But it didn’t matter, because Jay had already made a copy and had given it to some of his friends to watch.
Of course, Margot had sent Clint an email about it that night but he hadn’t seen the message until after the fight with Jay. The content was curt and crisp, barely hiding the hurt that he knew she must’ve felt. He’d written back that he’d destroyed the tape, leaving out the part where Jay had actually been the one who’d filmed her. But she never answered.
Especially after the video made its way from the TV of one fraternity member to the next.
The copy was never found and, for more reasons than the video, Jay was eventually blackballed. But that didn’t give Clint another chance with Margot. It didn’t make him forget her, either, as he ran the cutting horse ranch he loved just a half hour away from Avila Grande, California, and their alma mater.
As he sat in that booth now, watching her walk to Brad, he thought how sad it was that he’d actually come to understand why Margot had reacted the way she did: she didn’t intend to be just an item on a list, or a person a man would forget when he moved on to the next girl. She’d never been merely one of the crowd, and she’d gone out and proved it to the world with that sophisticated career of hers.
And she hadn’t wanted to be the fool, caught on tape as Clint “conquered” her.
Who would?
Seeing her today, a disturbingly hot woman who grabbed him and twisted him inside out, Clint was fascinated all over again. Not that she’d given him the chance to explain, but he’d come to this reunion for one reason and one reason only.
To set matters straight and make it up to her.
He hadn’t planned on coming, not when there was so much going on with his younger twin brothers and the ranch. But when he’d been told the video had found new life on YouTube, he’d blown a gasket, immediately sending an email to his fraternity brothers saying that if they razzed Margot about it this weekend, they’d answer to him.
So far, it looked like they were respecting his requests. Margot stood at the bar with Brad Harrington, laughing and pushing a hank of that stylish gypsy hair away from her face. She was saying hi to the group that had just walked into the dark-wooded room. From this distance, it was pretty obvious that Brad was being amiable enough, but...
Could it be that he wasn’t really in to her?
Nah. Clint couldn’t imagine a red-blooded male anywhere within the boundaries of the U.S. of A. who wouldn’t be eating up her charms.
As Clint toyed with his shot glass, one man broke away from the crowd and moved toward the booth. Clint nodded in greeting to Riley Donahue, then stood to shake his hand just as the waitress came with the other whiskies he’d ordered.
“Took you long enough to get here,” Clint said.
“We were having too much fun. You should’ve come with us.”
“Golf’s not my game.” Again, he stole a glance at Margot, who’d taken a seat on a bar stool and was leaning toward Brad. From here, he could see her sweater gaping open, revealing a gut-punching hint of black bra. Her breasts were round and full, pressed into smooth globes by the tight lace.
He could feel himself getting hard, and he pulled his gaze away. “How’s the life of a happy bachelor?” he asked Riley instead.
Riley, who’d also pledged with Clint and become a good friend, ran a hand through his short black hair. “Happy? I guess you must not have heard the news.”
He wasn’t talking about getting married, seeing as Riley and Dani had been engaged for about a year. They’d been friends until they’d “awakened,” or some such greeting-card crap, one day and really “seen” each other.
Fairy tales, Clint thought. His parents had had a lot of great years together, but it’d just never happened for him. Then again, it wasn’t as if he’d ever wanted to settle down. He’d grown up as a lone wolf while his brothers had depended on each other, forming their own inner circle and keeping him out, and he’d been the same way with everyone else, especially women.
The true love of his life had always been the ranch—a paradise invaded by twin snakes, aka his own flesh-and-blood siblings. Funny how he’d found much better brothers, like Riley, away at college.
Clint made himself comfortable in the booth. “Oh, I’ve certainly heard the news. I’ve already heard more than I bargained for about the auction.”
Margot telling Dani and Leigh about her basket... The sparkly stars that would be a sure sign that it was hers...
But she meant the damn thing for someone else, so why was he even dwelling on it?
Because there are definitely at least eighty ways you could get around her, he thought. And he could guarantee that she enjoyed every one of them, making up lost time with her.
Saying sorry about that tape in every way he could.
Riley spoke, his voice edged with mild frustration. “The guys were all over me about this auction when we were playing golf. I guess the girls’ email loop got everyone talking before we got here and Dani didn’t know it. Nothing like finding out that everyone is swimming in your personal business. I damn well hope Dani put an end to it this afternoon.”
“From what I hear, the girls just want Dani to have that wedding she always planned for. No harm, no foul.”
“I already feel like shit that I can’t give that wedding to Dani myself, and to have us turn into some kind of charity case...?” He shook his head.
From what Clint had overheard, Dani hadn’t asked Margot and Leigh to call off the auction. But—
Sparkling stars... Around the Girl in Eighty Ways...
Riley interrupted. “Ever since I heard about that auction, I’ve wanted to tell Dani that I’d rather elope to a Vegas chapel. But then I think about how much she’s always talked about the dress with one of those long trains or whatever they call it, and how she wants things to happen in a big church with a big reception, and...I just lose the words.”
Clint signaled for yet another round. Riley sure looked like he needed it. Honestly, Clint could use some more drinks, too, because every time he glanced at Margot across the room canoodling with Brad, he felt a keen urge to water down.
“What’re you going to tell Dani, then?” Clint asked. “I think the sisters who keep in touch on email are looking forward to this auction.”
And he was, too?
But that was idiotic, because that basket of Margot’s was aimed at Brad. Plus, she wanted Clint on one side of the room and her on another.
He was damned sure going to change her mind about that.
Riley blew out a breath. “I know Margot and Leigh went to a lot of work. Everyone who brought a basket did, and their intentions are good.”
“Then let everyone play. You can tell the sisters that you’re not taking a dime and the proceeds can go to a charity.”
Riley’s head jerked up, and he looked at Clint as if he were a genius. Yeah, well, he would be about the only one to think that.
But Clint wasn’t here to dwell on the troubles back on the ranch, not when he was among people who’d been even closer to him for a time than his own family. He hadn’t ever thought that his relationship with the twins could get worse, except it had, a couple years ago, when Dad had passed on and split up his estate, giving Clint 60 percent of the cutting horse ranch and Jeremiah and Jason each 20 percent. It made all the sense in the world to Clint, who’d come back home after getting his agriculture business degree and developed the Circle BBB, while the twins had opted for the city and an agriculture development firm they’d built from the ground up.
Things never changed, and the twins still stuck together like glue. According to them,