Fake Marriage (Contemporary Romance Box Set)

“Right.”

“How about a ride? I need to check on a fence and you can tell me what’s going on.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that and at the same time, maybe an outside perspective could help.

“I can’t remember the last time I rode,” I said. “It might have been in high school. The last time I rode with you.”

He patted me on the back. “It’s like riding a bike. Your ass will hurt tomorrow, but you’ll survive.”

I laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Twenty minutes later I was saddled up and riding a horse next to Wyatt as we made our way out to fix a fence on his cattle ranch.

“So, this bet. You won and yet you look miserable. By the way, remind me to give you the guitar before you go.”

It felt wrong to take the guitar since technically, we didn’t win. We ended it one day short. With that said, I didn’t want to out Trina either.

“Keep it,” I said. “It was just a game.”

He looked at me from under the brim of his cowboy hat. “So why are you miserable?”

I sighed as I looked out over the vast Nebraska cattle land. “Trina. She’s pregnant.”

“Sinclair told me. I want to congratulate you but I’m not sure you’re happy about it.”

“It’s a surprise for sure, but I’m not unhappy about it.”

“So why the long face?”

“Trina thinks I’ll be a terrible father.”

“Terrible?” Wyatt asked.

“She says I’m not ready. My house isn’t ready. But I know what she’s really saying is that I’m not dad material.”

“That’s not what Sinclair says. In fact, based on all you did to help her with Alyssa, I owe you a big thank you. You were there for both of them when I wasn’t.”

I shrugged. “It’s not like it was hard.”

“But it makes Trina wrong. At least about you. The house, well, she might have a point there. It works for a bachelor, but a child needs all sorts of safety features.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You saying my house is unsafe?”

He laughed. “For a kid, maybe. Your porch looks like it could fall at any moment. There’s probably exposed lead paint. If your grandparents saw how you let it go, they’d probably take it back.”

Okay, so I wasn’t good on maintenance. I could change. “They’d have to buy it back.”

Wyatt looked at me. “You bought it?”

I nodded.

“I thought they gave it to you.”

“They let me live there when they first moved into the retirement community but then they wanted to sell it, so I bought it. They financed it, but still, I make payments. Pay interest. All that same stuff a

bank would do.”

“Does Trina know that?”