The Cowboy's Surprise Bride

by Macie St James

  “No.” She let out a sigh. She wasn’t sure why, but all of a sudden, she felt the stresses of the day release. If she were in her own hotel room, it would make sense, but this was his room. She shouldn’t feel comfortable here.

  “I’ve been snacking from the vending machine, but I could go for some real food,” he said. “How about we order some room service?”

  That was how they ended up seated on his bed, feasting on burgers and fries while watching the news. It felt non-threatening and…nice, if she had to admit it. She would have been doing this very thing alone in her room if not for him, and it was a thousand times better than that.

  “I don’t know how you did that.” He pointed at the TV with a French fry.

  “Did what?”

  On the screen, a reporter was standing in front of the White House, talking about the federal budget. She’d never done that, as far as she could remember.

  “Lived in a city. Skyscrapers, sidewalks, concrete… Clay lived in Chicago for a while. Just visiting him had me rushing to get back home to open spaces and a view outside my window that wasn’t another window.”

  Mina shrugged. “I guess when you work from sunup to sundown, you don’t have time to think about views. I spent most of my time in a tiny cubicle in a federal building.”

  Or in conference rooms. Or in other people’s tiny cubicles. She didn’t miss those days, but she knew if she followed her desired career path, that was exactly where she’d end up.

  Colton munched on a fry. “It’s no way to live. Humans need fresh air and outdoors and something besides walls and carpet.”

  Mina started to comment on that, but she got caught up in the fact that she couldn’t remember if her office floor had carpet or not. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten—she was pretty sure she’d never even noticed.

  Which was probably exactly the point he was making.

  “Have you even looked out the window here?” He jerked his thumb toward the window. “We have a pretty good view.”

  Stopping to think about it, Mina realized she hadn’t. She’d rushed into her room, freshened up her makeup, and rushed back out again after checking her phone to make sure there were no urgent messages.

  “We were in such a hurry—” she argued.

  “Go ahead. Look.”

  She glanced over at him to find him staring at the curtains that were very definitely closed. The curtains that covered the big window he wasn’t looking out himself.

  “They were wide open before it started to get dark,” he said. “But it’s worth seeing.”

  He nodded toward the window, and she set her burger down, figuring she had to do this. He wouldn’t let up until she did.

  It wasn’t like she hadn’t looked out a hotel room window before. She’d done that plenty of times. Usually, it was just other buildings, all around. Sometimes she’d people watch absentmindedly for a few minutes, if her room overlooked a busy sidewalk. But most of the time, when she was staying in a hotel room, there was too much business going on to stand in the window long.

  As she pulled the curtains open, her breath caught. Yes, there were other buildings all around, but this room was above all of them. Over the top of all the other buildings, she could see mountains outlined by the bright, full moon. She figured even during the daytime, the view wasn’t quite this amazing.

  “See what I mean?” he asked. “You can miss the world around you easily.”

  “Yes.” She’d definitely noticed since returning home, the headaches that had plagued her every day for the last few years were gone. She hadn’t thought to attribute it to the new environment.

  Until now.

  “In fact, I plan to get up and go for a run before we head out in the morning,” he said. “Want to join me?”

  “We have that stop at the local campaign headquarters. We’ll be leaving pretty early.”

  “Eight a.m. Plenty of time to run, shower, and check out.”

  Mina turned and looked at him, assessing him as he sat back on the bed, propped up by the pillows. “This may sound weird, but I don’t think of cowboys as runner types.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not.”

  “You aren’t a runner?”

  “I’m not a cowboy. I’m a business owner. I grew up on a ranch, but I never quite fit in with the ‘wrangling animals and birthing calves’ thing Clay and Reilly were into. My brother Jared’s a little more like me, but he’s overseas.”

  That made total sense, based on what she’d observed about Colton. She’d just assumed that, behind the scenes, he was a cowboy, but he prepped it up for school. He’d never been quite as rugged as Clay.

  Plus, he’d been a lawyer, and when he’d walked away from that career, it hadn’t been out of excitement about working on the ranch. He’d made it very clear he saw the work he was doing as starting a business, similar to founding a startup. She’d definitely seen plenty of those types during her time in D.C.

  “I happen to be a runner myself,” she said. “I go for a run every morning, although usually on my treadmill.”

  “Treadmill.” He kicked one leg over the other and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  “What?”

  “Running indoors when you could enjoy the fresh mountain air every morning.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s cold out there.”

  “Oh, I’ve noticed. After about ten minutes, you don’t feel it. You’ve never run in the cold?”

  “I have, but there’s D.C. cold and then there’s Montana cold. Besides, I didn’t bring my running shoes, and I only have dress clothes.”

  “I’ll let you off this time,” he said. “But once we’re home, we’re going for some morning runs.”

  She crossed to the bed, moved the tray with the remnants of dinner to the coffee table, and sat down on the edge. Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite as cozy and at home here, but that was because she had an important topic to discuss.

  “About that,” she started hesitantly. “I know you said you expected me to move in with you…”

  “Just for appearances,” he said. “I’ll sleep in the guest room. You can have the master. We’ll just make sure it looks like you live there if people stop by.”

  “It’s not that,” she said. She hadn’t expected him to think she’d sleep in the same bed or anything. “It’s just—my stuff is at my place, and it’s close to where I go to work every day. Your ranch isn’t exactly convenient.”

  “Do you really think Mayor Cobb and his people won’t be monitoring where you go? Checking your place to make sure you’re not there? Questioning why you still even own a separate house if we’re really a couple?”

  “I’m not selling my house.”

  “I’m not saying you have to. The election is weeks away. I’m saying you need to give the appearance that you’re planning to sell your house. Not being there is a great start.”

  “Good point,” she said. “If asked, I can just say that I’ve been too busy with the election to put it on the market.”

  “And stay with me in the meantime.”

  This wasn’t going away, no matter how much she emphasized that living under the same roof wasn’t a good idea. Mostly because she couldn’t explain that fear was what had her insisting on living apart. Fear that if she spent too much time around him, she’d get into this too deep to ever get out.

  “Okay,” she finally relented. “As soon as we’re back home, I’ll pack up some essentials and move over.”

  13

  “They’re here to see you,” Harley said as they stood at the ticket booth, watching the line get longer and longer. “You and Mina.”

  “Should we have set up a tent or something?” Colton realized he was mostly speaking to himself. “Maybe advertise we were on display? We could have sold separate tickets. ‘See the newlyweds in their natural habitat.’”

  “But a tent isn’t your natural habitat,” Harley said
. “We’d have to sell tickets to your house. Watch you cooking and cleaning and arguing over the remote.”

  Colton laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure that would be very entertaining.”

  But Harley’s attention was already diverted to the crowd in front of her. He pitched in and helped as they tried to get the line moving as quickly as they could. He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but it seemed like this weekend would be busier than the last, if this line was any indication. Luckily, this week they had more routes into the ranch’s impromptu parking areas. That would help keep the backup off the main road.

  “Where’s your beautiful bride?” a woman he didn’t recognize asked.

  Colton pasted on a smile. “She’s working this morning. Had to do an event at a church in town. But thank you for asking.”

  Little did he know, that question would come up again and again and again. As soon as enough of the line had passed that no one had overheard the last time it was asked, here it came.

  Fortunately, things got busy enough away from the ticket line that Colton had to go help out. Nobody pummeled him with questions about Mina when he was just walking from one point to the other. He settled in with the group at the hayride, and before he knew it, it was noon.

  He knew it was noon because Mina came walking toward him. People in line were staring, mostly at her. But as she drew closer, that attention shifted to both of them.

  Would they kiss? Hug? Combine both in a public display of passion that would have the whole town talking?

  No. Instead, Colton greeted her as he would anyone he was dating if they were together in front of a crowd. He said hi and asked if she wanted to drive the tractor.

  She laughed. “That isn’t a good idea for any of us. But I brought some lunch for you and your brothers. I figure you could all use a break.”

  She reached into an oversize tote bag on her shoulder and pulled out a wrapped deli sandwich from one of the places in town. After he took it, she reached in and retrieved a napkin.

  “I can go get some bottled waters for everyone if you need it,” she said. “I just have to unload all this stuff first. Where’s everyone else?”

  Colton got on the two-way and determined everyone’s location, then watched as Mina gave him a wave and headed off. Was it his imagination or did her gaze linger on him a little longer than usual as she waved at him and walked away?

  Probably his imagination.

  “Now that’s a keeper,” some old guy in line said. “Brings you food.”

  Colton couldn’t agree more as he bit into a sandwich stacked with all the best lunch meats. There was no way Mina could have known they didn’t get a break to eat out here. He wasn’t sure what they would have done if she hadn’t shown up with food. But the fact that she’d thought of that little thing made him like her just a little more.

  But, more importantly for her career, it had also probably endeared her to the people watching. It had come across as completely authentic and not at all part of her political campaign. That’s what they would think.

  Colton had to check himself, though. This whole marriage was about her getting elected, so, of course, if she showed up with sandwiches, it was for that reason. Thinking otherwise would get him too personally invested in this business partnership, and that was the last thing he needed.

  Still, he found himself saying yes when she asked if he needed some water over Harley’s two-way radio. He wanted to see her again. Whatever excuse he could muster. And when the tractor rounded that last curve and he saw her standing there next to the line, he could almost convince himself it was all well worth the risk.

  “Why don’t you hop on?” Colton asked. He took the outstretched water bottle and drank generously from it.

  “Oh, I couldn’t break line. Just want to make sure your driver is well hydrated.”

  She said that last part loud enough to be heard by the group gathered along the winding ropes. They didn’t seem like they’d mind her squeezing in on their next ride. But she was right—that wouldn’t be a good look for her campaign.

  “Why don’t you hop on together?” the old guy who’d commented on her bringing food said. “Your brother can drive.”

  Sure enough, Clay was walking toward them. He must have heard because he headed straight to the tractor and climbed on.

  “What do you say?” Colton asked Mina. “Your public demands it, so we have to, right?”

  She smiled up at him. “I think we do.”

  He liked this side of her. He’d gotten a glimpse of it in Butte when they’d hung out in his hotel room, devouring a dinner of what was basically way overpriced junk food. The image of her, barefoot and cross-legged at the end of his bed, would stay with him long after she’d publicly declared them separated, and they stopped spending time together.

  After waiting for the trailer bed to fill with people from the line, Colton and Mina squeezed onto the end of one of the benches. Luckily there were enough babies and toddlers on this particular ride that he didn’t feel like they were bumping people who had waited in line a while.

  Colton knew he was pushing his luck, but they were on display. He took Mina’s glove-covered hand in his and pretended they were a couple. It was all about putting on a show, he told himself, but he was enjoying this a little too much.

  “This is weird,” she whispered to him as they passed the barn.

  It took him a second to realize what she meant. He first ruled out the fact that they were holding hands. Looking down at her, he saw she wasn’t looking at their hands but the other people on the hayride who were now very obviously staring at them.

  Not everyone, of course, but just enough people to make it feel like they were a Hollywood mega couple or something. Maybe around here they were. He saw that look at that young couple, remember when we were like that look from one elderly couple, as well as stares from a group of younger dudes who appeared to be ready to start yelling at them to get a room.

  And the others? He actually noticed some quickly averted gazes as he started to look around. Yes, most people would try not to get caught staring at the couple who had been plastered all over the front of the local newspaper for two of the past five days.

  Not much news happened in Canyon Falls.

  “Can you believe the crowd here today?” he whispered to Mina. “This is really working.”

  Her smile faded slightly, but then she nodded. He couldn’t quite decipher the look in her eyes. As much time as they’d been spending together, he admittedly didn’t know her well enough to be able to figure out what she was thinking by her body language.

  “Is something wrong?” he whispered.

  She promptly shook her head, but she looked away. He’d said something, but for the life of him, he didn’t know what. The part about the crowd being here today bothered her?

  Before he could figure out whether to push the question or not, the hayride rolled to a stop at the line. Was it his imagination, or had that been the shortest ride around the ranch in history? Time definitely flew when he was holding hands with Mina on the back of this sucker.

  They climbed off, taking the time to personally thank each of the people who had allowed them to squeeze in on their ride. Mina took charge of that, which made sense since she was the politician here. But it was his ranch, so he had to force himself to be the arm candy in the situation.

  Yeah, he wasn’t so sure about this role he’d agreed to play. He believed marriage was a partnership, with each party enhancing the other. But this fake marriage was a struggle, asking him to take a secondary role and focus on keeping Mina in the spotlight. The ranch was benefiting, and he had to keep reminding himself of that.

  “I have to run,” Mina told him as soon as the next group of people was loaded. “Harley and I are working the booth until the concert.”

  The concert. He’d forgotten all about that. She was referring to the stage they’d set up toward the front of the ranch. At sundown, locals would be bringing potluck dishes, an
d a folk group was performing. It wasn’t really a concert as much as a bunch of people listening to live music.

  But the best part about it was it was free. The whole thing was geared toward getting the word out about Pumpkinfest and the ranch in general. It went without saying that he’d planned the whole thing before he’d realized just how much exposure the ranch would be getting for free. Still, anything that brought the community together was good by Colton.

  He nodded. “I guess I’ll see you there.”

  She smiled and stepped away, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Something was still wrong with her, and it was beyond him what that was. He wondered if he should bug her about it or just wait for her to bring it up.

  Crap. He had a hard time understanding women in real relationships. This fake relationship was kicking his butt.

  14

  The ranch was doing well. That much was clear. But with every ticket Mina sold, she was reminded of Colton’s excited statement on the hayride.

  Their fake marriage was paying dividends for him, and she was happy about that. But she’d been thinking far less about the campaign and far more about him lately. His statement served as a stark reminder that this was an arrangement, not a romance. She needed to keep herself on track or she’d get really hurt here.

  If it already wasn’t too late.

  “Are you ready?” Harley’s voice pulled Mina from her thoughts.

  She looked over. Harley was standing there with the cash box locked, the card swiper safely inside, Mina assumed. The plan was to take the cash box back to the main house before heading off to the concert. Mina was supposed to stall Harley for a little while, though, on Clay’s orders. He was setting things up for a big surprise—and it was a surprise only Mina knew about because she’d been commissioned to help.

  “If you could grab the fruit salad out of the fridge, we can get out of here quickly,” Harley said as she rushed into the house a few minutes later. She blew through the living room, presumably to set her cash box somewhere safe.