The Cowboy's Surprise Bride

by Macie St James

  “What?” Clay asked. “It’s their wedding day.”

  “Mayor Cobb is in the hospital. He was supposed to show up at some event in Butte. They want to know if you can take his place.”

  “Oh!” Mina set her still-full cup on the bar near Harley and squeezed through the crowd to get to Robby. “Is he okay?”

  “What?” Robby asked. “Who?”

  Mina stopped in front of him. He genuinely seemed not to be thinking at all about the major right now—just Mina taking his place at some event. They were going to have to work on Robby’s insistence on putting business first at all times. In fact, that was something she needed to work on for herself.

  Harley slid off the stool. “Go with her. I have things handled here.”

  Mina turned around to see Harley looking at Colton, who was now looking at Mina as if he were actually considering the idea. Traveling together was a whole level of acting she wasn’t sure she was ready to tackle. Besides, hadn’t today been enough of a whirlwind?

  “It can be your honeymoon,” Reilly said. “Just don’t drag your campaign manager along with you.”

  Robby obviously wasn’t happy with that idea. “I’m going.”

  “Wait a second,” Mina said. “I don’t think this—”

  “Oh, come on, sweetie.” Colton set his cup down and walked toward Mina. “You’ve been working so hard. You deserve a little play mixed in with your work. Plus, think about how it will look to Mayor Cobb.”

  “Who is in the hospital,” Mina reminded him.

  He stopped in front of her, looking down at her in that way again. The way that gave her chills all over and made it impossible to remember this was just an act. “Yes but say he’s just there because he has gas or something. Wouldn’t you love to see the look on his face when he finds out you replaced him at an event with your new husband by your side?”

  Mina’s gaze immediately moved to the group behind him, worrying that with those words, Colton had given something away about his arrangement. If he had, though, they weren’t showing signs of it. Yes, showing up with her new husband was a good idea. It would immediately correct the image Mayor Cobb had painted of her, especially if there were photos snapped at the event and those photos somehow ended up in the paper.

  First outing as married couple, Mina imagined the headline reading. She could see it on the front page of the local newspaper now. In fact, she could probably get it in the hands of Shawna, who was no doubt already planning to prominently feature their wedding photo, if she hadn’t already blasted it across social media.

  Mina was pretty sure she already had.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Mina spoke the words before she could talk herself out of it. She had a feeling she was going to regret this once they were stuck in a hotel in some unfamiliar city together, but for now, it was the only option she had.

  11

  Colton had been to Butte a few times for work, and it had always been just like this. Driving straight to the hotel, then rushing to check into the room so they could be downstairs to sit around in a conference room for most of the day.

  Only this time, he wasn’t sitting. Nor would he be here most of the day. They’d checked into their separate rooms—which shared a locked door, he couldn’t help but notice—and met Robby in the lobby, where they’d been rushed into a large, packed room with rows of chairs, each filled with a person wearing business casual attire.

  It was some sort of energy industry conference, Robby had informed them on the drive up. Mina had been busy tap-tapping on her computer keys as she wrote up a quick speech from the front seat of the car. Colton had sat in the back, reading all the comments on social media about their wedding, photos of which had been blasted all over the place almost as soon as it happened.

  Thanks, Shawna Slater.

  The second they stepped into the conference room, they were on. Colton’s plan had just been to sail in behind her, joining Robby as her entourage. But instead, Mina waited for him, then clasped his left hand in hers. She waved with her right while they passed the rows of bored-looking people.

  Considering Mayor Cobb was originally supposed to make this appearance, they’d discussed in the car that they might not be received well here. Colton was braced for that, but he saw no reason to worry as they approached the podium. If anything, people looked indifferent. He’d been to a couple of law conferences during his brief time in the field so that shouldn’t have surprised him. These people had no stake in some mayoral race in a town a couple of hours away. They were probably counting the minutes until the next break.

  But there was someone who would care about this appearance. Plenty of someones, in fact. Robby snapped a few photos of Mina and Colton standing at the front of the room, holding hands and smiling at everyone as the audience politely, but unenthusiastically, applauded.

  Once that was over, Colton wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. He tried not to look too lost as he debated if he was supposed to stand quietly behind her like a dutiful First Husband. Or was his job to take one of the empty seats on the front row, where Robby was now seated?

  He opted for the latter, mostly because he didn’t want the awkward attention that would come from just standing there. It didn’t escape him that he’d signed up for exactly that by pretend marrying her. She’d jokingly referred to him as arm candy, and that was what he’d be at events like this. He simply had to keep reminding himself this was good press for the ranch. If the ranch did well, it could become a full-time gig for him, and he’d be running his own business as he’d always wanted.

  “How many of you have heard of Canyon Falls?” Mina asked the crowd.

  Colton turned to look. A few raised hands scattered around the room, but mostly, it was no. It didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t even sure if the people at this event were from this state, let alone had traveled to its smaller towns.

  “It’s my hometown,” Mina said, glancing around at everyone. “I left after high school with plans to live in the big city, but there’s one thing I discovered through doing that. There’s something special about my hometown, and that’s exactly why I plan to make a life there.”

  Colton winced. Mina had no plans to make a life there—not a permanent one, anyway. It just reminded him that he was getting in too deep here, and even if that look in her eyes was genuine attraction, this couldn’t last. If she didn’t win the mayoral position, she’d be gone. If she did win the mayoral position, he wasn’t even sure where that would leave him as her pretend husband.

  “In Canyon Falls, we know the value of hard work, and those of you in the energy field work harder than most. As mayor of Canyon Falls, I’ll make sure our city supports Montana’s efforts to find more efficient ways to provide energy.”

  Colton looked around. People were listening, and they weren’t offended. Mina had done some quick research on her phone during the drive here, so he assumed she’d gotten the gist of what the conference was all about. If they were against finding efficient ways to provide energy, that wouldn’t have been a wise thing to say.

  As she reached the end of her next point, the woman next to Colton raised her hand. He looked around to see a couple of other people with hands in the air.

  “Sure, we can open it up for questions,” Mina said and called on the woman next to Colton.

  “I just saw online that you’re a newlywed,” the woman said. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” Mina looked more than a little shocked that someone had brought it up, but the woman had been on her phone since Colton first took a seat here.

  “Do you know what happened to the original speaker?” the woman asked. “Is he okay?”

  “I haven’t been updated on the situation. I plan to check in on that the second this is over, though. Yes.” Mina had pointed to another person in the room.

  That man stood to ask his question. “Unseating a sitting mayor is challenging, particularly when that mayor is heavily supported in the community
. How much of a role is energy playing in building your platform?”

  Colton expected the question to stump her since she hadn’t had much time to prepare energy-specific answers, but she remained impressively poised.

  “Environmental conservation has always been important to me. But we have to find ways to save consumers money while also supporting your industry. You don’t see solar roof panels and electric car chargers in small towns like Canyon Falls. It takes forward-thinking mayors like me to make that happen.”

  Looking around, Colton saw people nodding. That was a good sign. Mina was killing it. He wondered what Mayor Cobb had planned on saying. It wasn’t like the guy had shown he embraced alternative energy or preserving the environment in any way.

  “I plan to work directly with your organization to see what we can do, on a national scope, to get smaller towns and rural areas on board with alternative energy.”

  He half-expected her to add, And that’s why you should vote for me as mayor of Canyon Falls, it sounded so campaign speech-ish. But instead, she thanked the crowd and stepped away from the podium, waving as they applauded.

  Slipping into his new role as the supportive husband-slash-arm candy, Colton stood and applauded enthusiastically. He’d risen to his feet to greet her as she stepped toward him, but people around him seemed to think he was initiating a standing ovation. A few stood, applauding, and someone even let out a whistle.

  Nodding and smiling graciously, Mina came to Colton’s side, tugging gently on his arm to get him to accompany her as she exited. The applause waned as they neared the door.

  So this was what this gig as a fake husband was all about. Just holding her hand, smiling, and sitting around listening to speeches. Those last two things weren’t all that different from his time working at a law firm, only the view with this gig was much better.

  Breathtaking, in fact.

  They were barely through the door to the lobby when Mina started organizing things. “Find out what hospital Mayor Cobb is in.” She directed that at Robby, then turned to look at Colton. “We have to go see him. No, scratch that. I have to go see him.”

  “Alone?” Colton asked.

  She nodded, her expression tense. “I think that’s best. I’m just checking in to make sure he’s okay. No point in rubbing his nose in the fact that he was wrong about me, even though he really wasn’t.”

  That was too much to unpack in the little time they had, so he just nodded. She had a point, but it still bothered him. What bothered him most, though, was the fact that it bothered him. He shouldn’t feel hurt about being able to go hang out in his hotel room and maybe even take a nap while she stood by their mayor’s bedside.

  Yet he wanted to be invited anyway. Which was totally wrong of him.

  “I understand,” he said. “If you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

  He turned to head toward the elevators, but she called out to him before he’d taken a single step. “Where are you going?”

  “To my room,” he said. “Let me know when it’s dinnertime.”

  “You have to go with me,” she said. “You can wait in the car while Robby and I rush in, but if anyone snaps pictures—”

  Nobody was chasing around after her in Butte. They were miles from home, and paparazzi didn’t exactly earn top dollar for pictures of big-city mayors as they roamed around town. But it would be rude to point that out, he was pretty sure, so he just nodded and prepared to go along with the plan.

  But as they walked toward the door, Colton had second thoughts. This was setting a very dangerous precedent. Besides, he had rights, too. He was here to help save his ranch. She was here to help win the mayoral race. They both benefited from this arrangement, so there was no reason he had to do whatever she said.

  “You know what?” he asked as they neared the big revolving door they’d entered through earlier that afternoon. “I think I’ll just stay here. There’s no reason for me to be hanging out in your car. There are plenty of photos of us together at this point.”

  Both Mina and Robby slowed to a stop at those words. Robby’s eyes were wide as though he were surprised Colton had dared speak up. He didn’t know why Robby would be surprised by that. Colton had never even pretended to be timid.

  “Okay by me,” Mina said, but the expression on her face chilled him. As before, she was very professional and stiff. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she turned to look at Robby, putting her back toward him. He tried to remind himself her demeanor wasn’t about him, but he wasn’t so sure.

  “Let’s go,” she told Robby.

  Robby flashed Colton a you blew it, buddy look, then led the way out of the hotel. Colton watched them go, telling himself he shouldn’t be bothered by whatever it was that had just happened. But as much as he told himself that, he was bothered.

  12

  The visit to the hospital had taken far longer than Mina could have ever expected. So long, in fact, she’d wondered if maybe Colton had known how involved it would be and that’s why he opted to stay in his hotel room rather than wait in a cold car.

  No, it had been wrong of her to order him to go with her in the first place. She’d been so humiliated when he’d basically called her on it, she’d turned cold in response. Now she felt bad about that, too.

  But she didn’t let it dampen her celebratory spirit. She’d done the right thing in visiting Mayor Cobb in the hospital, even if nobody would ever know about it. He’d been grouchy at first, but as soon as his people stepped out and they’d been alone, he’d softened.

  “Thanks for coming,” he’d said. “I know I’ve been a little tough on you—”

  “It’s okay,” she’d said.

  But it wasn’t okay. Even though he was in a bed, wearing a hospital gown, no less, what he’d done in the weeks leading up to that was just wrong, wrong, wrong. In his vulnerable position, she just couldn’t bring herself to twist the knife.

  As it turned out, the mayor had a minor coronary event, due in large part to clogged arteries caused by stress and a questionable diet. He was having a stent put in, a mild procedure that would have him out and recovering the next day. Mina suspected everyone knew he wasn’t going to give his body time to recover. In fact, she’d be willing to bet he’d head straight from the hospital to his next scheduled event.

  Whatever the case, she was away from him now. Mina breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the elevator on the floor where her room was. Robby had somehow managed to put himself three floors below hers, on the other end of the building. She wondered if that was intentional.

  She, on the other hand, was all too close to her new fake husband. The room next door, in fact. And she really should let him know she was back, even though she dreaded facing him after making such a fool of herself in the lobby.

  Sighing, Mina passed her own room and knocked on Colton’s door. She just hoped he wouldn’t answer in his bathrobe or something, having just stepped out of the shower.

  The door swung open impossibly fast—had he been watching the lobby through surveillance or something? Colton was very much not in a bathrobe but in a T-shirt and sweatpants, and the look made her breath catch.

  He was undeniably sexy in that getup, as weird as that seemed to her. His hair was mussed like he’d been sleeping, but from his expression, he seemed to be wide awake. The short sleeves showed off his tanned, muscular arms, making her suddenly realize she’d never seen him wearing anything but long sleeves—fairly normal in Montana this time of year.

  “Hi,” he said. He looked tentative, apprehensive even. Like maybe he expected her to yell at him because he’d declined to go with her to the hospital. She figured the best way to show it was no big deal was to just move on.

  “May I come in?” she asked.

  He didn’t hesitate. She would have expected him to hesitate. Instead, he stepped back and pulled the door open wide.

  As her mind immediately jumped to the impropriety of being in his hotel room, she remin
ded herself that to the world at large, they were married. Only Robby and the two of them knew the truth. So if she was nervous about being in here alone, it had nothing to do with other people’s impressions. It had everything to do with the fact that he looked irresistibly hot right now, and she definitely, definitely needed to keep things professional.

  “How’s Mayor Cobb?” Colton stepped into the room and stood awkwardly at the end of the bed.

  “It’s his heart, but it’s not serious yet. They’re putting in a stent tomorrow morning, and he’ll be released soon after.”

  “And back on the campaign trail,” Colton said.

  Mina nodded. That was exactly what she’d thought about the whole thing. She’d smile, but it seemed inappropriate when they were talking about someone’s outpatient heart surgery.

  “Could this help you in the campaign?” Colton said. “You know, if voters think he’s in bad health—”

  “We probably shouldn’t think like that.”

  Although she had thought exactly like that. She knew word about him being in the hospital could make its way back to Canyon Falls, especially since he’d canceled a big event and photos were bound to circulate of Mina being there in his place. But it felt wrong to even think about it because it was, indeed, capitalizing on his illness. She would never do that herself. Mayor Cobb no doubt would have done it to her if she’d been the one with a health incident, but she wasn’t stooping to his level.

  Colton gestured toward the corner of the room where there were a sofa and coffee table. “Have a seat.”

  Mina let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. At least there was a non-bed area for hanging out. If that was, indeed, what they were doing. She wasn’t even sure why she was here. Wasn’t she just going to stop by and let him know she was back?

  “Did you eat?” Colton asked.

  With a jolt, Mina realized she hadn’t. She wasn’t one of those people who forgot to eat, either. Usually, she was all too aware of the breaks in her schedule that would allow her to grab a sandwich or wrap or whatever else she could eat on the go. But not today.