Buckskins, Boots & Bondage (Cowboy Kink) (10 page)

He waited for what seemed an endless moment. He could feel Justin’s tension bleeding into his.

Don’t screw it up, bro.
He sent the silent message.
I promise you this time it will work.

About the time he thought she was gong to tell them to kiss off, Angel relaxed and smiled. “I’d like that, too.”

Yes
. Today’s visit had gone extremely well.

Chapter Seven

Angel smiled to herself as she walked into her office the next morning. Sunday had been the very best day she could imagine. Everything had gone so well at the feedlot and then at the house.

Oh, yes. Definitely at the house.

The memories of how they christened that bedroom still made her cunt twitch and her nipples tingle. Not to mention the emotional excitement of moving the relationship with the brothers to a more permanent situation. She’d never thought she’d find that again, and wow, here it was.

Any reservations she might have had were wiped away by both Tucker and Justin, although she still sensed a little bit of reticence in Justin. She wished she knew the cause of it so they could bring it out in the open and discuss it. It sure couldn’t be worse than her disaster with Brad and Hal.

But she’d refused to let that take the shine off the effect of the entire day. She was still amazed at what a good time she’d had at the Hallidays’. Reece and his very pregnant Katie, Liz and Alex Wright, Clint Chavez and his fiancée, Montana Steele. All had been warm and welcoming and Angel couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much or felt so comfortable. They had a long way to go, but just maybe they could make this ménage relationship work, despite all the uptight people they’d have to deal with when it came out in the open.

Still, if the guys were willing to risk it, and they had an established place in the community, who was she to be the wet blanket? Just thinking about coming home to them every night sent a blast of heated emotion through her body and made her smile even more.

“Someone looks like they had a good weekend,” Kari teased when Angel ran into her in the break room.

“It was great all right.” Angel kept her back turned as she fixed her coffee, afraid Kari would see her blushing.

“Okay,” Kari chuckled. “When you’re hiding your face I know you have details I just have to hear. Still seeing the hunky twins?”

Angel nodded and took a sip of her coffee. “Yes. Oh, Kari, I think this time it might really be it. Not like…you know…”

“Not like the two jerkoffs who didn’t know a good thing when they had it?”

“Uh huh. We had dinner with some of their friends last night, and it was wonderful to be with people where I could just relax and not worry.”

“Well, remember to keep your nose clean until you’ve got that partnership in your pocket.” Kari hugged her. “But that aside, you know I love you and want the very best happiness for you.”

Angel hugged her back, feeling truly blessed to have such a good friend.

The good feeling lasted until she booted up her computer and read the email from Ron Masterson. As she read the words, then read them again, the heat inside her turned to icy cold. Her stomach cramped, and she wanted nothing more than to throw up and hide in the corner. This had to be a mistake. Not just the email itself but the matter it referred to.

She sat staring at the screen while she tried to pull herself together. Then taking a moment to draw in a deep breath, she marched down the hall to Masterson’s office.

“I have to see him right away,” she told his secretary.

“You can just catch him before he leaves for a meeting.” The woman waved toward the office doorway.

Her boss was at his desk, head bent over something he was writing on his desk.

Angel stood rigid in front of him, trying to find the right words to say. To be professional. “I can’t work on the new case,” is what came out.

He looked up at her. “What?”

“The lawsuit you emailed me about. Engler Ranch versus Davis Feedlot. I can’t work on it.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not it. I won’t.”

Masterson sat back in his chair, his face expressionless. “I’m sure you don’t mean that, Angel. This is a pretty big lawsuit, and we were personally recommended to the client.”

“I do mean it.” She did her best to keep her voice level and even. “I’m sorry. I just have to step aside here.”

He picked up his pen and rolled it in his fingers. “I don’t think you understand, Angel. You don’t have a choice in these matters. You’re the top associate on this team. The best at what you do. When we have a case, I depend on you to be there for me as my right hand.”

“I understand that, sir, and I’m truly flattered. But there are other good junior litigators on the team,” she pointed out. “Any of them can take my place.”

“I don’t think so. You were given the transfer here from Dallas because of your skills. I specifically asked for you to lead my team. I can’t believe you’d let me down now.”

“You don’t understand. I know the people who own the feedlot. I can’t sue my friends. Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”

He was silent again. “Possibly. But that just means I can adjust your role on the team. Put someone else in second chair. You could still help with gathering the facts and handling the depositions.”

She shook her head again. “No. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”

He studied her carefully. “You know your name is at the top of the list for the next partnership slot. The partners will all be meeting about it later this month. I’d hate to see you go to the back of the line after all this time.”

Anger surged through Angel like a sour backwash. “Is that a threat of some kind?”

“Not at all.” He sat forward, dropping the pen on the desk, his voice suddenly soft and placating. “Just a reminder of something you need to think about. We all have friendships, Angel, that we sometimes have to temporarily step away from. Unless the Davis brothers are very special to you, I think that’s what you have to do here.” He gave her the patented Masterson smile. “Why don’t you take a day or two and think about it. I can parcel out some of the background work to others on the team and then we can discuss it again.”

He bent his head over his desk again, signaling that the meeting was over.

Angel wanted to pick up his letter opener and stick it in his black frozen heart. She headed back to her office in complete turmoil, her only hope being that Justin and Tucker didn’t know about this yet. That no papers had been served. Giving them advance warning would be a definite breach of client confidentiality. She had to figure some way out of this.

Yeah, right.

****

“My brother out there?” Justin asked into the phone connected to the barn.

“He’s talking to Joey about Golden Spur feed over by their herd,” the yard manager told him. “Want me to get him?”

Justin pushed back from his desk and stood up. A little exercise might help him. “No, I’ll do it myself. Thanks.”

He hung up, shut down his computer, and piled the papers scattered over his desk into a neat stack. They’d been at work since six that morning, and it was time to call it a day. Outside, he spotted Tucker in deep conversation with the worker who had prime responsibility under Tucker for the Golden Spur stock. It was hot as hell outside, and just a few minutes in the sun had sweat running down Tucker’s face and along his spine. The T-shirts both Tucker and Joey wore were already soaked through.

Sometimes I wonder if there’s a better way to make a living.

But when he looked at the undulating sea of black and brown and white hides and inhaled the heady mixture of cattle and hay, he knew there wasn’t any place else he’d rather be.

He made his way around the perimeter of the pens to the gate leading into the Golden Spur enclosure and stood waiting until Tucker was finished.

“Time to go home for the day,” he told him. “I need a break from compiling reports.”

Tucker nodded. “I could sure use a cold beer. It’s hotter than Hell out here.”

When they pulled into the parking area next to their house, they were both surprised to find Reece Halliday leaning against his truck, waiting for them.

“Come by for a drink?” Tucker asked. “I didn’t think that sweet little wife of yours let you out to play anymore.”

But Reece didn’t smile. His face was an unreadable mask.

“What’s up?” Justin asked, but the look on Reece’s face gave him a bad feeling.

They walked silently into the air-conditioned house. Reece waited until they were all seated in the family room before he spoke again. “I hope you’ve got a stock of bourbon, because you’re gonna need it after this.”

“What’s up?” Justin asked. “From the look on your face it can’t be anything good.”

Reece nodded. “I was in the bank and happened to overhear a conversation that probably wasn’t meant for my ears. I twisted an arm or two so I could verify what I heard.”

“Spit it out.” Justin’s voice was tight and harsh.

“Bart Engler’s planning on suing you.”

“What?” Tucker nearly shouted the word. “Is that true?”

“For a fact.”

“But why?” Justin wanted to know. “We’ve always taken good care of his stock.” He jumped up from his chair, shoved his hands in his pockets, and began pacing. “There must be some mistake. Maybe you heard wrong.”

“Davis Feedlot has been handling Engler Ranch cattle for more than five years,” Tucker put in. “Bart’s always seemed very happy with the results.”

Justin frowned. “Yeah, but remember we couldn’t understand why he didn’t renew his contract this year? We thought maybe he was just trimming his budget and planning to feed his cattle himself.”

“We were going to talk to him about it,” Tucker said to Reece. “But we haven’t been able to get hold of him.”

“Here’s what I know.” Reece looked from one brother to the other. “According to scuttlebutt, he’s saying his cattle sold for less than expected last year. He’s claiming they were underweight because y’all skimped on the feed. He’s planning to sue Davis Feedlot to recoup what he thinks he lost on the sale.”

“Damn.” Justin scratched his head. “Bart ought to know we’d never do a thing like that. All a feedlot’s really got going for it is its reputation.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Tucker’s face was grim. “And every year before that he made good money. But you know what happens when money gets tight. People always look for someone else to blame.”

“Meanwhile it’s our necks—and our reputations—on the line,” Justin pointed out. “Reece, we’ll never be able to thank you enough for this heads up.”

“We’ve got records to prove everything, right?” Tucker cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Justin nuts, but this wasn’t the time to bitch about it.

He nodded. “You bet. On the computer and in online backup storage. But we’re going to need legal representation when this happens. You can bet Engler won’t just want a friendly sit-down. Reece, do you know who his attorneys are?”

Reece shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but—”

“Stop.” Justin got a sick feeling in his stomach. “Don’t tell me it’s Davis and Martinez.”

Reece sighed. “Got it in one.”

“Well fucking shit,” Tucker spat. “Nice of her to tell us.”

“Time to get real, Tuck.” Justin’s voice had a hard edge to it. “You know how important her career is to her. She wants it so bad, she’ll probably just run right over us. Maybe next time you’ll listen to me.”

“You mean, your old saying ‘When something’s too good to be true, it usually is’? Maybe she doesn’t know about it yet.”

Justin hated the hopeful note in Tucker’s voice. “Hardly,” he snorted. He started to say something else, but at that precise moment, they heard gravel spinning in the drive. He looked out the window. “Well, well.” His voice was tight with anger. “Guess who’s here. And she’s running toward the house like her tail’s on fire.”

“I’ll be on my way.” Reece pushed himself out of the chair. “Call me and we can do some brainstorming about a lawyer. Sooner rather than later.” He opened the door to leave, and Angel nearly ran headlong into him.

She stared up at him, then peered over his shoulder at the inside. “Are Justin and Tucker here? I tried the office first, but when they weren’t there, I figured they’d gone home already.” Both brothers stood up as she stepped into the house. It was obvious she was nervous.

“Funny you should show up at this particular moment,” Justin commented in a tight voice.

“We have to talk.” Her voice shook just a little.

“You bet we do,” Justin said. “And right now. Reece, we’ll give you a call.”

“Justin.” Tucker’s voice carried a warning, but Justin was too angry to pay attention.

“Not this time, Tucker,” Justin spat out. “No soft pedaling or rethinking this time.” Anger and resentment and a sense of betrayal all boiled up inside him in a lethal combination.

Angel dragged in a deep breath “I have something I have to talk to you about.”