The Cowboy's Fake Marriage

by Bree Livingston

  All she’d heard was house being sold, and her brain had gone on a hiatus. She didn’t know the man, and there she was, butting into his life like she had the right. Oh man, would he even hear her out now that he knew she was insane?

  The door opened, and she stopped pacing. Hugging herself, she faced the foyer. As Jackson walked in, she smiled. “Hi.”

  He pulled his hat off and hung it on the hook by the door. When his gaze settled on her, he returned her smile.

  Grace could tell by the questioning look in his eyes that he was waiting for an explanation. Well, of course he would be expecting a reason for why she’d done something so wild.

  She dropped her arms and started pacing again. “I know. It was nuts, but there you were, talking about mortgages and selling the house. You can’t sell the house. It’s been in your family since the 1800’s. If that developer gets his greedy hands on it, he’ll be tearing it down and digging huge pits in the ground or something stupid like that. All the wood is original. The house isn’t just a house. It’s a really large piece of art, and I just couldn’t let you sell it.”

  Jackson crossed the room. “I’m not selling the house.”

  Grace stopped pacing and faced him. “You weren’t just saying that?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I would like to know what happened in there. Think you could try and explain that?”

  She chewed her bottom lip. “I swear I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I was looking for you. I heard voices and found you in the barn.” She pulled away and threw her hands up. “Which is just as much a piece of art as the house, by the way.”

  “Can we focus?”

  “Oh, right.” She smiled sheepishly. “She was being so pushy. You told her it was over, and she wouldn’t take the hint. So, I don’t know. I just kinda...reacted without thinking. Mostly, I just didn’t want her pressuring you into selling the house.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “So, what will your fiancé think of what you did?”

  Grace felt the color drain from her face. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she fingered the delicate ring. What kind of awful human being was she? She hadn’t even thought of Bret when she did all that. “I’m not engaged.”

  “That ring says otherwise, and I’m no cheater.”

  Oh, what had she done? She didn’t know this guy. Did he really need to hear her sad tale? Did she have a choice now? No, and it was all because she didn’t think. Did she tell him? It’s not like it was some state secret, and if she managed to convince him to let her stay, they’d be partners. They’d have to learn to trust one another at some point. Why not now?

  “Eight months ago, I was supposed to be getting married at the end of September.”

  “Okay.”

  “Everything was planned—the cake, invitations, my dress...all of it. I was literally marking the days off the calendar until we stood in front of our friends and family and said, ‘I do.’” Her voice caught, and she sank onto the edge of the couch. Her heart felt like a hot knife was slicing through it. “Bret, my fiancé, was a runner. He was training for a local 5k. Every morning, he’d go jogging. During his morning workout, three days before our wedding, he was hit and killed by a car.”

  His mouth dropped open, and for a heartbeat, he just stared at her. “Oh, Grace. You don’t—”

  She put up her hand to stop him. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry I made you think you were doing something wrong. I just...It’s just hard to let him go.”

  Jackson closed the gap between them and sat next to her. “I’m so sorry.”

  She’d heard those words so many times, but somehow, they meant something coming from him. Maybe because he had some idea of what she’d been through. “It was so fast. One minute I was getting married and planning a life. Next thing, I’m helping plan a funeral.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders. “I can’t imagine.”

  Grace twisted to face him, and her breath caught. He was staring at her with such intensity. As though he was hanging on every word. “I’m so sorry I told your ex you were engaged. I’ll go find her and tell her the truth.”

  Jackson dropped his arm from her shoulders and sat back on the couch, crossing his ankle over his knee. “I get your enthusiasm for keeping the house, but why say we’re engaged? Why not just tell her it wasn’t for sale?”

  Facing forward, she fidgeted with her fingers, twisting the hem of her shirt around them. “Actually, I have no idea why I did that, other than it felt like you needed rescued. She wasn’t listening, and I figured if she thought there was no chance, she’d leave you alone. It was totally spontaneous and not something I’d normally do.”

  Only it was, but he didn’t need to know she was full on crazy just yet. Not if she wanted him to let her stay and help him with the house. But he’d told Hannah he hated being lied to. If Grace was going to be spending any time with Jackson, it wouldn’t take long for him to realize she hadn’t been honest with him.

  “Okay, that’s not true. I’m spontaneous and jump into things all the time without thinking about it.”

  “I see.” He caught her gaze and held it. “I guess I should thank you, then. She definitely knows there’s no chance now.”

  “You’re not mad?” She twisted to face him.

  A wide smile greeted her, and Jackson shook his head. “No. Can’t say I wasn’t a little confused at first, but I think it was a good thing. Sorry about the kiss.”

  Grace felt heat rush to her cheeks, and she looked away. “You’re the first man I’ve kissed since I lost Bret.”

  “Are you okay?”

  She lifted her gaze to his, and all she could see was genuine care. “I’m okay. It was just unexpected.”

  He snorted. “I’d say so. I didn’t plan that. She made me mad.”

  “I could tell. Your ears turned red.”

  Jackson quickly touched his ear. “They did?”

  “Yeah.” It was cute too. No, she needed to stop that train of thought right that second. If he bought her crazy idea, they’d be partners. That’s all. He could be cute all day long—to someone else. “The reason I was looking for you was to see about staying here awhile.”

  “Don’t you have a client in Abilene?”

  “Well, I did. I was kinda fired.”

  He quickly sat forward. “Fired?”

  “My heart hasn’t been in designing since I lost Bret. I thought maybe...I thought maybe you could let me live here, and I’d help you fix the house. Maybe a change of scenery will be good for me.”

  “Don’t you have family and friends who will wonder if you’ve been put in a hole with baskets of lotion being lowered to you?”

  She laughed. “I’ll call, if I can get the reception, and tell them what’s going on. They’re the ones who’ve been pushing me to move on. They don’t understand that everywhere I go, I see Bret. It’s impossible to move on when everything reminds you of the person you lost—not lost—the person who was taken.” Maybe instead of calling, she’d send a quick text. She’d tell them she took a big project on and it would be awhile before she got back. It wasn’t a total lie.

  “So, you’d live here and help me restore this place?”

  Was he actually going to go for it? Her pulse jumped. She could sell this idea; she just knew it. “Yeah, for the price of staying here for free, I’d help you. If we work together, I know we can make it look even better than it was originally.”

  Jackson fell back. “We have three months. I have some money left over from my rodeo days for supplies, but I don’t have the money for the payoff. It’ll take a lot of hard work.”

  Her pulse made another little jump as he seemed to consider what she was proposing. “I know. And it’ll mean working long, hard days, but we can do it.”

  “Do you really love the house that much? That you’re willing to just jump in and help someone you don’t know?”

  Love it? That was an understatement. She needed it. It was like her soul was crying out for something, and the hous
e was a lullaby that could soothe it. “I need to throw myself into something that’s bigger than my own problems. You need to keep this house in your family. I can’t see where either of us comes out of this any worse than we are.”

  “You know this is a little nuts, don’t you? I mean, we don’t know each other at all. You could be a hot water hog.” He bumped her on the shoulder.

  Grace chuckled. It was more than a little crazy. It was flat-out bonkers. This was not something she would have ever done if Bret was still alive. “And you could snore so loud the windows shake, but I’m willing to risk it if you are.”

  Jackson rubbed his chin with his fingers. “You don’t want anything other than free room and board?”

  “No. I’ve dreamed of working on a house like this. And I promise I’ll earn my keep. I’m a hard worker, especially when it’s something I love.”

  “I don’t doubt that.” Jackson stood. “Which reminds me. I need to finish the fence in the second pasture. The horses need it for grazing.”

  Grace jumped up. “I’ll help.”

  “I don’t think a silk blouse and trousers are the best attire for that kind of work.”

  “And a white tank is?”

  Jackson slapped his arms across his chest, grasping his arms. “Oh yeah, I completely forgot I left my shirt hanging on a fence post out there.”

  It was a relief to know he had shirts that covered more of him than the one he had on. It was hard to concentrate. “Well, do you have a shirt I could borrow?”

  “You’re really serious about helping me, aren’t you?”

  Grace nodded. “The faster it’s fixed, the quicker we can get working on the house. We only have three months.”

  “Even if we get it done in three months, there’s no way I can come up with the money all at once.”

  She didn’t know why, but from the moment she saw it, she felt tied to the house, like if she was able to save it, maybe it could save her. There had to be a way to get the money together. And then it hit her. “I have an idea.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What?”

  “We make this huge deal about the Willow Bend Bed and Breakfast. We call historical societies, get the newspapers involved, and everything. We tell them that in order to save it, we need to raise money, so we’re going to charge a donation and allow people to come tour it before it officially opens. Maybe we can let them book ahead. I could also do an article with pictures and sell it to a magazine.”

  “You think that would work?”

  “I think it’s worth a try, don’t you?”

  For a heartbeat, he held her gaze. “I’ll get you that shirt. I think I might even have some old boots that could work short term.”

  Grace lunged forward and hugged him. When she realized what she’d done, she peeled herself off him and stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

  He shot her an Olympic gold-medal-worthy smile.

  Her knees wiggled a little, and a tiny flutter of butterflies erupted. She could have sworn his eyes even sparkled.

  “I’ve had worse things happen than a beautiful woman hugging me, and I’ve never received an apology.”

  He called her beautiful? She hadn’t felt beautiful in a long time. “Let’s get to work.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He mock saluted her and ran for the stairs. “Follow me. You can change in your room.”

  Grace’s heart swelled. She looked heavenward and whispered, “Please let me have this one good thing?” Once the words left her lips, she was racing after Jackson, ready to get to work.

  Chapter 6

  Jackson had worked with a lot of people, but he’d never worked with someone like Grace. The woman was a workhorse. They finished setting the posts and were getting the wire strung long before he thought they’d be finished. He’d counted on two days, but she surprised him. When she said she’d earn her keep, she wasn’t kidding.

  There’d been no complaining either. Once she got one of his shirts and an old pair of boots on, she was ready. She even tore a hole her slacks on one of the posts and kept going. It earned her a little respect in his book.

  As the sun hit the tips of the trees, he nailed the last line of wire on the post and stood back to look at their hard work. “Now, that’s a beautiful fence.”

  Grace wiped her brow with her arm and smiled as she came to stand next to him. “Yeah, it’s great. That’ll hold the horses, right?”

  “It should.”

  She stuck her hands into her trousers. “Are the horses from your days in the rodeo?”

  He grinned. “No, I bought ’em after I’d been here a few months.”

  “How many do you have?”

  “Six. They’re in a different pasture at the moment. I plan on letting them loose in this one tomorrow morning.”

  “Can all of them be ridden?”

  “All except the stallion, Gulliver. That boy still needs work.”

  Grace pulled her hands out and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and her lips were in a thin line. Over the course of getting the fence fixed, he’d learned that was the look she got when she was thinking.

  “We could do trail rides,” she said. “Offer that as part of the experience. We need to hire a farmhand to help, but I think people would pay to ride through this property. Have you explored any of it?”

  He was beginning to enjoy how her mind worked. And her use of “we” didn’t sound bad either. She’d used that more than once. While he didn’t know her, it’d felt nice not to be so alone all the time. “A little. Maybe we could take a day and go together to see what things of interest are out there.”

  “How big is the property?”

  This was part of what made the place so valuable. “It’s three hundred acres.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wow. That’s huge. Oh, wow.” The lilt in her voice told him she was about to talk a million miles a minute. It got cuter every time she did it. “We could offer overnight camping trips. Oh! Oh! We could have stargazing tours. You know, have a guide bring guests out here away from the house and see the stars. Not only would it be romantic, but it’d be fun. If there’s water running through the property somewhere, that’d be even better. We could offer swimming if, you know, it was safe.”

  He took her arms. “Grace, breathe.”

  She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth. “Sorry. I get carried away.”

  “I’ve noticed,” he said and released her.

  Her cheeks turned crimson, and she grinned. “Not one of my better qualities.”

  “Who said?” He thought it was her best quality. All that passion trapped in a woman who was as interesting as she was attractive.

  She shrugged. “Bret and I weren’t perfect. We loved each other, but that wasn’t his favorite thing about me. He said I jumped before thinking and that I needed to learn to slow down and weigh things before just rushing in. Kinda like what I did with you.”

  “Well, on that, your fiancé and I disagree.”

  Her pale pink lips parted, and a small smile appeared. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as her cheeks turned an even darker shade of red. “That’s nice of you to say.”

  “I meant it. It shows you’ve got passion. Why wouldn’t someone like that?” And why would anyone try to corral it? Her kind of passion was the kind you let run wild. Of course, he didn’t know her at all, but he had a good feeling he was right.

  Toeing the ground, she shook her head and cast her gaze to the ground. “I don’t know. I guess I come off too strong sometimes, and I speak without thinking.”

  “I think it shows you’ve got gumption.”

  She lifted her head, and they locked eyes. “No one’s ever said that to me before. Thank you.”

  He broke eye contact and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re welcome.” Why was it so hard to talk to her all of a sudden? His stomach growled, and he chuckled. “I’m so hungry I could eat dirt. Are you hungry?” They’d completely forgotten about lunch, and now t
hat the sun was sinking below the trees, his stomach was protesting.

  Grace nodded. “Yeah, I’m starved.”

  He palmed his forehead. “Oh, my uncle is coming to dinner. I’d completely forgotten. I guess we do need to scoot if I’m going to get dinner cooked. And by cooked, I mean bread and cold cuts.”

  She laughed. “We’ll grab a shower, and I’ll help.”

  Jackson lifted an eyebrow.

  She rolled her eyes. “I mean, we’ll each get a shower separately, and then I’ll help you with dinner.”

  He chuckled. “I knew what you meant. I was just teasing you.”

  Grace nodded. “Jackson, I want to be clear. This is just a business arrangement. I’m only here to get the house restored. Once that happens, I’m going back to Houston. I do have a life there.”

  “I know. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while we’re working.”

  “I know, but I don’t want to give you the wrong impression or make you think—”

  He clenched his jaw as his chest tightened. He wasn’t sure why her words stung so much. They’d just met. No, that wasn’t true. He knew why. Rejection hurt, no matter how long you’d known someone. “I don’t have the wrong impression. In case you missed it, I’m recently divorced. And, if you’ll recall, it’s not like I came looking for you or asked you to stay.” He yanked his shirt off a nearby post and strode to his pickup. “If you’re riding with me, you’d best get in.”

  Grace nodded. “Sure.” She walked to the pickup and climbed in. As she got settled, Jackson threw a glance her way and put the truck in drive.

  He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but it’d hit him wrong. Did he look so desperate for companionship that she thought he’d fall for the first woman who struck his interest? He probably did, but that didn’t mean he was interested in a relationship, especially one with her.

  After several minutes of silence, Grace twisted in the seat. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I don’t know you very well, but what little I do know, after working on the fence all afternoon, I think you’re great. I don’t want to hurt you. Not that I think I’m all that wonderful, but when you’re working with someone, it’s easy to get messages mixed, and I didn’t want that.”