True Blue Cowboy. Marin Thomas

maturity—qualities that had been missing from the other sloe-eyed beauties he’d hooked up with in the past. “It wasn’t like that.”

      “Then what was it like?” Hoss asked.

      “There was something different about her, and when the evening ended I asked for her number.”

      “She didn’t give it to you.”

      “Nope.”

      When Hoss grinned, Mack growled. “What the hell’s so funny?”

      “She’s the first lady who hasn’t succumbed to your cowboy charm.”

      “Succumbed? You’re using pretty big words, Hoss.”

      “Whatcha gonna do?”

      “Nothing.” Beth made it clear that she wasn’t interested in cozying up with him during her stay at the dude ranch.

      “You gonna let a decent woman like her get away without a fight?”

      “If she was so decent, she wouldn’t have pretended to be someone she wasn’t.”

      “Maybe she had a good reason.”

      Lack of self-confidence wasn’t good enough in Mack’s book. And it didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t wanted him to contact her after they’d had fun at the motel. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

      “Change her mind.”

      “What’s with you?” Mack frowned. “Why do you care about my love life?”

      “’Cause you’ve been a big mope lately.”

      “A man can take a moment to think, can’t he?”

      “He can.” Hoss spat tobacco juice on the ground. “But there’s a time for thinkin’ and a time for doin’.” He nodded to the barn. “This is a time for doin’.”

      Doing what? Mack was so dang confused right now he didn’t know which way was up or down. He was pissed at Beth for using him, and even though she’d made it clear she wasn’t interested in extending their one-night stand, the gnawing in his gut insisted he still wanted to be with her.

      So where did that leave him?

      Between being a fool and an idiot.