Jack paled. "No. God, please don't call her that. That's Lola. She and Heidi had a public catfight last week."

"Over what?" I asked, and rolled my eyes as I saw the guilty look on my brother's face. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

"There's something else you probably don't want to know," Todd told me.

In response to my puzzled look, he nodded toward the other side of the table, where Dad was still holding court. My heart clutched as I saw Hardy Cates standing there shaking hands with him. Hardy didn't wear a tux with the languid ease of an aristocrat, but instead with the vague impatience of someone who'd rather be having a cold one with the boys. Leashed and restrained in civilized clothing, he seemed more a force of nature than ever.

My father was staring at him with narrow-eyed interest. As usual, he was as subtle as a pickax. And as usual, everyone held their breath when he spoke. "You plannin' to mess with the Travises?" Dad asked in a tone of amiable interest. "You tryin' to put something over on us?

Hardy met his gaze squarely, a young scoundrel sizing up an old scoundrel, not without respect. "No, sir."

"Then why have you taken up livin' in my building?"

A slight smile touched Hardy's lips. "Travises aren't the only ones who want a view from the top floor."

I didn't have to look at my father's face to know he loved that. Loved it. On the other hand, he wasn't one to forget old scores. "All right," he said to Hardy. "You paid your respect to the big dog, you can go along now."

"Thank you. But you're not the Travis I came to see."

And Hardy looked at me.

I was being pursued, right in front of my family. I threw Todd a quick, desperate glance, pleading silently for help. But he was enjoying the show way too much.

While the collective gaze of the Travis clan focused on me, I looked back at Hardy. And in as normal a tone as I could manage, I said, "Hello, Mr. Cates. Are you having a good evening?"

"Hoping to."

A world of trouble lurked in those two words. "Hey, Cates," Jack said, standing and clapping Hardy on the shoulder. "What do you say we go get a beer at the bar?"

Hardy didn't budge. "No, thanks."

"It's on me. I insist."

As if things weren't bad enough, Gage and Liberty returned to the table. And Gage, who was more than a little territorial where his wife was concerned, fixed Hardy with a stare that promised death.

Liberty seized Gage's hand and gripped it tightly. "Hardy," she said with a relaxed smile, "it's been a long time. How are you?"

"Great. You?"

"Wonderful," she said. "We have a little boy now. Matthew."

"I heard about that. Congratulations."

Gage stared at Hardy in a way that raised the hairs on my arms. "What do you want?" he asked quietly.

Hardy's gaze turned to me, and held, as he answered. "I want to dance with your sister."

Before I could even answer, Gage said, "Not a chance."

And Jack said almost simultaneously, "I don't think so."

My father glanced at me from across the table and raised his brows.

And my brother Joe chose that moment to come up behind my chair and rest a hand on my shoulder. "We having a problem?" he asked of no one in particular.

I felt smothered by them, the men in my family, who were so determined to protect me that they weren't even considering my opinion on the matter. I pulled away from Joe's hand. "No problem," I told him. "Mr. Cates just asked me to dance. And I'm going to — "

"No way in hell," Joe said putting his hand back on my shoulder. Irritably I dug my elbow into his side. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Maybe you should," Joe muttered, giving me a hard look. "Need to talk to you, Haven."

"Later," I said, mortified. We were causing a scene. People were looking.

"Now," Joe insisted.

I stared at him in disbelief. "For God's sake," I said, "even for a family of crazy Texan control freaks, this is ridiculous."

Hardy had begun to scowl. "While you have a committee meeting to decide if you're allowed to dance," he told me, "I'll be at the bar."

And he sauntered off while I glared at Joe, who was usually the least interfering brother.

Of course, that wasn't saying much. But still.

"'Scuse us," Joe said to the rest of the Travises, and he led me away from the table.

"What's going on?" I demanded in a taut whisper as we meandered through the crowd. "Why is it such a big deal if I dance with Hardy Cates?"

"The guy's trouble," Joe said calmly, "and everyone knows it. With all the men here to choose from, why give him a second thought? Are you that determined to push the family's buttons?"

"Newsflash, Joe: there are some things in life I get to decide without taking the family's buttons into consideration."

"You're right," he allowed after a moment. "But I'm still not going to keep quiet if I see you walking toward another hole in the ground. Not if there's a chance I can stop you from falling into it."

"Whatever I do or don't do with Hardy Cates, it's my business,"

I said. "I'll handle the consequences."

"Fine. As long as you understand that the chances of being set up and used are high."