Page 62 of The Rancher's Unrequited Love

"Serafina's joining us for brunch." Aidan's words draw me out of my thoughts, and the next thing I know I'm already being seated between the twins while Ethan hands me a menu.

"Thank you," I say uncertainly. "But are you guys sure I'm not interrupting anything—-"

"Nothing as important as you," the youngest Blackwood says solemnly. "We've never had our big brother introduce a girl to us—-"

"Not true," Thornton surprises me by interrupting in a soft, gruff voice. "Remember Darcy from high school?"

"She doesn't count," Ethan dismisses. "We already knew her even before Aidan brought her home."

Brought who home?

I turn to Aidan, and he says right away, "Ignore them. You're the only girl for me from now on."

His brothers choke...and so do I...along with everyone else in the cafe.

Oh my God.

A helpless laugh escapes me when I realize practically the entire town's been eavesdropping on our conversation. "This is so crazy."

"That's why I told you to ignore them," Aidan says sensibly.

"Am I really the first girl you've introduced to your brothers?"

"You can also be the last if you like," Aidan offers.

I glare at him. "Will you please stop—-"

Hearing this, Ethan looks at me in feigned shock. "Don't say you don't like our big brother?"

"It's not that—-"

"How can you not like Aidan?" Thornton questions. "That would mean not liking me as well, and my wife tells me every day I'm perfect."

Thornton's grave tone has me torn between laughing and crying. I might be wrong about this, but I've a feeling it's uncommon for Aidan's twin to even notice a near-stranger like me. He's just so self-contained that I actually feel honored he's even making a decided effort to back Ethan up in teasing me.

Really honored and yet...

"I'm engaged."

I end up mumbling the words under my breath, but the way the entire cafe abruptly falls into silence tells me everyone's heard it all the same. The usual additional second passes, and then the noise levels pick back up with a vengeance. It's as if everyone's determined to give us a semblance of privacy, and I find their response cute, funny, and painfully sweet all at the same time.

"Well..." Ethan's drawl has all of us in the table glancing up. "That was awkward."

It's exactly what we all needed to hear, and the words effectively break the tense silence between us as Thornton grimaces, Aidan rolls his eyes, and I choke back a laugh.

"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot."

The gentleness in Thornton's tone catches me off guard, and I'm secretly mortified at the way it suddenly makes my eyes sting. "It's not your fault at all. It's my fault for not making things clear—-"

"There wasn't anything for you to clear up." Aidan's tone is firm. "Engagements get broken all the time—-"

I can only sputter and choke while Aidan's brothers actually exchange contemplative looks, like they're already thinking up ways to make that happen.

"I gotta say though..." Thornton gives his twin a thoughtful look. "I did not see this coming at all."

"True," Ethan agrees. "Great Saint Aidan, falling off his pedestal because of a girl."

"I never asked to be on one," Aidan retorts, "so it's no big loss."

---