The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

“Thanks for having me, and please let me know what I can do to help.” The polite words came out almost as a reflex, because the answer was always no when it came to big events that were always catered and planned by professionals.

“Don’t suppose you can cook?” Stephanie asked.

Considering she probably didn’t want her entire family slightly poisoned by undercooked chicken, there was only one answer he could give. “No, but I can wash dishes like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Good.” She gave him a real smile this time that had the corners of her eyes crinkling. “You’ve got a job.”

As everyone started to walk inside, Hadley pulled him back half a step. “Do you even know how to wash dishes?”

“I can load a dishwasher.” Occasionally he even did it. Usually, though, the cleaning crew took care of all that at his Harbor City penthouse.

“But have you ever actually done that?” She took a step closer, looking up at him with a knowing little smirk—the one that told him she knew just how full of shit he was. “Have you ever washed dishes by hand?”

“I’m not a complete spoiled jerk,” he said, sounding exactly like one even to his own ears.

She just lifted an eyebrow.

God, she was pushy—something that should have been annoying. Really, it was annoying. Completely. Utterly. Without a doubt. That was the only reason why he couldn’t drag his attention away from that smart mouth of hers because he couldn’t believe what words came out of it.

“Okay, fine.” He closed the distance between them, using the advantage of his height to look down at her. “No. I haven’t, but I’m sure I won’t have a problem excelling at it just like I do everything else.”

“Oh really?” she asked, not giving an inch. “I suppose you can also excel at all the ranching chores, like help check the fencing and gather eggs and muck the stalls, too.”

“Of course,” he said, his mouth running without his brain because all he could think about was how badly he wanted to kiss that knowing grin off her face right now. “By the end of the week, your relatives will be thinking of me like I’m just another cowboy in the family. They’re gonna love me.”

Hadley scoffed. “No. Fucking. Way.”

“Wanna bet?”

He had no idea why he was doing this. Proving her wrong about his abilities to wash dishes or muck fences or mend stalls or be a beloved member of her family wasn’t on his agenda. He was here for one reason: to convince her to take her gold-digger hooks out of his brother. She was priming Web, softening him up for the taking. He’d seen it before—lived it—and the pattern was the same as what Mia had done to him. Start with friendship, add in some damsel-in-distress bullshit like her I-really-need-you-to-go-to-my-sister’s-wedding ploy, and then go in for the multimillion-dollar kill.

“So do we have a bet or not?” he asked.

“Bet on what?” she asked as she pantomimed pulling finger guns from a holster on each side of her round hips and shooting them into the air like a trick shot. “That you can become a rootin’ tootin’ city slicker cowboy much beloved by my family in a week? It’ll never happen.”

Oh, it was definitely happening now. Winning was his specialty. There was no way he’d lose to her. “If you lose, you leave my brother alone. If I lose—which isn’t going to happen—I’ll never mention you being a gold digger again, and I’ll get out from between you and my brother.”

Hadley released a dramatic sigh and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “Oh no, all my plans to marry a billionaire are in jeopardy.”

Such a smart-ass.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

She crossed her arms, cocked her hip, and considered him for a moment before saying, “You bet your never-seen-a-cow-patty-before boots.”

Then, in a repeat of what had happened at the airport, she turned and walked away, going up the steps of the ranch house’s front porch.

She was confident, he’d give her that. Too bad for her, he was a man who never lost—not in business and not when it came to protecting his family.

Hadley Donavan was about to find out firsthand just how good the bad Holt twin could be.

Chapter Six

Hadley was going to love watching Will have to shut up already about his totally wrongheaded belief that she was friends with Web only because she had plans to steal his money. Really, how many bad movies had he watched to come up with such an inane plot? All of which would make seeing him end up falling on his tight-Wranglers-wearing ass at the end of the week even sweeter.

Petty?

Her?