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against becoming too comfortable around him.
    “Around here, we dress before breakfast.” Leaving wide open the implication that he knew fully she’d been a stripper in Vegas. Just the same, she wasn’t going to let this cowboy or anyone else make her feel small. She reached out to trace the front collar of his snap shirt with her black polished fingernail. “Thanks for the tip.”
    “You’re welcome,” he replied, his body stiffening as she moved closer, her cheek brushing his.
    “This is more clothes than I usually wear before breakfast,” she whispered in his ear, straightening. Her lip curled when his gaze darted to hers with a flicker of a challenge. “You couldn’t handle it, cowboy.” She answered that surprised expression and watched with pleasure as his mouth gaped, but he had no response. There might be eight years difference between them, but damn if they weren’t going to get a few things straight between them—namely, she didn’t take well to being bossed around and she wasn’t his baby sister.

 
     
     
Chapter Three
     
     
    A few moments later, when she returned in jeans and a black t-shirt with the rhinestone studding, “Vegas,” emblazoned across her chest, she found several men seated at the table. There were two spots left—one next to Wyatt, which she presumed for Aimee and one directly across from Rein. She mentally considered how satisfying it would be to kick him in the shins and added cowboy boots t her list of immediate purchases.
    Wyatt and the others rose as she came around the table. Rein a little slower on the uptake. She’d never received that kind of treatment, even from Angelo. Aimee appeared from the kitchen, a glass of juice in hand. Liberty noticed her skin had a waxy, pale sheen to it. She sat down with a quiet sigh and dropped her napkin in her lap. At the opposite end of the table sat a man with similar facial features as Wyatt’s, but with a different build. Where Wyatt was taller and slightly lanky, this man had broad shoulders that filled out his black tee shirt. He remained standing, his gaze narrowing on Liberty as he held out his hand.
    “I’m Dalton. And you must be Liberty Belle.” He had his brother’s intensely brown eyes. “I apologize for not being here last night when you arrived. I had a previous engagement.”
    Wyatt shot his brother a dark look. Rein cleared his throat.
    “Don’t pay attention to them. They don’t understand my passion for pool.” Dalton grinned.
    “Or for Dusty’s Place in general,” Wyatt mumbled. “Ow.” He darted a glance at his fiancée, who apparently had worn her boots.
    “Are you familiar with the game?” Dalton asked ignoring his brother’s remark.
    Liberty took his proffered hand, feeling an immediate camaraderie to Dalton. “I carry a Fury HL.”
    A low-whistle and raised brow from Dalton followed. His smile, as handsome as Wyatt’s, indicted she’d already won him over. “A classic style. I’m impressed.”
    Liberty shrugged. “I spent a lot of time at the Riviera, watching the tournaments. You can’t touch Kelly “Kwikfire” Fisher.”
    Dalton closed his eyes and slapped his hand to his heart. “A woman after my own heart. Maybe we can head up to Dusty’s, and you can show me what you’ve got.”
    She nodded and sat down, grinning at him. Maybe things weren’t going so be so bad after all. “I’d like that.”
    Rein shifted in his chair. “If you two wouldn’t mind holding off on comparing pool cues, I’d like to go over what needs to be done before this ranch in inundated with people in a couple of days.”
    Dalton made a face and gave Liberty a conspirator-type wink.
    “I would like to meet the person who brings new energy to this house,” stated an older man seated next to Rein. His silver and black hair trailed down his back in a single braid. His face, weathered by years of being in the sun, appeared serene. In his eyes, there was an unmistakable wisdom.
    Wyatt took Aimee’s