“I’m not being very smart about this, am I?” Hannah asked Marnie.
“Walking away isn’t the answer, girl.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Hannah’s misery washed over her. There was a big part of her that wished none of this had happened. Then she would just be at home, cuddled up with her cat, continuing to dream about her men.
But that was no longer an option. So now what? She’d always thought that love would be easy-breezy and bring her nothing but joy. Nope. It was hard, like everything in life. Maybe harder because it was so precious. Yet, she hadn’t fought for it at all. She’d gotten almost everything she wanted, and now she was willing to throw it all away because it wasn’t quite perfect enough?
Marnie leaned across the bar, propping her chin on her fist. “Do you think you gave Gavin any reason to push you away?”
She shook her head, fighting tears as she remembered that horrible scene. “No. He had no reason to talk down to me that way. Bastard.”
He’d treated her like an annoying pest when all she’d done was offer him comfort. Well, and a blowjob. She’d given the man her very first blowjob. Shouldn’t that count for something? Yes.
But she hadn’t fought, hadn’t told Gavin how his words made her feel. She hadn’t stood up for herself.
She pounded a fist on the bar.
“Now, you’re getting mad.” Marnie grinned. “That’s the reaction you should have had.” The woman was right. Gavin had been a total jerk to her. Why had she cried over him and been willing to walk away from two men who did treat her right? She knew he was hurting, but that didn’t give him the right to hurt others. Why should she give up her future with Dex and Slade because Gavin wanted to wallow in the past?
“Hey, Marnie, why’d you have to go and do that?” Six-foot-five-guy frowned. “She was real sad. Sad women are easier to comfort than mad ones. Now we ain’t ever going to get her to come back to our place.”
“You step one inch closer to her and your place is going to be a pine box six feet under,” a low voice threatened.
Afternoon sunlight slanted in through open saloon doors. Slade, Dex, and Gavin stood in the doorway, looking like gunslingers about to start an Old West-style fight. Hannah’s heart took a nosedive. Individually, they were gorgeous. Together, they were positively heart-stopping.
Not one of them had on their usual, expensive suit. Instead, they all wore jeans and cotton shirts that proved they were far more rugged and male than the average executive. Slade was long and lean and bulged in all the right places. His face had such beautiful angles, it looked chiseled. Those blue eyes were sharp with intelligence. And under it all, a barely concealed power that pulled at her.
Dex was all dangerous cowboy. He was built more like a linebacker than his brothers. His biceps were huge and that cut torso of his tapered into a lean waist and the finest butt she’d ever had the joy to see on a man.
And Gavin looked like a fallen angel. His face was all kinds of stunning, which matched his body. Those lips of his, so skilled, so demanding, just unraveled Hannah completely. She couldn’t help but think about how it had felt to have those lips on her skin, loving her.
None of them looked very loving now, though. As they stared down the crowd, they looked ready to kill.
All the other men froze.
“Now, Dex,” Gavin said in that smooth-as-silk voice of his, “I don’t think we need to spend the money on a pine box. We’ll just toss his carcass off the mountain or let the bears take care of it.”
Hannah slid off her barstool and faced them. It was time to start putting her dainty foot down.
“You have no right to talk to them that way. You don’t own me, Gavin James.” Slade stepped forward and grabbed her arm. His grasp was gentle but unmistakably firm. “He might not own you. But we damn sure do.”
“Damn straight.” Dex crossed his arms over his massive chest and pinned her with a dark stare.
Hannah narrowed her eyes. “Do you have any idea how arrogant the two of you sound? I’m not a piece of property. No one owns me. Let’s get that straight right now.” Dex shook his head. “You became ours when you gave yourself to us, darlin’. There’s no going back.”
“And you’ve earned some swats from all of us for leaving without explanation, except that little note on your computer,” Slade said, his voice taking on that dark, deep tone that let her know she was in trouble.
Hannah turned to see if any of her admirers planned to back her up. Only Marnie stood behind her.
“They left the minute the James Gang walked in the door,” Marnie murmured. “They ran out the back.”
“Good to know they have survival instincts.” Gavin snorted. “Get ready to feel my hand on your ass, sweetheart.”
He stood in between his brothers, as though he had some sort of right to be there.
Hannah fumed. “I might be willing to hear this from Slade and Dex. Maybe. But why are you here, Gavin? You’re no longer my boss. I quit, remember? You denied being my lover or having any feelings for me, so what I do is none of your business. You certainly can’t threaten to spank me.”
“Oh, I’ll do more than threaten once we get all this settled.” Gavin raised a brow, then his expression gentled. “Hannah, I didn’t mean a word of anything I said this afternoon. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove that.”