Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (2 page)

BOOK: Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
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“Where the hell is she?” James questioned, running his hand through red hair, though he didn’t expect the other two to answer. “She’s usually home this time of night.”

The three cowboys from the Circle G stood outside the apartment of Anita Cummings. The blinds were closed and there didn’t seem to be any light or noise coming from the apartment. At seven-thirty, the kids would still be up and they knew Anita would stay up until at least ten o’clock.

“I knew we should have called,” David put out there, leaning up against the doorjamb. “Perhaps they are at her mother’s?”

Something just didn’t seem right to James. All the time they had been spending with Anita and the kids and all of a sudden she didn’t want them coming around for a while. He had to wonder if she skipped out on them, but then her parents lived here and she wouldn’t leave them.

“She is usually home at this time to put the kids to bed. They do have school tomorrow,” he said with a bit of sarcasm. When he realized how it sounded, he looked at his two best friends. “Sorry.”

“No problem,” Kevin said softly. “We are all worried at this point.”

The door to the apartment next to Anita’s opened slightly, light illuminating the porch. A head popped out, covered in gray hair with a frightened look on the woman’s face. A tiny slip of a woman, she looked up and up and up until she finally saw who was at Anita’s door, obviously not expecting to see three tall cowboys. “She’s not home. Try the Tipsy Tavern on the south side of town, off the highway. She’s out there most nights now.”

All three men tipped their Stetsons at the woman. A smile appeared on her wrinkled face at the gesture. “Polite men,” she said sweetly as she closed her door. The deadbolt could be heard first, then the slide of another lock, and then the distinct sound of a chain being pulled. The three men smiled at the woman’s distrust of humanity.

Then, as quick as the smiles came, they disappeared. “The Tipsy Tavern?” David practically spat. “What the hell is she doing out there?”

James was already heading for the pickup. “Let’s find out!”

The three cowboys piled into James’s dark blue F-250 and headed down to the south of Kalispell.

 

* * * *

 

A new band was playing tonight so the tavern was packed. Anita’s feet were aching in the cowboy boots the manager insisted all the waitresses wear. They were fine to wear sometimes but not for eight hours of being on one’s feet, running around all night. Along with the boots, there were the small daisy dukes they wore. The top was a button-down shirt left unbuttoned to just between the breasts and then tied in a knot under them. She wasn’t used to showing everyone her wares, but she needed the job and it was the only one she could find that she was qualified for.

She waited at the bar for her order of five beers for a group of rowdy cowboys that kept trying to pinch her ass while she took their orders. She thought about her cowboys, but she knew they would never be so rude to a woman.
Her
cowboys? Where had that come from?

It had been a month since she had seen them. They had been busy on the ranch and when they had wanted to come visit her, she had to tell them she was busy with school stuff so they wouldn’t know she was working, or where. She knew they would be quite upset if they found out, especially since they kept telling her she would have nothing to worry about if she would let them take care of her and the boys. They had even promised no sex until she was ready for it. She couldn’t do that to three strapping virile men such as them. She couldn’t ground them like that.

“Sweetie,” the bartender said a second time to get her attention. Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed the bottles neatly placed on her tray. “Sorry, Ray. My thoughts are somewhere else, I guess.”

“No problem.” The handsome man behind the counter winked at her. “Just stay on your toes tonight. I feel something in the air.”

Nodding, she pasted on a smile, turned, and headed to the table of rowdy men she was serving. Arriving at the round table near the stage, a cheer went up from all five men as they grabbed their refreshment. One man, about thirty-five, with a large muscular frame and slicked-back black hair, threw a fifty onto her tray, and shouted over the band, “Keep the change, lover. Come back in a bit and there’ll be more of that for you.”

Smiling, she nodded before turning to deal with another table. Shoving the money in her pocket, she took the next table’s order. They were more polite but she also knew she wouldn’t get a twenty-dollar tip from them either. They looked like skiers, a group of six, just out looking for something to do. Three men and three women, still in parkas and ski boots, were anxious to get to drinking.

For the next hour and a half, Anita rushed from here to there and every place in between taking orders and delivering them. The table with the rowdy cowboys was helping her pay the rent that month by the amount they were drinking and tipping. She was surprised they had so much money to spend, but then if they lived where they worked, they’d be able to spend it liberally.

Finally telling the guys she had to take a break, she disappointed them after explaining that the manager didn’t let the patrons in the back where the waitresses could sit in peace and quiet for a bit. She promised to come back when she was off her break to check on them and see how they were doing.

Stepping into the kitchen area where the aroma of food was enticing, she grabbed a plate of fries and headed to the back where a table and chairs sat. Plopping herself into one of the chairs, she began eating. She hadn’t eaten since lunch as there were only enough ramen noodles for the boys for dinner. At least now she would have some money for groceries the next day.

Embarrassment overtook her when she realized she had scarfed down the plate of fries in five minutes. Well, at least that left her ten more minutes on her break. Walking out of the break area, she made her way to the restroom. Ducking into a stall, she took care of business and then went to wash her hands. After that, she touched up her lipstick as she listened to a couple of women talking about a bar patron.

“Did you see the looks of him?” one woman gushed. “He looks so dreamy.”

“And did you see what he was driving?” the other woman asked dreamily. “That means he has money. I wouldn’t mind hitting on that.”

“Not if I get him first.” The first one laughed. Then turning coyly to her friend, she said, brushing her hand along the woman’s breast, “But then, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve shared.”

Both women laughed as they left the restroom, leaving Anita shaking her head. She had seen just about everything working here in the past month. She had seen women making out in the bathroom. She had gone to clean the men’s room one night and found a man fucking a woman as she sat on the counter. They had both just looked at her, smiled, and then went back to their fun. In the back she had found the busboy giving a blowjob to a bar patron, not that it was a problem.

She just knew that she would mind her own business, work, and make a living to support her and her kids. Perhaps during the next school semester she could take some classes and get a proper education that would provide a job other than waitressing.

Stepping out of the restroom, she retrieved her tray from Ray at the bar. His hazel eyes were scanning the room although everything seemed pretty normal for the night. Anita knew he had a sixth sense about trouble. She had seen it firsthand a few weeks prior. He had a feeling and an hour later a group of cowboys began to scuffle amongst themselves. Before the bouncer could get to the table, fists were flying and a waitress had been hit inadvertently in the face. Nothing had been broken but blood flowed freely from her nose for a while and an unsightly bruise rose up on her cheek. In fact, she was still out and that’s why the waitresses were extra busy tonight.

Letting her own gaze sift through the room, she saw the two women from the restroom standing by one of the booths near the back. She could tell by their movements they were flirting with the man, probably coyly playing with their hair and providing shy smiles. She remembered those moves from when she had first started flirting with Craig back in high school.

Shaking her head to scatter the cobwebs of the past, she turned to go about her business when one of the waitresses, Candy, stopped her. “Table twenty-eight has asked for you specifically, honey. I told him you’d be right with him.”

“Thanks,” Anita smiled. Odd. That’s the table those two women were throwing themselves all over. She hadn’t made any regulars yet, but perhaps this was her first one. Shrugging to herself, she made her way over to the table.

Making her way around the two women who were still intrigued by the customer, she stood next to the table. “Hi! What can I get for you tonight?”

Looking up at the man, her heart jumped in her throat and her skin began to crawl. Virgil Cantrell sat in the booth looking up at her smugly. “Hello, Anita. How are you today?”

Not caring about niceties at the moment, she looked at the women still standing next to the booth with shock on their faces, that a man as good looking as Virgil would even know a waitress’s name. Stepping away, Anita said as she passed them, “You two can have the snake.”

The women giggled but quick as a flash Virgil was up out of the booth and his hand grasped Anita’s wrist tightly, pulling her back to him. Spinning her around, he forced her to look up at him, his free hand under her chin.

“Is that any way to treat a customer, Anita?” he said to her.

“The ones I don’t like,” she answered quietly for she could tell the tables were quieting down around them. She wasn’t certain if it was just her imagination or if it was truly happening. The two women were glaring at her as if they couldn’t believe someone could not like the Adonis before them.

“Now, Anita. I have not given you any reason not to like me,” he said smugly. “Why don’t you get us both a shot of whiskey and we’ll talk this out?”

“I don’t drink, Mr. Cantrell,” she said smugly. “And even if I did, I would not drink with the likes of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have real customers to wait on.”

A chuckle emanated from the handsome man. “Ah, yes. Your new job, as a barmaid. Dressed like a hooker, asking every man here to fuck you. Tell me. Have you fucked any of them?” His voice drawled with the question.

The thought had barely registered in her brain when her hand moved. The palm of her hand on his cheek seemed to echo in the bar. Trying to turn away from him, she realized his hand still had her wrist trapped.

Anger snapping in his dark eyes, he raised his arm and swung, his fist colliding with her face, once, then twice. He still held her wrist so he pulled her back each time from the impact for more. “Bitch! How dare you turn away from me?”

One more upswing of his arm and Anita was cowering, waiting for it to come down again. When it didn’t, she looked up as best she could from the swelling that had already begun. She saw his fist was being held in the air by someone else’s hand. His neck was being held by a muscular arm that belonged to a body behind his, though she couldn’t see who it was.

“What the hell is going on here?”

The voice was recognizable even though she couldn’t see who it belonged to. She didn’t know if the people were restraining Virgil or not as the world began to spin around. Dark spots seemed to have invaded her vision and the last thing she remembered as the darkness overtook her was two strong arms trying to keep her up.

Chapter Two

 

When they had arrived at the Tipsy Tavern, the parking lot was full of various types of vehicles, from beat-up old sedans and pickups to sports cars and a few Mercedes. Not abiding by the signs posted in the parking lot, James pulled his truck up to the front door and parked there, the red-zone being ignored.

The three men barreled out, slamming the doors behind them and pushed their way in the entrance. The bouncer, a large, bald, African-American man, was about to say something to them when a waitress came running up to him from the inside and grabbed at the tree trunk that was his upper arm.

“Wayne! Come!” she demanded, not waiting for a response from him. Turning on his heel, he made his way inside, pushing through the crowd. While some were still listening to the band, others were trying to see what the ruckus was going on further back.

James, Kevin, and Dave followed the man for at least the path had been cleared for them. When Dave heard someone say Anita’s name and it came from the direction they were headed, ice water hit his veins. Then the sound of flesh striking flesh made his feet move faster.

James and Kevin were right behind him as the crowd seemed to close in on the path the bouncer had made when he had moved through. Pushing his own way through the throng of people, Dave finally came out into an opening where he found the bouncer, Wayne, with a choke hold around Virgil, one cowboy holding his fist, and Virgil holding onto a woman’s wrist.

At first glance, it seemed as if the two men had broken up a lover’s spat. Until James moved around and got a good look at Anita, his face flushed with anger, the color nearing the same as his hair.

Dave’s face went hot with his anger. He took in the whole scenario quickly before demanding, “What the hell is going on here?”

As he said the words, he could see how lax Anita’s body was and he reached out to hold on to her. The man in question weakened from the choke hold the bouncer had on him, causing his hold on Anita’s wrist to loosen and she collapsed into the strong arms of one of her men.

BOOK: Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
7.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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