Page 64 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

By the day of the party, Tess had packed most of her belongings, including many of her clothes. Too late she realized that the only thing she hadn’t packed that was festive enough for the event was her daisy-patterned dress. Mac would probably think she’d worn it on purpose. The only reason it still hung in her closet was that she hadn’t gotten around to stuffing it in the bag of discards she’d collected to give to charity.

As she zipped the dress, she realized the pearl necklace she’d continued to wear probably would be another red flag for Mac. For the past two weeks she kept meaning to take it off for good, although she couldn’t make herself give it away. But each time she’d reached for the clasp so she could put the necklace back into her jewelry box, she’d decided to leave it on a little longer.

Putting the necklace away seemed so final, as if that would sever the last tie with Mac. Besides, her mother had mentioned how nice she thought it was that Tess was finally wearing the lovely gift Mac had given her. Her mother might notice the necklace was gone and comment, Tess decided. Better to leave it on. Mac would just have to deal with it.

She arrived at the park early to help her brothers and sisters-in-law with the preparations. They worked steadily for two hours in the heat, tying balloons to lampposts, firing up the barbecue grills and chasing rambunctious children. Tess welcomed the sweaty, frantic activity and pushed thoughts of Mac to the back of her mind. But her pulse started to race right on schedule when he backed his truck up to a ramada and started unloading the kegs of beer that had been ordered for the party.

“Guess I’ll go help him,” Rhino said.

“Don’t sample the wares until we’re finished here,” Joan called after her husband.

Tess kept sneaking glances at the two men as they laughed and joked with each other while unloading the kegs. Pretty soon Hammer, Dozer and Tim wandered over and joined them. Everyone acted like the best of buddies, and she began to hope that her brothers had made a temporary peace with Mac. Once she wasn’t around, they might be able to put the whole incident aside.

“Hey, Dozer,” Cindy called over to the group. “Time for you and Tim to start cooking. People are beginning to arrive and the anniversary couple will be here any minute.”

“Coming,” Dozer said.

Deena continued tying the last of the balloons on an adjacent ramada. “Hammer,” she called. “I need you to check on Jason and Kimberly at the swings. Suzie’s been playing with them over there, but I’ll bet she could use a breather.”

Hammer headed toward the swings. “Jason, let Kimberly have a turn, son!”

Tess pretended not to notice that Mac had tagged along as Tim, Dozer and Rhino approached the table. Instead, she concentrated on filling a large wading pool with ice to hold the salad bowls. She’d never followed through on her plan to use ice during lovemaking with Mac, but ice never failed to remind her of the passionate adventures they’d shared this summer.

“Cindy, which cooler did you put the hamburgers and hot dogs in?” Dozer asked.

“The red one,” Cindy said.

“Which red one?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Cindy got Dozer by one arm and Tim by the other and propelled them over to a nearby ramada. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

Tess dumped the last bag of ice in the wading pool. ‘This is ready, Joan.”

“For what?” Mac asked.

Tess glanced at him and could tell by the challenging look in his eyes that he’d meant for the question to rattle her. It did. Her cheeks warmed. “We, uh⁠—”

“It’s for the salads, so you don’t get poisoned by the mayonnaise,” Joan said briskly.

“That’s not all it’s for.” Rhino grabbed a piece of ice and slipped it down the back of Joan’s dress.

She shrieked and scooped up a handful of ice, pelting him with it as she chased him across the park.

And just like that, Mac and Tess were alone.

He picked up an ice cube and tossed it up and down in his hand. “We never did get around to this, did we?”

Her throat felt so tight that she couldn’t speak. She shook her head.

“Guess we never will.” He tossed the ice on the ground and moved closer. “How are you doing?”

“Okay.” She risked one look into his eyes and glanced away again. Too potent. She cleared the huskiness from her throat. “How about you?”

“Okay. I thought about calling you to see how you were holding up, but I thought that might make things worse.”

“Yeah. It probably would have.” She watched the ice cube melt in the grass at their feet. “Mac, did my brothers⁠—”

“Beat me up? No. In a way I wish they had. It might have made me feel better.”