Daddy in Cowboy Boots (Montana Daddies Book 9)

by Laylah Roberts

  She forced herself to stay still, hoping if she didn’t fight back that he’d release her. Eventually, he loosened his hold, shoving her hand away. She cradled her arm against her chest.

  “I’m twenty-three, I don’t need anyone to take charge of me.”

  “Actually, I think you need very close watching. I don’t think I’m going to let you out of my sight for a good long while. Or should that be, out of my bedroom.” He moved in front of her, running a finger along the base of her neck. “These books you read just gave me an insight into what you need, Marisol. You need someone strong to take charge of you. You’re looking for an alpha male, someone to dominate you, fuck you, punish you. I’m the man you need.”

  Only if she was looking for an egotistical psychopathic creep.

  Thankfully, she didn’t say that out loud. But something in her face must have clued him in. His face filled with anger again. She stepped back, staring at him fearfully. Just as he was reaching for her, a knock came on the door.

  “What?” Tiger snapped, still glaring at her.

  Was it her aunt? Was she going to do the decent thing for once and try to help her? Hope filled her chest. Only to come crashing down.

  “Tiger! We’ve got to fucking go!” Saber said impatiently.

  “Can it wait five fucking minutes, kind of busy.”

  “No, it can’t fucking wait. This is more fucking important than you getting your dick wet. Shit has gone down. Jackal and Falcon are dead.”

  “What the fuck?” Tiger strode over to the door, unlocking and flinging it open.

  She didn’t know who Jackal and Falcon were. And she knew it was wrong, but she was really glad they were dead right then.

  That’s kind of an awful thing to think, Marisol.

  Yeah, but then if they were friends of Saber, they were hardly going to be nice people.

  Saber moved his gaze from Tiger to her. His gaze felt so filthy that she wanted to immediately jump in the shower. And still, she didn’t think she’d get that oily feel off her skin.

  “Your aunt has some good news for you, Marisol,” Saber told her with an evil grin. “We’ll be seeing you real soon.”

  He turned and strode away. Tiger grabbed hold of her sore wrist, making her cry out. He dragged her against him. “I’ll be back, Marisol. And you better be fucking prepared to kneel.”

  At the doorway, he turned back and threw her eReader towards the bed. Only he had shit aim and it smashed against her bedside drawers.

  No. No. No.

  Tiger left and she fled over to where her eReader lay on the floor. Please let it be all right. Please.

  She turned it over, tears dripping down her cheeks as she took in its cracked surface. It had taken her so long to save up for it on the measly allowance her aunt gave her.

  “What are you doing sitting on the floor, sniveling?”

  She looked over at her aunt’s spiteful voice. She guessed Rosalind was a beautiful woman. If you judged her on her outside appearance alone. She was forty-five, but looked ten years younger. People often mistook them for sisters. Rosalind loved that. With long, shiny dark hair, big hazel eyes and a tiny waist with her generous boobs, she was gorgeous. But Marisol could see under the surface. And all she saw was darkness. Rosalind was mean. Spiteful. Petty.

  But surely, she wouldn’t let her be abused? A spark of hope lit inside her. If she told her about Tiger would she keep him away from Marisol?

  Or would she not care?

  “Tiger broke my eReader,” she explained.

  A wave of nausea came over her. She really needed to eat something.

  “So? You’ve always got your face in that damn thing. You have more important things to do. He did you a favor.”

  “A favor?” she whispered, anger stirring inside her. “He was talking like he . . . like he wanted to . . .”

  “What, Marisol?” Her aunt brought a cigarette up to her mouth and puffed on it. She only smoked the things post-sex. It made Marisol shudder at the memory of Saber pounding into her.

  She now wore a black silk negligee and gown over the top. Marisol hoped she wasn’t expecting Saber to come back.

  “Spit it out. I don’t have all night. You’re late.”

  “He wants to have sex with me.” She knew she was bright red as she spat the words out.

  “And? So what? You should do what he wants.”

  Marisol’s mouth dropped open. She knew she should have expected it. Her aunt had never once shown any sort of affection or care.

  “I don’t want him!”

  “So? Jesus, Marisol, grow up. Sometimes you just have to do things even if you don’t want to. Do you think I wanted to marry any of those old farts? That I enjoyed having their wrinkly, cold hands on me? Course I didn’t. But I let them touch me because I wanted something from them. And they never complained.”

  She just stared at Rosalind. She knew the other woman hadn’t married any of her husbands for love. Still to just hear her say it out loud like that was disturbing.

  “I’m not letting Tiger touch me.”

  Rosalind sneered. “Get off your high fucking horse. You have to lose your virginity at some time. You could do much worse than Tiger. He’s gonna be somebody. Don’t you realize how powerful Saber is? He’s not just the leader of a branch of the Devil’s Sinners, he’s the leader of all of them. I don’t know why Tiger wants you, but you should be flattered as hell that he does. Just open your legs and make a few noises. Get him off and he’ll be happy. Likely that will get you out of his system once he realizes you’re a cold fish. Then he might want a real woman.” She smiled smugly.

  “You can’t mean . . . you?” She let out a startled laugh without thinking.

  Rosalind stepped forward and slapped her. Hard.

  Marisol’s eyes watered, her cheek throbbing. It wasn’t the first time Rosalind had hit her, of course. Not by a long shot. Didn’t mean that it hurt any less. Every time.

  You can’t stay here, Marisol. She really needed to work on an escape plan. Because remaining here wasn’t going to be possible. She had some money stashed away she’d managed to keep hidden from her aunt. She’d have to figure out a way to make that work.

  She had to leave. Soon.

  “You think he couldn’t want me? I’m a thousand times the woman you are. I’m not some mousy, fat, bookworm with no life. I know how to take care of a man. Here’s what’s going to happen, Marisol, if you want to stay under my roof, where I pay for everything including your medication. You’re going to do whatever Tiger and Saber want. They’re more important than you. And soon they’re going to be family.”

  Her aunt waved a huge, diamond ring in her face. “Saber asked me to marry him and I said yes. So very soon, Tiger and Saber are gonna be around here a lot more. Get used to it. Now where are the fucking tips from tonight?” Her aunt held out her hand.

  Marisol reached into her pocket and drew out five twenties, handing them over.

  “That’s it? Thought they would have been more generous.”

  Don’t react. Don’t react.

  “Typical. The rich ones are always tight with their cash. There’s a mess downstairs to clean up. Then get to bed, you look like shit. Honestly, I have no clue what Tiger sees in you.” Her aunt gave her a disgusted look. “Oh and you’re opening in the morning.”

  “But I’m not on tomorrow and I thought Eileen was opening.”

  “She called in sick. You need to cover her clients too.”

  What? Seriously. She ground her teeth together to stop herself from going off. She was exhausted. Rosalind had told her she could take the day off tomorrow. She should have known better than to trust her word.

  After her aunt left, she quickly locked the door. If only she had some way of locking the door to keep people out when she wasn’t here. With her entire body shaking, she climbed into the closet and drew out her blanket and doll. She kept them hidden in here so her aunt didn’t find it. The blanket was a mix of pastel colors, whi
le the doll had dark hair and wore a princess tiara.

  She’d had it since she was a little girl, so it was getting worn in places. She didn’t dare wash it, worried it might start falling apart.

  Sitting on the floor of the closet, she lifted up one corner of her snuggly, rubbing it under her nose to soothe herself. Then she slipped her thumb into her mouth.

  Shivers ran through her. She knew she should eat and go to bed. Everyone was gone. The door was locked. But she couldn’t make herself leave the safety of the closet. It felt safe in here. Like no one could hurt her.

  What was she going to do? She sat back against the wall of the closet and just tried to settle her heartbeat.

  First, she had to hide the rest of the tip she’d gotten tonight. It was always a risk, holding back some of her tips from her aunt. She didn’t tend to do it with her regulars, afraid her aunt would catch on. But when someone tipped a lot then she kept some of it back.

  She wished she had enough that she could just leave. But she needed to be careful about this. Running was only going to work if she had some sort of plan in place.

  Living here with Tiger and Saber wasn’t an option, though. Feeling ill, she drew out the hundred dollars she’d kept back and slid it into the trinket box she kept in the hole under the floorboards. It was the only thing she had left of her mother. The lining inside the box was loose. With hands that still shook, she tucked her money in there and hid the box again.

  She knew exactly how much was in there. One thousand and forty-eight dollars. That was the result of years of scrimping. If she’d saved what her aunt gave her for working at the spa, she’d have more. However, after her aunt took out money for room and board, there wasn’t much left. Just enough to buy some eBooks to read and occasionally some clothes from Goodwill.

  She’d protested once that she deserved more pay. Her aunt had slapped her and called her ungrateful. She’d gone into a rage that had terrified Marisol enough that she hadn’t said anything again. What choice did she really have? Stay and be treated like shit but have a job, a roof over her head and the medicine she needed. Or leave and be all alone, maybe end up on the streets.

  She just needed a bit more time and a few more tips.

  Disappointment flooded her. She actually liked it here. Living in a big city was hard for her. All the people and the noise. She liked the peace and quiet here.

  But it was becoming more and more obvious that she had to go. Thankfully, it sounded like Saber and Tiger had their hands full for a bit longer.

  Crawling out of the closet, she stood and grabbed the worn black bag that held her diabetic supplies out of her handbag. Carrying it into the bathroom, she washed her hands. All the bedrooms in this monstrous house had their own bathrooms. A prick of her finger to draw blood and the blood glucose meter told her what she’d suspected. It was low. She’d gone too long without eating.

  She’d had Type One diabetes since she was thirteen. Managing her blood sugar levels would be much easier if she had a CPM monitor, but her aunt claimed her insurance wouldn’t pay for it. She grabbed a few glucose tabs from her bag and unwrapped them, popping them into her mouth.

  Walking back into her bedroom, she sat on the bed, staring down at the eReader in her hand. Sadness flooded her. It felt like she’d lost an old friend. She wiped away a few tears. Today, she’d feel sorry for herself.

  Tomorrow, she needed to figure out a way of saving herself.

  4

  Linc was cursing himself for not getting her number.

  Or not giving her his. But then that had seemed too pushy. He hadn’t wanted her to think he was some weirdo. Even if he was at times.

  You know where she works.

  Right, I’m sure it’s every day that a cowboy strolls on in and asks for a manicure.

  Idiot.

  A cool wind whipped down the street. Shit. He hoped it was warmer for Clint and Charlie’s wedding tomorrow. He strode towards the diner, thinking he’d get some lunch before he attempted some shopping.

  Gah. Shopping.

  Up ahead he saw a small figure dressed only in a pair of black pants and a black shirt nearly collide with a lamp post. She pulled away at the last second, only to start tumbling back, tripping over her own feet. He quickly raced forward, and managed to grab hold of her before she landed on her butt, setting her on her feet.

  “Whoa, there. You okay?” He turned her around, surprise filling him as he saw it was her.

  He hadn’t recognized her in the shapeless, black clothing. Which he now realized was obviously a work uniform. There was an emblem on the top right-hand corner of the shirt.

  “Marisol? Hey.”

  Wow. That was smooth. Really smooth.

  “It’s Linc,” he added when she didn’t say anything. “From last night. At Sanctuary Ranch.”

  Okay, it kind of hurt that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her and she couldn’t even remember him.

  “This is kind of déjà vu, huh?”

  She was just staring up at him, her cheeks flushed, her lips parted.

  “Only this time there’s no containers in your arms, blocking your view so how did you nearly walk into that lamp post?” he demanded.

  Ease up, man. You don’t need to go all Daddy on her.

  “Oh. . . umm. . .oh . . .”

  “Marisol? Are you okay?” He reached out and placed his hand over her forehead. She didn’t feel warm. In fact, she was kind of cold. Another breeze worked its way up the street and she shivered.

  “Where’s your coat, Mari? Gloves? Hat?”

  “Umm, the sun was out so I didn’t think I needed any.”

  “The sun might be out but there’s a cold breeze. Where are you from?”

  “Originally? Texas. But we move around a lot. I’ve been living in California most recently.”

  “That explains it.” He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, noticing the book in her hand. “Were you reading while you were walking? Is that why you nearly hit that poor lamp post?”

  “Yes.” Red filled her cheeks as she closed the book and placed it in her oversized handbag. “You should take your coat back, you’ll get cold.”

  “I’m acclimatized to it. Besides, I’m a lot bigger than you. Reading while walking isn’t a very safe thing to do. What if you’d stepped off the sidewalk and in front of a car? Or if you hadn’t seen that lamp post and hit your head?”

  “I often read and walk at the same time. I hardly ever get hurt.”

  He didn’t like the sound of that ‘hardly ever’ part.

  “I don’t want you doing that anymore, okay? You could get seriously hurt.”

  She gave him a surprised look but nodded.

  “Are you on your lunch break? Considering how late you worked last night, I thought you might have had the day off.” She looked tired. Pale.

  He didn’t like it. At all.

  “Unfortunately someone called in sick and I had to cover for them. I have to be back in an hour.”

  “I was on my way to the diner. Come have lunch with me.”

  “Oh, umm . . .” She looked away.

  Jesus, you idiot. She obviously doesn’t want to have lunch with you.

  “Or not,” he said coolly, the rejection cutting even as he tried not to let it get to him. “It’s fine. Take the jacket, I’ll come grab it from the spa on my way home.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. “I just don’t have any money on me.” Her gaze was low, her shoulders slumped, her embarrassment clear.

  Fuck. He needed his ass kicked.

  Rejection was a trigger for him. But he didn’t need to act like an ass and make her feel ashamed or embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry, Mari. I jumped to the conclusion that you didn’t want to have lunch with me. Which, even if you didn’t, I don’t need to react like an ass. Would you like to eat with me? I’m paying.”

  “I couldn’t ask you to—”
<
br />   “You didn’t ask, though, did you? And just so you know, I’d pay even if you did have some cash on you. My view is if a man asks a woman out to eat, then he pays.”

  “Really?” She gave him a surprised look.

  “I’ve got some old-fashioned manners. And views. My nana would whip my ass if I did otherwise.”

  “Does she live here?”

  “No, she died a few years ago now.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He could see the sincerity in her eyes. “So, lunch?” He held out his elbow to her.

  “If you’re sure,” she said, but she was sliding her hand into the crook of his elbow as she said it.

  “I’m definitely sure,” he said firmly as he led her towards the diner.

  “Another old-fashioned gesture?” she asked, pointing to his where her hand rested on his arm.

  He grinned down at her. “Nah, this is just to make sure you don’t run into any more lamp posts.”

  Her mouth dropped open then to his delight she burst into laughter. “I only walk into things when I’m distracted.”

  “Why, ma’am, are you saying that I’m not a distraction? I’ll have to work on my game. I’ll have you know that my ass is an excellent distraction.”

  Humor twinkled in her eyes. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t looked.”

  “We’ll have to remedy that.”

  He slid his arm free, immediately missing her touch. Then he strode down the footpath in front of her, putting some strut into his stride. It was worth it, to hear her laugh again. She had a sweet laugh.

  He winked at a couple of older ladies strolling past. They smiled back. He turned and held his arms out as Marisol moved towards him. “How did I do?”

  “Well, I didn’t walk into any lamp posts, however you’re right. Your ass is most definitely a distraction.”

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” he said huskily, taking her hand back in his elbow when she reached him. “So tell me, how much experience do you have with weddings?”

  She gaped up at him as they reached the diner. True to his word, he showed some more of those manners by reaching out and opening the door for her.