Secret Confessions: Down & Dusty — Maree (4 page)

‘I’m happy to help you relive anything you want,’ Maree had said. ‘Tell me if you want to do a little role-play. I could give you detention.’

Brad had smiled. ‘Oh, Ms Haraldson, I’ve been a very bad boy.’

They’d made love, smiling and laughing, and, lying in his arms after, Maree had realised this wasn’t just about sex. They were starting to connect. Build a relationship. Fall in love.

So today, the idea of Brad being hurt made her blood run cold.

She gave a desultory cheer to the next rider, who made it through. And then she rubbed her hands together. Brad was next. She scanned the chutes, looking for him, but she couldn’t see which of the Akubras was his.

Then someone climbed onto the bull. Maree pressed her hands tight together.
Please keep him safe
, she pleaded, to whoever might be listening.
Please.

Then the hatch opened and the bull charged out. The crowd roared. Maree tensed. Her eyes were glued to the cowboy. He looked sure, certain, but this bull seemed more active than the past two. What if he’d scored the worst bull of the day? What if this was where it was all going to go horribly wrong?

It happened in slow motion. The bull bucked. The cowboy’s feet slipped from the stirrups and they slammed into the bull’s side. The bull bellowed and bucked higher and the cowboy was flung out of his saddle. Maree prayed he would hold on, but then his hand slipped off the rope and he flew away from the bull, high in the air before landing hard on the dirt.

It felt like a deep silence fell over the place, cut by a scream that Maree soon realised was from her. She stood, staring down at the arena, quivering.

Then she moved. Maree shuffled down the line of seats, uncaring of whose toes she stood on, who she bumped into. She scrambled to the stairs and started down, barely seeing anything before her. Someone was in her way, barring the path. He put his hands on her.

‘Let me go. I have to get to him.’ Maree tried to push him away.

‘Maree. It’s me.’

Maree blinked, focused and realised it was Brad standing before her. Brad, who was totally okay. Brad who wasn’t on the bull.

‘You’re all right.’ She flung her arms around him.

‘I’m not riding.’ Brad held her tight. ‘I woke up this morning with a bit of a strained back. I thought it would come good, but it’s not and I’m not going to risk it. Not when I’ve got a much nicer way of hurting my back.’

‘I feel like I should say I’m sorry, but I’m not,’ Maree said.

‘I’m glad to hear it. Now, I’m going to hold you for another moment to give you time to decide how to react to the fact you’ve just announced our relationship to the entire town.’

Maree gasped and looked around. Sure enough, everyone in the grandstand was staring at them, with surprise or amusement on their faces.

‘Can you make the ground open up and swallow us?’

Brad laughed, put his arm around her and led her back up to the seat. ‘Just where were you heading at a million miles an hour?’

‘I thought you’d been hurt,’ Maree said. ‘I had to be with you.’

‘Sweet. Well, I’m not hurt, but if you feel you must give me a full body examination to make sure, I’m happy to oblige.’

‘I’ll have to insist on it. Need to keep an eye on this strained back of yours. I need you fit and well to do all the work I need done.’

‘Yes, Ms Haraldson.’

Maree settled against his side to watch the rodeo with a smile.

Thanks for reading
Down and Dusty—Maree
. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage
www.nicolermurphy.com
, follow me on twitter
@nicole_r_murphy
, or like my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicole-Murphy-Author/192384784129593?ref=hl
.

You can also follow me through my publisher’s page here
www.escapepublishing.com.au

Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

You’ve just read a book in the
SECRET CONFESSIONS: DOWN & DUSTY
series. The other books in this series are
CASEY
,
LUCKY
,
KELLY
,
BROOKE
,
CLARISSA
,
SKYE
and
FRANKIE
.

If you liked this book, here are my other books—
Arranged to Love
,
The Lies We Tell
,
Release
, and
Much Ado About Love
.

This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.

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When Todd finds out the truth, he can’t understand why Sia won’t speak out and clear her name, and it threatens to tear them apart. With her relationship with Todd on the line, will Sia choose loyalty or love?

Release
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Four stories of eroticism, strength, experimentation, and ultimate salvation.

Cursed after death to live in grey nothingness until they atone for their sins, four spirits have spent centuries doing good for others. Finally they stumble upon the true key to their salvation—because they hurt women in their lives, they’ll only find release by now helping women to become all they should be.

One by one, the spirits meet a woman and as each sexual delight unfurls, the grey nothingness disappears a little more. As the women find their happily ever after, they grant the spirits a chance at peace for eternity.

Follow the journey of four remarkable women—Luisa, Anna, Cara, and Jan—and the four spirits that set them on a new path to sexual freedom and boundless pleasure.

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You’ve never met housewives as hot as these...They’re wealthy and glamorous. The elite of society. But appearances can be deceiving.

Eleven women are members of the influential Double Diamond Dinner Club. They are wealthy, elegant, poised and constantly in the public eye. But what goes on behind closed doors, in the private homes and parties where the cameras and paparazzi aren’t welcome?

Each woman has everything to lose if their fellow members learn of their needs, desires, and bedroom inclinations.

Eleven stories from eleven of Australia’s hottest authors — a scandalous, sexy collection that uncovers the privileged lives of Sydney’s affluent housewives: their work, their families, their friends and their men. Nothing is hidden, nothing is forbidden — and nothing will ever be the same.

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