Secret Confessions: Down & Dusty — Maree Read Online Free Page B

wrinkles, and crow’s feet, my breasts ceased being pert more than a decade ago. I’ve got stretch marks from bearing two children, and in cold weather my hip aches.
    But Brad knew all that and yet he had come back to her. Again and again. It obviously didn’t matter to him, so she wasn’t going to let it matter either.
    ‘A stupid moment of brain idiocy,’ she said. ‘I’m never going to think it again.’
    ‘Good.’ Brad kissed her forehead. ‘Very good.’
    ***
    The cowboy hit the dirt with a thud and the crowd moaned their disappointment. He’d looked good, strong, determined, but then halfway through the ride he’d slipped. The bull must have sensed it, because he put on a bucking masterclass and within seconds the cowboy had been sailing over the animal’s head to hit the dirt.
    ‘Isn’t this fabulous?’ A girl sitting in the row in front of Maree squealed. ‘Next time, I’m bringing all my girlfriends out here. They’ll love it.’
    It certainly was everything city girls thought the country was about. Hot cowboys controlling wild beasts. Lots of beer flowing, sausages frying and socialising until the wee hours.
    If Brad weren’t riding, Maree would probably be sitting here experiencing the same thrill as that young woman. Instead, her guts were churning. One man had been carried out of the arena on a stretcher after he landed in the dirt badly and broke something. This cowboy thankfully got up and walked out, escorted by staff while someone distracted the bull, able to brush the dirt off his jeans and wave coyly at the crowd.
    What if Brad were hurt? It wasn’t just about him not being able to pleasure her. They’d had dinner together last night, and sat out on her patio and talked until it was dark. She’d learned all about him—his background, his likes and dislikes, the things they agreed on and the things they didn’t. Most of all, she’d learned that he wanted to keep calling her Ms Haraldson as a bit of a fetish. ‘You remind me a little of a hot teacher I had in high school. I really wanted to fuck her, but couldn’t. I’m reliving a bit of a teenage fantasy with you.’
    ‘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