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but I can’t help feeling let down. I
turn my face up to him but—damn!—the man’s expression could be etched in
granite, he’s that inscrutable.
    “Capable, you got that right,” Connor says with a grin.
“I’ve been itching to get my hands on Tess without you monopolizing
her.”
    Wade presses his lips together and nods. I’m about to say
something when I catch him glance at Dallas. Holy hell. If I thought the look
that passed between Dallas and Connor was hot, the one that passes between Wade
and Dallas is scorching. I mean, it’s like opening an enormous furnace door and
being blasted in the face.
    Interesting.
    No sooner has Wade walked out then Dallas stands and says,
“I’ll be in the stables, mucking out the stalls.”
    “I’m right behind you,” Connor says with a smirk, but his
innuendo has no effect on Dallas as the man saunters off.
    Once Dallas is out of earshot I say, “Okay. What the hell is
going on?”
    “What?” Connor feigns ignorance as he takes a bite of toast
and washes it down with coffee.
    “Don’t be a smart ass. Tell me what’s going on.”
    With a shrug, Connor says, “Oh, the usual. Wade’s being a
controlling asshole and I’m simply enjoying myself.”
    I smack him on the shoulder. “Don’t say that.”
    Connor turns to look at me and in a rare show of
seriousness, he says, “I know you adore him. I do too. But the man can be
impossible to live with sometimes…Oh! Except that after six years, I still
don’t actually live with him.”
    For the first time I hear bitterness in Connor’s voice.
    “He’s pushing you away,” I say quietly.
    Connor stares straight ahead as he sips his coffee, but
there’s no mistaking the tic on the side of his cheek. “I’m not the only one
he’s pushing away,” he says as he sets his mug down.
    “Dallas?”
    Glancing around at the now empty dining room, Connor says, “We
met Dallas at the Cattlemen’s Saloon in Calgary about six months ago. He’d just
moved out West and was looking for work. We invited him to stay at the ranch.
About a week later, we fell into bed together.” Leaning toward me, he whispers,
“It was fucking amazing. I’ve never seen Wade like he was with Dallas. I mean,
it even rivals what we share with you.”
    “No kidding,” I say, squeezing my legs tight as I imagine
the scenario of the three men together. All hot, naked and fucking like wild.
    “After that, Wade wouldn’t have anything to do with Dallas,
though he’s pushing me into his arms every chance he gets. Like last night. I
was all ready to crawl into bed with you two, cozy as a submarine sandwich,
when he shuts me out, telling me Dallas is waiting for me back at my room.”
    “Huh,” I say, putting all these new pieces of information
together. “So how are you handling it?”
    “Oh, you know me. I just roll with it and take my enjoyment
where I can get it.” Connor takes my empty plate and stacks it with his and carries
it to the kitchen.
    I watch him for a second before following. What is pretty
clear is that both men are pretending like things are fine and dandy when, in
fact, they aren’t. The thing is, as far as I can see, the solution is pretty
simple.
    I walk to the kitchen window and call, “Thanks, Spud. That’s
the best breakfast I’ve had in years.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” he says, waving me off all brusque-like. But I
catch his smile and I figure, on a ranch populated by men, he probably doesn’t
get thanked very often.
    Joining in step with Connor as he exits the dining hall, I
say, “Is there something I can do?”
    Connor slings his arm over my shoulder and says, “Nah. Don’t
worry. It’s not your problem. I shouldn’t have unloaded all this on you in the
first place.”
    “Yeah, but maybe I can help, maybe I can—”
    “You know what you can do? Put on your crappiest clothes and
come help me and Dallas muck out stalls.”
    “Chores? You’re going to make me do chores?”
    “You betcha. You want to stay on