The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

By riding one of those bucking bronco machines? “You’re not serious.”

She smiled up at him, more of a dare than any form of encouragement. It was like pouring gas on a fire. He just about went up in flames.

Hadley winked at him. “Time to cowboy up.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Doing the thing that may be a little uncomfortable, but it’s the right thing to do, and you’ll be glad as hell afterward that you did.”

He didn’t believe that definition for a second—more than likely it was all about making a fool of him, but he let himself be suckered in anyway. “Fine.” He strolled over, as if there was nothing weird about riding what was basically a metal tube covered in fake cowhide that was hooked up to a motor. “Let’s do this.”

Really, how was this even hard?

“You sure you know what to do?” She had that look on her face, the one that said he was going to land on his ass.

There was no way in hell he was backing down now. “I hold on to the sticky-up part of the saddle with one hand and don’t fall off. Is there more to it than that?”

She let out a sudden cough that sounded a lot like a strangled laugh. “Nope. That’s pretty much it.”

Shoving the unease down with an extra dose of forced confidence, he strutted over to the bull. He put one foot in the stirrup and pulled himself up, then threw one leg over to the other side. Fucking A, he’d lost the plot. He was supposed to be destroying Hadley’s plan to fleece his brother, not riding a motorized cow. Before he could change his mind, though, Hadley started counting down.

“Three.”

His heart rate jumped to oh-my-God-what-are-you-doing-Holt levels of speed.

“Two.”

He grasped the standup part of the saddle with a suddenly clammy hand.

“One.”

He had about two seconds of rocking back and forth like a teacup ride run by a drunk carny before it sped up and the laws of physics jerked him out of the saddle and dropped him in the pile of blankets surrounding the mechanical bull.

“Ready to give in?” she asked from her spot by the on-and-off switch, a grin transforming her face to one of unadulterated joy.

Never. The surety of privilege and a lifetime of always getting his way because he never gave up revved inside him like the purr of a race car’s motor. He didn’t give in. He didn’t admit failure, let alone that he’d made a bad call.

He stood up and started back to the bull, determination in every step. “I’ll get it this time.”

Fifteen minutes and not a single solitary successful eight-second ride later, and Hadley was flipping through the pictures on her phone and giggling. He couldn’t help but chuckle along with her, despite his now-sore ass.

She held up her phone so he could see the screen. “I could sell that picture for a million dollars.”

It was a joke, he knew that, but it was the perfect reminder of why he was here in the first place.

“Now, let’s get that Dramamine and ginger ale.”

“Look at you being all devoted, just like a real girlfriend,” Will said, trying to sound nonchalant when he wasn’t feeling it at all.

“More like watching out for you so Web doesn’t kill me for breaking the big family CEO.”

“Web wouldn’t hold a grudge, and our grandmother is the only other relative. She’d probably strong-arm the board of directors into selling the company off. It’s not like we’re close.”

Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the undercurrent of something prickly out of his tone. He strode a little too fast to the gas station / grocery / diner’s door and yanked it open, standing to the side so she could go in first. Hadley brushed her hands on the sides of her jeans and walked inside, giving him a smile of thanks as she passed by. If she was any other woman, he’d think twice about that look on her face, but he couldn’t. The best thing he could do right now was put an end to this little truce of theirs before he forgot his mission completely.

They made their way to the sodas chilling in the back. He grabbed two ginger ales and offered her one.

“You make it seem as if you and Web rarely see your grandma,” she said after they paid for their drinks. “That’s hard to even wrap my brain around. I mean, mine live half a country away, but it still feels like they are constantly involved in my life. Plus, you guys were just at the family compound.”