Can't Tie Me Down! (Sinclair Sisters 1)

That one word made his knees weak, and he almost crumpled to the ground before he locked them in place. There was no time to answer her, to ask what she meant, because she was already climbing onto the stage. The lights came on, and there she was, in the spotlight— with the vast, dark sky as a backdrop.

“I won’t say thanks for coming,” Mairi said into the microphone, “because I’d have preferred it if you’d all stayed home and minded your own business.”

There was laughter. That was the Scots for you—insults rolled off them like water.

“As you know, a week or so ago, the Girlfriend website was hacked, and a message appeared telling my online boyfriends that I wanted a husband.”

There was a cheer, and Mairi waited for it to pass.

“You guys just glossed right over the word ‘hacked,’ didn’t you?” More laughter, and she shook her head. “Anyway, I don’t want a husband. I didn’t post that message, but I do have the person who did. Sean, get up here.”

Sean looked at the crowd and turned green.

“Don’t make me hit you again,” Keir told his brother.

“I’m telling Mum on you,” was Sean’s very mature reply.

Sean climbed onto the stage and stood beside Mairi, looking like he’d rather have had a root canal at the same time as a colonoscopy.

“This is Sean,” Mairi said with a smile. “He’s the idiot who thought it would be fun to hack my site, and he’s here to explain how he did it, in a way that will make you lot believe him. If you listen carefully to his convoluted and technical explanation, I’ll have some fun things to tell you after he’s done.” She smacked him on the back—with force. “Get on with it.”

Sean tapped his laptop keyboard, and the screen behind him filled with an image of Mairi’s Girlfriend page. That’s as far as Keir got before he tuned his brother out. Instead, he watched the geek boys as they listened to the explanation and saw the moment they believed Sean had done it, their faces filled with shock, disappointment and then anger. Sean had made no friends in this crowd.

When Sean was done, Mairi took the mic back from him. “There it is. I’m truly sorry for the misunderstanding.” She looked down at her men. “I’m especially sorry to you guys, because I have no intention of marrying any of you. That doesn’t mean you aren’t great guys. I want all of you to come up here, because I have something I need to say to the world.” She looked over at the morning TV reporter. “You’ll record all of this for the show, right?”

He gave her a thumbs-up.

The men shuffled onto the stage behind Mairi, their shoulders slumped. The sight made Keir feel sorry for them. Their faces were flushed, and they were clearly embarrassed that they’d fallen for Sean’s lies, and now the world would know how dumb they’d been.

“Are you sure about this, Mairi?” one of the guys asked. “We could still woo you and see where it goes.”

She shook her head and then took the microphone off the stand. She held it close to those perfect lips. “I’m having sex with Keir.”

Keir staggered back a step as all eyes turned to him. Yeah, he hadn’t been expecting Mairi to broadcast that little tidbit.

“Is this the kind of situation where you try something before you buy?” one of the other guys asked. “Are you going to have sex with all of us?”

“What? No!” Mairi glared at him. “I’d expect better from you, Raymond.” She turned to the crowd. “I want to make this clear right now. I am only having sex with Keir. I’ve only ever had sex with Keir, and I intend to keep on doing it—solely with Keir.”

Keir lost the ability to breathe as a cheer went up. His brother patted him on the back.

“Guess hacking her site was worth it after all,” Sean said.

“Don’t think that lets you

off the hook,” Keir said through his shock, and Sean looked miserable again.

“Typical,” John, one of Mairi’s guys, said. “You’re having sex with the guy with abs and no brain. That’s why we don’t have a chance. Women always go for looks over substance.”

Keir took a step toward the stage, his fists clenched. He’d had just about enough of these guys. Sean put a hand on his arm to stop him. “Don’t punch a geek in front of the cameras.”

“That’s not true,” Mairi said. “Darius and Damien have abs, and I’m not sleeping with them.”

“It’s true. We have great abs,” Darius said, then he elbowed his brother and they both flashed their abs to the crowd, who catcalled and whistled.

“Is this going to turn into a Full Monty situation?” Sean said. “Because I really don’t want to be here if it does.”

“We’re getting off track,” Mairi said. “I’m not getting married to any of my online boyfriends, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about each of them. In fact, they are some of the most amazing guys I’ve ever met, and I want to introduce you to them.”