The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male

by Jessica Clare

  “Oh.” Miranda sounded sad. She knew Beth Ann was struggling. “I could use a trim on my bangs. Can I come by?”

  “Of course, honey,” she said, her mouth twisting in a wry smile. “But I cut your bangs last week.”

  “Oh. Well. Maybe a new manicure? I thought I might go for something in red.”

  She smiled. “You can’t single-handedly save my business, Mir. It’s sweet, but you should probably save your money for your wedding.”

  Miranda groaned into the phone. “Don’t remind me. I think Dane’s mom is going to be a bridezillla. Momzilla. Whatever. I got a package from her the other day and it was a box full of bridal magazines. God. Dane took one look at it and ran out of the house.”

  Beth Ann laughed, moving to the window and peeking at the shop across the street. Still full of people. She didn’t understand it. How could the other salon be so much better than hers? She’d never had complaints before.

  Something wasn’t adding up.

  “So anyhow,” Miranda said. “I got Dane to volunteer for the dunking booth. We’ll set up in town square, and he promised to wear a hockey helmet and a jersey. It’s for a good cause, right?”

  “That’s great,” she said, watching another customer stroll down the street toward the other salon. Her teeth clenched. “You still going to give all the proceeds to the library?”

  “Yup. I think it’ll be a great fund-raiser. Much better than another charity drive.”

  “Much,” she said absently, then frowned. “Hey, Mir, let me let you go. I need to check something out.”

  “Sure, catch you later. Call me.”

  Beth Ann ended the call and tossed her phone down on the counter. She flipped the sign on her door, and then headed down the street, curious to find out what the other woman had that she didn’t. Because darn it, she was tired of wondering. And now she wanted answers.

  Beth Ann entered the other salon hesitantly. Her bravado had disappeared somewhere during the walk across the street, and now all she felt was anxious.

  She glanced down at the row of customers. All four seats in the waiting area were full. In the salon section, a woman stood behind a barber chair, curling Mrs. Potter—her old client, she noticed—into a ragged-looking updo. Hmph. At the back of the room, another woman sat, painting nails. Twins. She hadn’t realized there were two women. They were pretty, too, though the one curling hair needed to wear less makeup. She wore tight capris and a leopard sweater, her black hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She gave Beth Ann a quick glance as she entered, and Beth Ann noticed she was wearing false eyelashes. Good lord.

  “We can’t take walk-ins today,” the woman announced, a thick drawl to her voice. “Too busy. Earliest I can get you in is Tuesday. You have a coupon?”

  “She’s not a walk-in,” Mrs. Potter said in an unpleasant voice. “She’s the competition.”

  Hateful woman. Beth Ann frowned. “I’m not here for a haircut.” Oh heavens. What was she going to say now that Mrs. Potter had pretty much sold her out? I came to snoop and see why you’re selling so much better than I am? The decorations on the walls were generic, the equipment the same as hers. She didn’t get it. “I came over to say hi and see how business was going.”

  The hairstylist gave her an uncertain smile. “Business couldn’t be better. Thanks for asking.”

  On a nearby seat, a woman held up a purple slip of paper. “Here. I have an extra coupon if you need it. You could get your nails done. Probably be nice to have someone do yours for a change.”

  Numbly, Beth Ann took the coupon, too polite to point out that she could do her own nails for free…and then froze. Bluebonnet special—80 percent off of her regular prices? Beth Ann glanced over at the sign on the window, and did some mental calculation. Even with the woman’s astronomical fees, with this coupon, she was still much cheaper than Beth Ann’s prices.

  Coupons. Of course. How stupid she’d been. People were attracted to a sale, and this woman was undercutting the hell out of her and making it seem like a bargain. Annoyed, she flipped over the coupon.

  Her heart stopped. The coupon postcards had a small, cheerful sun in the top left-hand corner, along with a return address. They’d been sent out from Sunny Motors. She’d recognize that logo anywhere. Fury slammed through her, and she sucked in a deep breath, then marched over to the woman with the false eyelashes.

  “Excuse me,” Beth Ann said, and shoved the coupon at her. “Who’s behind this?”

  The woman—Jordan, judging from her nametag—smiled at Beth Ann. “New business incentive.” She winked. “I almost thought it was too good to be true, but Allan assured me it’s on the up-and-up.”

  “Oh, he did, did he?” She studied the woman a bit longer, the fake eyelashes, the enormous rack. “Did he ever buy you shoes?”

  Jordan grinned over at Beth Ann. “You know Allan, too?”

  “Not for much longer,” she muttered, tucking the coupon into her pocket. “Because I’m going to kill him.”

  SIXTEEN

  Another mistress. Beth Ann was furious. Worse. She was beyond furious. She was seething with rage. How dare he. How dare he try to push her business out of town and set up one of his mistresses? Had he been bankrolling Cutz’s coupons just to try to force her to quietly shut her doors?

  She was utterly, utterly livid. To think that he would do something so low, so controlling. Beth Ann slammed into the first parking space at Sunny Motors and tore inside, the coupon clutched in her hand. She held her keys like a weapon and marched to the back office, and stared down Sammi, his secretary. Another mistress. Who hadn’t Allan slept with? God, why had she ever taken him back?

  “I need to talk to Allan,” she said tightly. “It’s an emergency.”

  Sammi gave her an insolent look. “He’s busy.”

  Beth Ann felt her entire body quiver with rage. She grabbed the stack of paperwork off the girl’s desk and threw it at the opposite wall, enjoying the rain of papers falling all over the room almost as much as the shocked O on Sammi’s face. The girl got up from her desk and moved to pick up the first piece.

  Beth Ann pushed her way into Allan’s office.

  He was in there. Alone. And he looked thrilled to see her, standing up immediately and moving forward to give her a hug.

  She pushed him away. Shoved the coupon at his chest. “What. The. Fuck. Allan.”

  He flinched. “Language, Bethy-babe.”

  “What the fuck?” she cried again. “What the fuck are you trying to do to me?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about—”

  “Don’t lie to me,” she said, clenching her fists or she’d slam them into his face. “Quit lying to me and just tell me the truth for once in your life. What are you doing? Why is that new salon sending out 80 percent off coupons with your logo on them? Why does ‘Jordan’ think that it’s some sort of Bluebonnet business incentive? How much are you spending just to try and run me out of business?”

  Allan got quiet. He stared down at the coupon, and then back up at her. “You weren’t supposed to know, Bethy-babe—”

  “That you were trying to run me out of business?” Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. “Why are you doing that to me? How could you be so cruel?”

  He grasped her shoulders. “Because I want you back,” he said desperately. “And as long as you think you’re independent and on your own, you won’t come back to me. I want you to need me again. I want you to love me again.” Tears filled his eyes. “Beth Ann, I can’t live without you in my life. At my side. Please. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just wanted to make you need me again.”

  She slapped him.

  He recoiled, touching his cheek in surprise. Then, he shook his head, the look on his face determined. “I deserve that, but I won’t change what I’ve done. Please. Please, Bethy-babe. I love you so much—”

  “I don’t love you,” she said furiously. “How could you destroy me for your own selfish needs? That’s not love.
That’s possession. Learn the difference.”

  “I will,” he said quickly. “If you’ll show me.”

  “Show you?” She laughed bitterly. “You’re lucky I don’t sue you.”

  Allan looked truly astonished at her words. “I just wanted you to come back to me. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

  Once again, she didn’t really exist to him, didn’t matter. He honestly did not understand why she was so furious. “You have spent thousands and thousands of dollars trying to sink me!”

  “It’s worth it if I get you back,” he said quietly.

  She shook her head. “You’ve tried to undermine the thing that I’m proudest of. I can’t ever trust you again. Won’t ever trust you again. I want you to stay the hell away from me. If you don’t, I’m going to tell everyone in town just why we broke up so they stop giving me those concerned looks because they just don’t understand.”

  “Beth Ann, listen—”

  “No,” she said violently. “You listen to me. I’m tired of being the bad guy to save your reputation. No longer! I did that to help you, to protect you because I still cared about you and we had nine years together. But if you can’t respect me even this little bit,” she said, snatching the coupon from him and ripping it in half. “Then all bets are off.”

  He stared at her, aghast. “This isn’t like you.”

  “I know,” she said, furious. “Ain’t it fucking great.”

  His lip curled in an ugly sneer. “You even sound like that asshole now.”

  “That asshole is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love him. He supports me.”

  Allan’s smile got even uglier. “You love him? Is it because he’s the Sunquist you can control? You had to go for the second-rate version?”

  The conversation had just taken a bizarre turn. “Sunquist? What are you talking about?”

  Allan laughed mirthlessly. “Did your little boyfriend lie to you about that, too? Bad enough he made you go through that whole bullshit weekend of being stranded just so he could nail your ass. And you fell for it.”

  “What are you talking about?” she repeated.

  “Your little weekend ‘stranded,’” he said, and made finger quotes in the air, mocking her. “Everyone’s been talking about it. You weren’t stranded that weekend. Ask anyone. He deliberately kept you out in the woods so he could seduce you.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest, blood roaring in her ears. “You are lying. The river was flooded.”

  “Am I? Did he show you this flooded river? Did anyone else get stranded out there?” At her silence, his mouth twisted in a hurt smirk. “No? Just you? And you don’t find that to be a coincidence?”

  Beth Ann said nothing. An ache started in her chest, and her fingernails dug into her palms. He was lying. Had to be. Had to. Colt wouldn’t do that to her. He knew how much she valued trust.

  Didn’t he?

  Allan shook his head. “You fell for it. All of it. That brother of mine is a sneaky bastard.” He sneered. “No pun intended.”

  “Brother?”

  His mouth twisted. “Guess you didn’t know that, either. You’re fucking my brother. And I’m pretty sure he only wants you to get back at me.”

  She didn’t know what to do. Beth Ann thought about going back to her salon, but she knew there would be no customers waiting there. She didn’t want to go back to her parents, or to Colt’s cabin. God, Colt. Allan had to be wrong. Had to be.

  So she drove around the lake, trying to calm down. Trying to stop her heart from hurting so badly. She didn’t want to ask. Oh sweet heaven, she didn’t want to ask Colt, to find out her heart had been broken so easily again. She didn’t want to know that he’d used her. She loved him—more intensely, more deeply than she’d ever cared for Allan. His betrayal would devastate her.

  But she had to know. She had trusted him.

  Had she been betrayed all over again?

  Beth Ann drove to the Daughtry Ranch. Sat in her car for a few minutes, trying to feel something, anything. All she felt was numb. Cold and sick to her stomach. She locked her car and entered the main cabin.

  Brenna perked up at the sight of her. “Hey, girlfriend! You enjoy all that birthday cake?”

  Her stomach roiled. Beth Ann was going to be sick if she thought about the birthday cake. But she gave Brenna a polite smile. “Have you seen Colt today?”

  She could have called him, but this…she needed to see his face.

  “Yup! He’s over in the spare cabin, fixing it up for his dad. Mr. Waggoner gets out of the hospital tomorrow.”

  She nodded. Paused. “Hey…Brenna…”

  “Yup?”

  “You know that weekend I got stranded with Colt?”

  Brenna suddenly looked uneasy. “Maybe.”

  Her discomfort told Beth Ann everything, but she still needed to hear the words aloud. There was an enormous knot in her throat as she asked. “Colt told me that when we were stuck out there, it was because the evacuation team had already left, and the river was too high to cross. He told me we were stranded. Is that true?”

  Brenna suddenly began typing, as if she’d just had a flurry of inspiration.

  “Brenna?”

  The assistant bit her lip. “You know, Beth Ann…I think you’d better talk to Colt.”

  She was definitely going to throw up. “Thanks, Brenna.”

  Beth Ann walked out of the main cabin, shut the door behind her. Moved to the small cabin. The door was open, and she could hear someone cussing inside. Heard a thump. Beth Ann moved into the doorway. Colt was setting up a single bed, neatly tucking the corners in. Military flat, just like he did their bed every morning. She flicked the light to get his attention.

  He turned and the flicker of emotion that crossed his face was one of pleasure. “Hey, darlin’.”

  She didn’t smile. “I need you to tell me if you’ve lied to me, Colt. About anything.”

  She waited for him to be confused. For him to quirk an eyebrow and ask what she was talking about.

  But his eyes got hard. He sat down on the edge of the bed and patted it. “Sit down and let’s talk.”

  Tears started in her eyes. It was all true. It was all true and she was going to be sick. She’d fallen for a man who had lied to her about everything. Who he was. What he wanted from her. Did he even love her? Or was that just part of his game?

  “I don’t want to sit down,” she said in a wobbly voice. “So Allan’s your brother?”

  “He is,” Colt replied in a flat voice.

  “And are you with me because you’re trying to get back at him?” Her voice quavered, breath catching on the words.

  Colt’s handsome face grew hard. “No. Never.”

  “How can I believe you?” she cried. “You know how important trust is to me.”

  “I know,” he said in a ragged voice. “I was going to tell you.”

  “When?” she cried. “When you felt like it? When the mood struck you? When it suited your purposes? What about me? Doesn’t what I think count?”

  He said nothing, simply watched her with slitted eyes.

  She laughed bitterly, throwing her hands up. “And if that wasn’t awful enough, now I find out that you lied to me that first weekend. Was that just so you could fuck me, too? You made me go through all that mud and camping and being stranded in the rain just so you could fuck me? How about you ask a girl out on a damn date?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” he said quietly.

  “Then how was it? Tell me.”

  To her surprise, he looked uneasy. “When I saw you, you were nasty to me. I was bored. Irritated at you.” He shook his head. “Thought I’d teach you a lesson.”

  “Teach me a lesson?” she cried out. “Are you serious? You hated me so much that you were going to drag me through the mud for an entire weekend? Are you sick in the head?”

  “It was only supposed to be for one night,” he said softly.

  “Oh? And after that, I suppose we were
really stranded?”

  He said nothing.

  Hurt rolled through her, wave after wave of hurt. “Oh. I see. So first you were pissed at me. Then you wanted to fuck me.” She shook her head. “And I fell for it. God, I must be really, really stupid.”

  He stood up. Moved toward her. “You’re not stupid, Beth Ann. I’m a fucking dumbass. I shouldn’t have done it. And I should have said something.”

  “Yes,” she said flatly. “You should have.”

  “I love you,” he said, his gaze intent on her. He reached out a hand.

  She flinched away. “How can I even trust you? How can I ever trust you again?”

  “You can judge me by my actions,” he said solemnly. “I know what I did looks really bad. I can’t make it look better. But I have never treated you badly. I love you and I don’t want to lose you. You can hate me for a month. You can slap me across the face. Whatever it takes to make this better. Just tell me we’re okay.”

  “We’re not okay,” she said, tears streaking down her face. She slapped his hand away. “We’re so not okay. I don’t know if we will ever be okay again. I can’t trust you, Colt. That’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted from you is trust. To know that you have my back.”

  “I do—”

  “You don’t,” she said, and pressed a hand to her forehead. It was either that or start screaming. This was Allan, all over again. Once again, she’d been lied to and betrayed. The hurt was so deep this time that she felt cold. Just cold all over. “I don’t even know what to think right now, except that you betrayed me when I needed someone that I could trust the most.”

  There was anguish in his eyes. She didn’t care. “Beth Ann,” he said softly. “I didn’t plan on falling in love with you, but I did. And I never meant to hurt you, but I did, and I’m sorry.”

  Her mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “You know who says ‘sorry’? Someone that lied.” She shook her head, dropped his hand. “I’ve heard enough apologies to last a lifetime.”

  And she walked away.

  Beth Ann half expected him to come after her. To follow her back out into the parking lot, stop her at her car. Tell her he’d never meant to hurt her. That he’d never do it again. That’s what Allan would have done.