Accidentally Marrying the Cowboy (Accidentally Marrying #7)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Maisey

Iwould rather be anywhere else.

Literally, anywhere.

Not that it matters what I want. Not when it comes to my stepsister, Patty’s stagette weekend. Nope, that’s mandatory.

Never mind the fact that not only do I not have the funds to be in Las Vegas for this weekend of celebrating a woman who has spent the better part of her life actively hating me and making my existence unbearable, but according to my bank account and the handful of creditors who won’t stop calling, I don’t have enough money to exist. Period.

I’ll be the first to admit it’s my own fault.

A little bit of consumer debt can get out of hand pretty quickly.

Especially when the only job I could find out of college was a minimum-wage waitressing gig.

Apparently, a degree in art history isn’t as in-demand as I’d hoped.

And my art certainly isn’t paying the bills.

My phone is buzzing in my pocket as we set foot into the bar that Patty thought would be fun and flirty. I’m certainly not an expert in relationships, but I don’t understand why, only weeks before your wedding, you should feel the need to flirt with anyone else.

“Isn’t this great?” Patty, wearing a ridiculous tiara and bright pink sash marking her as the bride-to-be, raises her arms and turns in a slow circle the moment we set foot in what looks to be a country bar.

“And look at all the sexy cowboys,” one of Patty’s friends, whose name doesn’t matter, coos.

My stepsister jabs an elbow in my ribs. “Maybe even you can find someone who might dance with you, Maisey.” She laughs as if it’s the most hysterical thing in the world.

Which, to her, it probably is. Even though we aren’t related by blood, I still think it’s unfair that she was blessed with the tall, thin body, golden hair, and bright blue eyes while I got stuck in a five-foot-two, a-little-too-round body with frizzy brown hair that refused to be tamed.

“At least your name fits in here.” Patty cackled before leading her friends into the bar, all eyes trained on her. As usual.

For a moment, I consider making a break for it. But I’d promised my dad I’d be nice. For some reason, my stepmom, Rhonda, thinks it’s important that I’m part of all the wedding festivities. She insists that one day, Patty and I will both be happy we’d made the effort.

So far, I don’t agree.

But I want to make my dad happy, and Rhonda makes my dad happy. So, if Rhonda’s happy…

This time when my phone buzzes, I pull it out and instantly wish I hadn’t. The only thing worse than a debt collector calling is another rejection email from the last round of jobs I’d applied for.

With a sigh, I turn my phone off completely, shove it to the bottom of my purse, and join Patty and the group where they’re clustered around a table covered in over-the-top signage announcing a wedding about to take place.

Of course. Leave it to Patty to find all things nuptial. Even on a night out.

“Ssh. She’s here.” One of the bridesmaids spins around when she sees me, and the others instantly start giggling.

“What’s that?” I try to peer around them, but the wall of bridesmaids is blocking whatever it is Patty’s doing. Not that I care. I need a drink.

“Okay,” Patty squeals as she turns around and sees me. “Let’s go find us some cowboys to dance with!”

I try not to groan. Truthfully, there are a lot of good-looking men in the bar. Very good-looking. But almost every single one has a cowboy hat and a big buckle on their belt.

Not my style.

Even if I were in the market for a man.

And I’m not.

Especially not if having a man means prancing around in a stupid pink satin sash and a tiara as a grown woman while every female who’s ever been part of your life pretends to be your best friend just because you’ve said yes to a man who’ll probably cheat on you before your first anniversary.

Ask me how I know.

No, thank you.

“Who wants to get married?”

I spin around to see who’s asking, but the loud cheer from the crowd snaps me to reality, and I follow their gaze to the stage where a man in a tuxedo is standing with a microphone.

“Who wants to witness a wedding tonight?”

I sure as hell don’t. Why can’t I get away from all this wedding bullshit?

I’m in wedding hell, and it doesn’t look like my nightmare is about to end anytime soon, so when the maid of honor appears with a tray of shots, I help myself to two.

“Isn’t this fun?” one of the women—maybe her name is Candice—stumbles into me, clearly excited by what’s going on in front of us. “A wedding between strangers. It’s so fun!”

“Strangers?” At this point, I don’t even bother to hide my distaste. “It sounds horrific.”

“The prize money doesn’t sound horrific.” She raises a brow, and I’m mildly curious about what she means until she keeps talking. “I might be tempted to sign up if Patty didn’t already...never mind.”

“Wait!” I try to stop her, but she’s already slipping through the crowdtorque before I can stop her. “What did Patty do?”

My question is lost as the man on stage once more grabs the microphone.

“We’re looking for nominations tonight, folks.

” My stomach flips. I try to make eye contact with my stepsister, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

Surely, she—“Only thirty minutes until the wedding! Who’s going to be the lucky couple to walk away with the cash and a night in the honeymoon suite? ”

I have a terrible feeling that Patty and her friends are up to something, and I don’t want any part of it.

I do one more quick scan for the bride-to-be before making the decision to get the hell out of there.

I spin around and run directly into a solid wall of muscle.

Travis

“Whoa, wee filly. Easy there.”

I look at my buddy Rex like he’s an alien, which he might as well be, considering the bullshit that just came out of his mouth.

And judging by the look on the pretty little face of the curvy brunette he’s currently holding by the shoulders, who just had the misfortune to slam into his solid rock wall of muscle, she’s thinking the exact same thing.

“What did you just call me?” The woman tries to take a step back to look up—way up—at Rex, who’s still holding her by the shoulders, but he has her in his grip. “You did not just—”

“Whoa!” I step between them, effectively freeing her from my playboy buddy’s hold before he can piss her off even more, since she clearly isn’t the type of woman to fall for his usual tricks.

Something I immediately like about her.

But the moment I save her, the woman turns on me. “Is there some reason you both think I’m a horse?”

“What? I…” Shit. I did. “Sorry.” I flash her what I hope she realizes is a genuine smile. “I was just trying to save you from Rex here.” I spare him a quick glance over my shoulder. “He can be a bit...much,” I finish as I turn back to her.

She really is cute. And a little wild. Kind of like a little filly. Not that I’m about to say that. Not now.

Maybe it was my apology or the fact that neither of us is currently manhandling her, but she no longer looks like she wants to tear our heads off. As far as I’m concerned, that is progress and about all I can expect.

She looks at me half a second longer, like she’s expecting me to try and pick her up or offer to buy her a drink—a drink I don’t think she will be very receptive to—before saying, “That’s an understatement.

” She makes a snorting sound and pushes past me into the crowd, leaving me staring after her and wondering what the hell had just happened.

The moment she’s gone, Rex thumps me on the back and starts laughing. “I guess she didn’t see that big shiny buckle you’re sporting, huh?”

I shake my head and try to find the woman in the throng of people she’d disappeared into. She isn’t my usual type, but then again, I’m not sure I even have a usual type anymore.

“Bet she wouldn’t have run off so fast if she knew she’d just been corralled by the bronc-riding champ and the bareback champ.” Rex thrusts his hips, showcasing his own giant prize-winning belt buckle.

“What is with all the cowboy references, man?” I shake my head at my buddy.

“We’re cowboys.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to talk like an asshole.” I pull my hat off my head long enough to run my fingers through my hair and, once again, scan the crowd for her.

Something tells me the cute little brunette with the wild hair would have run off even faster had she known that Rex and I had both taken first place in the rodeo earlier today. She didn’t seem like the buckle bunny type.

The exact type of women we are currently being surrounded by. It hadn’t taken long for us to be noticed. Women of all types, most of them with their tits bursting out of their tops and too-tight jeans or too-short skirts, start surrounding us.

Buckle Bunnies.

The whole reason I hadn’t wanted to come to this place, or out to the bar at all, was these women who all press up to you, promising you a night of fun, which, to be fair, could be pretty fucking fun.

But that wasn’t what they were really after.

It was a stereotype for sure, but this type of woman was looking to hitch their wagon to a prize-winning cowboy.

Shit. Now I was speaking in cowboy. Or at least thinking it.

“I need a drink.” I take off through the crowd before Rex can respond, but I know he’ll be right behind me.

The bartender recognizes us right away and slides two bottles of beer across the bar top with a congratulations, before a round of tequila shots shows up. That’s the thing about a cowboy bar in Vegas during the big rodeo, I guess.

I’m not complaining.

“Damn.” Rex lifts his bottle in a toast as we spin around to take in the bar and the dance floor that’s packed with bodies gyrating in time to the thumping bass. “Take your pick, champ.”

I clink my bottle with his before taking a deep slug. “Not interested.”

Rex almost chokes on his beer. “You’re what?”

“Not interested,” I repeat. “Not in this.” I wave my hand to encompass the debauchery that, up until very recently, was exactly what I was interested in.

The reality is that a hot one-night stand no longer holds the same appeal as it used to.

More and more, I’ve been letting myself think about what it might be like to find someone and settle down, just like my buddies Cash and Wyatt, Rex’s older brothers, have.

What they both share with their wives is special.

It was never something I thought I wanted, but…

“I don’t know what that’s all about,” Rex says, shaking his head. “But I’m definitely interested. The only thing better than winning a buckle is being rewarded by a sexy woman for that win.” He grins, and I laugh because I know he’s going to get exactly what he wants. “Check it out.”

I follow where he’s pointing across the dance floor to a group of women that’s obviously part of a bachelorette party. “Nothing quite like a group of horny women all hopped up on endorphins from celebrating love. Let’s go.”

“Told you.” I shake my head. “Not interested.”

Rex gives me a look. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the whole love is real bullshit my brothers have.”

I don’t need to tell him that’s exactly what’s happened. If I hadn’t seen it firsthand with Rex’s brothers, I wouldn’t believe it myself, but my buddies have never been happier. And for the first time in my life, I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out.

I don’t know if I am or not, but what I do know for sure is that none of the women in this bar are what I’m looking for.

But then I see her. The curvy, petite filly from earlier. She’s standing on the fringes of the bachelorette group. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere else.

Maybe I will go and say hi.

I tilt my beer to my lips, right as a man in a rhinestone-studded tuxedo steps out on stage, grabbing the attention of everyone in the bar. “It’s time!” he all but yells into the microphone. “Who’s ready to meet the lucky bride and groom?”

“Can you believe this bullshit?” Rex says. “Who in the hell would be stupid enough to get married in a bar in front of a bunch of strangers?”

“Meet our bride,” the announcer’s voice interrupts us. “Maisey.”