Lauri Robinson Read Free

insisted Grace and her friends were old enough to be helping.”
    Clearly miffed, Rory glanced around. Unless he was mistaken—which he highly doubted—her blue eyes held the same hint of longing his mother’s had. Though Rory was trying to hide it as she searched for an excuse to hightail it for parts unknown. Garret wasn’t about to let that happen. He had a bet to win, and the Rose brothers had arrived, which meant the purse was now a full 200. He took her elbow and led her a few steps away from the table to where there weren’t quite as many people. “Now you’re free to dance.”
    Her glare could cut glass. “I’ll tell you what I’ve told every other man here tonight.” Sharpening her gaze a bit more, she said sternly, “No.”
    The pink-and-white getup she had on tightened over her breasts as she took a deep breath to refill her lungs. Her shape, well defined by the dress, was made for admiring, and he’d done that often enough, admired it. He’d never admit that or let it show. A woman’s sweet body and charm had twisted him once, and that would never happen again.
    “Doesn’t any man understand what that word means?”
    Garret let his gaze roam over her once more. “What word?”
    “ No ,” she answered. “No, I don’t want to dance. I’ve said that a hundred times tonight.”
    Playing dumb, he said, “I didn’t ask you to dance. I said you’re free to dance if you so choose.”
    “You’re the only one who hasn’t,” she snapped. “The Rose brothers only arrived a few minutes ago and I had to repeat myself five times over to each one of them.”
    The setting sun was shining through the wide doors beside them, and while painting the sky an array of colors, it also reflected in her cheeks, made her eyes a deeper blue. It also had her hair, which was pinned on top of her head in a fluffy sort of way with dozens of little curls hanging around the edges, glittering like gold dust.
    A noise or movement or some such distraction had him glancing over his shoulder, where he spied close to two dozen men all looking their way. The Rose boys—men, actually; all five of them stood over six feet and not a one of them was married—were positioned at the front of the group. He and his brothers were as tall as the Roses but not as heavy. Those boys were as barrel-chested as racehorses, and he had to wonder just how seriously they held this bet.
    “You know,” Garret said, acting as if he’d just come up with the idea, “you could dance with me.”
    “Excuse me?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe if you danced with me, the rest would quit asking. Leave you alone.”
    She frowned and he knew the moment she sensed the men near the barn door. He shifted slightly to block her view.
    “Don’t look,” he whispered.
    She leaned sideways, trying to see around him. “Why? Who is it?”
    He shifted again to continue blocking her view. “No one out of the ordinary. The Rose brothers, Andy Anderson, Ray Ray, Craig DeLong, the Carter cousins.”
    She closed her eyes as if gathering gumption or calming a good set of jitters. Intuition had him reaching over and folding his fingers around hers. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
    Her eyes snapped open. “I am not afraid, Mr. McCoy,” she said. “Annoyed is more how I would describe it.”
    The trembling of her fingers belied her answer as much as her eyes did, but he didn’t point it out. “Good,” he said.
    “Good?”
    He grinned. “Yes, good. I know I could take on most of them, but without my brothers flanking me, the Rose brothers might be more than I can handle.”
    She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
    “Defending you.” He tugged on her hand, forcing her to take a step closer so he could whisper. “I couldn’t have a group of men scaring the punch lady. It would ruin the party.”
    She attempted to glance over his shoulder again, which he blocked.
    “You didn’t want to come tonight,” she said. “Ruining this party would make