Maisey turns to me, but before she can say anything, the man slides between us. “Let’s meet the happy couple.” The crowd roars. They’re thirsty for this. “We already know our bride, Maisey.” There are a few cheers. “Where do you live, and what do you do for a living, Maisey?”
“Oh…I’m…well, I live in Toronto, Canada.” Even more cheers erupt from the crowd. Apparently, there’s a big Canadian contingent in town. “And right now…I…well…” She stumbles over her words. “I just graduated with an art history degree, and I’m…”
“She’s unemployed!” My head whips around to see the blonde in the stupid sash once more throwing her friend under the bus. As soon as I get the chance, I’m going to tell Maisey that she needs new friends.
I shoot the blonde a look, but she’s too busy laughing to notice.
And then it’s my turn. “How about our groom?” The crowd, mostly women, erupts. I hear and ignore a few offers to trade places with Maisey.
“What’s your name?”
“Travis.”
More cheers.
“Well, Travis,” the announcer continues. “The ladies sure seem to like you. Where are you from, and what do you do?”
“I’m from a tiny little town in the Rockies, and I’m…” I wait a beat, ready for the reaction. “A bareback bronc rider.”
Predictably, the crowd explodes. Even if this guy doesn’t know who I am, I’m willing to bet that most of the people in the bar do.
“Achampionshipbareback rider,” I hear Rex yell.
Thanks, buddy.
“Well, well,” the announcer croons into his mic. “It looks like it’s our lucky day.” He steps back and pushes me a step closer to Maisey. “Or maybe I should say it’s our bride’s lucky day.”
Maisey looks completely unimpressed. In fact, maybe it’s my imagination, but she looks even more unsure of this whole thing since I’ve stepped onto the stage. I try to catch her eye to let her know we can back out, but she won’t look at me.
“Okay, Maisey and Travis, let’s get you ready for your vows and give the people what they want.”
There’s more cheering, and I try to grab Maisey’s attention, but my words are lost when the DJ starts playing a dance remix ofChapel of Loveand I’m pulled off stage in the opposite direction of my bride-to-be.
Chapter Three
Maisey
“You’re so lucky! He’s so hot!” the woman who had apparently been assigned to turn me into a bride in under two minutes gushes. “If I’d known Travis Dean was going to volunteer to be the groom, I would have signed up for this myself.”
She pushes me down into a stool and tries to tame my hair. “He’s the hottest cowboy on the circuit. Don’t you think?”
“What circuit?”
The girl only laughs and continues her attempts to make me look presentable enough for a wedding. Secretly, I wish her luck. “The rodeo circuit.” She looks at me as if I’m missing a few brain cells. “And the Vegas rodeo is a huge deal. It’s like the Super Bowl of rodeo. And Travis is the champion.”
“Wow.” It’s all I can manage because I’m still trying to wrap my head around what is about to happen. Am I really about to do this?
“Thirty seconds!” a voice behind us yells.
The girl steps back and assesses me. “That’ll have to do,” she says with a shake of her head. “We’re out of time.”
I blink at my reflection in the mirror. I don’t even recognize myself. Somehow, in just over a minute, this girl has managed to make me look almost pretty.
Like the magician she clearly is, she appears behind me with a veil and secures it easily in my hair, which has been pulled back from my face. “There. You’re ready to get married.”
I don’t have time to even consider how crazy those words are before someone shoves a clipboard in my face.
“Here. Sign this.”
