The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

Will didn’t knock Web for not realizing why his new friend was acting the way she was. His brother wasn’t soft, but he was trusting. He looked at the world and saw only the possibilities, which was why he headed up the family foundation while Will had taken over the family business and the mantle as the head of the family. He’d gone into Holt Enterprises, saw the shit it was in financially, and had done everything he had to in order to set it right again. He’d learned to read the room at a glance so he could push through his vision when no one thought he had the experience or the know-how to turn the company around. He’d learned how to

gauge the mood of the worriers on the company’s board of directors so he could tailor his message to allay their fears. He’d discovered how to spot a competitor’s tell; then he’d hit them in their softest point during negotiations so he could swoop in and turn that to his advantage. He’d figured out—too late, he’d admit to himself—how to detect the truth (given rarely) and ferret out the lie (the more common human response).

And that skill was how he’d first figured out that Hadley was up to something. Web may not have noticed the little fibs, the conversational diversions, and her general shadiness, but Will had, and he wasn’t about to forget it just because Hadley knocked him off-balance every damn time he saw her. It didn’t matter, though, because he was on to her.

“I was young,” Will said, flashing an it’s-no-big-deal smile at the table even while his hands were curled into fists in his lap. “Live and learn.”

Gabe nodded and looked over at his wife, his gaze softening. “There’s something to be said for life experience.”

Stephanie chuckled, the hard-ass Will had met this afternoon transforming into…still a hard-ass but one with the edges rounded a bit. “And a willingness not to run for the hills when the woman you asked for coffee blurts out that she has four kids at home.”

“Any man who’d do that is an idiot,” Gabe said, looking at Stephanie as if she were the only other person in the world. “And I’m grateful for each and every one of their dumb asses.”

“Language,” she said, but there wasn’t any heat in the objection.

Gabe shrugged. “Guess how much I love you just gets the best of me sometimes.”

Knox let out a melodramatic groan that would have marked him as the youngest even if he didn’t have a baby face. “We are sitting right here, you know.”

Gabe didn’t even bother to look over at his youngest stepson. “So you should look away, because I’m gonna kiss your mom now.”

And he did, a quick kiss that left Stephanie hazy-eyed. Will tried to remember a time before his parents died when they’d ever held hands, let alone kissed. He couldn’t. They weren’t physically affectionate people when it came to each other or their kids. No doubt they would have seen the kiss between Hadley’s parents as gauche.

Cutting a look to the side, he tried to gauge Hadley’s reaction. Like the rest of her family, she was rolling her eyes at the PDA, but the upward curl of her lips gave away her true feelings. The only person who wasn’t watching the interaction between Stephanie and Gabe without an indulgent smile was Adalyn, who’d finished her call and joined them at the table.

She let out a sigh. “Looks like Derek won’t be able to make it down for a few more days. His boss has him practically chained to the desk,” Adalyn said. “So what did I miss?”

“The usual old-people PDA with Mom and Dad,” Weston said.

Knox sat up straighter and leaned forward. “And Will here wants to learn how to be a cowboy.”

Adalyn looked at him and shook her head. “I’m sure Knox and Weston can help you out there. I’d do it, but the wedding stuff has me out of the saddle until after the honeymoon.”

“Hadley couldn’t show me the ropes?” It really would be the perfect revenge for pawning him off on her brothers.

Everyone at the table—including Hadley—laughed at that.

“Hadley is pretty much a town-only kind of person,” Weston said. “But I’m sure Knox and I could teach you a thing or two. You’re not afraid of a little hard work, are you?”

The smug, raised-eyebrow, hey-city-slicker look Hadley’s oldest brother gave him telegraphed all too clearly exactly how much work the brothers thought he did. If they only knew. His days may not be as physical as theirs, but he was still up at four, in the office by six, and after that it was in back-to-back meetings until dinner, schmoozing potential investment partners until he got home and fell asleep reading emails in bed at around midnight.

“Hard work has never scared me,” Will said.

“Great,” Weston said with a curt nod. “We’ll start in the morning. Be ready by dawn, and we’ll take you out on snipe patrol.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Hadley glaring at her brothers. Of course she didn’t want him to win their sorta bet that her family would fall in love with him. Well, she was going to have to get used to losing on that front, too, because Will always won—no matter what.

Stephanie cleared her throat, silencing everyone at the table. “Not tomorrow, I’m going to need Hadley and Will to go on down and get PawPaw for the wedding festivities.”

Was that a dog? A peg-legged possum? He was about to ask a follow-up question when he noticed Hadley’s glare had transformed into a shit-eating grin that would look perfectly in place on a lottery winner’s face.

“You don’t mind coming with me to get my granddad, right?” she asked. “For some fun family togetherness?”

The sweetness in her tone should have warned him about the trouble ahead, but the always-needs-to-know-the-answer part of his brain had just taken a hit of that’s-the-answer dopamine. “No problem—anything for you.”

“So sweet,” Hadley said, resting her head on his shoulder and really playing up the fake-girlfriend role. “It’s only a three-hour drive down there, so we should be fine to leave in the morning and be back home by dinner.”

Fuck me.