The Cowboy's Surprise Bride

by Macie St James

  “For what?” Colton asked.

  She smiled over at him. “You know what. You really saved my butt in there.”

  “You were doing a pretty good job of saving your own butt,” he said. “I just wanted to offer some perspective. I knew you’d never say anything bad about Mayor Cobb.”

  “Hey, guys,” a voice from behind them called out. It was Harley, rushing toward them. “It’s karaoke night at Sam’s Place. I thought we could go check it out. Celebrate Mina’s upcoming win and our engagement.”

  “It’s Friday night,” Clay said. “None of us has anywhere to be tomorrow.”

  Harley rushed to add, “Not that we’ll be there all that late. I’m a bit of an early bird myself.”

  Mina glanced at Colton, who raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly in an expression she read as, Why not? So Mina replied, “Sounds great.”

  But she had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Mina loved spending time with Colton and his family, and that was the problem. The more time she was around them, the guiltier she felt about deceiving them. Plus, spending tons of time around them would just make it harder to walk away from them in a couple of weeks when the election was over and she had to let Colton out of his commitment.

  Shoving those worries aside, she climbed into Colton’s truck, and they followed his brother to the square, searching for a full twenty minutes for a parking space before they happened upon someone actually leaving. There weren’t many hangout spots in Canyon Falls—something she was sure would change in the coming years—so this one place had always been packed when she was younger. It looked like that was one thing that hadn’t changed.

  Somehow, Clay and Harley had managed to find a parking spot and nab a booth in the corner near the stage, despite every other seat being full. They settled in and grabbed menus, Mina suddenly all too aware she hadn’t eaten since lunch.

  “They have great burgers,” Clay said.

  Colton looked over at Mina, a big smile on his face. “We have a shared love of burgers.”

  Their eyes met, and they held the stare for so long, Mina was sure they were sharing a moment. Was this all in her imagination?

  “I put our name in,” Harley said.

  Mina tugged her gaze away from Colton’s and looked at Harley. “You two are singing a duet?”

  “Not me and Clay,” Harley said. “Me and you. I hope you don’t mind, but I picked a song.”

  She named a country song that was at least twenty years old. Mina was only vaguely aware of it, but she knew the basic melody of it. In karaoke, lyrics were on the screen anyway, but that wasn’t the issue here.

  “I can’t sing publicly,” Mina said. “I’m a really, really bad singer.”

  Harley laughed. “Nobody cares at karaoke. It’s all in fun. If you’re a professional singer, it’s actually pretty boring.”

  “People have phones,” Mina said. “They’ll record me and blast it all over the internet. It won’t look good for my campaign.”

  “I disagree,” Harley said. “It will show you know how to have fun. Do you need some liquid courage?”

  Mina shook her head. That was the last thing she needed if she was getting up on stage. She had to be clearheaded and try to sound somewhat human up there. If she sang like she sang when she was alone at home, this was not going to be good.

  She tried to distract herself by ordering food and listening to Clay’s funny stories about his week working the ranch. But her stomach was already tied in knots. What if Colton heard her horrible singing and lost all respect for her?

  “I’m going to add my name to the list,” Colton said.

  Before anyone could stop him, he was up and headed toward the karaoke jockey. Mina looked over at Clay and Harley. “He’s joking, right?”

  Harley looked as stunned as Mina felt, but Clay didn’t seem surprised at all. “That’s Colton. He loves trying new things.”

  Wow. Really? She thought back to childhood. He’d always seemed to be the straight-laced one—the guy who made sure everyone had a safe ride home if they were drinking and talked people out of breaking rules that could get them in trouble. But maybe there was a side of Colton she’d never encountered.

  “All set.” He gave Mina a conspiratorial smile as he slid back into his seat a couple of minutes later. “I hope everyone likes Billy Joel.”

  Mina took a hearty drink of her water, as if that would calm her nerves in any way. She supposed if she hydrated enough, she’d be in the ladies’ room when her name was called, and Harley would have to go on without her. At the very least, well-lubricated vocal cords would make her sing better than if they were dry, right?

  “Harley Baxter!” the karaoke jockey called out a full half an hour later, after they’d devoured their meals.

  Harley beamed. “I gave my first name and your last. It’s our stage name.”

  Mina would have found that endearing under any other circumstance, but not this one. Right now, everything seemed magnified by about a thousand, from the noise around her to the smells of beer and hot wings wafting over from the other tables.

  If she got sick on her way to the stage, would that get her out of karaoke? She wasn’t sure how that worked, but she had a feeling she might soon find out.

  Luckily, she had Harley to lead her. She followed Harley to the stage, feeling a little safer going up there as a duo. But when she was in the designated place on stage, nothing could make her feel safe. She was completely exposed, with everyone staring at her, waiting for her to sing.

  So Mina did what she’d had to do when she took her first public speaking class in college. She shut everyone out and focused on reading the words in front of her. It was all a blur, but somehow, she made it through. She was sure when she stepped off that stage, everyone would be pointing and laughing, but when the song ended and she looked around, people seemed indifferent. Nobody even clapped.

  “Colton Briscoe!” the karaoke jockey called out as Mina prepared to follow Harley off the stage.

  Colton would sing right after her, which meant he wouldn’t have time to think about how horrible she’d sounded. Maybe he’d sound horrible, too, and she’d feel a little more confident that he wasn’t judging her.

  He reached out to take Mina’s hand as she headed toward the steps that would get her exactly where she belonged—in the audience. “Wait.”

  The last thing she wanted to do was wait. She wanted off this raised platform, pronto. But having her hand in Colton’s was undeniably compelling. No matter how strong the lure of anonymity was, holding Colton’s hand beat it by a mile.

  “We’re doing a duet,” he said.

  “A Billy Joel duet?” Admittedly, she wasn’t all that familiar with Billy Joel’s work, but she couldn’t think of a duet offhand. Maybe he knew of one.

  “Just go with it. I’ll tap your arm when it’s your turn to sing.”

  Somehow, he managed to get her up on stage without even tugging on her arm. He just started walking, and she followed him out of a subconscious desire not to lose his touch. Her body outright betrayed her.

  The music started before they were even in place. The karaoke jockey must have been eager to move things along. She looked at the screen and realized they were being prompted to sing “Just the Way You Are,” which was at least a song she’d heard before.

  Colton belted out the first verse, blowing Mina away. She couldn’t stop staring at him in awe. He was actually a very talented singer. Not only that, but he looked comfortable up here on stage, like he was at home. Like he’d done this many times before.

  He nudged her, which meant she was supposed to sing. The first few words came out like a croak, and she wanted to clear her throat, but luckily, it worked itself out. Still, her voice paled in comparison to his. As they neared the next verse, he nudged her again.

  “Together,” he said.

  And that was how they ended up singing together. As embarrassed as she was to be singing in front of people, she had t
o admit there was something incredibly romantic about this. She let him sing the next verse, but they sang the verse after that together, and next thing she knew, the song was rolling to an end. She’d survived…and he’d helped her through it.

  As the crowd applauded much more enthusiastically than they had for her duet with Harley, Mina looked over at him. Her intention was to thank him for helping her out. Instead, she caught his gaze again, and they were staring at each other. A long, heated stare.

  With the crowd’s applause increasing in intensity, he leaned toward her, and she knew, without a doubt, that he was going to kiss her. For a moment, she let herself believe this wasn’t for show and that he really, really wanted to kiss her.

  His arm went around her waist, and he pulled her toward him. Her right hand automatically moved to his shoulder, settling behind his neck as his lips brushed hers.

  As the kiss deepened, she was vaguely aware of the crowd noise around them. She felt the buzz of his moan against her mouth, and it prompted her to press in even tighter against him. She felt lightheaded as she gave in to the kiss fully, knowing this could all be fake but not believing it, not even for a second.

  There certainly was nothing fake about it on her end.

  17

  That kiss was everything Colton had ever imagined, and he’d imagined kissing Mina more times than he could count.

  He’d tried to hold himself back, but when he’d looked over at her, and she’d looked up at him, he couldn’t stop himself. He’d leaned closer, gently brushed her lips to test the waters, then immediately deepened the kiss when she’d responded.

  What he hadn’t expected was the way she’d pressed her body to his, even pulling him closer with her hand behind his shoulders. For a moment, he’d been able to forget that for her, this was all an act. But for him, it was all too real.

  When he pulled away, he saw that immediately. Instead of the desire he felt was reflected in his own eyes, he saw something that could only be described as regret. She looked like she was trying to figure out a graceful exit.

  Colton decided to let her off easily. He stepped away, turned to wave at the crowd and thank the karaoke jockey, then headed off the stage. He didn’t try to take her hand because, honestly, if all of this was for show, he was losing interest. In fact, his willingness to pretend he was her husband decreased as his feelings for her deepened.

  “Great job!” Clay called out as they approached the table. Colton nodded and stepped back to gesture for Mina to enter.

  Mina looked down at her smartwatch. “I really should be going. It’s past my bedtime.”

  Colton knew that wasn’t true. In fact, he’d bet she’d be up well past midnight, tapping away on the keys of her laptop. He could hear her in there most nights when he ventured from his room to get a snack from the kitchen.

  “I think we’re ready, too.” Harley scooted across the seat while slipping her purse strap on her shoulder. “Besides, there are people waiting for seats.”

  Indeed, customers had gathered around the door, waiting for someone to leave. Colton hadn’t even noticed how much the crowd had increased since they’d arrived. He’d been fully focused on Mina when they were onstage, even when he was looking out at the audience.

  A few minutes later, they were on the way home, an awkward silence hanging heavy between them. Colton thought about breaking it with small talk, but he decided to wait it out and see if she was going to speak up about what was on her mind.

  “I don’t think I can do this much longer,” Mina said tightly. “I know the election is just around the corner, but it’s starting to get to me.”

  He can’t say this mini-speech surprised him. Part of him had expected it all along. He’d just been hoping maybe she’d change her mind.

  “Deceiving your family.” She shook her head. “I really have grown to like Harley and Clay. I don’t know Reilly well, but I like what I’ve seen. The fact that they believe we’re really married…”

  Yeah, he got that part of it. He supposed it should have bothered him as well, but he’d been hoping it would become a real marriage and his family would never know. If he really thought about it, though, eventually they’d have to tell the truth no matter what happened.

  Not that it mattered now. She was making it obvious it was a complete lie to her. He felt like a fool for going along with this so long, telling himself it was for the ranch when really he’d had some deep-seated hope she’d start developing feelings for him.

  “So what do you want to do?” he asked. “The election’s two weeks away. If you spill the beans now, you’ll risk losing the election. Everything you’ve worked for will be for nothing.”

  “If I wait until after election night, it’ll be worse. They’ll see it as me using your whole family to win. I think we should come clean.”

  Colton nodded. Okay, this wasn’t as bad as breaking up. She just wanted to tell his family.

  “We’ll tell them tomorrow,” he promised. “I’ll call everyone over for coffee.”

  “It’s not just that. What happens after the election?”

  He felt her looking at him, waiting for his answer. This was one thing he hadn’t expected. She was putting this on him.

  “I can be the First Husband. Is that what it’s called?” He flashed her a smile for good measure. He supposed he was trying to keep this light and humorous to derail the conversation. It was out of fear. He didn’t want this to continue on a serious note because if it did, he was sure she’d eventually say it had to end after the election, if not before.

  “Usually just the mayor’s husband,” she said. “Sometimes mayors’ wives are called mayoresses. I’m not sure what husbands are called.”

  “Mayoristers,” he guessed.

  “Mister Mayor. I’m sure they’d just call you Mr. Briscoe.”

  “Or Colton. No reason to start showing me respect now.”

  But her smile had already faded. He could see that out of the corner of his eye. Uh-oh. Things were getting serious again.

  “So we stay together after the election?” she asked. “What if I’m mayor for four years?”

  He shrugged, going for nonchalance. “Maybe we should just see what happens. We don’t have to make a commitment for the whole four years now.”

  She nodded, but she appeared to be deep in thought. Her silence made him worry he’d gone a little too far. The good news was, he didn’t have to decide whether to ask or not because they now had the distraction of pulling up to his house and getting out of the car.

  “I wanted to thank you,” she said once they were out of the truck and heading toward the front porch. “I know this whole arrangement has been good for publicity for the ranch, but you would have gotten that anyway, I’m sure. You’ve done so much to help me, asking for nothing in return.”

  He turned to face her, house keys in hand. “You really think I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart?”

  The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. It was an honest question, but was he prepared to explain what he meant if she asked. The perplexed look on her face told him he shouldn’t have started down this road if he wasn’t prepared to go all the way with it.

  “Why are you doing it?” she asked.

  No. He wasn’t prepared to go down it. He realized right then and there that it didn’t matter what he said. She wasn’t really even all that interested in knowing the truth. So he just shook his head, unlocked the door, and strode into his house, going straight to the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

  18

  Mina woke up with a start, looking around the bedroom to get her bearings. She’d finally fallen asleep after several long hours of tossing and turning, only to have a dream where she’d told Colton she was falling in love with him. His response in her dream had been to slam a door in her face.

  She knew the dream had to do with the door he’d slammed in reality when they’d arrived home. The fact that he seemed to be mad at her and sh
e had no idea what she’d done was more troubling than anything she could remember.

  Rolling over, Mina grabbed her phone from the bedside table to check the time. That was when she saw a stack of notifications on her screen, all of which had come through while her phone was in its usual nighttime do not disturb mode.

  Noting that it was seven-thirty a.m. and therefore not so early that she had to try to get back to sleep, she tapped on a notification to open it. It was a message from Robby. There were ten above it.

  Call me! the last text read.

  The other texts were about some news item and whether she’d read it. Robby seemed to be in a panic about something. She saw a link and clicked it.

  Baxter Faked Marriage to Win Election, Cobb Says, the headline read. Below it was a story written by Shawna Slater that detailed everything, from getting a marriage license they never submitted to having a ranch hand perform the wedding. There was no proof the marriage had been faked, other than the fact that the wedding had never been official.

  But Shawna got away with putting it that way because the words “Cobb Says” appeared at the end of the headline, as well as throughout the article. Apparently, Mayor Cobb had some sort of inside information that Mina had no intention of having a real marriage to Colton. In fact, Mayor Cobb said she’d be hopping town as soon as the election was over.

  The words in front of Mina began to blur as she scrolled. This was bad. Very, very bad. Her first thought was of Colton’s family, who would read this and know, from the media, no less, that Colton’s marriage was a sham. Maybe scam was a more accurate word.

  Sighing, Mina set her phone down. She had to warn Colton before his family saw it. She couldn’t let him get those phone calls or, worse, have his family show up at the door, demanding to know what was going on.

  Sliding into her robe, Mina grabbed her phone and headed out into the hallway. His bedroom was just down the hall, and her plan was to knock on the door and wait for him to answer, but she immediately saw that plan wasn’t going to work. His door was open, and even before she looked inside, she knew he was up already.