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with that. And honestly, none of it mattered. He’d be happy to just do the mind-numbing work of pounding in fence posts from sunup to sundown. He longed for that blissful state of exhaustion that made thinking or feeling impossible.

He was about to open the front door when it suddenly opened of its own accord. And there stood Claire, glaring at him as if he’d just kicked a puppy. What the fuck had he done now? Whatever it was, he wasn’t in the mood for it. “Excuse me,” he said, trying to get around her.

She didn’t budge.

Her nostrils were flared. Her eyebrows were drawn into a menacing scowl. Hell, she practically had steam coming out of her ears. Claire wasn’t just mad. She was what Gerome called redhead mad.

She poked him in the chest. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“We don’t have time to start that list. Now pardon me, I have a meeting with your husband and your father.”

She poked him again. Harder.

“Ow. Jesus, Claire. Get out of my way.”

“How dare you treat Alice like that?”

Oh. Allie must have concocted a story, and it sounded like it was a doozy. But he’d promised to go along with it. “I’m just a horrible guy, I guess. A real beast of a man. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

She shoved him. Like actually shoved him. And since he wasn’t ready for it, he lost his balance and had to take a step back to catch himself. Unbelievably, Claire stayed on him, right in his face, pulling the door shut behind her.

Great. He’d lost his brother. He’d had his heart broken. He was about to give up his foreman position. And now Claire was literally trying to fight him on the front porch. “What the fuck, Claire? I don’t know what you think happened between me and Allie, but believe it or not, it was all part of a plan.”

“No doubt,” Claire said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s a tired plan, and you should retire it.”

“I don’t even know what that means—”

“You have more than enough willing victims for the one-shot game you play. Why did you have to prey on Alice?”

“Prey on Alice? I don’t prey on anybody. And I don’t play games. Every woman I see knows exactly what she’s getting—which is a fucking good time, by the way—and Alice was no exception.”

Claire gasped dramatically.

“In fact,” he continued. “In Allie’s case, there was an actual contract involved. Which she drew up. So, if you’ll just get out of my way now, I have a meeting—”

“She gave you everything, Beau.”

Beau’s pulse pounded in his head. How dare Claire even engage him in this conversation? She had no idea what she was talking about. “She didn’t give me a damn thing,” he said. “She just took.”

Took his heart and stomped on it.

“She. Was. A. Virgin.”

“Virginity is a social construct.”

He shouldn’t have said that. Because he knew damn well that the first time was the first time, and that it meant something. It had just slipped out, much like a million other Allie-isms he often spouted.

“I’m so sorry you were her first.”

Beau wasn’t sorry. He would treasure that night for the rest of his life, and he hoped Allie would, too.

“You treated her like any old romp in the hay,” Claire said. “I mean, Beau, this was Alice!”

Something snapped inside. He could hardly breathe or form a coherent thought, but it didn’t matter. Feelings were rushing around inside of him, slamming into each other and exploding into a single, sloppy storm of grief and rage and disappointment, and it was all about to pour out of his mouth.

“I will never regret being Alice’s first lover. Ever. I poured my whole heart and soul into making love to her, and you have no fucking right to stand here invading my privacy and forcing me to talk about something so personal and accusing me of . . . Of what, I don’t even know. But I did not steal anything from Alice. I gave her everything. Her first time was with someone who cherished and loved her, and you will not talk shit about it to me or anyone else.” He yanked his Stetson down low, hoping the shadow would hide his face, because he’d already revealed more than he’d intended. “Now then, if you don’t move your ass, I’m going to move it for you.”

Claire didn’t yield. “You’re in love with Alice?”

There would be no getting past her. She was like a troll under a bridge, demanding a secret password, which seemed to be the baring of his soul. He lifted the brim of his hat, because fuck it. Let her go ahead and see the red-rimmed eyes and whatever other pathetic hints might be lurking in his expression. “Yes. I’m in love with Alice. I always have been, and I always will be. Are you happy now?”

Claire gave a shriek of joy and then launched herself at him. He was covered in redhead and totally confused. “Alice loves you, too, Beau. She’s absolutely heartbroken. You need to go talk to her—”

Beau peeled Claire off of him. “No. You’ve got it wrong. Allie struck a deal with me, because . . .” Hell. Might as well let it all out. He had nothing to lose anymore. “I don’t read very well, Claire. It’s embarrassing, but it’s the truth. Alice helped me with that. And in return, I took her to the wedding.”

“First of all, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and I’m glad Alice helped you. Secondly, you did a little more than take her to the wedding.”

Beau shrugged. “I guess you could say that we amended the contract to include a few extracurricular activities. But believe me, Alice is not in love with me. Maybe, since I was her first, she’s developed an understandable attachment. But she’s moving to Austin to start a new job, and she didn’t even bother to tell me about it. That’s how important I am to