Anita's Triple Temptation [Men of Montana 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (5 page)

Shaking his head, Dave smiled back. “No. No hard feelings.”

With a quick nod of his head, the doctor turned and stepped through the curtain into the hall. Dave watched him leave and stood watching as if he could still see him, his mind racing. As if the others could read his mind, both Kevin and James spoke in unison. “Don’t do it, Dave.”

Kevin stepped forward, letting go of Anita’s hands. Raising a hand, he laid it on Dave’s shoulder. “Think of Anita. Don’t do anything you’ll regret or get in trouble for. We all need to be there for her, to protect her.”

Sighing, Dave nodded his understanding, though he didn’t agree with it. He had to protect his woman, but then, protecting was the key word. Threatening Virgil would protect her, possibly.

Taking a deep breath, he turned with a smile on his face to Anita. She watched him through her good eye, concern etched on her swollen face. He watched as she lifted her left hand up to him. Moving closer to the side of the bed, he accepted the gesture, slipping his large tanned hand into her smaller dainty one. Leaning over, Dave gently touched his lips to her swollen ones before pulling away slightly and smiling at her.

Her lips twitched momentarily, trying to smile before the pain seemed to take over. His heart broke when he saw the strike of pain hit her but he tried to keep the smile on his face. They had to be brave for their woman, to let her know they would be there for her always.

Before he could glance around for a chair, Kevin pushed the short stool over to him so he could sit down. The other two men huddled around Anita, Kevin taking a place on the bed next to her hip while James took the chair near the head of the bed.

Anita watched each of them, one at a time for a few minutes before moving on to the next. Dave noticed she had to move her head when she looked over at him and that she winced at the movement. He hated that look on her face when it happened, but he hated that she looked as bad as she did right now.

* * * *

Nearly an hour later two orderlies along with the nurse came into the curtained area, causing it to feel claustrophobic. The three cowboys stood as manners dictated when the nurse entered and she blushed at the gesture.

“We’re going to move Mrs. Cummings to her room now,” the nurse explained as she glanced at the three men. “You can follow us up there, but when we get her to the room, y’all will need to wait in the waiting room until we get her all setup.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they all said in unison.

James picked up the plastic bag that held Anita’s belongings and the three men stepped out of the curtained area. Standing in the hallway, they each nervously held their hats in their hands waited for their woman to be moved.

Movement at the end of the hallway caught all three men’s attention. Two men were exiting a curtained area and a growl emanated from all three.

One of the men looked about fifty years old and dressed in a suit and tie. He held the curtain open for the second man as if he were a man of importance. A cocky attitude emanated around the man. Virgil stepped out, black ringing both of his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. The dark stain on his shirt testified to the blood that had been spilled in the breaking of his nose, causing him to look a little less threatening.

His pompous stance as he caught sight of the three muscular cowboys standing in his way to the exit was quite amusing to the trio. If Virgil only knew what he actually looked like, he would most likely hide his face behind his coat lapel and run off.

* * * *

Virgil knew he had seen the men before. Making his brain work was hurting him since his face ache, but he was trying to search his memory for where he had seen them. Marlin Jenkins stood to his left, eyeing him curiously. The man tugged on his sleeve, trying to dislodge him from the spot he was frozen to as he saw the anger in the three men’s eyes.

The scrapping of the curtain to one of the ER bays caught his attention and he watched, dumbfounded as two orderlies on opposite ends of a gurney exited. A nurse followed, nodding to the three men before following the path the orderlies took with the woman in the bed.

Virgil caught a quick glimpse of the woman and realization hit him as if he’d been struck. He had seen the three men at the funeral for Craig Cummings, and again earlier before he passed out at the Tipsy Tavern. It was the last thing he saw through the red-laced haze from lack of breath. The woman on the gurney had to be Anita.

He swallowed hard as he glanced back at the Circle G cowboys who were now all staring at him. Clarity hit him again when he realized that one of these three men had been the one to break his nose. Two emotions washed over him at that moment. The first was anger as he stood there with a broken nose, and the second was fear as all three men were now glaring at him. The older man of the three had murder written upon his face and Virgil took a step backward as Dave took a step toward him. Letting his lawyer stand before him, he did what he usually did. Hide beyond those less important than him.

The other two men of the intimate group stepped forward and placed a hand on Dave’s shoulders. Just the gesture seemed to calm the angry man. As he looked between the two men and the looks they gave him, Virgil knew he had been saved a beating, at least for now.

The trio turned in unison, but not before the middle man spoke two words. “Lucky bastard.”

The three moved away from him and followed the nurse and the moving bed out of the ER. It wasn’t until the double metal doors swung shut and remained still that Virgil finally took a breath. Marlin looked him over, eyebrow raised above one brown eye. Speculation read over his perspiring, ruddy, plump face.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, Jenkins,” Virgil said, exasperation lining his voice. “They can’t touch me.”

Marlin didn’t speak, just shook his head. Virgil knew the man was getting tired of dealing with him, but with the amount of money he was paying him, the man knew to keep his mouth shut. When the lawyer walked away, going the same path as the others to exit the ER, Virgil silently followed him. Once out the double metal doors, they headed out to the parking lot, leaving the woman he wanted behind along with the three men he knew wanted to hurt him.

* * * *

Upon instructions from the nurse, the three cowboys paced the lobby of the third floor of the hospital. They were told to wait there while she made Anita comfortable and set up all the vital equipment. It was easier to perform her duties when no one else was in the room.

RN Barbara Asher knew the men were pacing out in the lobby, worried over their woman here in the room with her. The rumors of the relationships budding in and around Polson were beginning to circulate and she now understood the concern of the three men. Guilt had plagued her since she had practically accused them of being the ones to hurt Anita.

Nurse Asher felt as if she had the proverbial foot-in-mouth disease. Open mouth, insert foot. Yep, that was her. One of these days she hoped she could overcome that problem, but for now, she would help nurse the woman back to health.

Finishing the prep work needed as she settled Anita in, Nurse Asher patted the woman’s arm. “I’ll send your men in to you right away. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to hit the button for help.”

Anita nodded before turning her head as if to go to sleep. The nurse knew very well that she would pretend to be asleep once the men arrived out of shame of her appearance. She had been in this same position herself several years previously and she had shut out the person most important to her at that time.

Going to the door, she glanced back once more before going out to the lobby. As she entered the large room, she kept her voice down as not to disturb any of the other occupants of the area. “Thank you for waiting out here. Anita is resting now and we would like to see her get some sleep. I know you will insist on staying with her, which I will look the other way on, but make sure she sleeps.”

“We will, ma’am,” James drawled.

“Thank you for your help this evening, ma’am,” Kevin said, a tight smile on his face.

Dave could only nod his gratitude as he was trying to keep a tight rein on his emotions. As the three men turned to head toward Anita’s room, Nurse Asher spoke, again quietly. “May I offer a piece of advice?”

Dave nodded as they all stopped.

“I know I might be speaking out of turn here, but she is going to retreat into herself. She has already begun. I have been in her situation before and she has already shown the signs. She will be asleep when you get in there,” she said softly, putting up air quotes around the word asleep.

Anger crept further into the men as it was already apparent that Anita had been trying to push them away, and now she would go even further. Dave practically growled at the announcement, causing Nurse Asher to back up slightly.

“I don’t mean to upset you or betray Anita, but I was in a bad accident a couple years ago. My face was cut up pretty badly from hitting the windshield,” she explained, moving aside the hair that hung down on the right side of her face. Small scars peppered several inches in from her hairline from the top of her face down past her chin. “There are more on my scalp. I’ve had to have Lasik surgery on my eye as there was damage to that also. I pushed away my boyfriend at the time because I felt as if I wasn’t pretty enough for him.”

“I’m sorry about that, ma’am. You look beautiful and he must not have been much of a man if he let you push him away. We won’t let that happen with Anita.” Kevin spoke strongly and with conviction. “Thank you for looking out for her and we hope you find the happiness you deserve.”

Letting her hair fall back to cover her imperfections, Nurse Asher blushed at the man’s politeness. “Thank you. I’ll leave you guys alone for a while. At the change of shift in the morning, you will have to leave while it takes place and then you can go back in.”

Three heads nodded in unison before they headed to the room that housed Anita. Nurse Asher watched as they strode down the hallway. She, as with every conscious woman in the vicinity that had a pulse, watched with interest as they moved. Living, walking, virile hunks. Damn! Why couldn’t she find men like them?

* * * *

The sound of the door creaking as it opened briefly and then closing again signaled the arrival of her shame. Closing her eyes quickly, Anita pretended to sleep. She didn’t want to have to be looking at the three handsome faces of the men who had haunted her every dream for the past several months. She didn’t want to have to answer to them as to why she was working in that bar, even though she was providing the income needed to care for her children.

Though she tried to prevent them from spilling, tears trickled from her eyes, even the swollen one. Let them fall, she thought. They would think she was crying in her sleep.

Three sets of booted footfalls came closer, separating at the end of the bed, two to one side and one to the other. A sigh emanated from one of the men to her left as fingers gently pushed her hair from her face. A hand slid across the thin blanket and stopped on her right thigh while the same procedure was mirrored on her left.

Anita attempted to remain still, keeping her breathing steady, but it was hard as those hands made her hot under the blanket. Begging her mind not to react, she lay there listening.

“Look at that, boys,” Dave said, his mouth so near her ear she felt his hot breath. “Our woman is pretending to be asleep.” He was to her left and he was the one who had moved her hair.

“Well, that’s not a very good girl then.” James chuckled softly to her right. His hand moved slowly up her thigh. His left hand slipped into hers since it was lying on top of the blanket. “I’m sure our lovely Anita wouldn’t do that. I’m sure she would gladly greet the three men who would do anything for her, such as protect her and love her.”

Upon the touch of James’s hand, Anita cried out in pain. He had forgotten, as had she that it was the hand that Virgil had held on to with a death grip before she had lost consciousness. James jerked away from her, ashamed that he had hurt her.

“Oh, jeez, Anita, I’m sorry,” he said, his hand disappearing from her thigh, also. When she opened her eyes, she was looking up into the turquoise eyes she had come to love in the past few months. They were pained, emotionally drained.

“No, it was my fault,” she whispered before closing her eyes again. Shame consumed her as thoughts swam through her brain as to why she wasn’t good enough for them. Tears still slid from her eyes, which she couldn’t seem to stop as she willed these three gorgeous men to leave.

The silence was deafening in the room as she waited. Even though she loved the attention they gave her and her children, she knew she couldn’t allow them to burden themselves with her and her problems.

There was no movement. There was no sound except for the slight sound of breathing. She was aware of their presence still in the room, mainly because a hand remained on her left thigh and the heat there was overwhelming. Her pussy quivered involuntarily and she had to hold back the moan that was threatening to escape her lips.

A short hot breath passed over her left ear, her hair fluttering along with it as the words emerged in a whisper along with it. “We are not leaving, Anita. You belong to us and you will not be getting rid of us, so you can forget that. Open your eyes, sweetheart. Look at us.”