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

by Jenny Penn

  “You need to expand your business,” Bavis advised her. “Go on and rent out the Laundromat next door.”

  “Then where will they go?” Heather asked, catching Rachel’s eye as she came bustling through the front door. Her friend nodded toward the back and Heather responded with her own nod and a pointed glance at Bavis, silently assuring her friend she’d catch up with her in a moment.

  “Who knows?” Bavis shrugged. “Who cares? Who needs a Laundromat anyway?”

  “People who don’t own a washer or dryer,” Heather retorted, trying to keep the obnoxiousness out of her tone. She figured she failed when Bavis shot her an irritated glance.

  “It’s the twenty-first century, everybody should own a washer and dryer and if they don’t…let them use the river and the rocks, and they can celebrate their barbaric lifestyle that way.”

  “Yeah.” Heather drew that word out as she wondered why she’d bothered to ask his opinion in the first place. Bavis wasn’t just old and grumpy, he really was a jerk and a cheap tipper. “Well then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some rocks to go pound.”

  That earned her a snort as Bavis hunched over the bar and began to devour his piece of pie like a dog downing a plate of leftovers. It really wasn’t a wonder why the man had never married. It might be a wonder if he wasn’t actually a virgin because Heather couldn’t imagine what type of woman would say ‘yes’ to him.

  Then again she really wasn’t one to cast stones. She clearly had deplorable taste in men. So did Rachel, but at least she was happy. That much was evidenced by the glow in her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes. Heather found her friend fairly floating above the ground as she raided the rack of cookies cooling by the work table laid out with more, ready to go into the oven the moment the next batch was done.

  “Well, I can already tell you had a good weekend,” Heather declared with false cheer that she hoped would mask the ache gnawing inside of her.

  She really didn’t want to talk about it. Not with Rachel. Not when her happiness was so obvious, and Heather’s anguish felt like it knew no bounds. Of course it was nearly impossible to disguise that level of misery and despite her best attempts it leaked out in her tone and her words.

  “Let me guess, you’re back together with Beavis and Butt-head.”

  That had Rachel’s smile dimming as her gaze sharpened on Heather. “Don’t call them that.”

  “Why not?” Heather asked. “You’ll be calling them that by the end of the week when they do whatever it is that will piss you off.”

  That was the truth. For as happy as Killian and Adam made Rachel, it seemed like every other week they were working it the other way, doing everything they knew to drive her friend insane. At least they weren’t cheating on her with some cheap skank, which made both men a hell of a lot better than the one she’d fallen for.

  “Boy, you’re cranky today,” Rachel grouched as she eyed Heather speculatively. “Let me take a guess, you still haven’t found a replacement for GD.”

  “Is that what we’re going to do today?” Heather lifted a brow. “Argue?”

  “Of course not,” Rachel assured smugly as she reached for a cookie. “I’m a kind and sensitive person. I wouldn’t want to torment you with the details of just how fantastic it is to have two men totally worship you and dedicate hours to your personal pleasure.”

  Normally Rachel’s teasing didn’t bother Heather at all, but that morning it cut deep enough to make her breath catch and she quickly turned to busy herself with the pulling trays of fresh cookies out of the oven.

  “Why, it would just be rude to rattle on about how Killian goes off like a stallion in heat every time I tell him I love him,” Rachel gloated, grinning with a laughter that was barely contained. “And I am not a rude person.”

  “No, of course not,” Heather muttered to herself as she slid the last two trays of cookies into the oven before turning back to eye Rachel enviously. “So did Killian go off like a stallion in heat when you told him you’re helping to set up one of his best friends to be busted visiting a whore house you’ve been investigating behind their backs? Or did you just skip the confessions and start right off with the sex?”

  “We talked,” Rachel insisted, pausing with a cookie halfway to her mouth when Heather snorted at that obvious lie. “We did. We actually sat down and wrote out a list of rules.”

  “Rules?” What was it with Cattlemen and rules? They seem obsessed. “We’re not talking about sex again, are we?”

  “Like there are rules to sex,” Rachel scoffed, snatching another cookie off the tray as Heather began to load them into the boxes she and Konor had assembled last night. “No, I’m talking about relationship rules.”

  “Relationship rules?”

  “Yeah, like they won’t smother me at every turn, and I’ll be more open and honest with them.”

  “Honest? So you really did confess all then, huh?” Heather asked in disbelief, pausing to glance at Rachel, who wrinkled her nose giving Heather all the answer she needed.

  “No, I didn’t tell them about Hailey’s game,” Rachel shot back before pausing to shrug. “But you know they do love me and they’re just worried I might get hurt. That does kind of give them rights to interfere when they believe I might be in trouble. I can’t really get mad at them for that, now can I?”

  “It’s your life,” Heather responded evenly, but her hands trembled as she stacked the cookies into a nice, even row.

  She wouldn’t ever give that much control up to a man, but then again, no man loved her the way Killian or Adam loved Rachel. That thought sliced through her as Heather felt a sudden surge of longing so painfully deep that for a moment her breath caught. She might not be loved like that but that didn’t change the fact that she loved like it.

  “Yeah, it is,” Rachel agreed, drawing Heather’s attention back from her grim thoughts. “Killian and Adam love me, and I love them. We might have our issues and our friction, but love—”

  “Conquers all?” Heather filled in, unable to keep the bitterness out of her tone.

  “Yes, it does.” Rachel sighed dreamily.

  Heather couldn’t disagree more but wouldn’t dare to be such a bitch as to argue with Rachel. Instead, she teased her friend as she stacked the boxes of cookies that would soon be sitting on the counter and waiting for all those last-minute shoppers who traditionally came in to grab something on their way to whatever party or cookout they’d been invited to.

  “Well, I know who will be getting conquered once those two deputies realize what you got going on with Kitty Anne and Hailey. You want to take a guess on how they’ll react?”

  “No.” Rachel’s smile took a sinful curve as she all but purred with anticipation. “I’m just waiting to experience it.”

  That tone had Heather stilling as she studied her friend. Rachel was up to something, something that had her tickled. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Rachel…”

  “Nothing!”

  That was a bold-faced lie Heather could see right through. “You didn’t tell them anything, did you? Anything about what you got going on with Kitty Anne and Hailey.”

  “I would never betray a friend like that. You know better.” Rachel stiffened up indignantly, but the sparkle in her eyes gave her away.

  “Hmmm.” Heather didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty in doubting her friend’s denial. She trusted her instincts and they were on fire right then. “Yeah, I do know you, which is why I know you might not squeal but you would make sure everybody got caught. So what did you do? Leave some notes lying conveniently about the place?”

  “I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rachel huffed, her chin lifting in a gesture Heather recognized all too well. Rachel was definitely lying now, not that she cared.

  As far as Heather was concerned, Hailey, Kitty Anne, Patton, and even Rachel deserved what they got for playing stupid games with their men. Hell, as far as she could tell all
three of them wanted what they had coming to them. All of them but Kitty Anne, who actually didn’t have a man or men as the case may be. Of course it was hard to feel sympathy for a woman who volunteered to play the role of a hooker and try to lure Cole Jackson into being arrested.

  No, if anybody deserved the kind of humiliation Hailey had Cole set up for, it was Alex. That thought gave Heather a happy feeling but it only lasted about five seconds, before it doubled back on her as thoughts of Alex with some faceless whore filled her head. She tried to block the images as Rachel blithely continued on, completely unaware of Heather’s inner torment.

  “Besides, I have a new, more interesting, case to pursue,” Rachel informed her with a relish that would have alarmed Heather if she hadn’t been so consumed with controlling her own mutinying emotions. “If I’m right, this is going to be the story of a lifetime.”

  Before Rachel could figure out that Heather wasn’t paying her any mind, Tina stuck her head in through the kitchen door and called out the warning Heather had spent all morning fearing.

  “Heather, Konor just walked in the door.” Tina turned and glanced over her shoulder before shooting Heather a pointed look. “And he’s headed this way.”

  “Konor?” Rachel perked up at that. “As in Konor Dale, Pittsview’s sexiest fireman? Heather, you’ve been holding out on me.”

  More than Rachel knew, but Heather didn’t have time to deal with her friend right then. Instead she held up a hand and begged for a moment. “Don’t even. Not right now.”

  “But he’s a Cattleman and—”

  “—and partnered with the sheriff,” Heather finished off, knowing Rachel would understand even if she didn’t know all the details.

  Rachel still knew how Heather felt about Alex, just as Konor should have, but that didn’t stop him from barging into the kitchen and heading straight for Heather to issue a demand instead of a greeting.

  “We need to talk.” He paused to glance over at Rachel, who smiled and gave him a wave. Konor responded with a scowl as he turned back to bark at Heather. “Privately.”

  Heather stared back at him, wondering just what his game was now. He had to know that there were no second chances. So, what was he doing there? There was only one way to find out.

  Sucking in a deep breath, she clenched all her muscles tight and forced herself to limit her response to one simple word, but it was hard. Really hard.

  “Fine.”

  Abandoning the cookies and ignoring the look Rachel shot her, Heather turned and marched for the back door, sensing Konor falling into step behind her. His heat and heady scent closed in around her, making Heather weaken and wish for things she knew better than to long for.

  It didn’t matter.

  The heart wanted what it wanted, and so did the body. Reason and pride be damned. That’s when Heather realized she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t fight both herself and them. There was only one thing she could do.

  Reaching the back door, Heather wrenched it open and stepped back, allowing Konor to pass through before slamming it behind him. With quick motions she threw the dead bolt, not surprised when he didn’t pound on the door or yell threats through it. No, Konor didn’t waste his energy on pointless theatrics.

  He’d circle the building and come back in through the front door, knowing there was no way she could block him. That gave her probably less than two minutes to get rid of Rachel, who was even now chuckling to herself.

  “I had heard rumors about you and the sheriff,” Rachel teased her as between giggles. “But now I see they were only half-right, huh?”

  “Not now, Rachel.”

  “Oh, no. No. No. No.” Rachel wagged a finger at her. “After all your snarky comments about my relationship with Killian and Adam, you do not get to have a secret affair with the sheriff and his best friend and think I’m not getting my two cents in!”

  “I am not having an affair,” Heather snapped, feeling the pressures of time tick down around her as her heart raced and the overwhelming fear to run nearly consumed her.

  That wasn’t a good response. She couldn’t flee. She didn’t have anywhere to go. What she needed was a better plan and she only had seconds to come up with one, but Rachel wasn’t going to give her the moment to think.

  “You know, that’s not the only rumor I heard,” Rachel needled with a sly look that had Heather stomach knotting in dread. “Killian made an interesting arrest last night. Apparently, the sheriff is alleging that Gwen Harold broke into his place. Killian said he might even add stalking and harassment charges to the list. I guess that depends on how pissed off somebody is at him.”

  “Oh, he did not do that.”

  Rachel pushed it too far with that last line and she knew it, but she just shrugged the mistake off. “Yep and it’s obvious now why. I mean, what else could have happened to make our sheriff arrest his former lover while his was-about-to-be-fiancée storms around locking people out of kitchens?”

  “There was no ‘about-to-be’,” Heather snapped, unable to disguise the pain of that lie as she flushed red and raged on. “There was no being of any kind. Not with Alex. Not with Konor.”

  “I beg to differ,” Konor cut in.

  Heather closed her eyes and prayed but the floor did not open up and swallow her whole, and neither did Konor disappear. Instead he did exactly what she feared he would.

  “Unless, of course, you’re in the habit of letting just any man stick his tongue up—”

  “Ha!” Rachel jumped off her seat with that victorious shout while throwing her hands up in surrender. “I don’t think I need to know where that line ends to know that I’m right and that you—” She leveled a finger at Heather as she shot her a pointed look. “—have been holding out on me, a matter we will discuss later.”

  With that Rachel fled through the kitchen doors, leaving Heather alone to deal with one extremely pissed-off looking Konor.

  Konor’s fists were clenched, his knuckles white, and his face flushed with the veins bulging in his neck. He looked ready to do some damage, though Heater didn’t know what right he had to be angry. She was the one who had been wronged, the one being toyed with like some mouse caught in a trap.

  Not that right or wrong didn’t matter to either the cat and certainly not to the mouse. The primitive laws of nature dictated that when a predator stalked, prey retreated. That’s just what Heather did as Konor prowled forward, slowly herding her to the back of the kitchen and far from Howie’s prying eyes.

  Only once Konor had her pinned in the shadowed nook of the staggering tower of boxes did he finally come to a halt. Caged between the cool stone of the cinderblock wall and the soft cardboard at her back, there was no escape for Heather. She was trapped beneath Konor’s heated glare and the truth that it contained. He wasn’t going to let her go.

  Not now.

  Not ever.

  “I warned you about taunting me in public, didn’t I?” Konor reminded her, his tone harsh and filled with a dark lust that was belied by the soft brush of his fingers as he reached out to cup her chin.

  His grip tightened and with a hard jerk, he pulled Heather forward. She stumbled over her feet and fell flat against him, finding herself pinned there against the hard flex of his muscles as his other arm snaked around her waist. With his hold on her chin, he tilted her head back, forcing her neck to stretch until his lips teased hers and his breath mingled with her own.

  “Didn’t I?”

  “Rule number five…or is it six, now?” Heather didn’t know where the strength or will to challenge him came from, but whispered the words without thought, and almost immediately Konor’s gaze narrowed dangerously on her.

  She could all but feel the tension that gripped him in that second as she watched his muscles bulge and strain as he reigned in his natural impulse, which was just a shame, because for a moment there she’d been weak enough to give in. Instead, though, Konor questioned her, reminding Heather that there was more at stake than simply her prid
e.

  “And do you remember the second rule?”

  “Something about not running away,” Heather retorted, jerking back and breaking free of his hold. “But those are your rules. I only have one rule, and that’s to not waste my time on men who are wasting their time with sluts.”

  “I never waste my time,” Konor had the audacity to say, his tone remaining hard and inflexible, not even relaxing with a hint of pleading or coaxing. He was serious. He was dismissing her concern. “That isn’t even a possibility.”

  “Alex—”

  “Didn’t betray you.”

  “Yeah, right.” Heather snorted, unable to believe that either Konor or Alex would think that she was so desperate as to believe that lie. “I was there, Konor. I saw—”

  “—Gwen in bed with Alex,” he finished, his words still cut with an edge of impatience. “You didn’t see them doing anything.”

  “They were naked!”

  “It was a misunderstanding.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Heather spat, allowing his rage to fuel hers and stubbornly refusing to even consider his suggestion. It didn’t matter what she had or hadn’t seen. The situation spoke for itself, and so did Konor.

  “I have never lied to you.”

  “But Alex has.”

  “No. He hasn’t.” Konor contradicted her as he straightened up, his jaw clenching as he lorded over her. “And it isn’t right of you to jump to conclusions without asking for answers, or didn’t you learn anything thirteen years ago?”

  Konor looked pissed. Really pissed, and he sounded even angrier than that, but it wasn’t all outrage sharpening his words. There was a hint of pain that caused Heather to hesitate, suddenly uncertain of her conclusions.