“I was going to apologize for that, actually,” Mina said. “I didn’t mean to drag you into all this—”
Colton smiled. “No, it’s great. No publicity is bad publicity, right?”
He sat down at the end of the table, closing the laptop that was there. Mina assumed he’d been working when they showed up.
Robby shot her a look. “That’s what I said. Which is why we’re here today.”
Oh, wait. He was diving in already? Mina hadn’t expected to get started so quickly. But she figured it wouldn’t be any easier if they small-talked for thirty minutes before pitching him their scheme.
“Robby had an idea,” Mina rushed to say.
Yeah, she was throwing it all on her campaign manager, but she didn’t want Colton to realize just how much her heart raced when she was around him. If he knew about her crush on him, he’d have to break the news to her that he just didn’t see her that way. The last time she’d opened her heart to someone, he’d crushed it into a million pieces, and she wasn’t ready to have it happen again.
When Mina remained quiet a little too long, Robby spoke up. “It’s a great idea. Imagine something that would continue to build your brand all the way through early November. Maybe even beyond.”
“A partnership?” Colton straightened in his seat a little.
Robby flashed Mina an amused look. “You could say that.”
Mina took a deep breath and plunged in. “Robby thinks we should get married.”
The change in Colton’s expression had her immediately regretting her words. She should have sold it a little better. Now she had to rush to explain.
Robby rushed for her. “Not married for real. It would all be fake. For the press. As soon as the election is over, Canyon Falls won’t care if Mina’s married or not, so it’s not like you’d even have to explain why you aren’t together anymore.”
“After the election, you can just say we separated,” Mina said. “I understand it’s a lot to ask, but it could really help both of us.”
“Think of it like an ad campaign,” Robby said. “So…what do you say? Will you marry Mina?”
7
What in the actual heck was going on here?
It sure seemed like Mina Baxter had just proposed to him. Well, her campaign manager had proposed to him on her behalf, which was even odder.
And now they were both looking at him, waiting for an answer. An answer to…will he pretend marry her?
“I’m not sure I understand,” he said, mostly as a delaying tactic. “You want me to marry you for publicity?”
“Think of it as a business arrangement,” Robby said, gesturing with his hands. “I can even draw up a contract. You’ll have a ceremony, tell the community you’re married, maybe make some appearances at Mina’s side during the campaign. November comes, you go your separate ways. Nothing lost.”
Colton frowned. “How does that help Mina?”
He probably should have asked how it would help him, but he could kind of figure that part out. Being the husband of the mayor-to-be would bring awareness to the Briscoe family name and, by extension, the ranch. Mina could even make some regular appearances here and invite her supporters to join her.
“Mayor Cobb likes to push the fact that I’m single and sort of a new return to town.” Mina rolled her eyes. “There were even some old college pictures of me floating around on social media a few weeks ago. I’d bet a thousand dollars he was behind that.”
Robby was slowly spinning his mug in circles, the coffee threatening to splash out. “His whole schtick is that Mina isn’t established here. No husband, no kids. She does have a mortgage, but he loves to gloss over that. There would be nothing compelling her to stay here if not for a very handsome husband who has strong ties to Canyon Falls.”
There it was. The problem. Robby had inadvertently blurted it out, but Colton didn’t miss it. There was no reason for Mina to stay in town if she didn’t become its mayor. Her political aspirations would, at the very least, take her to the state capitol, which was hundreds of miles from here. He had a feeling she’d head straight back to D.C. if she lost.
Even if she won, her goals were bigger than this town. It didn’t take a genius to put that together. So, getting close to her would be a bad idea. Even if it helped the ranch get some publicity and got Mina elected, his childhood crush would only deepen into something, and when she hopped town or ended the arrangement, he’d be crushed.
“The goal is to help Mina win the election,” Colton said. “But you’re acting like this is just to get her through early November. What happens when she wins?”
Robby shrugged. “The arrangement will end. People will easily buy that Mayor Baxter needs to focus on the duties of the position and her husband didn’t fit with her new lifestyle.”
Okay, now that was an interesting proposition. What if Colton went along with this whole thing and somehow made Mina fall for him? Was it possible? Was it worth the risk?
Mina was still going with the sales pitch. “We won’t really need anything from you. Just show up at a few events after the pretend wedding, be my arm candy—”
“Arm candy?”
His question gave her a panicked look, and he realized she probably thought she’d pushed things a little too far. But that wasn’t the case at all.
“Not that you’d be just arm candy,” Mina rushed to say.
Colton smiled. “No, I like it. I’ve never been called arm candy before.”
“You didn’t hear what they said about you in school.” The comment was muttered, almost beneath her breath. He had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to hear that.
He pretended he hadn’t heard clearly. “What’s that?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Never mind. So what do you say?”
“To being arm candy?” Colton asked.
“To fake marrying me,” Mina said.
She didn’t look the least bit nervous about asking him this. That was Mina—calm and collected at all times. He, meanwhile, felt like a bumbling idiot in front of her.
Colton wasn’t sure what to say. Before he could get any words out, Robby’s phone buzzed. He looked down at the screen, then at Mina. Mina glanced at the screen, and her eyes widened.
Without discussing whatever was happening here, Robby jumped up, phone in hand, and rushed from the house. He was whispering into the phone before he was out of the room.
Once the two of them were alone, Mina spoke again. “Sorry about this. Maybe it’s a bad idea. I don’t know. It’s just—time is running out on this campaign, and Mayor Cobb is starting to play dirty. I don’t know how else I can win this.”
“I get it. Let’s do it.”
His words surprised him as much as they seemed to surprise her. He hadn’t even planned to say yes, but the thought of turning her down, watching her go, and resuming life as usual was far less appealing than seeing where this adventure took him.
Yeah, he’d get himself in deeper with her. Yeah, he could end up being hurt. But not knowing what might have happened was far less appealing. Besides, it would be a great way to get the word out about Pumpkinfest, and maybe even drum up some publicity for the other income-generating ideas he had for this ranch.
“Okay,” Mina said, letting out a big puff of air. “So I guess we need to set up a wedding. Should we do it here on the ranch?”
“We’ve talked about turning the barn into an event venue,” he said. “We even cleaned it out. But it’s not ready yet.”
“We could do it on the hayride,” she said with a smile. “Or maybe the maze.”
“Or the barn,” he said.
The wheels were already turning in his mind, and there was no shutting them down now. They didn’t need a fancy fake wedding, but if they could get it just ready enough, it would be a great way to kick things off. Harley had already been planning a spring party there, so why not move it up a little?
The front screen door creaked opened, and Robby came rushing in. “Tha
t was Shawna. Mayor Cobb just did a speech on family values. He didn’t say it outright, but the insinuation was that you don’t have them and he does.”
Mina sighed. “Yes, because you have to be married with kids to have family values. He’ll never get it.”
Robby shrugged. “Which is why you get married. It’s the perfect plan.”
“We need to make this happen soon,” Mina said. “Let’s go look at the barn.”
Colton did a quick mental inventory of the ranch. Clay and Hank would be working with the horses right now, and Harley was at the bank, discussing their loan options. Not that they were planning to go into debt for the extra tractor they now needed. Harley just wanted to check out what was available.
Mina and Robby followed him to the truck, where Colton was all too aware that his interior was in desperate need of a vacuum. He felt like he had to offer to drive, though. There was no point in going in separate vehicles.
“It’s a bit older.” Colton felt the need to apologize for his truck as he opened the passenger side door to let Mina in. He stepped back so Robby could follow her.
Yes, his old truck had one of those bench seats that weren’t around in most newer trucks, but Mina and Robby might not know that. He wasn’t sure. What he did know was that this bench seat meant Mina would be sitting next to him in the center. And that made him glad he couldn’t afford an upgrade.
Mina was looking down at the seat behind her when Colton climbed in. “Is there a seatbelt here?”
“It gets tucked into the seat.” Colton resisted the urge to reach around her and show her. He knew better than to make a grab like that. Keep it professional and all.
But once she’d found the part of her seatbelt that was on Robby’s side, she truly was stuck finding the one closest to him. Colton couldn’t remember the last time someone had ridden in the center seat. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t been driving around alone.
He reached over to try to retrieve her seatbelt buckle at the same time she did. Their hands brushed, and he swore he felt electricity shoot between them. He looked over to see her reaction, and their gazes met and held again.
Definite electricity.
Mina withdrew her hand, clasping it with her other one on her lap, and he took that as a sign he should help her with her seatbelt. In a matter of seconds, he had the buckle untucked from the seat and nodded for her to go ahead and fasten it.
“It’s just around the corner,” Colton said. “Not too far up the road.”
He realized he was just talking to fill the silence. Neither of them really cared how far away the barn was, he was pretty sure. It wasn’t like the ranch was all that big. He could get from one side of Canyon Falls to the other in fifteen minutes, so everything was pretty much not-too-far-up-the-road.
Mina leaned forward to look out the window as the barn came into view. “This is charming.”
The funny thing was, she sounded like she meant it. Colton leaned forward to stare at the barn through the windshield of the truck, trying to see it through fresh eyes. Nope. It was still the same monstrous barn it had been since he was a kid.
“We could always just get married at Reilly’s place,” Colton said. “He lives on the lake.”
Darn. He was going to have to remember to say fake married, not married. When he said get married, it sounded like he was serious about this. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was falling for her.
No, the last thing he wanted to do was actually fall for her.
Colton pulled to a stop outside the barn and cut the engine. Robby was out of the truck and halfway to the barn before Colton even had time to unfasten his seatbelt. That dude wasn’t messing around.
“He’s very…eager.” Mina unbuckled her seatbelt and slid across the seat toward the open passenger door.
Colton thought about that as he climbed out on his side. He supposed everyone needed a Robby around to organize everything. In fact, maybe when this campaign was over, he could talk Robby into giving up political life to help run things around the ranch. They could use someone who knew how to handle the media and round everyone up.
“It’s a bit…rustic.”
Robby’s words were accompanied by a slightly disgusted expression. He was standing at the entrance to the barn, which was now very, very empty while the Briscoe brothers decided what to do next. Just a couple of weeks ago, the barn had been filled with hay and ranch supplies, so he saw this as progress, but a newcomer would just see a plain barn.
“Event barns usually are,” Mina said. “That’s the point.”
She stopped next to Robby, peering through the entrance. Her excited smile fell a little when she saw inside. They’d done a great job cleaning it, but looking at it through her eyes, he imagined her first thought was how dark it was.
Colton shoved his hands in his pockets. “Harley is the person to talk to about this. She has plans for this place, but I’m not sure what they are.”
Mina took a step back, breathed in deeply, and nodded. “It’s a fake wedding. It doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, it shouldn’t be. We need to put on a good show, sign some papers, and send out a press release. Quick, painless, and back to work.”
If he needed a punch in the gut to remind him this was fake, that had been it. All business. The goal was to finish up the formalities so she could hop right back on the campaign trail. In fact, maybe a ceremony was a waste of time and energy.
Colton shrugged. “We could just go to City Hall.”
Both Mina and Robby turned to stare at him. “This has to be fake,” Robby said. “That wouldn’t be fake.”
“We need someone to read the vows,” Mina said. “Doesn’t even have to be anyone official, but probably not someone we know. We don’t want to send up any red flags that this isn’t for real.”
“Afterward, we just don’t file the marriage license.” Robby began pacing again as the ideas obviously began flowing. “If anyone ever calls us on it, we can say we forgot, but nobody’s going to care. It’s just about getting through these last few weeks of the campaign.”
Mina nodded, looking over at Colton. “And you have up to thirty days to turn it in. My sister got married last year.”
Colton bit his lip thoughtfully before speaking. “We’ll need to actually get one, though. And I’m not sure how soon it’s effective. When do you want to do this?”
“As soon as possible,” Mina said. “Let’s go.”
She was already rushing toward the truck, leaving him wondering what the heck was happening. He looked at Robby, who didn’t seem to know either. If he was going to try to keep up with Mina and Robby, he’d probably need to trade in his work boots for sneakers.
8
Marriage license in hand, Mina walked out of the county clerk’s office, Colton right behind her. They’d dropped Robby off at his car before driving to town. They figured it would be better for the rumor mill if the two of them were trotting around town together, without a campaign manager trailing along.
“Amazing,” Colton shook his head as they approached his truck.
Mina glanced at him curiously. “What?”
“You didn’t see what happened in there?”
They stopped at Colton’s truck. He glanced back at the building they’d just exited.
Mina shrugged. “The clerk rushed our application through.”
“She was ready to say ‘no,’ but you smiled at her. That was all it took.”
Mina laughed. He was exaggerating, of course. The clerk had merely realized all of a sudden that having a mayoral candidate standing in front of her could help her out. Although she didn’t come out and say it, the clerk seemed to have issues with the current local leadership. In fact, the clerk’s exact words had been, “I hope you become mayor. This town could use someone who cares about the people working for it.”
“The important thing is, we can get married immediately if we want,” Mina said. “How soon can we make this thing h
appen?”
Colton frowned. “We could at least wait for the weekend. Just the fact that we’re getting married is enough to shut Mayor Cobb up for a while.”
Mina shook her head. “No. The second Mayor Cobb hears we applied for a marriage license, he’s going to start digging. Better to already be married by the time he hears about it. In fact, maybe we should reduce our visibility.”
It seemed to take Colton an extra few seconds to figure out what she was saying. Once he grasped it, he headed toward his passenger door. She felt far safer inside the cab of his truck.
He started the ignition. “People are already talking about us. It’s not like seeing us in town will immediately lead them to assume we’re getting married.”
“I’m holding a marriage license.” She gestured with the hand holding the document. “Now, who do you think should marry us?”
“Clay?” he asked. “It’ll be good practice for when he finally gets married.”
“Too obvious. Nobody’s going to believe he’s ordained.”
“You can get ordained online.”
She waved away the suggestion. “Let’s go with someone who isn’t a blood relation to you.”
“That narrows the options considerably.” He backed out of the parking space and started driving away from the square.
“Maybe that ranch hand guy who drove the truck when I first visited,” she said.
“Hank?”
“Yes. Nobody will immediately see him as part of your family. Mayor Cobb probably doesn’t even know who he is.”
“You have a point there. It’s not like he’d pay attention to anyone who wasn’t lining up to shake his hand.”
“Or kiss his butt.” She flashed him a smile, and he smiled back. It made her stomach do that flip-flop thing again. She really needed to get that under control.
“I could drop you off at your office,” Colton said.
Mina was surprised at the disappointment that rushed through her. Going back to her office was exactly what she should want to do. She had plenty of work, so why should she be disappointed? In a moment of sheer honesty, she admitted to herself that not only did she want to spend more time with Colton, but she also wanted Colton to want to spend more time with her.
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