Page 64 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“I don’t deny it.” Blaze studied him through hooded eyes, but apparently his tone was on the thaw. “But stacking up your character against some sweet-talking, out-of-town dandy we know next to nothing about, leaves me no choice but to go with the lesser of two evils.”

“Lesser of two evils??” Jake stared him down.

“Yeah,” Dash said with a shake of his head, stooping to pluck up a piece of hay and twirl it in his teeth. “The dandy’s prettier, no doubt, but Sher’s eyesight probably isn’t too good, so no harm there.”

Blaze scratched the back of his neck. “And the fact he snorts like a pig in slop when he laughs apparently doesn’t bother her either …”

“Real funny, you two clowns.” Jake slacked a hip.

Dash pursed his lips, eyes scrunched in thought. “True, his feet smell worse than prairie poop when he takes his boots off, pert near turning a body blue, but Sher should be okay long as he keeps his shoes on.”

Hands on his hips, Jake shook his head, not about to let these two troublemakers get the upper hand. “Look, this may be a laughing matter to you idiots, but it’s not funny to me. I have no interest in getting married to anyone—ever—so you can just forget it.”

Blaze actually resorted to begging, his voice almost a whine. “Come on, Jake, I didn’t either, and you see what happened for me.”

Jake steeled his jaw, staring his best friend down with a tight press of his jaw. “Well, it can’t happen for me, Blaze. I have my reasons—some you know, some you don’t—so just let it go.”

Dash jumped down from the fence to casually stroll over with hands in his pockets. “So, don’t marry her, Jake,” he said with a light shrug. “Just tell her you have feelings for her, which you do, so it’s not like it’s a lie.”

Jake stared, slack-jawed. “Lead her on with false hope? I just told you marriage is off the table for me, Dash, so that would be downright cruel.”

Blaze grunted. “Not as cruel as some dandy of questionable character leading her on with hurt and heartache, taking advantage of her innocence. Or even a possible fortune-hunter, trapping her into a miserable marriage.”

Sweat licked the back of Jake’s collar. “We don’t know that,” he rasped.

Blaze’s eyes went hard, a flicker of temper starting to burn all over again. “No, Sully, all we do know is he’s been sneaking around with her, kissing on her, and doing only God knows what. Blue blazes, she’s just an innocent—for all we know he could ruin her forever.” His gaze thinned to a knifepoint, voice murderously low. “If he hasn’t already …”

Clawing his forehead, Jake felt like putting a fist through the wall. “Then we’ll tell Finn, and he’ll stop her.”

Blaze spiked a brow. “How? Finn’s here and Sher’ll be in New York. How is he going to stop a girl who’s already defied him by sneaking behind his back? Besides, I already told you—this stalemate between him and Libby has put his teeth on edge. If we tell Finn about this, it’ll be like poking a female grizzly in the spring.”

“With a carcass bone,” Dash added, “and a bloody one at that.”

Blaze’s jaw shifted as he cornered Jake with a desperate gaze. “Especially if there’s something that would keep Sher’s heart at home for dead sure. Because if this dandy marries her, Jake, he could settle her in New York away from her family, if he even marries her at all, where we’ll seldom get to see her again. Is that what you want?”

“No,” Jake whispered, shoulders sagging into a slump when he realized that Blaze was right—he was the only one that could stop Sher from making a horrible mistake. But then, he would also be the one making a horrible mistake by deceiving her. “I don’t know, Blaze …”

Blaze climbed down from the fencing to clasp a hand to Jake’s shoulder. “Look, Jake, you don’t have to promise her anything. Just tell her you have feelings for her that you have to sort out. Then break it off when the danger is past. It’ll hurt her for a while, but not as much as a lifetime of pain with a man who’s only home three months a year, and probably hobnobbing with women the rest of the time.” His grip tightened as he ducked to peer up into his friend’s face. “Please, Jake? For Sher, me, Dash, and Finn?”

Finn. The man who was a second father. And the redemption he so desperately needed for failing the first. His ribcage depleted in one long, painful breath, as if it were his last, the expiration of a vow he had made so many years ago to one little girl after he’d failed another.

To always love her.

To always protect her.

To always make sure she never got hurt.

Gouging his temple with the pads of his fingers, he finally gave a slow nod.

Loud whoops bounced off the walls as Dash and Blaze slapped him on the back.

Blaze hooked him in a side bear hug. “You are a life saver, old buddy. I’m going in to wake her up now to tell her you need to see her in the barn, all right?”

Jake’s Adam’s apple jerked hard in his throat as guilt soured his tongue.

“You won’t regret this, Jake, I promise,” Blaze whispered before he and Dash hooted and barreled out of the barn, leaving him on his own.

Eyelids sinking closed, Jake listed against the stall with a grunt.