around. They were looking at his woman, enjoying the sweet scent of her pussy and imagining it was their hard dicks pounding into her molten depths.

  It would never happen.

  He’d kill them all before he let another man touch her.

  Before Alex could get started on that task, Heather interrupted, drawing his glare back from the hungry hordes of boys littered around the bakery to her own impatient frown.

  “Well? How do you know about the wire?” Heather demanded to know, yet again.

  “How do you think?” Alex shrugged, knowing he was wading into dangerous waters but too intoxicated by the thrill to stop. “I mean really, sweetness, there is no legal system in this world that works fast enough that Hugh could be detained one day and you get your cash not three days later.”

  “It always worked like that before,” Heather declared with enough disdain to assure Alex he’d offended her with his tone. Offended or not, that didn’t change the truth and it was about time Heather knew it.

  “No, it didn’t.” Alex leaned down to all but whisper against her lips. “I did.”

  “You what?” Heather jerked back to stare up at him with a look of dawning horror. “What did you do?”

  “I paid.”

  “What?” Heather stumbled back, her fingers curling so tight around her tray her knuckles went white as she gaped up at him. “Are you saying GD—”

  “Took all the credit, but that it was me shelling out the cash? Yeah.” Alex nodded, knowing he was a bastard for enjoying this moment.

  “And you’re welcome,” Alex tacked on, just to watch her draw in that deeply-offended breath that matched the sudden rigid cut of her shoulders. She was pissed and looking hot as hell. It was just all the more sexy when she managed to swallow down the curses he could see swirling in her gaze.

  Pressing her lips into a thin line, Heather turned with her tray and stormed off around the counter in a clear snit. Alex wasn’t going to let her go that easily. He stalked after her, nipping at her very heels.

  “Gee, don’t fall all over yourself to say thank you.”

  “Thank you? Thank you!” Heather whirled around to screech right in his face, making Alex wince and take a quick step back.

  “Yes, thank you. That’s what you say to somebody who has helped to take care of you,” Alex instructed her.

  That had her slamming down the tray in a fit of temper that warned of the passion boiling beneath the surface. She was hot and ready to go wild. Wild on him. He couldn’t wait to be caught in that storm.

  “Nobody asked you to take care of me,” Heather snapped, snatching up a rag and turning to attack the nearest table. “Believe it or not I can take care of myself!”

  Alex eyed the generous curves of her ass, shaking beneath his nose as she worked industriously to wipe down the already spotless table top. “No, you can’t.”

  “What did you just say?” Heather snapped back up to confront him. She caught Alex checking her ass out and scowled. “What did you say?”

  “No. You. Can’t.” Alex paused after each word, letting them sink in and darken Heather’s gaze until they were bottomless pools of molten chocolate, sucking him in and making him hungry for a little taste.

  “How dare you?” Heather breathed out with an outrage that made Alex’s heart do a double beat. She really was beautiful.

  “I dare because it is the truth,” Alex explained. “If it wasn’t then you wouldn’t have taken the money.”

  “I took the money because I thought I was owed it!” Heather roared. “Trust me, sheriff, I don’t need your charity.”

  “Yes, you do, more than that you need me,” Alex declared boldly. “You are sweet and kind and all the things a woman should be, and you need a man to help keep you safe and secure. So you just focus on your muffins, sweetness, and I’ll make sure everything else is taken care of like I always do—ow!”

  Alex hollered in pain as Heather unleashed one end of the rag, sending it arcing through the air until the tail and cut across his forearm, leaving a welt that was quickly followed by another despite Alex’s panicked attempts to retreat. He couldn’t move fast enough as Heather came at him, rag snapping right along with her tongue as she lashed out.

  “You’re the most conceited jackass I have ever met, Mr. Pink Butterfly Bicycle, or don’t you remember who used to kick at your ass on a regular basis, you scrawny little toad?”

  “I’m not scrawny anymore,” Alex shot back, snatching the rag out of the air and ripping it right out of her hand. He took a daring step forward to snarl down at her and remind Heather of her own childhood nickname—the one he’d given her. “And I don’t see GD standing behind you, Madame Man Fists.”

  “And I don’t need him.”

  Heather’s lips twisted upward in a gesture too wicked in intent to be labeled a smile. Alex didn’t even have a chance to register the threat before she kicked him right in the shin, dropping his bad knee down to crack against the hard floor. The pain exploded outward, lancing through him for a hot second.

  The sensation dulled into a throbbing ache he could ignore. Alex could have even overcome up it to straighten up if Heather hadn’t shoved him the rest of the way over. He landed on his ass and sat there stunned for a long enough second to give Heather the advantage.

  She muttered her way around him, pausing only long enough to snatch one of his ears in a painful grip that she used to start dragging him across the dining room floor. The woman was merciless as she bitched at him with every step.

  “You men, I swear! You all think we need you but, trust me, a box full of vibrators and a few karate classes can get the job done. So sorry, Sheriff, but I don�
�t need a man to bottle-feed and burp!”

  Heather spat as Alex crawled madly after her like a crab. Unable to turn around thanks to the finger nails digging into the tender arch of his ear, he didn’t even have a chance to reach back and free himself from her hold as she all but dragged him toward the door.

  “So I’m not marrying you. I’m not packing any damn bag,” Heather assured him. “And I’m not speaking to you until I get an apology!”

  Heather was bossy, opinionated, difficult, stubborn, obnoxious and had a fire burning inside her that Alex knew could keep him warm for the rest of his life. She was also his, and he was about to make that real clear when she suddenly drew to a sharp stop as a grim voice cut into her tirade.

  “Let him go, Heather.”

  Konor had arrived. As usual, he was ruining Alex’s fun. He found himself suddenly free and not so much the focus of Heather’s attention. She only had eyes for Konor in that moment. They were sharing a look that spoke volumes of what was to come.

  It ended with Heather sticking her chin in the air and turning to walk proudly away, taking almost every eye in the room with her, including Alex’s, who couldn’t help but admire the sway of Heather’s hips. The woman walked like she had the secrets of the universe hidden between her legs.

  God help him, Alex knew she kept something a whole lot more precious buried there, something sweet and juicy and, most importantly, tight enough to suck the spit right off his tongue. That made her a goddess.

  His goddess, and he didn’t like the looks the junior squad was giving her. The bastards watched his Heather like she was on the menu and they were planning on ordering up a bite. Something had to be done, and Alex had an idea about what.

  An idea that Konor would no doubt object to. So, there would be no point in telling him. After all, Konor was the one who had sicced the junior squad on her. Not that Konor look particularly contrite right then.

  Exhaustion, annoyance, and more than a hint of accusation sounded in his grim tone as he finally broke the silence filling the bakery.

  “What did you do?”

  Chapter 27

  “Hailey is denying she ever slept with Cole,” Rachel commented as she leaned back against the counter, watching as Heather sliced into a pie. “So, I figured that I’d come over here and give you a chance to double up and tell me how you are not sleeping with the sheriff even though you are engaged to him.”

  “I am not engaged to him,” Heather repeated for about the millionth time that day. At least, half of those times had been to Rachel, who seemed unable to accept the concept.

  She wasn’t the only one. Alex, himself, had clearly not heard a word she said, or he wouldn’t have been smiling like a lunatic. Heather couldn’t help but glance back to the corner where the senior Cattlemen were still huddled together.

  Their group had grown larger as the day wore on. It now included both Alex and Konor, who had switched dispositions. Now it was Alex wearing an eat–shit grin that look so damn and out of place on his face where as Konor’s scowl managed to fit his features better. Heather was actually a bit impressed that he managed to pull off such a good glare.

  He had her feeling nervous and uneasy. Maybe, she had gone a little far when she dragged Alex around by his ears, but he’d just made her so mad, and it wasn’t like the man couldn’t defend himself. As much as it might pain her to admit, he had allowed her to get away with everything she had.

  He was bigger, stronger, faster and, also, incapable of hurting her. Not that Heather believed that was why he hadn’t fought back. No, the man had egged her on and now he was savoring the idea of his revenge because that was what this was really all about.

  “Aren’t you going to deny it?” Rachel pressed, drawing Heather’s attention back to the moment and the realization that she’d lost the thread of the conversation.

  “Deny what?”

  “That you’re sleeping with the sheriff?” Rachel repeated impatiently enough to jar Heather’s memory. “Did you hear a word I said? Hailey is—”

  “—denying that she ever slept with Cole,” Heather finished for her. “I heard you.”

  “But you still haven’t denied that you are—”

  “I’m not sleeping with the sheriff.” Not yet at any rate, but if she was reading that smile right, she would be soon.

  “Liar.”

  That had Heather pausing to meet Rachel’s smirk with a pointed look. “Really, do I look like a woman who has gotten any from anybody?”

  Rachel considered that for a moment before conceding the point with a snort and a shrug. “Well then, what was with the scene earlier?”

  “That? That was just Alex being the ass he is,” Heather assured her as she busied herself heaping the slices of pie onto the plates lined up and waiting on her tray as Rachel continued to pester her.

  “Huh,” Rachel pursed her lips as she eyed Heather suspiciously. “Because what I heard is you humiliated him.”

  “Please.”

  “Most people are saying it must have had something to do with Gwen.”

  “Does the sheriff look like a man who was humiliated?” Heather shot back as she plunked a fresh pot of coffee onto her tray, ignoring Rachel’s comment about Gwen.

  That was still a sore subject in her book, one she didn’t care to discuss because she feared she’d sound like a fool. A full in love, which was the real secret she was trying to hide. That was a truce she was only ready to admit to herself.

  Thankfully, she didn’t have to admit anything to anybody else, not even Rachel, who glanced over at the Cattlemen to study the man in question before pointing out what Heather had thought was only too obvious to her.

  “No, he doesn’t. He looks like a man plotting revenge, and you?” Rachel turned her astute gaze back on Heather. “You look like a rabbit on the run.”

  “You know, you’re not the first person to refer to me as a rabbit,” Heather noted dourly. “And I’ll thank you very much to notice that I’m not cute and fuzzy and neither do I have floppy ears nor a pink nose. More importantly, I don’t run from dogs.”

  With that said, Heather heaved her tray up onto her shoulder and escaped around the corner of the counter, but she wasn’t fast enough to evade Rachel’s amused retort.

  “What about pigs? You run from them?”

  Heather tossed her a dirty look for that jibe but didn’t pause to respond. Instead, she busied herself with serving up the pie to the family waiting and topping off coffee cups as she wove her way back through the dining room. She intentionally avoided the group of Cattlemen glaring at her from the corner.

  She was clearly enemy number one as far as they were concerned, which Heather took to be quite an honor, given her competition included Patton, Hailey, and Rachel. As far as Heather was concerned all three of them were a lot more outlandish than her. Apparently, though, the men disagreed.

  That was just why she allowed Tina to manage their table, leaving Heather to manage Rachel’s infamous curiosity. Not that there was much she could do but deny, deny, deny.

  “So you are not engaged,” Rachel began again the moment Heather returned to dump the tray back down on the counter.

  “No,” Heather stated without any real attempt at emphasis.

  There was no point. Rachel didn’t believe her any way. That much was clear from her smile.

  “And you’re not sleeping with him?”

  “Nope.” Stacking up all the billfolds she’d collected, Heather moved toward the old-fashioned register her dad had painstakingly restored.

  The keys reminded her of an old typewriter and the drawer smelled of cedar and the past, filling the air with memories that were too old to be Heather’s. That didn’t mean she didn’t savor them just as much as Rachel did her more current gossip.

  “But you didn’t knock him on his ass and drag him around the bakery by his ears, right?” Rachel asked, leaning in eagerly as her eyes sparkled with an amusement Heather feared would be reflected by everybody e
lse who heard the story. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” Heather sighed as her shoulders slumped forward. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. It all depends on what he did.” Rachel paused to pin Heather with a pointed look. “He did do something, did he?”

  “Of course,” Heather retorted, unable to mask the hint of offense in her tone that Rachel was bound to notice. She spared her friend the need to ask what he’d done, offering up an exclamation without hesitation. “You know all the money that GD’s twisted out of Hugh over the years?”

  “Yeah.” Rachel nodded.

  “Well, Alex is actually the spigot he’s been tapping.”

  Rachel blinked, her brow scrunching into a momentary frown as she worked to decode that revelation. It took her a moment, giving Heather a chance to finally get to the checks.

  “So you’re saying that it’s the sheriff who has been paying for Hugh’s child support.” Rachel spoke slowly, still appearing slightly confused by her own conclusion.

  “That’s right.” Heather nodded, her attention remaining focused on making correct change for the ticket she’d just run up.

  “And so you thank him for giving you money by knocking him on his ass?”

  That pricked Heather’s conscience enough to have her shooting Rachel a dirty look as she turned to swipe her customer’s credit card through the reader that sat beside the ancient cash register.

  “No, I knocked him on his ass because he was acting like he bought me with all that money.” And Heather was not for sale. “Do you know the man actually barged in here and started giving orders to me and my employees like we were some kind of servants? I mean, really, the man is lucky I only knocked him on his ass and didn’t kick it as well.”

  Rachel didn’t look impressed by that logic, but she didn’t argue with Heather. “Whatever your reasons, I got a feeling I’d watch my ass if I were you.”

  “Really?” Heather smirked, amused at that advice coming from Rachel. “Because I remember giving you some similar advice a few weeks back, but you still went out into the night.”