Read Online A Wild Red Rose by Lynn Shurr - Free Book Online Page B

tiger. Tucking it under her pillow like a talisman to ward off evil, she finally rested.

Chapter Six
    As if to prove her words, Renee turned sullen and demanding over the next few days. Her attitude made the long drive to southern Arizona through the high country—with its ponderosa pines, down to the lower elevations of the pinon forests, around impressive red rock formations, and across the cactus-studded desert—seem even farther.
    She complained about his using the bacon grease in the eggs and would accept only toast, left half her food on her plate if they ate in a restaurant, and told the waitress she didn’t want a box. Rough and without tenderness, sex happened every night because Renee claimed she wanted it exactly that way. The aggressor, the initiator, she took him to the floor and clawed his chest bloody. Like being in the bullring without any defensive armor, he dodged and feinted until he dominated, and she purred under him like a great cat when he rammed himself inside her body. They both gained satisfaction big time. The trouble being, Clint thought, he had set out to tame her, and now he wanted to help her. She didn’t want or need his help or his pity and seemed intent on proving that. He’d only made Renee Hayes worse, not better.
    They arrived in Glendale, right outside of Phoenix, for a Professional Bull Rider’s event called the Cheeseburger IslandStyle Restaurants Invitational held at the Jobing.com Arena. The big, comfortable venue kept the searing, dry heat of an Arizona summer outside and gave the riders the best of accommodations within, along with some top prize money.
    “Cheeseburgers,” sneered Renee. “I guess that’s what happens to these bulls when they are all used up.”
    “Hardly, babe,” Clint said refusing to snap back. “This is top rough stock. When they finish their bucking career, most of them will go on to be studs making more tough bulls for the rodeo.”
    “And what about bull bait like you? What happens when you can’t outrun the bulls anymore?”
    “Some of us raise cattle, some breed rough stock, some go back to the family business. We get by.”
    “But you don’t get rich like the riders do.”
    “Not generally. And speaking about being bull bait, I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t come on to my friends.” He’d introduced her to the other bullfighters and some of the riders. She’d flirted with them all, and a few had flirted back. Most gave her a wide berth. She was Clint Beck’s girl, and she had the potential to be more trouble than the next bull they had to take on.
    Renee seemed to want to drive him off, as if she couldn’t stand his knowing about what had happened to her as a girl. While he rested up for the night’s event, she’d taken all the money from his wallet, gone into Phoenix, and had a shopping spree—evidently maxing out all her credit cards after his cash ran out. He woke to a trailer filled with bags of designer clothes and shoes.
    Renee held up a chic black dress that would cling to every curve. “Do you like it? I thought it was time you bought me something for the pleasure of my company.”
    “We’re not going anywhere you can use that.”
    She opened a large oblong box. “You told me I needed boots.” They were black, heavily tooled with hearts and roses outlined in white stitching, and probably cost more than all the money she had taken.
    “I know I didn’t have enough in my wallet for much more than cab fare downtown and maybe one of those dresses, Renee. How did you pay for all this?”
    “With my credit cards, which are at their limit. The other fellows said this gig pays really well. If you would give me two thousand dollars, I could go to the bank downtown, deposit a check, and then pay my bills on-line at the public library.” She gave him a pretty, baby doll pout with her full red lips.
    He wasn’t buying it. Clint Beck knew how to tame a tiger or any other animal for that matter. Make them depend on you for