Chapter Eleven #2
“She had a good time using my old digital camera. She took more pictures than I did.” Sloane spun around and walked backward a few steps, but he knew she couldn’t see her sister in the corral on the other side of the barn.
She reminded him, “You started to ask me something, but then Nora was done talking to Clara.”
“I got my answer, so it doesn’t matter now.” On the back porch, he got the grill started.
“What answer?”
Jonas shrugged. What the heck? If his name popped up in her inbox, it wouldn’t be a secret much longer. He wouldn’t put it past his brothers to send the first message. “Blake and Nathan put my profile on Perfect Match.”
She studied him for a stretched-out minute before her confusion cleared. “You thought it was me!”
“No.” Her brows shot up in disbelief. Dear Lord, she was quick. “Not for long, anyway. You wouldn’t do that behind my back.”
Her hands balled into fists. “You’re right about that, buddy.” She sputtered for breath. “I’m not that desperate.” She caught her breath. “I can’t believe you thought it was me.”
“It was dumb, I know. Nathan and Blake think we’d make a good couple. They’re happy, so they want us to be happy.” No way was he about to tell her that Nathan thought she was in love with him or that he was starting to hope she was. Still—“Would it be terrible if we went on the occasional date?”
“Why?”
At least she didn’t immediately say not going to happen.
“We’ve known each other since the sixth grade. What more do we need to find out?” She slipped from beneath his arm and slid her hands into her back pockets. Except for that morning, she didn’t trust his motives anymore. He was starting to think... rightfully so.
Before he could answer, Malorie and Izzy came from inside the house, carrying paper plates, cups, napkins, and plastic silverware. They put everything on the picnic table that had already been covered with a flowery tablecloth.
On the way back into the house, they gave him matching cheeky looks. So, they were in on the Perfect Match thing too.
As he took care of cooking the meat, the table filled up with all the things that went along with hamburgers and hot dogs. Jonas tried not to appreciate how well the three women got along. Sloane fit into his family like a familiar, warm glove.
After they filled their plates, the adults sat around the fire pit while the kids occupied the table.
“What happens if we don’t have Duke’s DNA results in time to register him with the association before the rodeo starts?” Blake asked, his fork hovering over a mound of potato salad.
Given the amount of time and money they had left to keep the Triple L in the family, they’d already taken on all the side hustles they could. Restarting their dad’s breeding program with Duke as the primary stallion was not their last hope, but almost.
“Then we’ll come up with another plan.”
“Clara and I can help too,” Sloane said, giving him a look that discouraged him from excluding them.
He got the message. He’d been there for her.
She had every intention of being there for him.
That was not a point he would argue with her.
He nodded. The truth was that he was beginning to feel like he was the desperate one.
The woman was something else. How was she still single?
Wondering if he could steal a kiss, he rose and walked toward Sloane with nothing but that one goal in mind.
As he reached her, someone came around the side of the house.
Jonas did a double take. Julieann? What was she doing here?
“Jonas. I thought I’d try to catch you at home and heard voices—” She stopped, taking in the family gathering.
He pulled Sloane to her feet. “I heard you were heading back to Denver.”
“Not yet. I wanted to see you first.”
He looped Sloane’s arm through his. She tried to break free without making a big show of it, but Jonas only smiled and tucked her closer. “Julieann, I believe you’ve met my fiancée.”
Julieann’s eyes narrowed briefly before she lifted her chin and smiled brightly back. “Yes, we’ve met.”
“What are you doing?” Sloane hissed between her teeth so only he could hear.
He leaned close and whispered in her ear. To his uninvited guest, it would look like he was taking a little nibble. “Trying to get Julieann to go away?”
“I’ve come at a bad time. Charlie has a proposal he wants me to present, so I do have to head back.” Julieann spun on her heel and disappeared the way she’d come. A moment later, he heard the sound of a car speeding away.
“Ow!” Jonas moved away from Sloane’s pinching fingers. “Why did you do that?”
“As if you don’t know, Jonas Lohmen! Ooh, I could kick you in the shins!”
“Please don’t,” he asked sincerely and then couldn’t resist grinning at the spunky woman.
She retreated to the house. When he went to follow, she held up both hands like stop signs. “I do not want to talk to you right now.”
Usually, it was a good day when a man asked a woman to marry him, except he hadn’t asked Sloane to be his wife. It probably would have been better to check in with the angry lady storming away from him before he announced to his family and the world at large that they were engaged.
He would have followed her, anyway, if Nathan hadn’t slowed him down by slapping him on the shoulder.
“You had us worried for a while, big brother. Never thought you’d have the guts to ask Sloane to marry you.
” Nathan leaned around him to watch the screen door bang behind Sloane. “Doesn’t look like she took it well.”
That was putting it mildly. The question was, could he convince her his strange way of asking wasn’t about making sure Julieann knew his heart was already taken, but really about realizing that he wasn’t sure he could live without having his best friend in his life every single day?
That night, after everyone was gone, the house was quiet. Nathan and Izzy had gone to the old Blue Moon Theater. For a distraction, Jonas sat at his desk, checking email and the online news.
Sloane had left without speaking to him, and before he could catch her.
He was definitely in the doghouse, but he wouldn’t change a thing about pretending that Sloane was his fiancée.
The shock on her face was priceless. Unplanned, it had been a long time since he’d surprised the startling woman. It gave him an idea.
He checked out Sloane’s profile on Perfect Match. Jonas didn’t know how many responses she’d gotten, but... her picture... was sweet and sassy at the same time. What man could resist?
I’m a girl who’s a mechanic. I know, right?
Not normal. I love classic trucks. I live in small-town USA.
I’m not interested in a short-term commitment.
And I’m more of an experimental cook. If you like lengthy conversations over a surprise dinner, long walks in the mountains, and spending time with family, reach out. Let’s see if we’re a potential match.
...holy moly!
He quickly switched to his profile to see what his brothers had written.
The picture was one he didn’t remember, which meant Izzy probably took it. It didn’t make him look like the old man he’d been feeling like lately. That, at least, was something.
Rancher, horse breeder, loner, looking for a woman who wants more than to climb up the social ladder.
Loner? Was that how his brothers saw him?
Good grief. He was about to edit the not-so-flattering description when he decided to leave it.
He wasn’t looking for dates. He just wanted to reach out to Sloane and prove he wasn’t a dud.
That a pretend engagement could perhaps lead to the real thing.
That hadn’t been his plan originally, but now it was all he could think about.
He returned to her page and typed in the message box. I like lengthy conversations over dinner, long walks in the mountains, and spending time with family. Would you like to meet at Aaron Park at the food cart that sells pizza by the slice? You name the date and time, and I’ll be there ~Jonas.
There was no point in hiding that the message was from him, since she could simply look at his page and figure it out.
He sank back into his chair, uncertain that she would be intrigued enough to look past the fact that she already knew the good and bad about who he was.
She would make some lucky guy the perfect wife. The image of her holding hands with a stranger, rushing home to have dinner with the man, having babies with anyone else but him—It tied his gut in knots.
Since they were already engaged, so to speak, maybe his lifelong friend would give him a second chance if he promised to love her to the end of their days together.