Twice the Malone by Laylah Roberts
9
Beau whistled as he got ready.
He’d already showered, put on some cologne, and filled his wallet with condoms. He’d managed to fit a dozen in there.
Would that be enough?
Hmm, maybe he should take it easy on the poor girl tonight. She was probably a bit sore. Actually, he’d kind of hoped to hear from her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent most of the day checking his phone to see if a girl contacted him.
“Bro, what’s wrong with you?” Butch snapped as Beau walked through their communal living area in the bunkhouse. “You’re so fucking happy it’s sickening.”
“Going to see my Snow again.”
“Why’re you getting caught up on a girl you spent one night with?” Tanner asked. “She must have been damn good in bed.”
Beau shot him a look. “This isn’t about the sex.”
Both of his brothers stared at him. Yeah, he got it. It had never been about anything but sex for him.
“You mean, you’re serious about her?” Tanner asked.
“You?” Butch added.
“Scarlett’s different. She’s sweet and strong and she’s the one.”
“The one? You serious?” Butch gaped at him. “You’ve known her five minutes.”
He sat to put his boots on. “She’s it.”
“Didn’t Maddox spend last night with her as well?” Tanner asked.
“He likes her too.”
“He does?” Butch looked amazed. “Didn’t think he’d be interested in another woman again after that bitch. He’s been so cold and intense since she they broke up.”
“Last night he smiled. Several times.”
Tanner whistled.
“And Scarlett wasn’t even scared off by his bossiness.”
Tanner whistled. “Brave girl.”
“Where’s Maddox then?” Butch asked. “Shouldn’t he be going with you?”
It was a good question. Beau grabbed his phone and found his brother’s contact. He hadn’t seen him since this morning. Asshole had left halfway through morning chores.
“What?” Maddox snarled through the phone. From the background noise, it sounded like he was already at the bar.
“You getting a head start already, brother?” Beau said cheerfully. “Couldn’t wait to see our girl again, huh?”
“There is no ‘our girl,’ ” Maddox replied sourly.
“What do you mean? Because she’s not there yet? It’s early still.” Although he did wonder why he hadn’t heard from her . . . nerves filled him.
“Because she used us.”
“What are you talking about?” Beau asked, that knot in his stomach growing bigger.
The background noise quietened. Maddox must have gone out of the main part. “She works for Stanson.”
“Stanson? The guy who attempted to blackmail Darren and the others into selling that piece of land?” It’s what had consumed Maddox these last several of months. Darren was an old friend and Maddox hadn’t been impressed to learn this asshole, Stanson was putting pressure on him and his friends to sell a piece of land they owned jointly at a tenth of its market price. Beau didn’t get why the guy had such a hard-on for the land. Sure, it was pretty and would be good ranching land. But it wasn’t worth the time he’d put into pressuring all those people to sell it.
“Snow works for Stanson?” That seemed one hell of a coincidence. “She didn’t say anything.”
“Of course she didn’t say anything,” Maddox snapped. “Why would she when he obviously sent her to that bar to get information from me.”
Beau shook his head and moved back to his bedroom. He sat on his bed. “Are you trying to say he sent Scarlett to spy on you?”
Scarlett, not Snow.
Because if she had done what Maddox had accused her of . . .
“But why? Did he know you were trying to stop him?”
“I wasn’t trying. I did stop him.”
“How?”
“I bought the land.”
Beau sucked in a breath. “All of it? Or just Darren’s share?”
“All of it. They all agreed to sell to me. Just settled it all this morning.”
“Shit.” That land was worth at least three million dollars. He’d bought it? “What? Why?”
“Seemed the easiest way to keep it out of Stanson’s hands. I’ve been looking into him. He’s shady as fuck. I wasn’t letting him have that land and he was offering them peanuts. They would have sold to him because of the pressure he was putting on them.”
When had Maddox become the underdog’s hero? Beau shook his head.
“You can’t think that Scarlett—”
“Don’t be naïve, Beau. That can’t be a coincidence. She went into that bar to get me into bed.”
“Did he know you bought the land?”
“Well, no, he couldn’t have. There wouldn’t have been much point in coming out here if he did. But maybe someone let slip that I was trying to get them all to agree to sell to me. Maybe they told him that I made them an offer. She used us, Beau. And she’s gone. I checked. They left the hotel. She’s not coming here. The fact that I told her what he’s like and she didn’t even flinch tells me everything. I told her to leave and forget us.”
“You told her what? You had no right!” He jumped off the bed.
“I had every right.”
“I might let you take control in the bedroom, Maddox, because I know that’s what you need. But you are not the boss of me. I have the right to make my own decisions. You didn’t have any right to tell her to forget about me.”
“You can’t want her now!”
“I’d like to hear her side of it.” Because things didn’t feel right. Had Stanson found out that Maddox was working against him?
“Face it, Beau. You like to see the best in people. She’d spin you some bullshit and you’d fall for it. I was just saving you from getting hurt.”
Too angry to reply, he ended the call. Then in a fit of rage, he turned and threw his phone against the wall.
Fuck. Shit.
He stomped on it for good measure. Childish, maybe. And he didn’t really feel any better.
Chest heaving, he sat on the bed and rested his head in his hands. Maddox had no right to pull that overbearing shit on him.
But . . . she’d left. She’d ignored Maddox’s warning about her boss.
She hadn’t texted or called.
Fuck. Fuck. He hated to admit it, but maybe Maddox was right.
But damn. It hurt.
“Want to go fuck things up?” Tanner asked from the doorway, looking from him to the smashed phone. He’d obviously heard enough to deduce what had happened.
“Hell, yes. Let’s make the vein on Alec’s forehead bulge.”
“That’s the attitude, brother. Don’t worry, plenty more chicks out there.”
And he’d make sure that he didn’t foolishly fall for any of them.
