I glanced around. “I don’t—”

“No one will even notice we’re gone.” She took her hand from my shoulder and tangled her fingers in mine. “Trust me.”

I ALLOWED ROSIE to lead me from the dance floor and out of the pavilion. I glanced behind me as we walked, wondering how accurate Rosie’s prediction had been. No one had followed after us or even seemed to be looking in our direction, and I felt the tension in my shoulders ease a little.

“We should have a little privacy back here,” she said.

We’d stopped behind a white trailer painted with the logo of a local sound equipment rental company. I could still hear the music and murmur of conversation from the pavilion, but it was faint at this distance.

“So…” I cast around for something to say. I’d spent my share of nights thinking about what I’d do if I was ever alone with Rosie Sheedy, but conversation hadn’t been a big part of it.

“I’ve had my eye on you for a while, you know that?” Rosie pressed herself against me—or at least tried to with the barrier of her skirt getting in the way.

“That so?”

“It is. Pop has been talking about marrying me off for at least a year now, and I’ve made sure your name is on his radar.”

I laughed. “I’m pretty sure it isn’t, no matter how many hints you’ve dropped.”

“You’re wrong,” she said. “He thinks a lot of you.”

I leaned back so I could look her in the eye. “You’re joking, right? I’d be willing to bet Pop doesn’t think about me one bit.”

“Of course he does,” she said. “But I don’t want to talk about him right now.”

It vaguely registered that her fingers were tugging at my belt, but all my focus was on what she’d said. He thinks a lot of you.

Rosie abandoned my belt and wrapped her gloved fingers around my neck to pull my face toward hers. Her tongue was clumsy against mine, and it occurred to me that this might have been her first kiss. It wasn’t unlikely. Despite her boldness—and mine—unmarried men and women enjoying each other in dark corners wasn’t exactly aboveboard as far as our clan was concerned.

A scraping sound forced me to break the kiss and look around. “Did you hear something?”

Rosie shook her head and redirected her efforts at loosening my belt.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said uneasily.

“No one’s going to come out here. Quit worrying.”

I heard the metallic flick that signaled she’d been successful in her mission, and the cloth of her gloved fingers grazed my abdomen as she went after the button of pants. My body responded, and all of a sudden I was too impatient to let her finish without my help. She giggled at my eagerness. The sound reminded me of the tinkling bell on the door of the hardware store.

She pressed another wet kiss to my mouth. “Tell me you love me,” she said.

I knew I could lie and she’d never know, but my mouth refused to form the words.

“No more talking,” I said instead and bent to kiss her again.

My brain registered the scraping sound again an instant before something slammed into my side with enough force to knock us both to the ground. Rosie yelped and tried to scramble out of the way, but she couldn’t get far with her legs tangled in the unwieldy dress. Pain exploded in my shoulder as it slammed into the sun-hardened dirt. I lifted my head in time to see Judd Sheedy pull back his arm. Instinct took over. His fist hurled toward my face, but I rolled out of the way and it slammed into the ground instead. Dark splotches of blood from his broken knuckles stained the soil, but the injury didn’t seem to slow him down. He lunged at me again. I fell backward, and all the air in my lungs erupted in one breath as my back hit the ground and his full weight crashed into my chest.

“You little shit. I’ll kill you.” Judd thrust his bloody fist into my ribs.

I pressed my forearm into his throat, trying to force him off. The smell of alcohol oozed from every part of him, and his eyes refused to focus. Rosie shrieked again, though I had no idea if she was worried for her brother or for me. I braced myself for another wild punch, but before he made contact, his head snapped back and his weight was lifted off of me.

“Easy now, Prince,” Jimmy Boy said. He set Judd on his feet and used his bulk to keep the thrashing drunk trapped against the trailer.

“Get the fuck off me, Reilly. I’m going to kill him, and you’ll be next if you don’t let me go.”

Jimmy Boy laughed, although there was no way he found any of this funny. “All right. You’ve made your point, and Shay’s learned his lesson.” He glared at me over his shoulder. “Haven’t you?”

“Sure,” I said. I got up and held out a hand to Rosie. She stared at it for a second, but then let me pull her back to her feet. “Are you okay?”

Rosie bobbed her head but pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

“I’m going to let you go now,” Jimmy Boy said. “But no more scrapping, you hear? I can’t imagine Pop’ll look kindly on you fighting at your sister’s wedding.”

“Fuck you,” Judd said and spat in my brother’s face.

Jimmy Boy’s mouth clenched into a hard line. He moved with more speed than I would’ve thought him capable. Grabbing Judd by the throat, he lifted him an inch off the ground and held him against the trailer. Judd sputtered and clawed in vain at Jimmy Boy’s hand.

“I’m trying to be polite, Prince, but you’re pushing me to my limits. Now take your sister back to the party and go find a place to sleep it off. Yeah?”

“Let’s go, Judd,” Rosie said. She put her hand on Jimmy Boy’s shoulder, and he opened his fist. Judd crumpled to his knees, gagging as air rushed back into his lungs.

Jimmy Boy stepped back to give Rosie room to drag her brother back to his feet. When they’d disappeared around the side of the trailer, Jimmy Boy turned to me, and for a second, I thought I might have to fight him next. Instead, he shook his head as if I were a disappointing child.

“Listen, I know I promised—”

“Whatever you have to say, save it for Pop. There’s no way he’s not going to hear about this. And when he does, you’re gonna wish I’d let Judd kill you.”

“WAIT RIGHT HERE,” Judd said. He glared at me, though the greenish tint to his skin and his puffy eyes made him considerably less threatening than he meant to be. A purple bruise roped around his throat, and his hand was bandaged.

“Right here, Prince?” I asked, pointing to my feet. “So here isn’t okay?” I slid several inches across the thick Oriental rug that carpeted the Sheedy’s foyer.

Judd pursed his lips, and his nostrils flared. “Real funny, smartass. Stay here in the hall.”

“What’s a matter, Prince? Not feeling so good this morning?” I knew goading him would only get me in more trouble, but since I’d been summoned by Pop this morning, I figured this might be the last chance I’d ever get to mess with him.

“My hangover will be gone in a few hours, and with any luck, you’ll be gone a few minutes after my dad gets his hands on you. So, all in all, I’d say I’m feeling pretty good.” He turned to walk away but then apparently decided taunting me was too fun to abandon. “And don’t touch anything, Buffer. I know you’re not used to having all this expensive stuff around. We don’t need your filthy handprints all over everything.” A malicious grin spread across his face. He turned his back again and disappeared down the long corridor.

“What an ass,” I said under my breath, then pressed my palm against a framed mirror that hung on the wall beside me. When I pulled it back, a smudged handprint appeared on its otherwise impeccably clean surface. I knew it was juvenile, that I might as well have stuck my tongue out at Judd’s retreating form, but the act of disobedience felt good anyway.