Page 62 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

He felt numb, which was another reason he’d love to get in a fight, just so he could at least feel something and know he was still alive. But he wouldn’t be the one to start it. Like someone in shock staring down at a gaping wound, he should be feeling tremendous pain knowing that he’d never hold Tess in his arms again. He had no doubt he would feel that pain eventually. But the reality of losing his best friend and the love of his life hadn’t hit him yet.

“Hey, Benedict Arnold, you’re up.” Hammer pulled the darts he’d just thrown from the board and handed them to Mac, points out.

Mac took them, gazing stoically at Hammer as one of the points seemed to accidentally dig into his palm. “Thanks.”

“Whoops, did I stick you with that dart? Jeez, I’m sorry, man. Oversight on my part.”

“No problem.”

“Check where he’s putting his feet,” Dozer said. “A guy like him could edge over the line to get an advantage.”

“I’m watching him,” Rhino said. “All the time.”

Mac clenched his jaw and threw the darts. He sensed that the brothers were testing him, trying to get him to crack. If he challenged them, either by starting a fight or leaving the bar, that would be the end of the relationship. If he stayed and took everything they had to dish out, the day of forgiveness might eventually come.

Unfortunately, he was starting to win the damn darts tournament. Throwing darts felt exceedingly good right now. He’d give anything to be out on the field throwing a football right now. He could probably heave it seventy yards with no problem. He deliberately made a bad toss of the dart.

“Hey, lover-boy!” Dozer called out. “Having a little trouble with your concentration?”

“No doubt,” Rhino said. “The boy has a lot of things on his mind. No wonder he hasn’t been winning at poker this summer.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Tim said. He of all the brothers seemed more hurt than angry. “I can’t believe you’d sit there every Wednesday night like always.”

“Sort of makes you lose your faith in your fellow man, doesn’t it, Tim?” Hammer said.

Mac threw his last dart dead in the middle of the bull’s eye and turned to face the brothers. He gazed at them and pain started sneaking into his heart, like the pinpricks after an arm or leg has fallen asleep. Nothing would ever be the same. Nothing. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

They returned his gaze silently.

Finally Tim spoke. “Would you marry her if she wasn’t going to New York, Mac?”

He saw nothing wrong with telling them the truth. “Yes.”

Rhino made an impatient noise deep in his throat. “Then why the hell don’t you get her to stay?”

“I don’t think I could,” Mac said.

“You could,” Rhino said. “She might pretend she’s one of those women who takes her fun where she finds it, but she’s not. We always figured she’d fall hard for the first guy she got involved with because she’s not the type to take sex lightly, no matter what she says. That’s the main reason we’ve been protecting her all along. She could have wrecked her life with the wrong guy.”

“Maybe I’m the wrong guy.”

Hammer drained his glass of beer and set it down on the bar with a loud click. “Maybe. I can’t say I’d relish having a lying son of a bitch for a brother-in-law.”

“He didn’t exactly lie,” Tim said.

“No, it’s more like he betrayed our trust,” Rhino said. “Now, that’s not good, but I’m telling you, Tess has probably lost her heart, just like we thought she would when she became involved with someone. I think you need to convince her to stay here and marry you, Mac. It’s the only answer.”

Mac considered the idea, and for a brief moment hope gleamed in his heart. He knew Tess loved him. If only she’d given him some indication that she didn’t really want to go to New York... but she hadn’t.

He took a deep breath. “You’re right, I might be able to convince her to stay. But I can’t do it. All her life she’s talked about leaving small-town life behind and experiencing the excitement of a big city. She could easily start blaming me for taking that away from her.” He should know. Despite how much he loved his parents, he couldn’t completely eliminate the resentment that cropped up whenever he thought of how they’d tied him to the ranch.

“Hell. You have a point.” Rhino gazed at the floor. “I hate this. I purely hate it. If you were some other guy, we could all have a great time taking you apart.”

Mac laid the darts on the bar. “Have at it.”

“We can’t beat you up, Mac,” Tim said. “Not after the way you said you were sorry, and that you’d marry Tess if you thought it would work out.”

“Maybe it would work out,” Dozer said. “Maybe she’d forget about this big-city thing after a while. Like the sofa Cindy wanted. She thought she’d die if she didn’t get it, but we couldn’t afford the darn thing. Then after she got pregnant she forgot about the sofa.”