disarmingly beautiful...in a healthy, girl-next-door kind of way. Her pale blond hair was caught up in a careless ponytail, and her royal-blue silk shirt and skinny jeans were nothing pretentious. Even her ballerina flats were unexceptional. She was the kind of woman who probably looked exactly this good when she rolled out of bed in the morning.
That thought took him down a road he needed to avoid. His sex hardened, making his pants uncomfortable. He held out his hand, attempting to normalize the situation. “I’m Au—”
She slapped her hand over his mouth, interrupting his polite introduction. “No,” she said, sounding desperate and anxious all at the same time. “I’ll call you Cowboy. You can call me Mandy.”
He took her wrist and moved her hand away. “Not your real name?”
“No.”
“Ah. Aliases. Intriguing.”
“You’re making fun of me.” Her face fell.
“Maybe a little.” He smiled to let her know he was teasing.
Without warning, their flirtatious repartee was rudely curtailed. A tall, statuesque redhead took the bar stool at his right shoulder and curled an arm around his waist. “Buy me another beer, will you? Sorry I was gone so long. Who the hell thinks it’s a good idea to build a ladies’ room with only a single stall?”
Austin groaned inwardly. Damn. He’d actually forgotten about Audra for a moment. “Um...”
Poor Mandy went dead white and looked as if she were going to throw up. “Excuse me,” she said, with all the politeness of a guest at high tea with the queen. “It was a pleasure to meet you, but I have to go now.”
Thank God Audra was a quick study. She sized up the situation in a glance. Her eyes widened. “Oh, crap. I’m sorry. Don’t go. I’m his sister. Honest.”
Mandy hesitated.
Austin nodded. “It’s true. Underneath that bottled red hair is a blonde just like me.”
Audra stood up and grimaced. “Forget the beer, little brother. I’ll grab a cab. See you at the house later.”
Then his five-years-older sister went completely off script. She stepped around him and took both of Mandy’s hands in hers. “Here’s the thing, ma’am. I know it’s sometimes scary to meet men these days. Getting hit on in a bar can be dangerous.”
“She was hitting on me,” Austin muttered.
Both women ignored him.
Audra continued. “My brother is a good, decent man. He doesn’t have any diseases, and he doesn’t assault women. You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
“Audra!” His head threatened to explode from embarrassment.
Mandy barely glanced at him. “I see.”
Audra nodded. “He doesn’t live here. He’s in town visiting me, and we came out tonight to...well...”
For once, his outrageous sister looked abashed.
Mandy gave him a puzzled look. “To what?”
Dear Lord. He gritted his teeth. If he didn’t tell her, Audra would. “Today is the anniversary of my wife’s death. She’s been gone for six years. I finally took my wedding ring off, thanks to my sister’s badgering. That’s it. That’s all.”
Tears welled in Mandy’s eyes. She blinked them back, but one rolled down her cheek. “I had no idea. I am so sorry.”
Audra patted her shoulder. “It was a long time ago. He’s fine.”
Austin got to his feet and grabbed his sister’s arm none too gently despite her glowing character testimonial. “You’re leaving. Now.”
He glanced back at Mandy. “Don’t move.”
On the way to the door, Audra smirked at him. “I won’t wait up for you. Have fun tonight.”
“You are such a brat.”
Outside on the sidewalk, he hugged her. “I won’t discuss my love life with you. A man has boundaries.”
Audra kissed his cheek. “Understood. I just want you to be happy, that’s all.”
“I am happy,” he said.
“Liar.”
“I’m happier than I was.”
“Go back in there before she gets cold feet.”
“I love you, sis.”
“I love you, too.”
He watched his only sibling get into a cab, and then he looked through the window into the bar where not one but two men had taken advantage of his absence to move in on Mandy.
No way. No way in hell. The little blonde was his. At least for tonight.
* * *
Brooke breathed a sigh of relief when her cowboy returned and dispersed the crowd that had gathered around her. Apparently if the hour was late enough and the man drunk enough, even the most vehement no didn’t register.
When it was just the two of them again, the cowboy gave her a slow, intimate smile that curled her toes. “May I buy you another drink?”
“No, thanks. I wasn’t drinking. Not really. Alcohol clouds a person’s judgment. I wanted to be clearheaded tonight.”
“I see.” He cocked his head and studied her. “Do you live here in Joplin?”
“Nope.”
“So we’re both just passing through?”
“It would seem that way.”
A small grin teased the corners of his mouth. The man had a great mouth. Really great. She could imagine kissing that mouth all night long.
Finally, he shook his head, bemusement in his baffled gaze. “I know what I’m doing here, Mandy, but I’m still not clear about why you showed up at this bar tonight.”
“Does it matter?” She hadn’t expected a man to quiz her. The fact that her cowboy was slowing things down rattled her.
He nodded. “It does to me.”
“Maybe I’m horny.”
He snorted out a laugh and tried to turn it into a cough...unsuccessfully. Then he rubbed two fingers in the center of his forehead and sighed. “I’m not asking for your life story. But I’d like to know why me and why tonight. Is this a rebound thing? Are you trying to teach someone a lesson? Am I even warm?”
“Ninety-nine men out of a hundred would already have me in bed right now.”
“Sorry
