“Who wants towitnessa wedding tonight?”
I sure as hell don’t. Why can’t I get away from all this wedding bullshit?
I’m in wedding hell, and it doesn’t look like my nightmare is about to end anytime soon, so when the maid of honor appears with a tray of shots, I help myself to two.
“Isn’t this fun?” one of the women—maybe her name is Candice—stumbles into me, clearly excited by what’s going on in front of us. “A wedding between strangers. It’s so fun!”
“Strangers?” At this point, I don’t even bother to hide my distaste. “It sounds horrific.”
“The prize money doesn’t sound horrific.” She raises a brow, and I’m mildly curious about what she means until she keeps talking. “I might be tempted to sign up if Patty didn’t already...never mind.”
“Wait!” I try to stop her, but she’s already slipping through the crowdtorque before I can stop her. “What did Patty do?”
My question is lost as the man on stage once more grabs the microphone. “We’re looking for nominations tonight, folks.” My stomach flips. I try to make eye contact with my stepsister, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Surely, she—“Only thirty minutes until the wedding! Who’s going to be the lucky couple to walk away with the cash and a night in the honeymoon suite?”
I have a terrible feeling that Patty and her friends are up to something, and I don’t want any part of it.
I do one more quick scan for the bride-to-be before making the decision to get the hell out of there.
I spin around and run directly into a solid wall of muscle.
Travis
“Whoa, wee filly. Easy there.”
I look at my buddy Rex like he’s an alien, which he might as well be, considering the bullshit that just came out of his mouth.
And judging by the look on the pretty little face of the curvy brunette he’s currently holding by the shoulders, who just had the misfortune to slam into his solid rock wall of muscle, she’s thinking the exact same thing.
“What did you just call me?” The woman tries to take a step back to look up—way up—at Rex, who’s still holding her by the shoulders, but he has her in his grip. “You did not just?—”
“Whoa!” I step between them, effectively freeing her from my playboy buddy’s hold before he can piss her off even more, since she clearly isn’t the type of woman to fall for his usual tricks.
Something I immediately like about her.
But the moment I save her, the woman turns on me. “Is there some reason you both think I’m ahorse?”
“What? I…” Shit. I did. “Sorry.” I flash her what I hope she realizes is a genuine smile. “I was just trying to save you from Rex here.” I spare him a quick glance over my shoulder. “He can be a bit...much,” I finish as I turn back to her.
She really is cute. And a little wild. Kind of like a little filly. Not that I’m about to say that. Not now.
Maybe it was my apology or the fact that neither of us is currently manhandling her, but she no longer looks like she wants to tear our heads off. As far as I’m concerned, that is progress and about all I can expect.
She looks at me half a second longer, like she’s expecting me to try and pick her up or offer to buy her a drink—a drink I don’t think she will be very receptive to—before saying, “That’s an understatement.” She makes a snorting sound and pushes past me into the crowd, leaving me staring after her and wondering what the hell had just happened.
The moment she’s gone, Rex thumps me on the back and starts laughing. “I guess she didn’t see that big shiny buckle you’re sporting, huh?”
I shake my head and try to find the woman in the throng of people she’d disappeared into. She isn’t my usual type, but then again, I’m not sure I evenhavea usual type anymore.
“Bet she wouldn’t have run off so fast if she knew she’d just been corralled by the bronc-riding champandthe bareback champ.” Rex thrusts his hips, showcasing his own giant prize-winning belt buckle.
“What is with all the cowboy references, man?” I shake my head at my buddy.
“We’re cowboys.”
“That doesn’t mean you need to talk like an asshole.” I pull my hat off my head long enough to run my fingers through my hair and, once again, scan the crowd for her.
Something tells me the cute little brunette with the wild hair would have run off even faster had she known that Rex and I had both taken first place in the rodeo earlier today. She didn’t seem like the buckle bunny type.
