more times over the summer as he built her gazebo. She even stayed to talk about her work and the books she was reading. She’d made sure their conversations stayed on a friendly footing. But she’d been careful never to touch him again.
Rabb had felt frustrated that he couldn’t tell her how much he admired her. How much he loved her. But she was engaged to his eldest brother.
It seemed odd to him that Jake never seemed to come around much. He’d watched the engaged couple together and realized something shocking. His brother didn’t seem to have an intimate relationship with Amanda. Rabb was grateful, but frustrated. Especially since Jake kept throwing him together with Amanda. Whenever Jake couldn’t escort his fiancée to some event, he would deputize Rabb to take his place. And since Rabb was grateful for every moment he could spend with Amanda, he was happy to oblige.
Over the past two years, it had gotten harder and harder to be a good brother. Especially when he wanted his brother’s woman for his own.
To make matters worse, he wasn’t sure if Jake even loved Amanda. Even now, at a party to celebrate his impending marriage, Jake couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Hope Butler. That little sex kitten really had her claws into his brother.
Rabb took a breath and let it out. Amanda would never be happy married to a man who didn’t love her. And Jake wouldn’t be happy living with a miserable wife. He owed it to both of them to make his feelings known…before it was too late.
The first problem was how to separate Jake from Amanda so he could talk to his brother. In the end, he decided the direct approach was best. He walked up to the two of them and said, “I need to talk to you, Jake.”
“Can it wait?” Jake said. He smiled at Amanda. “I’m a little busy right now.”
“It’s important,” Rabb said.
Jake turned to Amanda and said, “I’ll be right back,” then released her and followed Rabb.
Rabb led his brother to a deserted corner of the backyard where forsythia bushes had grown out of control.
“What is it?” Jake said impatiently.
“I don’t think you should marry Amanda Carter.”
Jake frowned. It was a look that would’ve cowed Rabb a few years ago, but he couldn’t afford to be daunted by his older brother’s displeasure. This was too important.
“You don’t love her,” Rabb said bluntly.
“How I feel about Amanda is none of your business,” Jake retorted.
“I’m making it my business.”
Jake’s blue eyes narrowed. “Did Amanda say something to you about us?”
“No, but—”
“Then how is my relationship with her any of your business?” Jake demanded.
“Do you love Amanda even a little?” Rabb asked. “Tell me you love her, and I’ll back off.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed even more. “I already told you—”
“You don’t love her,” Rabb accused. “Do you? That Butler girl has her claws in you so tight, you can’t see anything but those big brown eyes of hers and that knockout body.”
“Keep Hope out of this. And keep your voice down,” Jake said, shooting a glance at the gathered friends and family who were just out of earshot.
“Hope Butler is very much a part of this,” Rabb said in a low, urgent voice. “Because I think you’re in love with her.”
“How I feel about Hope is none of your business, either,” Jake said heatedly.
“You have to break off this engagement, Jake. You have to set Amanda free.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Jake said. “I proposed to Amanda, and unless she calls it off, I intend to go through with the wedding. Because she’ll make a damned fine wife!”
“You are the most stubborn, bullheaded—”
“If you’re done—”
“I’m not done,” Rabb said, grabbing at Jake’s shoulder to keep him from walking away. “If that sexpot Hope Butler wasn’t wagging her tail—”
Rabb never got to finish his sentence, because Jake swung a fist at his chin. He reacted quickly enough that the blow only grazed him, but even that was enough to knock him off his feet. Rabb lay on the ground staring up at his stunned brother.
“Damn it, Rabb. I’m sorry,” Jake said. “I don’t know—”
Rabb avoided the hand his brother offered and quickly got back on his feet. “I know exactly what’s wrong with you. You’re in love up to your eyeballs with Hope Butler, and you’re marrying Amanda Carter out of some misplaced sense of honor. You’re not doing either one of them any favors.”
“Hope’s too young for me,” Jake said bleakly.
“Yeah, I know. And because Amanda’s the right age you’re going to marry her and live miserably ever after. I’m giving you fair warning that I intend to do everything in my power to stop this wedding.”
“Amanda loves me, Rabb. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Rabb was taken aback by Jake’s statement, because it was something he feared might very well be true. “Maybe she does. And maybe she doesn’t know her own mind.”
They were both distracted by a commotion in the gazebo.
“What the hell?” Jake muttered.
Hope screamed.
Rabb was left standing by himself as Jake raced to the rescue.
Rabb quickly followed after him, but while Jake’s attention was focused on Hope and the cowboy whose arms were wrapped tightly around her, Rabb had eyes only for Amanda.
She looked distressed as Jake marched up the steps of the gazebo and yanked Hope free of the cowboy’s drunken embrace. When the man took a swing at him, Jake ducked, then planted his powerful fist in the cowboy’s solar plexus.
The man stumbled backward, then went crashing through the delicate lattice that formed one of the five sides of the gazebo. That would have been bad enough, but as the drunken cowboy stumbled, he careened into another guest, who windmilled helplessly before smashing backward through another one of the fragile walls.
“Oh, no!” Amanda cried.
Rabb was beside her an instant later. “It’s all right, Amanda,” he said. “I can fix it.”
“I don’t care about the gazebo,” she shot back. And then realizing who was standing beside her amended, “Well, of course I do, but…”
He followed her gaze to the gazebo and saw what was really troubling her. Jake was gripping Hope Butler tightly by the arm, dragging her out of the gazebo behind him and
