Chapter 10
Macey
“You want any more of the guacamole?” Logan holds the bowl out to me.
I shake my head. “I’m so full.”
I’m not going to lie—despite my misgivings about the Wild Darcy Derby and all that it entailed, the meal is delicious. But the company is what really makes the evening so spectacular.
Logan’s charcoal suit fits his muscled body to perfection.
His dark hair is styled, but even his obvious attempts to comb it can’t slow down the wildness.
Logan’s hair is kind of like him—imperfectly sexy and looking like it can never be fully tamed.
Which is exactly what turns me on about him and what makes us so compatible.
But something is bugging me.
I shift my gaze so I can look at him. “What about the fake ceremony threw you off?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…I caught you off-guard when I said ‘I do.’ I saw it in your eyes.”
Logan glances away. “I guess it was the way you said the words. You sounded…” He trails off.
But I touch his chin and make him look at me. “I sounded what?”
“Calm.” He raises his eyebrows. “Fake or not, I was sure you’d panic at that point in the ceremony. But you didn’t. Did you?”
I tilt my head. “Neither did you.”
His cheeks redden. “Point taken.”
“Here are some more chips.” My sister, Riley, interrupts the moment by plunking a straw basket of tortilla chips down on our table.
Daddy’s got all three of my younger siblings working as part of the waitstaff tonight. Since Riley, Ben, and Freedom are teenagers, I don’t allow them to serve drinks, so tonight they’re bringing the food back and forth from the catering area.
“Hey!” I call after my sister’s disappearing back. “We don’t want any more chips, Riles!”
She flips her blond hair over her shoulder at me and keeps walking toward her best friend. Maren puts her arm around her, and the two of them break into a fit of giggles.
Logan chuckles. “How many more months before Riley’s no longer a teenager?”
“Too many,” I grumble. “I can’t believe she’s almost twenty. She’s still such a brat. But a beautiful one with a hot boyfriend.”
“You’re still jealous of her?” Logan raises an eyebrow in surprise.
“Shut up. I’ll always be jealous of my little sister. It’s like she popped out of the womb perfect.”
“Yeah, right,” Freedom says as she and Ben walk by us. “Riley’s far from perfect. I can’t believe you don’t see it.”
I smile at my youngest sibling. “Well, you’ve always been the smart one in the family.”
Freedom tilts her chin in the direction of Patrick. “Did you see who picked Patrick?”
I crane my neck. “Who? Reid?”
Logan snorts. “Right. My brother only likes self-centered people. Kind of like himself. Plus, Reid’s straight. He’s currently screwing Daisy Black.”
Free pulls her long blond hair up off her neck. “Patrick did well for himself,” she says. “Christopher Maple picked him as his date. Christopher’s so cute—I used to wish he was straight so when I got old enough, I could go out with him.”
“Christopher’s far too old for you, anyway,” Logan says with a frown.
Free groans. “You sound like Macey. Anyway, I think he and Patrick make the second-best couple in here.” She grins at me. “You and Logan are number one, of course.”
I stick out my tongue at her. “Right. Don’t try to butter me up just so I’ll help you with your homework this fall.”
Free drops a kiss on Logan’s cheek. “Take good care of my favorite sister, okay?”
“Always.” Logan raises his glass to her as Blake approaches our table. “I know you need her around to make sure you graduate high school.”
Blake turns to Free. “I’ll help you with your homework, Freedom. I already told you that.”
I look at Logan in surprise, but he just shrugs.
“You? Being Mr. Responsible?” I say to Blake. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Ha, ha.” Blake winks at Free conspiratorially. “Your sister likes to badmouth me.”
“I think she’s more just speaking the truth, Wild,” Logan says.
Blake nods at our table. “Y’all done?”
I hand him my plate. “Yes, thank you. Your daddy’s ranch did a great job with the meal tonight. The pastured beef in those tacos was so darn tasty. You Wild cowboys have a talent for cooking.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Blake gestures to Ben and Freedom. “Can you two clear those tables at the back?”
Ben nods at Logan as he and Free go to leave. “Nice Derby ride, Wild. You sure kicked it into another gear at the end there.”
Blake grins and pushes his overgrown blond hair out of his face. “Sure did. You tried pretty damn hard to win that race, dude. I’m glad I didn’t enter—you would have given me a run for my money.”
Logan shoots him a look. “You wish.”
“Hey, I can ride with the best of them, and you know it,” Blake says confidently. “You’re not the only cowboy around here. So, you two got something special planned for your fake honeymoon?”
“Shut up, Blake,” Logan says.
Blake’s bright blue eyes shift to me. “Logan’s my cousin and best friend, but he gives nothing away. Just so you know.”
I force a light smile. “There’s nothing to tell. Quit bugging us. Logan and I are just two fake spouses sharing a meal together at our fake reception.”
Blake breaks into a laugh as he collects our plates. “Sure, Henwood. You keep telling yourself that.”
Once he’s walked away, I glance at Logan, knowing my cheeks are burning with heat. “He’s too nosy.”
Logan raises an eyebrow. “What’s there to be nosy about?”
I reach under the table and put my hand on his leg. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
He leans closer so he can whisper in my ear. “I’d prefer to have you alone to do that. When can we get out of here?”
I inhale sharply. “Not yet. They haven’t even brought out dessert.”
I lick my lips, suddenly feeling a strange case of nerves hit me. Ridiculous. Logan and I have slept together tons of times. We were each other’s first, for goodness sake. But tonight feels different somehow. And I hate that I’m even saying that to myself.
The ceremony was fake, Macey. Fake.
“Mace?”
My eyes flick to Logan’s.
“We don’t have to do anything tonight. We can just hang out.”
His hand is steady as he lays it over mine, and the frenzied look in his eyes disappears.
And just like that, I relax. Logan will never push me to do anything I’m not ready for. He never has. I trust him implicitly. With my body and with my heart.
I smile at him. “Nothing’s changed on my end, Mr. Darcy.”
But before he can answer me—
“Excuse me, everyone!” From the front of the room, Daddy taps a spoon to the glass of water he’s holding and then grabs the microphone George hands him from behind the bar.
“Macey—I mean, Mrs. Darcy—come sit up at the bar and face the crowd.” My father gestures to two stools next to him. “Mr. Darcy, you too.”
“This can’t be good.” I stand up reluctantly and follow Logan to the barstools.
“Frederick Woodholm Haskins, Darcy’s founder, couldn’t make his sweet Vivian happy,” Daddy says into the mic. “Why don’t you two newlyweds tell the fine people of Darcy your opinions on the pillars and perils of marriage?”
“Sweet Vivian, my ass,” I mumble.
Daddy thrusts the microphone into my face. “What’s that, darlin’?”
“I’m just saying that Vivian was less sweet and a whole lot salty if you ask me.”
“As well she should have been,” Mama says from her position next to Daddy. “A woman scorned may not look pretty, but at least she’s fighting.”
Daddy winces as the loud sound of women clapping in the crowd drowns out Mama’s next sentence.
I move to stand. “Can we go now?”
But Daddy shakes his head at me and puts up a hand to try to silence the room. “One pillar and one peril for marriage, Mrs. Darcy. Give the room your answers.”
I squirm as the spotlight returns to me. “I plead the fifth.”
Mama sighs before she grabs the microphone out of Daddy’s hand and walks over to Logan so she can hold it in front of his mouth. “Mr. Darcy, maybe you should go first. What do you think is a pillar in a good marriage?”
“Um, love?” Logan says, looking as uncomfortable as I feel. “I guess the kind of love where you’d do anything for her.”
“And a peril?” Mama asks Logan.
There’s an awkward beat of silence before—
“Real life,” Logan finally says in a voice so low I have to strain to hear him.
“Fascinating,” Mama says. “What about you, Mace?”
I reach over and grab the microphone out of my mother’s hand.
“My pillar would be acceptance, flaws and all.”
“And a peril?” Mama asks.
I swallow. “Logan said it very well. I feel the same as him.”
I turn to Logan and whisper, “I think we’ve done our duty here. Meet me outside.”
I walk through the crowd and grab the bag of clothes off my chair that Ginny packed for me. And then I keep walking, past the tables of staring eyes.
As I exit The Cowherd, the warm night air hits my skin.
I stop on the front porch of the bar to wait for Logan, but when I hear my father calling for me, I take off down Main Street.
I’m not exactly dressed for a night stroll, but I’ve got a tank top and cut-offs in my bag. I just have to find a place to change.