They were back in the kitchen scrounging for snacks when there was a knock at the front door of his apartment. A shot of pure adrenaline mixed with fear flooded Melody’s bloodstream as her mind began conjuring images of all of the people who could have waltzed right past the doorman downstairs to come up without even asking permission.

But Cisco seemed completely unbothered by the intrusion. His brow furrowed a bit. Then he glanced down at the pajama bottoms he had pulled on for decency’s sake. Melody was wearing his dress shirt and nothing more. He glanced at her and pursed his lips. Then he closed the refrigerator and headed for the front door.

“Hey!” Melody yelped, but it was too late.

“Thank God you’re home.”

The terse voice sounded oddly like Cisco’s and yet not. It was just a tad deeper and definitely rougher. It was accompanied by a man who came striding through the foyer and into Cisco’s apartment as though he owned the place.

Cisco was busy trying to get in front of the guy with no luck. “Laredo, you can’t just barge in here!”

Melody froze. And then it seemed as though the uninvited guest froze too. He was gaping at Melody as though he had no idea what to say. Then he turned and glared at Cisco. “You couldn’t have told me that you have a guest in here? Seriously! What is wrong with you?”

“I was trying,” Cisco growled. “You wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise.” Then Cisco gestured to the man. “Melody Farrell, this is my brother Laredo Hernandez. Laredo, this is Melody Farrell.”

“Well, at least you’ll have a date for tonight.” Laredo did not seem to miss a beat.

The brother thing should not have surprised her. As soon as Cisco mentioned the word, the resemblance came roaring by. In fact, it was surprising that Melody hadn’t figured it out before someone mentioned it. Both men had that big broad build, lean hips, and very taut musculature. Their black hair was identical in color and texture although, at the moment, Cisco’s was far more tousled. Along with that, the two men had those intense blue eyes that just made you want to stand and stare.

“Hold on.” Cisco began waving his hands in the air as though he were trying to flag down a speeding car. “What are you talking about? A date for tonight? I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

“We need your help.”

“Excuse me?” Cisco snorted. “Dad has been helping me plenty. Thanks.”

“Yeah? Well, unless you want him to completely screw up the rest of your life, it’s time to get off your ass and come help us prevent him from opening his mouth in public and making us all look like idiots.”

Cisco threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling as though the answers to all of his problems were written on the pristine white surface. “Okay. So, I’m guessing this has something to do with the rodeo stock contracts.”

“Yes.” Laredo nodded emphatically. “The committee is getting ready to award the contracts. Unofficially, I have been told that the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company is going to walk away the winner here.”

“But unofficially?” Cisco prompted. Melody could not help but notice how tired he looked because of all this crap. Why couldn’t anyone see that he was worn out?

“Unofficially, Dad is getting ready to call Weatherby out.” Laredo was already heading toward Cisco’s bedroom.

Melody lifted her eyebrows in surprise at the brash and completely rude move. The sound of Laredo digging through Cisco’s closet was unmistakable.

“Hey!” Cisco protested. “What are you doing?”

“Finding you some clothes for the Stockman’s Association meeting tonight.”

Laredo’s answer did not make a lick of sense to Melody. Who got dressed in fancy clothes to go to a Stockman’s Association function? By definition of the words, it sounded as though the meeting was full of people in dirty cowboy boots and hats.

“I don’t want to go,” Cisco said flatly.

“Yeah, well, you’re going to.” Laredo strode out of the bedroom holding one of Cisco’s suits. Laredo tossed the pants at his brother. “Put these on.”

Then Laredo glanced at Melody. “Sweetie, go find a dress or something.”

“I don’t live here,” Melody said, aghast at the strange way Laredo was acting. “I don’t have that kind of clothing anyway.”

Laredo looked her up and down from head to toe. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I’ll call the girls and let them know we need a dress.”

“What?” Melody yelped again, but this time it was pure panic. “I can’t borrow a dress for some shindig I wasn’t invited to.”

“Welcome to the family, kid.” Laredo pointed at Cisco. “Take those pajamas off and put on your pants or I swear I’ll do it for you.”

“You were always a mean older brother,” Cisco grouched. “But I swear you’re getting more crotchety with age! What the hell?”

But Cisco was doing it. He had his pants on in seconds and was buttoning his dress shirt. Next he sat down to pull on his socks. Laredo was busy staring at him as though he were trying to decide if he looked presentable enough.

Melody could not take any more of this. She headed toward the bedroom and found her own clothes on the floor. She picked them up and began to dress slowly and deliberately just to pull herself back together.

She had agreed to be with him. Or had she? It was tough to recall exactly what words had been exchanged. She knew that he had told her that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her always. For some reason, Melody had let that fantasy run away with her mind. She had been too busy thinking about lazy mornings in bed and snuggling all night long to even consider the absolute concrete reality of being with this man.

Stuff like this was a really good example of why this relationship with Cisco would never work. She was not a society woman. She could not just dress up in a random dress that someone brought for her because Cisco needed a date for a party. Melody was not date material. She didn’t know which fork to use at a fancy dinner. She had absolutely no training in social graces or etiquette. And honestly, she did not care.

Finally, she emerged from Cisco’s bedroom with her mental and emotional armor in place. Her moment in the sun was over. It was time to take a hard look at reality. She was not the type of woman who could help Cisco’s career or his family’s business interest.

“Good, you’re ready to go!” Laredo clapped his hands together. “All right, children. I have Jesse and Maggie standing by. Aria is already in the car downstairs. Are we ready?”

“Where’s Mom?” Cisco wanted to know. “Isn’t her entire job in life to keep Dad from making an ass out of himself in public?”

“That’s the problem,” Laredo said irritably. “Mom is old and getting very tired of her job.”

“So, she’s on strike or something?” Cisco demanded. “That’s not cool!”

“This is a job for us anyway.” Laredo’s tone brooked no argument.

Melody let herself be swept into the hallway behind the two powerful men. Their personalities alone had so much charisma that there was hardly any more room in the elevator. She waited patiently for the thing to go down while remembering the very first time she had ever seen Cisco.

Apparently, he did not recall that first meeting the same way that she did. He didn’t pause in the elevator to look at her or to think about anything special. In fact, he continued talking with Laredo as though nothing were happening.

It was funny, but Melody had felt more sympathy, empathy, whatever, in that elevator the first time she had seen Cisco than she did right now after she had slept with him less than an hour before. Why was that? It seemed wrong.

The truth was that Melody did not want to go to a meeting and help Laredo and Cisco curb their apparently bigmouthed father. She did not want to run the risk of coming face to face with Captain Paul Weatherby either. She just wanted to get her land back and try to make a go of it somehow. She was considering secondary education for the first time in her life. It was an exciting time. For her. She had a feeling that Cisco would have considered it anything but.

Cisco suddenly turned to Melody as the elevator finally touched the ground floor of Cisco’s apartment building. “Okay. So, here’s the plan, sweetie. We’re going to meet Laredo down in the parking garage. He’s got a car. We’ll drive to the meeting. My sister, Jesse, and our brother Darren’s fiancée, Maggie, will meet you at the front door of the party. They’ll have a dress waiting. It will be just fine. Sound good?”

They were already walking toward the door labeled TO PARKING GARAGE. Did she really have a choice at this point? Melody hung back. She wondered what to do. Could she just refuse? Was that allowed? It felt as though she were perched on a precipice and both sides offered only a long drop to her death.

“Cisco,” Melody murmured. “I really don’t want to go to a party like this.”

He smiled and took her arm. “It’s all right. I promise. It’ll be just fine. This is part of the life. You know? These parties and meetings and social functions are all part of the deal.”

“Then, maybe I don’t want the deal,” Melody said quietly.

Laredo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then he glanced at his brother. “I’m going to go get the car. I’ll, uh—I’ll meet you down in the garage.”

“All right.” Cisco nodded to Laredo. “I’ll meet you in a few.”

Cisco waited until the door closed behind his brother, and then he pounced. “What do you mean you don’t want the deal? You don’t want us? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Not if being with you means that I have to go to all of these last-minute parties and functions and wear fancy clothes and rub shoulders with all of the social snobs in this city!” Her heart was breaking as she said the words, but she knew it was the right thing to do. “I can’t be that person for you,” she told him softly. “That isn’t even me.”

“It can be you,” Cisco insisted.

“Is that really what you want?” Melody felt like screaming.

Did he not see? Did he really not get it? Or did a man like Cisco Hernandez who had grown up with both wealth and power just not understand the idea of being small and insignificant? Was he incapable of understanding that not everyone wanted to make the jump from rags to riches? Didn’t he know that most people just wanted the jump from rags to not rags? That made more sense to her. She didn’t want diamonds. She just wanted regular meals and clothes that fit.

“Melody, you deserve more than you’ve got.” Cisco reached for her, but she pulled away.

“I agree,” she said quietly. This was at least being honest. “I do deserve more than I’ve got. I deserve more than I’m getting. But I also deserve more than this. I deserve to be taken seriously and to be respected and to eat three meals a day and not have to work until I cannot even keep my eyes open because I am so sleepy. I deserve to have my land not just because someone left it to me but because it is mine, and I should not have to just roll over and step away because some snooty piece of crap law enforcement official wants to take it from me.”

“So, what are you saying?” Cisco demanded in a low voice.

She hated what she saw on his face. The pain in his blue eyes was horrible. But she could not soften and she could not give in. This wasn’t her. She didn’t get dragged out of bed after making love to a man that she—well, someone that she cared about—only to be forced into a dress and thrown into a party where she would almost certainly not fit in anyway. It was like being set up to fail in the most horrendous fashion.

“I’m saying that I don’t want to go to this party,” Melody told him quietly.

He shrugged. “Fine, then. I’ll go without you. That’s not a big deal. Just please don’t leave like this. Go back upstairs.” He started digging for his keys. “Go back up there and lie down. Snuggle up in bed. Watch some TV. Make yourself at home.”

She suddenly realized something, and it was staggering. “I’m not at home up there in your place, and I don’t think I ever will be. It’s too clean and pristine and—white. You don’t live there. Not really. That isn’t you. At least it isn’t the man I know you could be. You know, the guy who wears the cowboy boots? I like him.”

“You like him.” Cisco’s tone was flat. “I see. Then, perhaps you should go find him because he is not here. He’s not in that apartment, and he’s not in this suit either.”

“That’s too bad,” she whispered. Turning on her heel, Melody headed for the front of the building. “I’ll catch a cab.” She called the words over her shoulder. “Don’t worry your pretty head about me.”

She could not look back. She could not stand to see what his expression was when he stared at her. Instead, Melody tried to imagine the pieces of her own life. Since Cisco had barged into her existence, everything had been crazy. That had been the only consistent thing since Cisco had entered her world. Now she could see it for what it was. Cisco had been trying to change her. He hadn’t liked her job. He hadn’t liked her work schedule or the way she lived. He had not liked anything about her. So, he had set about making things different for her. He had added light and color and everything else that was bright and bold in the world.

Now she was standing here—no—she was walking back toward the remnants of her life and wondering how she was supposed to pick up the pieces and move on.