Once Hitched Twice Shy (Unlikely Cowgirl)

by Kimberly Krey

  “Knock, knock.”

  Hunter gulped, turned to smile at Miranda, and hollered out a reply. “Come on in.”

  Mia pressed the number 11 as the elevator doors closed. The most awkward blind date she’d ever been on was finally over. Thank heavens it was just a lunch date.

  So much for being open.

  Karen had sworn that Eddie’s coworker, Chad, was endearing once you got to know him. He just had his quirks. It might have been flattering that Chad claimed to be her number one fan, if he hadn’t recited nearly every vlog show Mia had posted to prove it.

  He’d pulled so many animated faces in the process that Mia vowed to re-watch all the episodes and jump off the nearest cliff if any of them resembled the faces she actually made. To make matters worse, he’d snuck a selfie of the two when dessert came, pressing a kiss to her cheek without warning. Heavens knew where he’d post the thing.

  The elevator doors rolled open. Mia was about to step out when a man spoke up, startling her. “Why, hello, Mia.”

  She lifted her chin slowly, the view shifting from her pumps to the space between the elevator and the floor and then to the Oriental rug in the hallway. At last came a telling pair of penny loafers with dimes inside.

  “Daniel?”

  He had a casual lean on the table behind him, the tall flowers in the vase grazing his shoulder. He spread his arms as Mia stepped out of the elevator. And though she didn’t want to walk into them, she accepted his embrace.

  He smelled familiar. Nothing like the rugged smell of Hunter—scents of leather and pine and deliciousness. Daniel smelled more like a bar of soap. And the sweater he wore—it was so him. And so not Hunter, who probably wouldn’t be caught dead in a turtleneck no matter how much rain was falling.

  Daniel ran his hands along her back in a lulling motion before pulling back. “Mind if I come inside?” he asked. “I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  Did he now? Could that something possibly be an apology for dumping her years ago? Maybe he’d ask her to give him another chance.

  A sad, sinking feeling in her gut told Mia perhaps this was what she was meant to stay open to. That this—unlike the wonderful country life dreams were made of—was more doable, and she may as well try to be happy with it.

  Fine. Mia made a conscious decision then: She’d consider giving Daniel another chance if his apology was sincere.

  Maybe Hunter wasn’t really her match at all. He was too much like a fairy tale. But Daniel, he was real life.

  She unlocked her apartment, flicked on the lights, and set her keys on the side table. “Karen won’t be back for a while,” she said, assuring him they could speak privately.

  Daniel strode across the hardwood floors and into the front room. There, he motioned to the couch, an odd sort of grin on his face. The sort one might call a dumb grin, if they didn’t like the person they were speaking of. And why was he motioning for her to sit down? This was her apartment.

  “Go ahead,” she suggested, purposefully heading into the kitchen instead. “I’m going to grab myself a water bottle. Do you want one?”

  “Sure, Mia-do.”

  It was meant to be endearing, she knew that much, but it was far from it. More like sandpaper, really. Hearing him lull out the pet name he used to call her, like they hadn’t split up at all.

  She cleared her throat. It seemed the warmth she kept trying to summon for him was a tad on the cool side. Mia wasn’t sure if she could remedy that or not. Or if she was even meant to try. She didn’t like acknowledging how very not past the hurt she actually was. How the idea that she wasn’t good enough had played into the deepest, darkest fear Mia had.

  Daniel was sitting on the love seat, so Mia opted for the adjacent arm of the chair, appreciating the height it gave her. It allowed her to look down on him for once, which she liked.

  Mia handed a water bottle to him. “So,” she said, twisting the cap off her own. “What’s up?”

  Chapter 21

  “So are they hitting it off?” Connor whispered to Hunter as he made his way down the basement steps.

  Hunter nodded. “You should have seen how shocked Wayne looked. It was like he’d seen a ghost. He must have figured he’d never see Miranda again.” The sentence drifted off there, and Hunter wondered if he’d ever see Mia again. He assumed he would, when she came to visit Wayne.

  In fact, he’d tell Wayne to let him know when she was coming so he could make a point to stop by and … and what? Say hello to her and her new fiancé? What if she didn’t come back until she was engaged to some puny internet stalker who’d been drooling over her since the first show?

  The thought tore his mind from the reunited couple upstairs and back to the desperate state of regret he’d managed to stifle for a time. He dragged a hand over the back of his heated neck, wanting to pace the floors or kick the wall or take the next flight to Portland and beg Mia to take him back.

  “Dude, did you see the stuff Mia was tagged in?” Skinny Alex asked, tugging his phone out of his pocket.

  Hunter tilted his head. “Tagged?”

  “Online,” Alex explained. Connor and Bill gathered around the kid as Hunter did, all of them setting their gaze on the small screen as he tapped and swiped. “Do you know who Daniel is?”

  Daniel. The guy Mia had been in love with. The one who’d broken her heart. “Kind of,” he mumbled, eyes fixed on the comments as Alex scrolled down.

  “It sounds like they have a past,” Connor said.

  “And he wants to be part of her future too,” Alex added.

  Hunter read through dumb Daniel’s comment:

  Mia-do, I really miss you. I’d like to catch up soon. Text me when you can.

  “What an idiot,” Hunter grumbled. “He ditches her, waits until she becomes famous, then tries to get her back.” He shook his head, glaring at the irritating words. “You lost your chance, Danny boy. Get lost.”

  “Show him the other one,” Bill said, his expression seeming to offer a dare of sorts.

  Skinny Alex looked at Connor, who gave him an encouraging nod.

  “What?” Hunter asked. This was becoming more than he could take.

  “She went on some date,” Alex mumbled, tapping his screen once more.

  Hunter repeated a stream of words in his head, preparing himself for what he might see. She doesn’t belong to me. I have no right to be angry. She doesn’t belong to me. I have—The inward chant was interrupted when a photo appeared on the screen. A string of curses took its place. Some punk was kissing Mia on the cheek, his puckered lips dangerously close to the corner of her smile. Hunter dropped his gaze to the comment attached to the photo:

  Enjoying an awesome dinner with my biggest crush, Mia Reynolds. #Iamhernumberonefan #ithinkshelikesmetoo #nextkisswillbeonthelips

  The heck it would. “That freakin’ cheeseball.” Hunter shook his head and walked away from the group. He circled the small area, feeling as if someone had triggered a bomb to blow in his chest.

  “Why’d you let her go, man?” Alex asked. “She was totally into you.”

  “She probably still is,” Connor added. “Heck, it’s only been a couple of weeks.”

  “That’s more time than what we had together,” Hunter said, raking a hand through his hair.

  “Why don’t you just come to Stoke’s tonight?” Bill suggested. “It will get your mind off things.”

  Hunter shook his head. “No, I don’t want to go anywhere.” Especially if Mia wouldn’t be there.

  “Suit yourself,” Bill said. “But if you change your mind, you’ll know where to find us.”

  The boys put on their best long faces as they patted his back and headed out for the night. But Hunter knew they were aching to go have some fun on the town. As ridiculous as it seemed, Hunter couldn’t imagine having fun without Mia.

  He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, staring at the paint on the basement wall, but a sudden chime of the doorbell pulled him from his
musings. “Who would that be?” he mumbled, making his way up the stairs. He didn’t want Wayne and Miranda’s dinner to be interrupted.

  As he strode into the kitchen, he saw the sweet woman cradling a cup of tea. A second mug rested beside it. Hunter gave her a nod as Wayne spoke up from the front room.

  “Sure,” the man boomed. “Hunter’s just downstairs. Let me get him.”

  The creaking of the screen door muffled the visitor’s reply, but one thing was certain—it was a female voice.

  There was a woman there to see him.

  And there was only one woman Hunter imagined might show up at his door. It couldn’t be Mia; he hadn’t even had a chance to apologize. But still, Hunter couldn’t help but hope.

  He picked up his pace as he rounded the corner, then froze when the guest came into view.

  His eyes widened. Talk about seeing ghosts.

  “Vanessa?”

  “I left a comment on your vlog,” Daniel said, looking at her through his blond lashes. “I’ve missed you, Mia. I honestly have.”

  She remembered missing him, too. Back when they’d broken up. She’d spent a whole lot of time trying to get over Daniel and the hurt he’d caused. And now she was over him, for the most part. Minus some lame desire to make him regret leaving, which seemed totally normal.

  “We had some good times together,” she admitted, unwilling to return his sentiment.

  Daniel licked his lips. Shifted in his seat. “How’s business?”

  She lifted a brow. “Business?”

  “Your vlog show. Is it going well?”

  “Yes.” The answer was honest enough. The thing with Karen was a minor speed bump; that was all.

  “Even though you’re losing your videographer?”

  Mia tilted her head. “You asked how the vlog was, yet it sounds like you keep up on things well enough to already know.”

  “Don’t get testy, Mia-do.”

  “Don’t call me that anymore, okay?”

  His gaze shifted to a spot on the hardwood floor, where he tapped the polished tip of his loafer against the coffee table.

  Mia’s defenses dropped in the quiet moment. She moved from her spot on the armchair to sit next to him on the love seat. “We aren’t together anymore. We don’t want to complicate things, right?”

  He nodded, his shoulders lifting with his gaze. “You have an interview with a guy named Mack tomorrow,” he said.

  Okay, now this was just getting weird. “Yes …” she said, drawing out the word. “And how does this involve him?”

  Daniel pulled a cringe face while sucking air through his teeth. “Confession.”

  Mia blinked, shook her head.

  “I’m Mack.”

  She ran the two words through her head a few times. Mack was the guy she was interviewing next week. “The one applying for the job?” she asked.

  “Don’t be mad.”

  “I’m not mad, Daniel. I’m confused.”

  Daniel stretched his hands out like he was taming a lioness. “Just hear me out. I have an idea that could really boost your show. What if we worked together, as a team? Sort of a he-said, she-said thing. I don’t know if you’ve ever done anything like that, but I think it could be a real hit.”

  She looked at him for a moment, a million conflicting things going through her head. Insult and disbelief warring for the top spot. Yet mingling among them was a pathetic spark of excitement. She’d wanted Daniel to want her back for years. And it seemed as if now, he did. Still, his proposal rubbed her wrong.

  “So you came up with this idea on your own?” she prodded. “It had nothing to do with all the comments on my latest posts that suggest we do that exact thing?” That’s right—she’d been reading the comments. Even the dumb one Daniel left.

  He shrugged.

  “Several of my viewers used that exact wording, even.”

  He grinned. “You caught me. It wasn’t my idea exactly. But having me be the he in it—that was all me. Your viewers might like me, too, you know?”

  She thought for a moment more, realizing only then that one of the potential videographers didn’t even exist now. “You know, I was really hopeful about Mack. You shouldn’t have just made somebody up like that.”

  “Actually, I do know a kid named Mack. He’s the little brother of a coworker of mine. The kid has a camera, lights, and everything. I figured we could get him to take over, and pay him a little something to save up for a car.”

  “A car?” The words may as well have been printed on a giant red flag. “How old is he?”

  “Fifteen. But he turns sixteen at the end of the year.”

  “You said—at least in the résumé—that he was willing to travel. So in your mind, on the off chance that I would actually hire the kid, who has a total of zero credits to his name, how exactly would he do that?”

  “We don’t need him. Most vloggers just stand in front of a stupid tripod.”

  “Not ones who do what I do. Plus Karen does way more for me than just the recording. She …” Mia stopped herself there. “Let’s just skip to the real issue here: You sell insurance, Daniel. You’re not exactly the cohost-of-a-video-blog type.”

  He let out a tsk. “An insurance agent needs to be personable to gain a clientele, Mia. I’ve got the skills. How do you think I’m so successful?”

  She wondered if—in the pause—Daniel could tell she was questioning just how successful he was. He was starting to look more desperate than anything.

  “Listen,” he continued. “I’m just tapped out on word of mouth right now, so I really need a social-media boost.”

  “Then why not just let me try your life for a day, like I do everyone else?”

  “To be honest,” he mumbled through a sheepish grin, “I wouldn’t mind getting some of the attention that dusty cowboy is getting. I am still single, you know.”

  “Oh.” The word came out in a whisper. His smile didn’t look so sheepish after all. It looked downright dumb. How could he sit there with that big dumb grin on his face after saying everything he’d just said?

  She nodded in the aha moment. Daniel was using her to get in the spotlight. Hoping to get the kind of attention the ranch hands had. Not from her, but from random women around the world. And he’d said he missed her.

  “Picture this,” he said, his voice high with excitement. “We put my logo in the corner of the screen during each episode, you know? We film the session, and then maybe shout-out my website address at the end of each show. You should see an increase in views and subscribers. I should see an increase in sales. What do you say?”

  This guy was giving her the ugly chills. Chills that came from witnessing behavior so ugly, it was hard to believe. “So let me get this straight. You’d like to hire a young teenager to film the show, since it would give him experience and help him earn money for a car …”

  Daniel shrugged. “He’d do a great job, too, of course.”

  “Mmm hmm. And you’d like to be my cohost, who happens to mention your business name and website during every episode, while crowding the screen with a logo—a service I don’t even offer to actual sponsors—in hopes to increase your clientele and, lest we forget, pick up a few hot chicks on the side, seeing that you’re still surprisingly single.”

  The smile slid off his face. “You’re still playing the field, too, Mia. I mean, isn’t this what they term calling the kettle black?”

  Mia shook her head, came to a stand, and strutted toward the door. “No, Daniel. It’s what they term seeing the man behind the curtain.” She chuckled. “I finally see who you really are. And you know what? I don’t like it.”

  Daniel picked up the water bottle he’d set on the coffee table. He stood, took a long drink from it, and then straightened his sweater. “Fine by me,” he mumbled, resting the bottle on the table once more. He moved toward her with long, purposeful strides. Once he was centered in the doorway, he paused, glanced over his shoulder until he caught Mia’s gaze. “Your l
oss.”

  Mia waited for his loafers to clear the doorway before closing the door behind him. She dusted her hands off, feeling empowered and … and in control. For the first time in a very long time, she was utterly in control of her life.

  She rushed to her room, flicked off her pumps, and changed into her running clothes as quickly as she could. With her iPod blasting her favorite tunes, Mia to her preferred treadmill. She recognized the energy building within her as she ran. The same force that told her she could start her own vlog show. That—despite the many that start and fail—she would succeed. She wanted to reach people. Offer something worth watching, even if it was just for fun.

  Somehow she’d lost sight of who she was aiming to please. She wasn’t out to impress Daniel or her father or even her friends. Mia did what she did to bring smiles to faces. Laughs on the hard days. And whether or not her dad appreciated it—or bragged about her to the neighbors—none of that should affect what Mia put into the show.

  With that thought, a plan started to form in her mind. A way to make Karen’s departure play in her favor. Sure, she’d miss working with her close friend, but Karen was moving forward with her life. And that’s just what Mia had to do, too.

  Chapter 22

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Vanessa glanced over at Wayne, then set her eyes back on Hunter. “Your father gave me the address. I was hoping to talk with you for a minute, if you don’t mind.”

  “He doesn’t mind at all, hon,” Wayne assured, stretching his arm to shake her hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Vanessa. I’m Wayne Reynolds, and I’m just about to get out of your hair so you two can chat without an old man around.”

  Vanessa flittered her fingertips over the low neckline of her blouse and tipped her head back. “You’re sweet,” she said, flashing that million-dollar smile. “Nice to meet you, Wayne. And thank you for giving us a moment.”

  Wayne disappeared around the corner, and the front room seemed to shrink in around Hunter. The plant, the lounge chair, the love seat, and big screen—all of it looked out of place next to the one and only Vanessa McKlainy. The Hollywood sweetheart had never really fit in back in Texas. Here, she was a giant sore thumb. More like a polished rock in a dusty valley.