Chapter One
Willow Malone adjusted the thin straps of her slip dress one more time, admiring how the sheer champagne silk caught the light. The barely-there fabric skimmed her curves like a whispered promise, and paired with her favorite worn leather cowgirl boots, made her look like trouble wrapped in designer packaging.
Exactly the vibe she was going for.
Walking through the ranch house put her on edge. Every door she passed, she expected one of her six brothers to leap out and give her hell about her outfit. After so many years of hassling her about her attire, they should have given up.
Not her brothers. They were all ex-military, bodyguards for the family business, Black Heart Security—andthe self-appointed fashion police.
She lightened her steps so her boots didn’t thump on the wood floors. As she rounded the corner and entered the mudroom, she saw her sisters-in-law all gathered there, putting the finishing touches on their own party looks in the mirror.
“Ready to paint the town, ladies?” she called out to them.
They chattered with excitement as they slipped on their jackets and made for the door.
Willow cast another quick glance around for her brothers. Hot damn! She just might make it out of here without one of them commenting on her dress.
“Ready, ladies? All aboard the bachelorette party bus!” She whipped open the door.
All of her sisters-in-law hurried out, headed to the big van she’d commissioned for the bachelorette party so nobody had to worry about driving home or taking multiple vehicles.
Willow grabbed her handbag, turning to leave.
And stopped dead as a familiar wall of muscle blocked her path.
“Dammit. I was almost in the clear.”
Her older brother Theo crossed his arms, his protective big-brother expression firmly in place. The gray eyes the siblings all shared ticked over her, from her full, sexy curls to her bare thigh peeking from the slit of her flimsy dress.
“You’re not leaving in that.”
Willow rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn’t fall out of her head. “I’m twenty-five years old, not fifteen. I’m big enough to make my own decisions about fashion.”
“That’s not fashion, that’s lingerie with delusions of grandeur.”
“It’s called confidence. You should try it sometime.” She stepped to the left, but he mirrored her movement.
“Willow—”
“Move. Or I’ll tell everyone at Rhae’s bachelorette party exactly what you were like when you had that crush on Miss Henderson in eighth grade.”
His expression blanked. He stepped aside.
“Smart man.” She patted his chest on the way out the door.
When she boarded the van, the party was already gearing up, with a bottle of champagne flowing into plastic cups. Willow crowded onto a bench seat and accepted her drink with an enthusiasm she didn’t fully feel.
Oh, she was happy for Rhae, the next in line to take the Malone name and make Denver one very happy man. But Willow had been up since dawn, working with the horses while juggling the last of the party plans.
Rhae caught her gaze, her eyes twinkling with happiness. She raised her glass to Willow. “You’re going to devastate every man in the Rusty Spur tonight. That dress is perfect on you.”
Her smile widened. “Tell Theo that. He stopped me on the way out the door.”
Theo’s significant other, Juliette, raised her brows. “That man can be so bossy.”
“All my brothers are bossy.” She sipped the crisp champagne and settled back in her seat to listen to the chatter around her during the twenty-minute drive.
The Rusty Spur was alive with energy and country tunes pouring from the speakers while boots shuffled across the worn wooden floor to a line dance . Neon beer signs cast a warm glow over the packed bar, and the air thrummed with laughter and the clink of bottles.
