Simone cast a worried look at her increasingly rebellious fifteen-year-old son, Andrew, who was hanging out with a group of friends on the other side of the green. “My situation is different. My husband was a crook.”
Who was now in jail, Emily thought.
“Any guy your parents want you to meet would at least be honorable.”
True. Emily shrugged. “I like nice guys, but there has to be chemistry.” It couldn’t just be conjured up on demand because her parents wanted it to be.
With Dylan Reeves on the other hand... Emily still couldn’t believe the audacious cowboy had turned her down, and so rudely! Put his hands on her shoulders and invaded her space.
Simone glanced at the fast-growing crowd, then reached for another tray of brownies off the pastry cart. “How are you going to explain not having a date with the horse whisperer after you told your brothers you did?”
Good question. Emily added apricot scones to the table. “I could always say something came up, that Dylan wanted to attend but just couldn’t.”
“Uh...no...you can’t.”
Emily brought the buckets of fresh churned ice cream out of the portable cooler, and set them in tubs of ice on the buffet table. “Why not?”
“Because Dylan’s here. Talking to Holden and Hank right now.”
Heat flooding her cheeks, Emily turned around. Sure enough, Dylan Reeves was here, looking mighty fine in a starched white shirt, a clean pair of jeans and a black Resistol hat. It was all she could do not to wring her hands in dismay. “Holden and Hank are probably grilling him on why he didn’t accompany me. If Dylan tells them I asked him for a date and he turned me down, I’ll just die of embarrassment.”
“Maybe he won’t.”
And maybe, Emily thought, already tossing her chef’s apron aside, there was only one way she could stop this. She hoped it wasn’t too late. “Are you okay here?”
Simone nodded, her expression as resolute as Emily’s mood. “I’ll handle this. You go do damage control. And from the looks of it,” Simone said softly, as the men’s faces grew serious, “you better hurry.”
* * *
“SO WHAT’S GOING ON with you and my sister?” Holden McCabe asked.
Didn’t Emily’s brothers ever lighten up? Dylan wondered, resenting the polite chitchat that was fast turning into a McCabe family inquisition.
Dylan folded his arms in front of him. “I make it a policy never to discuss my personal affairs.” Not that there was anything to report.
Hank McCabe paused. He exchanged confused looks with his brother, then turned back to Dylan. “So the two of you are dating?” he asked finally.
Dylan was still contemplating how best to respond when Emily rushed up, looking gorgeous, flushed and a bit disheveled. Not that he was noticing the way the sunshine-yellow sundress hugged her slender waist and feminine curves. Or how sexy her legs looked when not encased in the usual jeans.
“Holden...Hank, for heaven’s sake!” she scolded.
Predictably, her ridiculously overprotective brothers refused to back down.
“What’s the problem?” Hank asked.
Holden added innocently, “We’re just talking to your ‘date’ here.”
Emily swirled around in a drift of jonquil perfume he found amazingly enticing. She shot Dylan a beseeching glance that only he could see. Her soft-as-silk hand curved possessively around his biceps, compelling him to remain silent.
Curious as to how she was going to get herself out of this mess, he merely smiled.
The panicked look in her blue eyes fading, Emily released her grip on him and turned back to her brothers. “Dating is for teenagers, guys.”
More skeptical glances. “What does that mean?” Holden demanded.
“It means she doesn’t like to put a label on things any more than I do,” Dylan intervened.
“And neither of us like answering nosy questions,” Emily added.
Holden shrugged, unrepentant. “You’re the one who brought it up.” He turned to Dylan. “Emily told us earlier that the two of you had a date tonight.”
Jeb sauntered up, a typical know-it-all grin on his face. “I’ve got to say, we didn’t believe her then and given the fact the two of you arrived separately now...” He regarded his little sister suspiciously. “Now you wouldn’t happen to be pulling one over on the whole family just because we’re trying to set you up, would you?”
The only thing Dylan liked less than being put on the spot was seeing a strong, independent woman like Emily reduced to making up stories simply to get her interfering family out of her business.
“I can’t believe you would even think that!” Emily sputtered.
Something about her vulnerability got to Dylan.
He’d never been prone to rescuing damsels in distress—because that could only lead to trouble. But this was different.
So he did the only thing that he knew would shut everyone up.
He wrapped his arm around Emily’s slender shoulders, pivoted her slightly and brought her all the way against him.
Shock rendered Emily completely still. She couldn’t believe Dylan was about to kiss her, but she could not deny the electric jolt of the first brush of his lips. Suddenly breathless, she found herself closing her eyes and parting her lips. Darn it all, this reckless cowboy was one fine kisser. And she was susceptible as could be to the seductive heat of his mouth, combined with the masculine certainty of his tall, strong body pressed against hers. Despite her efforts to remain immune to this ridiculously false display of affection, she impulsively wound her arms around his neck. And still he kept on kissing her, until she shivered with sheer pleasure and the rest of the world literally fell away...
Dylan hadn’t meant to get so caught up in the moment. And maybe he wouldn’t have, had Emily’s lips not been so incredibly sweet, her body so warm and womanly.... This was supposed to be his chance to put the audacious heiress in her place and make sure she never made false claims about the two of them again.
And yet, the kiss that had started out merely as a way to knock her off balance and show her who was boss swiftly turned into much, much more. It was an invitation to delve further into the chemistry between them. A lightning bolt of desire that instinct told him neither of them would soon forget.
He might not be the right kind of guy for her, or she the right kind of woman for him, but the passion between them was potent. Too potent, Dylan decided, for the kiss to continue.
It took everything he had to let the passionate embrace come to a halt. And a second after that he was reminded that they had an audience.
All three of her big brothers looked at him as if they wanted to clock him.
Dylan could hardly blame them.
Had Emily been his wildly impetuous baby sister...
Blushing, Emily stepped back slightly, grabbed Dylan’s sleeve and held on tight. “You know,” she said, seemingly making up words on the fly with the same impetuousness that had him kissing her, “that wasn’t the smartest move either of us has ever made, Dylan. But,” she continued before any of the four males around her could interrupt, “that’s what happens when you’re in love.” She paused to beam at him. “Right, Dylan?”
Once again, he had a chance