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fence and sat on it next to him. Jace was still trying to come to terms with having a mate, and they were trying to throw them together.
    “She smells like you.” Jace felt his body heat up. Not just in embarrassment, but in need as well. He wanted her, there was no doubt about it, but more than that, his cat wanted her as well. “Where did you go last night after you left the house?”
    “I didn’t mean to do it.” Mason didn’t say anything. “I only went there to see her. To…I guess to check up on her. And there she was. I wanted her. Worse than I ever wanted a woman before. And not…I’ve been trying to reason with my cat all day. But he wants her too. To taste her. Jerking off on her was a mistake.” Mason laughed. Hard and long. He had to hold tightly onto the fencing or fall off, his mirth was so great. Jace had the most incredible urge to not just knock him off but to stomp his ass too while he was down. But it wasn’t Mason’s fault, and getting the shit beat out of him—and there was no doubt to Jace that he would—would only make him madder and no closer to being finished with Holly.
    “You’re fucked. I mean really well and truly fucked.” Jace nodded and said nothing more as his brother continued. “Palmer is pushing you two together as well. He wants her happy. And there is this…I’m not sure you want to hear this, but there is this other guy sort of stalking her.”
    “Stalking her? I don’t understand. He’s not hurt her, has he? Of course not. Had he, there would no longer be a problem, would there? Why hasn’t she done…or her father done anything about him?” Jace tried to think how he could help, then thought of something else. “He’s not dangerous, is he?”
    “So far, no. But you know how those kinds of men are.” He did. His friend from high school had had a guy from town stalking her. He was a good deal older than any of them, but he’d wanted Anna to be his. That had not ended well, for either him or Anna. “I think she needs to be made aware of how this could go, or someone has to talk with the guy. But Palmer said she can handle it.”
    “Is this why you’re shoving us together?” Mason said it was some of it. “What else? Do you think I need to take her as my mate? Mason, look where we live and where she lives. I don’t mean to sound snobbish, but damn it, she is rich enough to buy us out. And she did.”
    “She paid our bills and has a contract with Aunt Georgie to pay it all back. Before you ask, yes, we had someone look it over. The person who benefits the most is us. The only thing we have to do is give her first refusal if we decide to sell.” Jace had heard that from his aunt. “Also, she and her dad are really looking into these charges, not just the bank but others as well. The mill said we owed them over forty grand. There is no way we owe that much. It wasn’t until a few years ago that we started falling behind.”
    Right around the time that the taxes had come due and they’d been told that they were four times what they normally paid. It nearly bankrupted them, and as the years went by and the taxes kept rising, they got more and more behind.
    “I’ve got a lead on some cattle.” Mason asked him where. “The Carter farm. They’re selling out. While the cattle are older and not used to us, we might be able to make it work out. It’s over five hundred head. Good milking cows.”
    “That’ll put our herd up to around a thousand. That means more grain, more vet calls…I’m not sure.” Jace nodded. He’d figured that his brother would say that. “How much?”
    “Eight cents on the dollar.” Mason asked him to repeat it. “You heard me. I told you they want to sell. They’re behind on things too, and I think the bank is hurting them as well. Not as badly as us, but they are giving up. The land is up for sale too. They’re giving us the rights first if we want to purchase it.”
    “We can’t do that. Not now.” Jace also knew