Trent perked up in his chair a bit. Is this the moment? Are they going to give me the reins to the ranch?? He tried his best to not look too excited, but it was difficult. This was the kind of thing he’d been looking forward to – a purpose for him, something for him to focus on instead of being so wild all of the time. He knew that his parents were tired of him goofing off. He craved the responsibility.
His father sighed softly, entwining his fingers thoughtfully. “We wanted nothing more than to pass on the ranch to you, Son. But we’re concerned that you aren’t responsible enough. Your heart doesn’t seem to be in it. And all of this… drag racing that you’re doing with your friends… We can’t have that. If you were to take over the ranch, you’d need to be fully committed and present. And not just physically, but mentally as well. You’d need to put the ranch first. It doesn’t seem like that’s something you want. We know that you care about things here, but do you care enough?”
This was more words than Trent had ever heard from his father. The senior Mr. Reed was not a man of many words, but he was a hard-working man of action. Trent’s face went a bit red. He had expected a lecture about his drag racing, but he’d never thought that they’d been considering passing him over for the ownership of the ranch.
“I do care,” he countered, keeping his voice gentle. He didn’t need to start a shouting match over this. He was sure it was just a misunderstanding. Meanwhile, the speeding ticket practically burned in the pocket of his jeans. He was going to have to deal with that without even mentioning it to his parents. How could he prove he was responsible in one breath while telling them about that in another breath?
“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” his mother said. “You’re always gallivanting around with your friends when you could help out more around here. Our new intern Willie – who’s fourteen, mind you – has been doing so much already and he only just got here.”
“Just because I don’t follow you around like a dog doesn’t mean I don’t care about this place,” Trent said stiffly. Then, a beat later, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just… Please tell me what you want me to do to improve things, and I’ll do it. I can’t stand the thought of someone taking over this ranch. It’s like your baby.”
He might have been imagining it, but he thought he saw his mom’s chin quiver at that.
His dad leaned back on the couch and ran a hand through his thinning gray hair. “There’s a whole bunch of things you could do differently or more often, depending. You can start by no longer drag racing and getting into trouble.”
Trent felt like his dad knew about the ticket. He resolved to pay it as soon as this conversation was over, so it wouldn’t be hanging over him anymore. That was the responsible thing for him to do.
“I can stop that,” he said to his parents. “No problem. I won’t even miss drag racing.” Okay, that was a lie and he was probably trying too hard to convince them with words. But even he knew now that the way he hung out with his friends was detrimental to his reputation. He forgot himself when he was driving his truck with them. Surely he could hang out with his buddies in a calmer fashion. Going to get burgers didn’t make him receive the same kind of scrutiny, for example. It also didn’t run down his tires or get him speeding tickets.
“If you can prove to us that you can focus on this ranch and put your whole heart into your family, then we will consider signing the deed over to you,” his mother said.
“But it’s not just about your friends,” his father added, looking at him pointedly. “We want you to start thinking about your future, too. You won’t be able to run this ranch on your own. You should start a family of your own.”
Of course, Trent thought somewhat dejectedly. I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. He had a haphazard dating history. Most of his relationships had been superficial and short. He didn’t worry himself with finding ‘the one.’ He just tried to have a good time. Apparently the good times are over.
Trent up until this point, had bought into the whole myth about marriage being a ‘ball-and-chain’ kind of thing. A wife was probably going to nag him and keep him from living the life he wanted to live. She was probably going to make him change and give him endless grief. He wished that it was acceptable for him to have kids without having a wife. He liked kids. They could be fun. But a wife?
He knew his parents weren’t going to go for him avoiding that. And it was useless to argue with them when they had an idea in mind for him. They were the bosses. Literally.
“I’ll give the dating game a shot again,” Trent said, inwardly hating himself a little for it. He didn’t think that it should be anyone else’s business if he got married. That was supposed to be something that naturally happened once a man loved a woman and they wanted to take that next step. The likelihood of that happening for me is slim. Not everyone is into marriage. Is that so wrong?
It was useless to argue with them about it, though. His dad even smiled slightly and reassuringly patted Trent on the shoulder. “You don’t have to rush into anything. We’re not going to retire tomorrow.”
His mom nodded, smiling along with her husband. “We want you to make wise choices, obviously. Choices that show that you understand what we’ve been talking to you about.”
Trent got it. They wanted him to calm down and be a more dutiful son. A wife-and-family kind of son that wouldn’t embarrass them or their good name. The Reed family ranch has been around for generations; people trusted and relied on them for their sheep and cows, blah blah blah.
Trent could tell that he was being just as immature as his parents said he could be, but it wasn’t a good feeling to be told that he wasn’t good enough for their precious ranch. After devoting all of his youth to the place, working there as soon as he returned home for school and everything… I could’ve gone down so many different paths, but I stayed here and helped them. I am focused on this ranch. Probably even too much. He didn’t see why his having a hobby was such a big deal, but he supposed that he could find a hobby that wasn’t so risky and skirting the legal line.
“I won’t rush,” he said, forcing himself to smile at his parents. “I’ll find someone perfect. And I’ll work with Willie more often. He’s a good kid, but I have some pointers that I think he could use.”
This seemed to satisfy Trent’s parents. They got up from the couch and left the room – his mom to work on dinner and his dad to work on shearing some sheep before dinner. Once they were gone from the room, Trent was free to roll his eyes. Rather than staying there where could be lectured some more, he went upstairs to the sanctuary of his bedroom. He sat on his bed and pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. He messed around on social media for a few minutes – okay, half an hour – and then he searched the internet for ‘quick wife.’ He didn’t expect much.
Indeed, some of the results were completely ridiculous. Some of them were even scary. But one of the top results was what looked like a dating app called Pretendr. Trent furrowed his brows and clicked on it, not quite knowing what to make of what it was called. “Need to be in a relationship really quickly to please a boss or your parents? Then look no further – help is right here!”
The more that Trent read, the more he liked the sound of this service. He didn’t need to find a woman, date her, or all of that boring stuff if he could just pretend to be with her! He could essentially hire a young woman to act as his wife. And it would be helping her, too. She’d be looking for the same sort of situation, with someone like him.
Wow, this is the answer to my prayers, he thought, grinning down at his phone. He couldn’t believe that the solution he needed was already right there, waiting for him to sign up.
He filled out the application in record time, because he didn’t ultimately care too much who he matched with. His list of criteria for a pretend bride were that she be local, that she be young but not too young, that she be pretty, and that she leave him be when they didn’t need to be together.
I g
uess I’ll have to pretend to have a wedding, he thought as he uploaded a few pictures of himself and answered some basic questions for the matching questionnaire. But weddings are the bride’s job anyway, so I probably don’t have to think about it. Especially not yet.
Trent surprised himself a little with how excited he was about this app. It was actually fun to fill out the profile and imagine the scenario of pretending to be with some girl. His parents were going to be tricked, but seeing them happy was going to make it all worth it. Then they were finally going to trust him and let him take over the ranch!
He just hoped that the right girl was on the app and that they’d match up with each other. What girl wouldn’t want to freely pretend to be with him? Trent wasn’t conceited – not really – but he knew that he was a good catch. He’d be even more of a catch now that he was putting his recklessness aside to become a family man for the sake of his parents ranch.
Thinking of that reminded him. He tapped away from Pretendr and took care of the pesky speeding ticket fee. Now it was as good as forgotten. Trent was on the straight and narrow now. Yes, sir.
He wondered if Austin and Wes had ever heard of Pretendr. If so, why had they never told him? He felt like he’d been living under a rock all this time. And that was not where Trent wanted to be.
* * *
If you enjoyed this preview of The Cowboy’s Match, you can now read books 1-4 of the Pretendr Dating App Series as a box set!
Matched through a fake relationship app, they weren’t looking for love. But their hearts could only play along with the charade for so long.
This box set of sweet, fun, and uplifting clean romances includes:
The Lumberjack’s Match
The Rock Star’s Match
The Cowboy’s Match
The Detective’s Match
Click HERE to purchase the box set
Included with Kindle Unlimited!
Preview Of The Billionaire’s Match
Pretendr Dating App Series Prequel
Chapter One
Seattle, Washington
Ben leaned back in his chair, sighing as he read through his emails. So many of them were marked ‘Urgent’ that he was beginning to wonder if any of them really were, or if his bosses were just trying to make sure he actually opened them. He glanced at the little digital clock on the bottom right corner of his monitor and then snuck a peek at his cellphone to see if the time really was what he saw. Only an hour had passed; it was ten a.m. Ben was really looking forward to lunch, because he had a big meeting scheduled with a new group of app developers.
He was excited about this meeting because he’d been the one to find them.
Yawning and stretching his long arms, he knew that he wasn’t going to make it through the rest of the day if he didn’t have more coffee. He got out of his desk chair and strolled over to the refreshments table along the back wall of the office. Everyone who worked at Chase Bros. Ltd. worked in a small, open cubical without walls and with plenty of room to breathe, because creativity did better when it was given room to grow. Everyone worked in these side-by-side clusters of desks, except for the Chase brothers themselves, of course. They shared a big, fancy office with white, sparkling-clean windows – one out of which they could see a great view of Seattle, the other which allowed them to keep their eyes on their workers.
While he was standing there by the coffee machine, trying to get his cup of joe exactly the way he liked it, Ben felt a sudden pat on his shoulder. He whipped his head around and broke into a smile when he realized it was his buddy John.
“How’s it going, man?” John asked him with a grin. “All set for your big meeting?”
He would obviously never say so, but Ben thought that his friend was somewhat jealous. This was his fourth big meeting this month and the company responded well whenever someone had many acquisitions in a short of time. Ben had been on the top of his game lately, and his coworkers were definitely noticing.
“I’m as ‘set’ as I ever am,” Ben replied with the calm smile of someone who knew they had everything figured out. “I tend to have a way of getting these developers to eat out of the palm of my hand.”
John laughed, shaking his head, all the while giving him a look of admiration. Even if he was jealous, he didn’t wish for Ben to fail just so he could succeed. He wasn’t that kind of guy. “Don’t get too cocky,” he said. “You’ve got to hear them out still. For all you know, their ideas might be terrible.”
“Do you really think I’d pick a firm that’s known for having terrible ideas?” Ben smirked at his friend before taking a sip of the perfected coffee. “Anyway, I’m less worried about this meeting than I am about the little ultimatum I was given. Via email from our lovely bosses, no less.”
John stared at him over his wire-framed glasses. “Eesh! That doesn’t sound good.”
Ben leaned in a little closer so they could talk without the entire office listening in. “Apparently, I’m too much of a public nuisance. I need to straighten up or let’s just say I can kiss being employee of the month goodbye. Which is completely ludicrous because why should it matter if I stay out late with my friends and haven’t managed to settle down yet.”
John chuckled even more. “Uh, I’m pretty sure the main reason our bosses care is because the shareholders care. Most of the guys in your position have wives and have started families by your age. It just makes them seem more stable. The board tends to put more faith in people who have family values and responsibilities outside of work alone. I’m sure even if you just took a step in the right direction and found yourself a fiancée, they would back off.”
Ben rolled his eyes. I don’t know why it matters whether I have a fiancée at this point in my career or not. My having a serious relationship doesn’t affect my ability to be a good venture capitalist!
It all seemed like such an invasion of his privacy. Sure, he hadn’t been too worried about all that when he’d been seen out till all hours of the night with his friends and the occasion date then never seemed to amount to anything serious, but it was his life so it should be up to him what he did with it.
You need to take your life more seriously, his bosses – Sam and Sean Chase – said in their email. One of the ‘Urgent’ emails that Ben had just scoffed at upon reading. Their concerns really didn’t strike him as pertinent to his work, until they added, It reflects badly on your work that you can’t keep your personal affairs in order. If we can’t trust you to represent us and the company, then we can’t trust you with larger and more important acquisitions.
That stung.
Ben didn’t think that his life was out of control in any way, but it didn’t take long for him to think it over and realize that there were a few issues. As laid back and fun as he had it, he was pushing thirty-seven and he still lived the life of a frat boy. His apartment was big and expensive, but it was also usually a disorganized, chaotic mess and it would have been all the time were it not for his competent and punctual maid, Rosa.
As much as Ben enjoyed his lackadaisical life, he had to admit that it wasn’t exactly the life he’d always dreamed of.
But that didn’t mean that he wanted a pair of old men telling him how to hurry up and rush into something he wasn’t ready for.
John gave a nod, indicating that he had work to get back to and headed back to his desk. Ben took his Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee and headed back to his own desk and on his way, noticed Gretchen doing that thing she always did where she was watching him but trying hard to pretend that she wasn’t. He noticed as he approached that her typing speed increased and she even went so far as to duck her head down close to her computer screen in an effort to make it look as though she was really working hard.
I bet Sean and Sam would love it if I started dating someone like Gretchen.
If he was going to start dating anyone – marry anyone – then it wasn’t going to be her or anyone like her. She was obsessive and creepy, and would often be super nice one mi
nute and fly off the handle the next.
No thank you.
He relaxed back into his chair with a squeak and then wheeled himself back to his computer. He opened up the Google Drive folder that he’d been sharing with the new app company that he was hoping to strike a deal with in a few hours.
Honestly, they’re not that exciting, he thought, reading through what the CEO had written regarding their current ideas. They were touting this new dating app called Sparkly. Ben thought it had a catchy name, but at the end of the day it was exactly like every other dating app. He didn’t see how they were planning to compete in the marketplace. He looked at his notes for the meeting and indeed he had “How will this compete??” written in bold.
I can’t afford to invest in something that may not stay afloat in an already saturated market, Ben thought. He glanced around at his coworkers, chatting on their phones or diligently typing at their computers.
What he really needed to think of was a niche, something different about this dating app so that it stood out and offered a different kind of service or experience. He didn’t think that it would be prudent to enter into this meeting with a list of a million things that were wrong with their idea, but he also didn’t want to sugarcoat things. They needed money and he needed a winner.
He set his nearly empty cup on his desk and started tapping away at his keyboard, doing a bit of research so he could come into this meeting fully prepared. He’s swilled his coffee like always did when he was caught up in something that excited him.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. He looked over and there was Gretchen, standing behind him and to his right. How did she even get there without me noticing? Is she a vampire or something?
Billionaire Hearts Club- The Complete Series Collection Page 36
