At a little past midnight, with the band on a break, Giselle signaled them over again. She had two of the cameramen with her that time.
Travis knew what the casting director was up to. They were getting interviewed, an on-the-fly interview to test them both, to see if they had chemistry up close and personal, and to find out if Brenna could really shine with the camera focused right on her.
Giselle asked, “Brenna, how long have you two been together?”
Travis wanted to grab her and whisper that no matter what, she was amazing. If they made it or not, he’d owe her forever for this fine night at the Ace.
But then Brenna laughed. And he knew that she had them. “How long have Travis and I been together? Not nearly long enough, if you ask me.” She grabbed his arm and snuggled up close. “I have loved Travis Dalton since I was six years old,” she said dreamily. “That was the day that my mom let me ride my new bike on the Cedar Street sidewalk while she was shopping at Crawford’s General Store. It was the day that Angus McCauley pushed me off my bike and then rode away on it. I called Angus some bad names, but he didn’t come back. So I sat down on the sidewalk and burst into tears...”
It seemed to Travis at that moment that the whole place had gone quiet. People pressed close, but only so they could hear better as Brenna told them how Travis had appeared out of nowhere that day.
“He came like a knight in shining armor—except, you know, in dusty boots, jeans and a snap-front shirt.” She looked up at him with a glowing smile.
He brushed her lips with his, the light kiss so easy and natural, exactly right. He looked at the nearest camera. “I hate to see a little girl cry.”
Brenna went on with her story. “He picked me up and asked me if I was hurt. I showed him the scrape on my elbow where I’d hit the sidewalk when Angus pushed me down. Travis looked at it, all serious and frowning. He said, ‘You are a very brave little girl. Stay right here. I’ll get your bike.’ And he did just that. Not five minutes later, he came back around the corner of Cedar and North Buckskin Road, walking my bike. I ran to meet him, and that was when I told him I loved him and would marry him someday.”
“What did he say to that?” Giselle asked downright breathlessly.
Brenna let out a put-upon sigh. “He acted like I hadn’t said it. He did that a lot for the next twenty years or so.”
“She was too young for me,” Travis insisted, as he’d done more than once during the twenty years in question.
Brenna made a face at him. “The second time I said I loved him, I was eight and he was sixteen. That time, as it so happened, he’d just saved me from drowning in Rust Creek. I said, ‘Oh, Travis. I love you and I can’t wait to marry you!’ He just wrapped me in a blanket and drove me home. And then, when I was ten...”
He knew what was coming and couldn’t hold back a groan.
She nudged him with her shoulder. “Aurelia won’t mind. Remember, she got married and moved to Sioux Falls?”
Giselle, looking more eager than Travis had ever seen her, prompted, “So tell us what happened.”
“I caught them kissing, Travis and Aurelia.”
“Oh, no!” Gerry, the production assistant who stood at Giselle’s elbow, gave Travis a dirty look.
“Oh, yes,” said Brenna. “And okay, I was only ten, but still it destroyed me. It was in the summer, out at the county rodeo. Aurelia and Travis were both eighteen. Aurelia was so annoying. She had breasts and everything. I took one look at the two of them squishing their mouths together and felt my poor heart break clean in two.”
“Heartbreak?” Travis teased her. “Come on, admit it, Brenna. You were mad, not heartbroken.”
She gave a sniff, her cute nose in the air. “That was not anger, that was pure heartbreak, just like I said. Heartbreak that caused me to pick up a rock and throw it at Aurelia. I hit her in the shoulder.”
Travis elaborated, “Aurelia let out a yelp you could hear all the way to Kalispell.” He scolded Brenna gently, “You hit her pretty hard.”
“Well, I was upset and it seemed to me at the time that she deserved it.”
He shook his head. “You always did have a good arm on you, even when you were ten.”
“I remember she called me an evil little brat. And I turned to you and said, ‘Travis Dalton, what is the matter with you? You’re supposed to be waiting for me.’ I reminded you that I was already ten and it wouldn’t be long now—or it wouldn’t have been.”
“Except that you were so mad—”
“Correction. Brokenhearted. I was so brokenhearted, I ended it between us.”
“Bren. Come on. You were ten. I was eighteen. There was nothing to end.”
She put her finger to his lips. “Shh. I’m tellin’ this story.” And then she spoke to the camera again. “I said that on second thought, I hated him and I wasn’t going to marry him, after all, no matter if he crawled on his knees to me through razor blades and broken glass.”
He leaned in and told the camera confidentially, “She was always a bloodthirsty little thing.”
“Maybe. Now and then.” Brenna let out a rueful sigh. “Especially when the guy I love goes and breaks my heart.” Slowly, she grinned. “But then, look at us now.” She grabbed Travis closer. He went willingly. “Travis Dalton, I forgive you.”
“For...?”
“Not taking me seriously when I was six and breaking my poor heart when I was ten.”
He would have delivered a clever comeback for that one, but she went and offered up her sweet mouth. Comebacks could wait. He claimed her lips in another long, bone-melting kiss that brought a volley of applause and appreciative laughter from the circle of contestants and locals surrounding them.
When he lifted his head, she said, “Finally together, forever and ever.”
It was the perfect moment, the one Travis had been waiting for.
He dropped to his knees, reached in his pocket and took out the ring he’d slipped in there before driving out to the O’Reilly place to pick her up that night. That ring, bought in Kalispell that afternoon, had cost him more than half of his hard-earned savings. But he’d spent that money anyway, because the ring was as beautiful as she was and because it was important that they come across as the real thing.
“Travis!” Brenna stared down at him through shining ocean-blue eyes. “Oh, Travis...” Those fine eyes shone even brighter with her tears. Damn, she was amazing. “That is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.”
“I was hoping you might think so.” And he really was getting into this, maybe more than he should. “Brenna O’Reilly,” he said with feeling, “I love you and you are the only woman in the world for me.”
“Oh, Trav. I love you, too.”
God. The way she looked at him. He didn’t care if it was all an act. Nothing lit him up like the glory of her smile. “Marry me, Brenna.”
“Yes, Travis. Yes!”
“Hot damn!” He slipped the ring on her finger, jumped to his feet and threw his hat in the air. Everyone with a hat followed suit. Hats went flying everywhere. To a thundering rumble of excited applause and a torrent of catcalls and triumphant shouts, Travis grabbed Brenna close in his arms and kissed her again for all he was worth.
* * *
“Brenna,” Giselle said as soon as Travis and Brenna had been congratulated by half the partiers in the place, “you think you could give us a few minutes alone?”
Brenna looked a little stunned. She turned to Travis. “Trav?”
He slid his hand down and clasped hers. “I’ll go with you.”
Giselle gave a shrug. “Suit yourselves.” She pointed her index finger at the ceiling. “One moment.” The finger dipped down. “Do not move from this spot.” She turned and consulted with two of the cameramen, putting her eye to one viewfinder and then the other, evidently checking o
ut footage that had already been shot. Then she gestured at various contestants around the Ace. The cameramen moved off, seeking their assigned targets. “All right then,” said Giselle. “This way, you two.”
The band started up again as Travis and Brenna followed the casting director and her assistant to the long hall that led to the back door. Giselle took them past the restrooms, finally opening the last door before the one that led out. “Here we go.” She ushered them into a small space with a desk, a battered couch and two chairs. Apparently, she’d made arrangements to have the room available.
The pounding beat of the music receded to a dull roar as Giselle shut the door. She gestured for Travis and Brenna to take the two guest chairs while she claimed the big chair behind the desk. Roxanne, with one of those tablet phones, took the minion position at Giselle’s shoulder, stylus at the ready.
“I’ll get right to the point.” Giselle rocked back in the chair. “Brenna, the camera loves you. And we like you. We like you a lot.” She held up her thumb and index finger with a half inch of space between them. “You’re this far from being on The Great Roundup—both you and your handsome fiancé here.”
Bren felt for his hand again. He grabbed hers and held on tight.
Giselle asked wryly, “So, am I safe in assuming that you are interested in being on the show?”
Brenna’s head bobbed up and down. “I am interested. Definitely.”
“We’ll have to arrange for some other test footage—what we would have wanted to see in your package. Can you ride a horse?”
“Oh, yes, I can.”
“How about roping?”
“I was raised on a ranch. I’m not a champion roper, but I have the basics down.”
“Well, all right then, it can all be arranged. We’re going to put you up at Maverick Manor with Travis and the rest of the finalists. There will be contracts to sign, more interviews and a series of tests and a background check.”
“Yes. I’m ready.”
“You’re saying you’re in?”
“Yes, I am.” Bren straightened her shoulders. “I want to do this.”
“All right, then.” Giselle gave a slow nod. “You’re ours. You would potentially be here in Rust Creek Falls at Maverick Manor for a couple of weeks. And then, if you’re chosen for the final cast, you’ll go on location until filming is complete.”
Brenna squeezed Travis’s hand. “I want to do it.”
“Wonderful.” Giselle doled out one of those almost smiles of hers.
Brenna raised her free hand—like a kid in class getting permission to speak. “But...”
“Go on.”
“Well, I need to go home tonight. I could be at the Manor by noon tomorrow, if that’s all right. But first I need a little time with my family. I need to catch them up on all that’s, um, going on.”
Giselle sat back in her chair and rocked a moment. “All right. Go home, talk to the family and pack your bags. We’ll expect you at Maverick Manor at twelve noon tomorrow, to stay.”
* * *
“I’ll be back tomorrow, early, to talk to your folks and then to drive you to the Manor,” Travis said.
Brenna sat with him in his pickup in front of the ranch house. All the windows were dark. Her mom had left the porch light on, though. It cast a golden pool of light that reached to the bottom of the front steps. Beyond that, the night took over.
Brenna touched the stone of her gorgeous engagement ring. Even in the dark, it glittered. They weren’t really engaged, but still, the ring already seemed to her like a good-luck charm. The feel of it on her finger soothed her somehow. “I can tell them about the engagement on my own. You don’t need to be here for that.”
“Are you kidding? Your dad and brothers would come looking for me with blood in their eyes if I wasn’t there with you to share the big news.”
“Oh, come on. They would not.”
“I should be there. I will be there.”
“Travis, stop. It’s not even real.”
“But they have to believe it’s real. You know that.”
Her throat felt tight. She coughed into her hand to clear it. “Okay. I know you’re right. But are you sure you can leave the Manor again? Don’t they own you, like Giselle said?”
“Bren...” He reached out as though he would touch her, caress her—but then he caught himself and dropped his hand. She couldn’t help wishing he’d carried through. This pretending to be engaged to him was pretty confusing. Already, she found it too easy to forget that it wasn’t real. “They’re giving me a little leeway,” he explained. “Because they want both of us and I’m helping them to get you on the show.” He took her hand and cradled it between his two big rough ones. “Are you having second thoughts?”
She whipped her hand free and bopped him lightly on his rock-hard chest. “No, I am not. No way. I want this job, and I aim to get it.”
He gave her his sexiest grin. “That’s what I needed to hear. Come on, I’ll walk you in.”
“It’s not necess—”
“Shh. Don’t say that. Of course it’s necessary. You’re my bride-to-be, and I am the luckiest man on the planet. A lucky man like me is honored to walk his girl to her front door.”
That did make her chuckle. “I think you could charm the habit off a nun.”
“Brenna, you know I would never do such a thing—because that would be disrespectful to a woman of God. And because I am already spoken for.”
“Oh, Travis. You’ve got one silver tongue on you.”
“Stay right there.”
“Why?”
“I’ll come around and open your door.”
She laughed again and shook her head at him. But she waited, let him walk around the front of his crew cab, pull her door wide and offer his hand. She took it and felt like a queen as he helped her down.
They went up the front steps and stood under the porch light.
He leaned close, bringing his manly scent of soap and leather and a hint of pine. “I think I should kiss you. And I think you should let me.”
“And why is that?” she whispered back.
“We’re engaged, remember? An engaged man will always kiss his sweetheart good-night.” He’d left his hat in the pickup, and the porch light cast his eyes into darkness, gave a bronze sheen to his almost-black hair.
“But, Travis, we’re only engaged when someone is looking.”
He tipped up her chin. “And you never know, someone could be watching us right now. We can’t be too careful.” His lips brushed hers, so lightly, back and forth. His beard, which he kept trimmed short enough that it bordered on scruff, scratched a little in the sexiest sort of way.
Too soon, he lifted his head.
She longed to grab him, pull him in closer, demand a real kiss good-night.
But she didn’t. It wasn’t real, and she had to remember that.
She heard whining on the other side of the door. Her mom’s dog, Duchess. She needed to go in before the dog started barking. “See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here at eight.” Everyone would be up long before that. On a working ranch, a lot got done before breakfast. “Don’t say a word until I get here.”
“Oh, please. It’s Rust Creek Falls. Remember, you live here? Everyone is bound to be talking about what happened at the Ace tonight. You took a knee and I took your beautiful ring. That’s huge news. Somebody’s probably already called my mom.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“As if the gossip grapevine keeps regular hours. Besides, she has a cell phone. Someone could have texted her. She gets up at five. One look at her phone and she’ll be pounding on my bedroom door.”
“Don’t be so negative. It’s all going to be fine.”
“Oh, Travis. I reall
y hope you’re right.”
“How about this? I’ll be out here in my truck at 5:00 a.m., ready whenever you need me.”
Now she wanted to grab him and kiss him again for being willing to do that—but no. It wouldn’t be right to ask that of him. “Are you crazy? It’s already after two.”
“Good point. So I might as well just stay. I’ll be right over there.” He pointed at his waiting pickup. “It won’t be the first time I slept in my truck. Then I can run in and rescue you when your mom starts yelling.”
“You act like it’s a joke, but you know my mother. She’s got the biggest heart in the county, but she likes things slow and steady. You and me and what we are up to? About as far from slow and steady as anyone can get.”
“I’ll be here. Don’t worry.”
“No. That’s not right. I shouldn’t have said anything. Eight o’clock is fine. Now go on.” She put on a smile and made shooing motions with her hands. “Go back to the Manor and get some sleep.”
Just to make sure he didn’t stay anyway, she waited to go in until she’d watched him drive off.
* * *
A volley of sharp taps jarred Brenna awake.
And then her mom’s voice demanded, “Brenna O’Reilly, open this door.”
Brenna groaned and put her pillow over her head. “Go away, Mom.”
“Open. Now. I mean it!”
Brenna peeked out from under her pillow at the bedside clock—4:55 a.m.
Her mother knocked again. Loudly. “I need to talk to you. Open this door now!”
No doubt about it. Her mother had heard the big news.
Chapter Four
“Brenna!”
“Ugh. Fine.” Brenna threw back the covers, stalked to the door and yanked it wide. “What?”
“I just got a call from Mary Dalton. She wanted to know if I knew that you and Travis got engaged last night.”
Brenna raked her tangled hair off her forehead and leaned on the door frame. “Mom. Can you just calm down a little, please?”
“I’m perfectly calm!”
“You don’t seem very—”
The Maverick Fakes a Bride! Page 5
