Fighting for Hazel [The Men of Treasure Cove 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “I’m sorry that your new dress was ruined, sweetheart. I’ll buy you another one. Please don’t be mad at us. We honestly didn’t stand you up. We intended to take you to dinner tonight. We just forgot to call you.”

  “Neil, I understand that something happened and you were needed. I get that. However, common courtesy dictates you should have called me and not have left me waiting for three hours.”

  “We didn’t think it was going to take this long. This place is packed, and everyone keeps shuffling from room to room. It’s like a friggin’ circus in here!”

  “Tell me about it,” she mumbled.

  “Please don’t be angry with us. Please trust us. We only want to be with you. We were just helping a friend out, nothing more.”

  Sighing, Hazel was about to let everything go when the door burst open and in stumbled Steven, laughing with a large, bleached-blonde bimbo in his arms. She wore nothing but a bright, neon-green thong, and Steven’s hands were holding her fake double D boobs as she rubbed her ass into his crotch.

  “You were saying about trust?” she asked, turning to Neil, who sighed and slowly closed his eyes as if he was in pain. Hazel knew that Neil would never betray her. The wild streak that was in Steven always kept her from fully giving herself to the brothers, and now, looking at him with that woman in his arms, she knew she had made the right decision.

  Rising up on the tips of her toes, she leaned over and kissed Neil on his cheek. “I can find my own way home.”

  As she turned to walk way, Neil gently grabbed her hand. “Please, Hazel, I love you.”

  She hated what this was doing to Neil. He didn’t deserve to be cast aside because his horndog brother couldn’t keep his hands to himself, but Hazel wasn’t going to come between the brothers. They were a package deal, and no matter how much she loved Neil, she couldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering if Steven would stay true to her.

  No, she had to end this now before she got in too deep.

  Sighing, she mouthed, “Good-bye,” and walked out the door.

  * * * *

  The wedding reception…three months later.

  Neil Conner knew that Hazel had busted her ass preparing all the delicious treats for Charlotte and Antoinette’s wedding reception. Hell, just looking at the table was giving him a toothache. He had offered his services when her regular delivery boy had been unable to help. Though he technically had to talk her into it, she finally relented. She had handed him pies, cookies, Danishes, and even crumpets to carry into the reception hall, and he never complained, but when she tried lifting the wedding cakes, he put his foot down. Listening as she gave explicit instructions, he did as she directed to the letter.

  Now with the tables set, and kids and adults drooling to get their hands on the sweet treats, he stood beside her and admired all of her hard work. “You outdid yourself, Hazel.”

  “Thanks. It was fun. I just hope everyone likes it.”

  “Hell, woman, I expect sugar highs and diabetic comas to plague everyone tonight.”

  “You don’t think it’s too much, do you?”

  “Hazel, stop. It’s perfect! It’s just what Charlotte ordered. The girls are going to love it.”

  He smiled when she sighed and nodded. His little bakery owner was something else. She was beautiful and shy, but with a nasty temper that would make Genghis Khan run screaming back to Mongolia for his momma.

  Damn, he loved this woman.

  It had only been a couple of months since the disaster at the McDaniel party, and she still hadn’t forgiven Steven. When he mentioned his brother’s name in front of her, her face would blanch and then redden. He knew she wasn’t going to forgive him until she was damn good and ready.

  His brother had fucked up royally. Of course, his brother hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but that was not what Hazel saw. Since he was standing next to her and witnessed the same damn thing, he could admit that it did look bad. However, he knew Steven, and after getting the other side of the story, he felt bad for his older brother. As always, Steven was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Only this time, it was biting him in the balls.

  The moment Hazel Montgomery moved to Treasure Cove, and he and his brother had laid eyes on the gorgeous redhead, they fell in love. The only problem was that she wanted nothing to do with them. She was new to the area and had a hard time accepting that it was socially acceptable for a female to see more than one man at the same time. It took some doing, and thanks to the help of some of the ladies in the community, they had talked Hazel into giving them a try.

  It was rocky at first. He could tell she was uncomfortable and nervous. Hell, they were, too. It wasn’t every day they took the woman they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with out on a first date.

  Looking back, he could admit to himself now that it wasn’t a bad first date. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst. Nope, that was date number two, when she cursed them both to perdition after she slapped him and kneed Steven, all because they tried to kiss her. After that, they kept their hands to themselves and took things real slow, snail slow.

  Things had started to pick up right before the McDaniel Party, and that’s when everything stopped cold turkey. No more hand holding. No more long phone calls. No more shy, coy looks. Just a lot of screaming and “stay the fuck away from me.” It took him damn near a month to get Hazel to talk to him again, and even that was rocky at best. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to give up on her. She was the woman for him, and nothing was going to stop him, not even his stupid, hotheaded brother.

  “They’ve started the music. Would you like to dance?”

  “I better stay here, in case someone needs something.”

  “Hazel, it’s a wedding reception. Dance with me.”

  “All right.”

  * * * *

  Steven Conner entered the reception hall a man on a mission. He knew he would find her here. Hell, the whole damn town showed up for this wedding. So the odds were in his favor that his feisty little redhead was somewhere amongst the throngs of happy-go-lucky people, and he was willing to bet the fucking ranch that his sniveling little pussy of a brother was with her.

  That chickenshit was going to get his ass kicked when he got his hands on him.

  Steven wasn’t prepared when the stunning redhead moved to Treasure Cove and set up shop as the town’s only baker. So when she gave him the brush-off, it hurt a bit, but he moved on. That was until his softhearted, love-at-first-sight brother started mooning over the woman.

  Unlike Neil, Steven had seen his fair share of beautiful, hard-to-get women. Yet nothing he could do or say would stop his baby brother from falling head over heels for the fiery vixen. Therefore, doing only what a big brother could do, Steven took it upon himself to look after and protect Neil from the heartache he knew was going to come. What he didn’t expect was to lose his own heart in the process.

  There was just something about the elusive woman, which called to him on an elemental level. She was refined, smart, quick-witted, and holy hell, did she have a nasty temper on her. He had never met a woman like Hazel before. Standing at five foot eight, her scrumptious hourglass figure reminded him of a fifties pinup model rather than those stick figures on the fronts of magazines. Her long, shapely legs went on and on. Her breasts were full, and her waist was small. However, it was her flaming red locks and pearlescent skin that made her stand out against the crowd.

  She was breathtaking, and right now, she was being a bitch.

  Yes, he knew that was a little harsh, but hell, he was a true bastard, so he called everything as he saw it. Her outright refusal to let him explain was not only giving him a headache, it was starting to interfere with the ranch. He couldn’t concentrate or function, and the ranch was starting to pay for it. It had to stop. He just needed to sit her down and make her see reason. He knew he had fucked up the night of the McDaniel party. He knew it looked bad from her side of the story, but looks co
uld be deceiving.

  Standing near the refreshment table, he spotted her out on the dance floor with his brother. She was laughing at something he said, and for the first time in his life, he was actually jealous of his baby brother. Stamping down his rage, he stared at the couple as they twirled and laughed together.

  “Steven, I didn’t think you were gonna show. What changed your mind?” Orin McDaniel asked, standing beside him.

  “I found that woman. She is waiting out in my truck to tell Hazel nothing happened.”

  “What woman?” Orin asked.

  “The one that caused all this mess! The one from your stupid party!”

  “Fuck me.” Orin whistled lowly. “You mean to tell me, you brought a stripper, the same stripper you had your hands all over at the party, to a town wedding, just to prove to Hazel that nothing happened?”

  “Yes.”

  Slapping him hard on the back, laughing, Orin said, “And they say I come up with some stupid plans.”

  Steven growled as Orin just laughed, walking away. He didn’t know what he meant by that, and he didn’t care. His eyes had locked with hers, and the sparks were about to fly. By the end of the night, everything would be settled and hopefully, his cock would be buried deep in her pussy.

  Hazel spotted him, and the smile on her face faded.

  * * * *

  “What is he doing here?” she asked, removing herself from Neil’s arms.

  “Who?”

  “Steven.”

  “I don’t know. He said he wasn’t coming to the wedding.”

  “I’ll be right back,” she whispered and headed over to the refreshment table. She didn’t have to look around to know that several people were looking her way. The whole town knew what had happened that night out at the McDaniel Ranch, and those who didn’t heard about it by morning. It was a favorite topic of conversation amongst the people of this town, and she was getting real tired of being the butt of the joke. She wanted it all to end right now. She needed closure, and as much as it hurt her to admit it, Steven and Neil needed to move on.

  She wasn’t ready to trust another man. She had put her faith in men once, and it cost her dearly. She knew that not all men were cheating bastards, but she still couldn’t bring herself to trust them. She had dated her fair share of them, and after the last one, well, he solidified that all men were scum and the only person she could ever count on and trust was herself.

  Walking straight up to him, she held her ground. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk,” Steven whispered.

  “We have nothing more to say.” She turned to leave when Steven reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her into his large chest. Hazel tried not to allow the feel of him affect her, but the man was so strong, so firm, and he smelled so damn delicious. Looking away, she tried to focus on anything else but him, but he was everywhere. He engulfed her.

  “I found her. She is waiting out in my truck to tell you what happened.”

  Looking up at him, she asked, “Found who?”

  “Candi. The woman you think I slept with.”

  Okay, now Hazel knew that Steven wasn’t the brightest bulb in the socket, but the man was good with cattle and running his ranch. He was smart as a whip with numbers, and she had learned that he could even play a mean game of chess. Nevertheless, all of that disappeared when he acted like a fucking moron by bringing the one woman, who inadvertently found herself caught in the middle of this charade, to the wedding.

  “You didn’t?” she asked, stunned that he could actually be that obtuse. Yet when he just nodded his head as if he honestly believed he did nothing wrong, she closed her eyes and took a long, calming breath. Slowly counting to ten, she tried to stem the rage within her. When that didn’t work, she counted to twenty, then thirty, and then to forty.

  Opening her eyes, she began. “I want to be as direct and honest as I possibly can here, so please pay attention. You are the most supercilious man I have ever met in my entire life. In the short time we have been together, you have demonstrated every male chauvinistic tendency I have ever known, and even invented a few new ones. You are devious, cunning, rueful, and too domineering. What I don’t get is that you are intellectually one of the smartest men I know, and yet you act as if you are a child. You are morally incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself. You are rude, tactless, egotistical, and to top it all off, you are a jackass!”

  Steven blanched.

  She didn’t mean to be that harsh with him, but when she started talking, the words just slipped from her mouth and there was no stopping her. Once again, her temper had gotten the better of her, and to make matters worse, she had attracted the eyes and ears of those standing near. What was supposed to be a wedding celebrating two loving couples was now a live drama-fest that would put any episode of The Jerry Springer Show to shame.

  Hazel felt awful, but liberated. Yet, when he bent forward, and got in her face, she actually took a step back. She had heard of Steven’s temper. Some townsfolk told her it rivaled hers, but she had never seen it. However, when she stared into his vibrant hazel eyes, she knew she had just unleashed the beast within him.

  “You know something, Red? I have bent over backward trying to explain myself to you. I have done more for you than any woman I have ever dated. All because I thought there was something more between us. But I guess I was wrong. You can’t get off your fucking high horse long enough to see what is truly right before you. You are a real piece of work, you know that? You have the nerve to lecture me about my faults, well, baby, look who’s calling the kettle black. You parade around this town with your head so fucking high, no wonder every male within a fifty-mile radius gives you a wide berth. You are unattainable, stuck up, and bitter. You’re the fucking Ice Princess, baby. You wouldn’t know a real, honest man if his dick was in your mouth. You are nothing but a fucking tease.”

  Before she knew what she had done, Hazel picked up the three-tiered wedding cake and dumped it over Steven Conner’s head. Then as if she did nothing wrong, she turned on her four-inch heels and walked away. Head held high, she prayed she made it out of the hall before the tears fell from her eyes.

  * * * *

  She fled. He wanted so much to run after her, but he knew she wouldn’t see him. The whole reception hall had heard the conversation. He knew on some level that it was going to have to get worse before it got better, and from what he had just heard, well, they had just hit rock bottom. There would be no talking to either of them. Until they both calmed down, he was on his own, again.

  Quietly leaving the dance floor, he heard a loud shriek. “My cake!”

  “Oh, God help us all.” Neil clearly heard Jordan. Charlotte’s husbands stepped forward, trying to grab their new bride, but the hellcat of Treasure Cove was too fast for them.

  What happened next was something that nobody would ever forget.

  Charlotte Brooks, now Connelly, swiftly moved through the crowd pushing people out of her way. Though Braxton and Jordan tried to grab for her, she was too quick. Reaching her destination, Charlotte drew her hand back and punched Steven dead in the face. The force of the blow pushed him back toward the refreshment table, where Gabriel, Alexander, and Antoinette’s wedding cake sat. Steven lost his balance, and with the gracefulness of an elephant, fell onto the table, destroying the other cake and ruining all the refreshments.

  If the shock of Charlotte punching Steven wasn’t enough, she then raised her wedding dress, lifted her booted foot, and kicked Steven between the legs, solidifying the catastrophe.

  Braxton and Jordan grabbed their new wife, who was cursing uncontrollably, while Orin McDaniel and Tate Quinn tried to help Steven to his feet. However, the slippery floor was too much for them, and soon they too were on the floor, covered in cakes, pies, punch, and sweets.

  Neil couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  This was all too much. Unable to stop himself, he laughed. Making his way toward the group, just as Ha
zel left the reception hall, he noticed she never looked back. Torn between going after the woman he loved and his stupid brother, Neil chose to do neither. He picked up his jacket off the chair where he had left it as Andrew helped Orin and Tate up off the floor. Neil grinned as Braxton and Jordan helped Steven, who was still bent over, gasping for air.

  “Are you all right, Steven?” Andrew asked.

  “What do you think, Doc? That hellcat kicked me in the balls, and I had a cake dumped on my head,” Steven said through gritted teeth.

  “Yes, I watched, and honestly you got what you deserved, but still, how are the family jewels?”

  “I can feel them in my throat.” His brother coughed.

  “If there is bruising, you may want to make an appointment. And do yourself a favor. Stay away from Hazel until she calms down. I am afraid if you persist, she might actually do bodily harm,” Andrew advised, patting him on his back.

  Neil took one more look at the people he had grown up with. He was done. He couldn’t do it anymore. Placing his Stetson on his head, he walked away from everyone he ever knew and loved.

  Chapter One

  July, nine months later, the Founder’s Day Festival.

  “This is just fucking great!” Steven shouted as he stormed out of the house. It had become an everyday occurrence since the fallout of the wedding reception. Steven felt like shit, taking his anger out on everyone, leaving Neil to pick up the pieces. It was becoming tedious, and Neil was starting to resent his brother.

  Leaning against the counter, Neil said nothing. He knew his brother wasn’t going to like the news, and he informed him as gently as he could. Believing that honesty was the best policy, he just laid it all out on the line.