Espino, Stacey - Her Cowboy Triple Team [Ride 'em Hard 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (20 page)

They did seem to have everything together lately, a nice routine of work and pleasure. But he must have missed something. Was Kayla actually feeling depressed and unworthy the entire time? He truly believed she’d changed, accepted the fact all three of them adored her figure and wanted her unconditionally. Maybe they should have solidified things more, come out to Clay, and moved her out of her apartment. But to where?

“Maybe she left because we keep bickering about where she should live. Ever think of that?”

“It makes more sense for her to move here. Our house and property are bigger, and our parents will probably be moving south full-time. You still have Matthew and your parents living at home.”
Austin
tried to be the voice of reason, but he just confirmed the fact that they argued over living arrangements way too frequently. No wonder Kayla wanted to escape and start her own life.

“No worries now,
Austin
. She’s gone.”

“The hell with that,” blurted Ben. “Where’s she at? I’m going to get her and bring her home.”

He liked his friend’s spark, the determined drive to grasp what he cared for. Grant had the same urge to board his truck and drive to St. Albert without even stopping for a break. But they had to think things through. If they made the wrong move again, they’d just scare her off more.

“Calm down, Romeo,” said Grant. “Makes no sense to go looking for her when things will be the same when we get her home. Where she going to live full-time?”

“Wherever she wants,” said
Austin
. “But we have to all be together like a family. If we break apart, the whole relationship is bound to come crumbling down, too.”

“We can worry about the details later. Do you know the kind of riffraff that hang around the big rodeos? The thought of one of those drifters coming on to my woman makes me see red.” Ben’s jaw visibly clenched, and Grant knew exactly how he felt. Kayla was beautiful, soft-spoken, and very alone. If they didn’t hurry up and get her, the city would eat her alive.

Chapter Sixteen

Kayla squeezed through the throng of people gathered around the entrance to the agriculture building. She had met with Clay’s first client yesterday and was supposed to meet the second today to get papers signed.

When Clay had mentioned his need to travel down to the rodeo, she didn’t hesitate in offering to take his place. Angel didn’t want him to go, and Kayla needed some time to herself to piece her life together. She’d been at the diner the other day having a coffee in a private booth when she overheard a few of the town women talking. They mustn’t have seen her sitting in the far corner or known who she was, because they began gossiping about the
Richmond
boys being roped in by an older woman. The conversation was anything but pleasant. Kayla had slunk out of the diner and had been thinking ever since.

She found Mr. Benson where they agreed to meet. He was a nice-looking mature man, but when she tried to decipher his age, she realized he was probably only a few years older than she. The gossips were right. She did like younger men, her men. They were fresh, hard-muscled, tireless sex machines. How could she not want them?

Once her business dealings were done, she drove out of the congested traffic near the main events and parked on the side of the road. She wanted more than anything to turn Clay’s truck around and go home, home to Grant, Austin, and Ben. But how long would they play house? Besides their private time together, she still lived in her apartment, and nobody knew they were even together. It was a big, dirty secret, and now she wondered if her cowboys were either ashamed or not ready to face another backlash by their neighbors. They were still dealing with the GE seed disaster, so adding fuel to the gossip probably terrified them.

The thunder overhead crackled, making her jump. She wouldn’t go home today regardless. Driving the long prairie roads in a rain storm would terrify her. Maybe tomorrow she’d head back, if the weather cleared up. She had to face her demons, not run from them. Just as Grant had repeatedly told her, they were with her because they wanted to be. They certainly appeared to genuinely like her body, judging from the way they couldn’t get enough of her. Each man was always ready for sex or eager to suck her cunt no matter where they were. She adored them and wished she could stomp out her insecurities and just savor their life together.

* * * *

“There’s only one hired hand on the ranch, and that storm’s about to hit,” said
Austin
as Grant drove them past the town limits. “We should have called someone else to help out.”

“Do you want me to turn around?” asked Grant.

That shut him up.
Austin
was just worried about everything that was going on in his life and felt out of control. He was used to having order, being the responsible one. Kayla was his anchor, and now she was missing. Just like when he feared asking her out when she worked at the feed store, waiting too long to make his move, he hadn’t done enough now. Why hadn’t he taken her riding like he planned? Why hadn’t they had their picnic during the week rather than waiting for the weekend? He wanted to go back in time and do things right, make more of an effort to show Kayla she meant the world to him.

He’d never seen Ben so content and peaceful in years. Even his music took on a livelier rhythm, reflecting the changes in his life, all thanks to Kayla. Rather than fighting and tolerating each other, Austin and Ben were brothers again. Their priorities had shifted, giving their lives more meaning. Even daily duties around the farm went by faster, and weren’t so dreary. He wanted their woman back as much for him as his brother.

After driving for over an hour without a pit stop, they entered the chaos of St. Albert in the peak of their annual rodeo. It wasn’t nearly as big as the Calgary Stampede, but it did bring in its fair share of spectators.

“The last time I was here was when I watched Wyatt compete on the broncs. That was a long time ago,” said Grant. He drove around in circles. There was no parking to be found. Where would they even start looking?

“Look at this shit,” Ben complained. “How we supposed to find Kayla in these crowds? It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“We’ll head to the main event and take a look around. We probably should have asked Clay if he knew where she was staying before driving down here.” Grant parked half a mile up the dirt road leading out of town. Horse trailers and mobile homes lined the roads as they walked back. Families barbequed despite the threat of inclement weather.

The laughter and music made
Austin
yearn for the love and security of his own family. Fuck the GE seed. He’d rather lose everything than estrange Grant and Kayla. What good would all the money in the world do without a woman to love and the respect of his peers?

The three of them were dressed in their work clothes.
Austin
still wore his dusty Wranglers, chaps, and spurs. He’d been rounding up and securing cattle when Grant showed up. They’d fit right in, probably mistaken for drifters participating in the events. They pushed their way through the groups of people.

“Hey, you see a fine woman with big—”

Austin
elbowed Ben before he could finish. They kept walking. “Are you dense? Just keep your eyes peeled.”

He didn’t recognize anyone, which made him feel out of sorts. Back home he knew everyone, even if many now turned their backs on him because of his choices. It was the first year his father left him in charge of the ranch, officially turning over the reins. Since the bitch of a crop, he had to make an executive decision for the future of their family business. It seemed like a godsend when the rep for the GE seed company came by promising to remedy everything that kept him up at night. After the fallout with his friends and neighbors, he began to reconsider the wisdom of his choice, especially after talking man-to-man with Grant recently. But contracts had been signed, money been paid. Could he even back out now if he wanted to?

As they toured the events, the building, and the common areas,
Austin
realized they wouldn’t find Kayla. Their spur-of-the-moment plan was orchestrated by men thinking with their hearts, not their heads.

They’d been in St. Albert for almost two hours when they stopped searching. “We’ll grab a bite to eat at a diner and I’ll give Clay a phone call,” said Grant. “I ain’t going home without her. If you guys need to get back, take my truck.”

“You think I’ll let you be the knight in shining armor?” said Ben. “We’ll find her together.”

They leaned against an outbuilding near the main road to regroup. It was dark for the hour due to the heavy cloud cover.

“Shit! Look!”
Austin
ran out into the road, waving his arms in the air as Clay’s distinctive truck drove by. Cars braked, honked, and weaved around him. “It’s Kayla. She’s leaving.”

“Will you look at that,” said Grant before he started racing down the side of the road toward their ride with Ben.

Austin
was still standing in the middle of the street, watching Kayla’s tailgate disappear from sight. A loud car horn honking brought him back to the present. He stumbled back to the gravel shoulder, still wondering where she was heading and if they’d be able to catch up with her. There were dozens of places she could be staying—motels, bed-and-breakfasts, friends, rooming houses opened up for the rodeo. If they didn’t catch her, they’d have to find a place to sleep or head home. With the determination of Kayla’s other two lovers, he wouldn’t be surprised if they spent half the night canvassing every possible place on foot.

* * * *

Kayla planned to return to her hotel room after her last meeting. The storm had already started farther north toward home, and she’d meet it if she left now. But she couldn’t wait. As much as she knew it would be safest to wait out the bad weather, she had to return to Grant, Austin, and Ben.

She’d had a few days to reflect, sort through her insecurities, and ponder the future. Even if her men thought she was a bit too old or had a few too many extra pounds, at least they wanted her despite it. Kayla could settle for that, because if she had to go on for the rest of her life alone, it would destroy her. She’d had a taste of paradise and couldn’t go back to her old ways now. Even in just a few short weeks, a bond existed between all of them, and it would only continue to grow and strengthen with time.

It was time to stop feeling sorry for herself and claim the cowboys who starred in her fantasies. They still had so much to experience, so much to learn about each other.

With her small suitcase already in the backseat of the quad cab, Kayla hit the main road.

She hoped Clay had delivered her message and that the guys weren’t mad at her for leaving on the business trip without telling them face-to-face. But she’d had a taste of freedom, the city, independence, and it was nothing in comparison to love and roots. All she wanted to do was get home and cuddle up to those hard-muscled cowboys in front of a crackling fire. Maybe she’d make some hot chocolate. She smiled as she reminisced on their many nights together. If she drove straight without stopping, she may be watching the flames in the hearth tonight.

About an hour outside of St. Albert, so close to home, the rain was coming down in buckets and there were no streetlights or other car lights in sight. Her wipers were on maximum and still providing little help in clearing the windshield. Kayla had no choice but to pull over to the soft shoulder to wait out the worst of it. In the prairies, storms had a tendency to either pass through in the blink of an eye or linger for days. She hoped it wasn’t the latter, because sleeping in the cramped truck with nothing to eat and no security whatsoever was not appealing.

The rain pelted the metal roof of the cab, creating a static hush. She began to drift, comforted by sweet memories and dreams of the future. Then an obscenely loud rap on the driver’s-side window had her screaming and leaping to the center of the bench seat. She blindly sought out the keys hanging in the ignition, but her fingers were trembling so badly they fell to the floor. With no natural light left on the horizon she couldn’t even see them.

The banging continued. Would the maniac attempt to break her window? She wanted to cry, but adrenaline was pumping too forcibly through her veins to give up. The muffled male voice began to call out her name. When a lighter flicked on just outside the window, she screamed again when she saw the horribly shadowed face light up. But when she glanced again she saw it was Ben. Ben Richmond, the man she assumed was tucked up nice and dry at his ranch, not standing out in the rain far from home.

She unlocked the door, and it immediately swung open, the interior lights providing much-needed illumination. “Where on earth were you heading, baby? There’s nothing but prairie and a devil of a storm the way you’re going.”

Grant and Austin were crowded up next to him, water streaming off their hats. Their shirts were soaked and clinging to muscle upon muscle. Screw the fact she was older than them. If they wanted her, she planned on keeping them, savoring them, and loving them until the end of her days.

“I’m going to the only place in the world I want to be—home.”
Home.
The word never really carried much significance after her parents died. She and Clay never stopped long enough to care about one place over another. But since she began her ménage relationship, she finally felt like she’d found her place. She supposed the reason she was so insecure was the fact she’d never been happier. Kayla was terrified to lose the new happiness she’d gained.