Page 61 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

“And I’m trying to make a point, here,” Dozer continued. “Tess says this is all her fault, but I wonder how that could be, considering she had zero experience and the stud-man over here has more experience than anybody in this room. I mean, who do you suppose was in control of that situation?”

“I was!” Tess said.

“Not likely.” Dozer started toward Mac again. “And I’m itching to land a few punches.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hammer said.

“Might as well get it over with,” Rhino added.

Tess grew desperate. She couldn’t have her brothers beat up the man she loved. She lowered her voice to deliver her ultimatum. It had always worked for her mother, so maybe it would work for her. “If you do this, I’m through with all of you,” she said.

They turned to her with expressions of disbelief.

“I mean it. No brother of mine would gang up on an innocent man. And Mac is innocent.”

“Hah!” Dozer said.

Rhino stroked his chin and gazed at her. “Does he mean that much to you, Tess?”

Trapped. There was no answer except the truth. Tears of frustration pushed at the back of her eyes. “Yes, dammit, he does.”

Rhino nodded. “Then maybe you ought to stay home and marry him instead of traipsing off to New York.”

But he doesn’t want that, she longed to say. Instead, she swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat and lied. “Just because you care about someone and don’t want them hurt doesn’t mean you’re ready to give up your dream for them. My dream is to experience some other place besides Copperville, and I finally have the chance to do that.” She blinked to hold back the tears.

Rhino studied her for a while longer. “Well, I guess that settles it. We can’t very well beat up on Mac and make our sister cry, now, can we?”

“I wouldn’t cry.” She sniffed. “I just would never speak to you again.”

Tim frowned and came over to put a hand on her shoulder. “You look like you might cry.”

She sniffed again and glared up at him through swimming eyes. “Well, I won’t.”

“We’ve got another thing to think about,” Hammer said. “Is this information going to leave this room?”

“No.” Rhino fixed each of his brothers with a stern look. “Nobody tells. Not even your wives. Got that?”

Everyone nodded.

Tess gazed at them all with a heavy heart. She wanted this little scene over with. “Don’t you all have a darts tournament to play?”

There was a moment of silence. Finally Rhino broke it. “Guess we do. Come on, Mac.”

“Thanks,” Mac said, “but I think I’ll take a pass.”

“Like hell you will.” Hammer grabbed one of Mac’s arms.

“Yeah.” Dozer grabbed the other one. “You don’t think we’d leave you here, do you?”

“I’ll make it even plainer,” Rhino said. “Unless Tess changes her mind and decides to marry you, I don’t want you around this house again. You may have gotten away with it all summer, but the party’s over, buddy. The Blakely brothers are back on duty. Now let’s go play some darts.”

Tess watched with great misgiving as they escorted Mac out of the house. “You do understand I meant what I said,” she called after them as Dozer demanded Mac’s keys so he could drive Mac’s truck. “If you hurt him, I’ll find out, and there will be hell to pay.”

“We won’t hurt him, Tess,” Rhino promised as he climbed into his truck. “We just won’t let him within ten feet of you ever again.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Mac wished the Blakely brothers had started swinging at him once they were out of Tess’s sight. A nice little brawl would have been an improvement over what was happening at the Ore Cart. As he sat at the bar and nursed a beer, he wondered if they were trying to get him to throw the first punch. He wasn’t about to do it.