“The things I do for you,” he muttered as he sat down. He regarded Mack with the same intense look Richard had given him earlier. “You okay?”
Mack nodded. “And I’ll make you a deal. I won’t ask a single question about how you’re doing if you’ll drop all the questions about my life.”
“Deal,” Ben said at once, clearly eager to forgo an examination of his own recovery from the tragedy that had nearly destroyed him.
Richard shook his head. “I’ll bet you Melanie and Beth are spilling their guts to each other by now and here we sit, reduced to talking about what? Football? Political corruption? Terrorism?”
Mack regarded him with shock. “Beth is out with your wife?”
“Oh, yes,” Richard said, looking pleased as punch at having been the bearer of that news. “Melanie could hardly wait. She’s anticipating great revelations.”
Ben grinned at Mack. “You’re doomed, bro. Just accept it and start looking at china patterns.”
“Bite me,” Mack retorted. “Besides, it’s not as if she’s out with Destiny. That would be terrifying.” He suddenly recalled Beth’s current anger toward their aunt. “Then again, that little stunt Destiny pulled by planting an item about us with Pete Forsythe got Beth pretty stirred up. I imagine she could more than hold her own with Destiny about now.”
“I’d pay to see that,” Richard said.
“If the occasion actually arises, I’ll get you a seat in the front row,” Mack promised him.
He was about to down the rest of his drink when he saw Ben’s eyes widen and Richard’s mouth drop open. He turned slowly and spotted a very buxom model he’d stopped seeing several months ago heading their way.
Cassandra was gorgeous, scantily clad and brash. She walked up and planted a kiss on him that would have melted his zipper not all that long ago.
“Hey, darlin’,” she whispered huskily, ignoring his brothers as if they weren’t even there. “I’ve missed you.”
Mack tried to extricate himself from the hand that was sliding directly toward his belt buckle. “Cass, I’d like you to meet my brothers,” he said pointedly. “Richard, Ben, this is Cassandra.”
She blinked at the distinct lack of welcome in his tone, studied his face for a moment, then turned to his brothers. “Gentlemen, it’s nice to meet you.” She gave them both a considering look, then shrugged at the lack of response from either one. “See you around, Mack.”
A pout on her full lips, she turned and sashayed off, her skimpy skirt barely covering her extraordinary der-riere. Richard and Ben stared after her, then turned back to Mack, their eyes filled with amusement.
“It must be hell to be you,” Richard said.
“The women, the attention, the media.” Ben shook his head pityingly. “A curse. A definite curse.”
Mack glowered at them, then lifted his glass. “You know, you two, I could drink at home and get a whole lot less attitude.”
“But why would you want to?” Richard asked, grinning. “This way you get brotherly love, Chinese food and an excellent floor show.”
“One woman stopping by the table does not constitute a floor show,” Mack protested.
“Then how about three?” Ben asked, nodding in the direction of two more women heading their way. “Damn, but this is fun.”
Mack scowled fiercely at the women and they turned away. At least those two were strangers who wouldn’t go away pouting, their feelings hurt.
Mack loved his brothers. He even appreciated that this evening was meant to cheer him up, but he’d had all he could take. He should have taken Beth up on her offer of dinner or a movie. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe he could get Beth to send Melanie over here to her traitorous husband. Then he could meet Beth at her place.
Great plan, he concluded, but little chance of success. Beth wasn’t like him. She wouldn’t dump the person she was with to be with someone else. That didn’t mean he had to stick around.
He pushed back his chair and stood up. “Guys, I love you both and I appreciate that you came here to cheer me up, but I’ve gotta go.”
“Go where?” Richard demanded.
“Anyplace besides this hotbed of women on the prowl,” he said bluntly.
Both men stared at him in shock.
“He really is in love,” Ben concluded.
“Seems that way to me,” Richard agreed sagely.
“Bite me,” Mack said again.
Only when he’d made his escape did he stop long enough to admit to himself that his brothers had gotten it exactly right. He was in love with Beth. He waited after making the admission, expecting real panic to set in, but all he felt was this amazing sense of relief that he’d finally recognized the emotion for what it really was. He grinned as he got behind the wheel.