Free Oak, Sophie - Siren in Waiting [Texas Sirens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Sophie Oak

let that dream go. He was a nice man who had been a good friend to her, but she couldn’t compete with the Clarissas of this world. She didn’t have a lick of experience with anything but taking care of sick people, running her boss’s errands, and accounting. She had a wonderful, sexy degree in accounting from an online college. Yep, she was going to attract a man like Bo with her innate ability to add.
    The drive was over all too soon, though Mouse knew it was for the best. Trev McNamara wasn’t for her, either.
    He pulled the truck to a stop.
    “Isn’t this the old Bellows’s place?” He put the truck in park and killed the engine. “I heard my sister’s husband say something about you buying it.”
    She undid the seat belt. Now that she was home, she just wanted to get inside. She could put the idiocy of the night behind her. Trev had already said he didn’t intend to see her again. She would just go back to her life, a little wiser than before. She would concentrate on her new house.
    “I bought it in an auction.” She’d used the all of the insurance money she’d inherited and still had to take out a loan to cover the mortgage. She would be forever grateful to Bonnie, who hadn’t taken her half of the money their parents had left them. If she had, Mouse wouldn’t have been able to afford the house. Her sister had hugged her and told her she deserved the money. Even as it was, she needed another loan to make the improvements. “It was a last-minute kind of thing. I was lucky. Not a whole bunch of people showed up to the auction. I think most folks around here think this place is haunted. If Bryce had shown up, I doubt I could have afforded the place.”
    She opened the passenger side door, but Trev put a hand on her arm.
    “Did you leave the front door open?”
    She looked out the window. He was right. Sure enough, the front door was wide open. She scrambled to get out. Her boots hit the ground, and she started to sprint toward the house. Was someone in there? Was someone stealing the antiques? She didn’t have much in the house of her own, but she’d bought the place, and it was all she had.
    A big arm clotheslined her midsection. Trev caught her and tightened his hold.
    “Let me go. I need to get in there,” she pleaded.
    “Not happening.” Trev set her on her feet, but kept his hands on her. “I’m not about to let you go into that house. You stay here. If you hear anything funny, call 9-1-1. Do you understand me?”
    Mouse nodded as he shoved his phone in her hand. He was right. If there was someone inside, exactly how did she intend to deal with them? A politely worded request for them to leave probably wouldn’t do it.
    She opened her mouth to call him back, but he was already on the steps by the time she thought of it. He turned, his big body shadowed.
    “And, Beth, if you come in here after me, you will not like what I do to your backside. Is that understood?”
    She nodded, not trusting her voice. He turned and disappeared inside.
    Had he just threatened to spank her?
    The phone in her hand trilled. She looked down at it. Someone named Marty was calling. She slid her finger across the phone to answer. “Hello?”
    “Thank god. I’ve been trying all week. Who is this? I need to talk to Trevor.” The man had a slick-sounding accent, like he was from back East. He spoke in the quick cadence of a man used to having his needs met.
    Trevor might be fighting for his life. Mouse’s stomach turned. “He’s unavailable right now.”
    There was a humorless huff on the other end of the line. “That’s not surprising. Tell me something, is it just booze, or is he back on the coke?”
    “No, I think he’s just drinking coffee. And at dinner he had a Dr Pepper.”
    There was a long pause. Mouse gave serious thought to disobeying Trev. He wouldn’t really spank her. That was just a threat. What if he needed her help?
    She started to walk toward the house as the voice on the other end of