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“Well, if you change your mind, you know I’m more than happy to set you up.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.

“You and Stacy both.” She rolls her eyes, her gaze drifting to the bar door opening. “Speaking of exes who make us want to abandon all relationships until the end of time.”

I don’t even need to look up to know who she’s talking about. Conversation ceases until the bar is nearly silent. Zander’s perfectly polished bronze buckles on his boots rattle with every heavy step as he makes his way through the bar.

When his eyes meet mine, he grins, and it sends an icy chill down my spine.

I’m not sure why I’m nervous. Zander has never directed his anger at me. He’s not even particularly controlling when it comes to me. Not like he is with everyone else in town. But it’s also rare I don’t give him what he’s asking for.

His men stay by the door as he approaches. All around, people pretend they aren’t listening. But in a town as small as Lanceleaf Valley, everyone is always in everyone else’s business. It’s why they’ve filled my family’s bar before noon. They’re here for the show.

“Harloe.” Zander glances from me to Nora when he reaches the bar. “Nora.”

“I’m going to take off.” Nora slides off her stool, glancing my way. “Call me later.”

“I will.”

She forces a smile and mouths Good luck as she turns to leave.

Zander shifts his attention to me, dragging his fingers through his golden-blond hair. It’s perfectly styled like it always is. The scruff on his jaw is neatly trimmed. There’s a reason he has a fan club of women at his beck and call in Lanceleaf. He might be horrible, but he’s objectively attractive. An irritating combination.

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment as he watches me.

Out of sheer pride, I’m tempted to continue the standoff. But with my hangover thundering between my temples, I’d rather get through this conversation as fast as possible.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” I say, breaking the silence.

“You’re sorry?” Zander huffs, his smirk falling. “What exactly are you sorry for, Harloe? Leaving me standing alone at the altar or riding out of town on the back of some biker’s motorcycle?”

So he did hear about that.

Wonderful.

“Why do you care what I was doing or who I was doing it with? I overheard you talking about Will’s ranch. It’s not like you actually cared about our relationship.”

Zander’s eyes flicker with amusement as he realizes why I walked out on our wedding. “That’s what this is about? You’re mad I want to make a deal with your brother to help him out.”

“You aren’t helping out anyone but yourself, and you know it. You were using me to get to my family.”

And now he wants to play the white knight?

He’s got to be kidding me.

“So what? You were using me to save this piece-of-shit, run-down bar. What’s the difference?” He looks around, sneering at the old, dusty surroundings.

Ransack has seen better days. The once-fresh paint is faded where the afternoon sun streams through the windows. The wooden floors that my mom painted blue to brighten up the bar are scuffed and scratched from boots and barstools. Everything is rickety. Cracks run the length of the bar top. But it wasn’t always like this, and if I had the means to fix it, I’d make it what it once was.

Which is why Zander is right; I could have used his financial help.

“You’re right. We were together for the wrong reasons, and that’s not why two people should get married.” Even if it would make things a heck of a lot easier. “Which is why I’m ending it.”

“You’re ending it?” He snags my wrist when I shift back a step. His fingers wrap around mine a little too tightly. “I want you to think long and hard about just how difficult I can make this for your family if you try to embarrass me, Harloe.”

His mention of my family almost has my confidence faltering. Zander has the power to make and break people in this town. I’m naïve on occasion, but not brainless. He can make my life extremely difficult if he wants to.

Zander tightens his grip, and my wrist aches until a hand lands on his shoulder, pulling him back a step.

“I suggest you remove your hand before I remove it for you.” Shane’s gaze is lethal as he pins Zander with a glare.