Maverick should just walk away. Take her suggestion and forget they’d ever crossed paths. The problem was, the ranch had a reputation to uphold. Weddings were a lucrative business, and his family prided themselves on top-notch service that delivered on the happily ever after.
Kennedy looked up at the trees, down at the blades of grass, past the inn toward the ocean. He wondered what she saw as she looked around. The ranch had been in his family for over one hundred years. Three generations of blood, sweat, and tears to make it a multi-award-winning inn in the heart of the “happiest seaside and mountain town in California.”
The people who came revered the rural setting like they’d found a slice of heaven.
“I mean we can’t afford to have any drama,” he said.
She held his gaze with confidence. “You won’t. I…”
“Promise?”
Contemplating her response before speaking again, she said, “Remember that time in college when we had a PowerPoint presentation for Professor Banks and I crashed your group because mine wasn’t taking it seriously, and I promised to play nice?”
He nodded. He remembered everything about their interactions.
She smiled up at him. “This is like that.” Meaning she’d try to abide by his rules.
“You do remember I watched you like a hawk.”
Her face scrunched into a skeptical expression. “You did?”
“Of course I did. I didn’t trust you for a second.”
She waved away his opinion. “There’s no reason not to trust me now. You keep doing your ranch thing, and Andrew and I will do the wedding thing.”
“And never the two shall meet?”
“Exactly.”
He did prefer to keep his distance. And it really wasn’t any of his business how she knew Reed. But it all came back to the inn’s professional standing. “There’s one main problem with that.”
“Which is?”
“The two are intertwined. I can look away, but if I catch you doing something unforgivable, we’ll have a problem.”
“You won’t catch me,” she said with a small grin.
Maverick inwardly groaned. His wedding crasher had just issued a challenge whether she realized it or not. One he found impossible to ignore.
Three years ago…
Dear Nicole,
At night I fall into bed and imagine you’re still here with me. That if I just turn my head, I’ll find you on the pillow next to mine, looking at me with love in your eyes before you drift off to sleep. It always amazed me how quickly you could fall asleep. Two seconds after your head hit the pillow, you’d be out.
I never told you this, but I’d often just watch you sleep, feeling so lucky to be the man in bed with you. I miss that so damn much.
It still doesn’t seem real that you’re gone. It’s been a month and I’ve picked up my phone to text you every day. I keep expecting you to walk through the door with takeout. Yesterday, I swear I heard your voice in the kitchen, humming your favorite song while you made coffee. There’s so much heaviness in my heart it’s crushing, and I don’t think it will ever go away.
Miss you like crazy,
Maverick
Chapter Five
Six days until the wedding
Kennedy fell onto one of the two queen-size beds in room number six. “That man is the worst,” she complained to Andrew. “He thinks he knows everything, and okay, in this case, he knows we’re crashing the wedding, but as long as we behave, he claims he won’t say anything.”
“What do you mean by ‘behave’?” Andrew asked, lying on his bed, a guilty edge to his voice.
She blew a strand of hair off her face. “Please tell me I don’t have anything to worry about.”
He turned to his side to face her. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Andrew.”
“Okay, don’t be mad, but I used my Australian accent when I met the man of honor and I might have told him I was Chris Hemsworth’s stunt double.”
“I knew it!” She threw one of the pillows on the bed at him. “I knew you’d decided to get into some character when you came back looking like you’d won an Academy Award.”
“Sorry,” he said sincerely. “The accent just came out so I went with it. And like I said, Liam made me feel something. This is the perfect opportunity to hone my improv skills and get over Joaquin at the same time.”
“Where does this leave us with Maverick? If he hears you using an accent…”
“He won’t. I’ve got this. But speaking of Maverick, holy mother of cowboys, did he always look that good?”
She buried her face in the covers. “I don’t want to talk about him,” she mumbled.
“What?”
“Let’s not talk about him,” she voiced, rolling onto her back.
“Okay, let’s talk about tonight, then. The wedding party is meeting at a bar in town called Sutter’s, and I thought we could crash it.”
“Andrew. You don’t seem to understand the concept of talking to Reed in private. I don’t want to upset him or his fiancée. We can’t crash something like that.”
“He and Elle won’t be there. I heard Liam say they’re having a romantic dinner alone, so we’re free and clear. It’s a good opportunity to get some intel on their relationship, though, don’t you think?”
“I think you want to see Liam again.”
“That too.”
“I don’t know.” She laid her hand over her pounding heart. Once again, cool as a cucumber in an ER, but at a country inn where everyone suddenly knew everyone, she couldn’t seem to keep her pulse in check.
“Come on, I’ve got your back. You know that.”
“I know, and thank you.” Her breathing slowed. “Do I have to use an Australian accent, too?”
“I haven’t worked that bit out yet, but…maybe.”
“Then there’s no way I can go. I could milk a cow before I could speak with an accent.”
“Look at you,” he said with enthusiasm, “embracing this ranch crashing like a champ.”
She waved him off with an exasperated pfftt.
“You can do anything you set your mind to, you know that, but I understand. This is all on me.”