âThis isnât the first time youâve acted like you want to call it off.â
âCall it off?â she repeated in a stark whisper.
Will nodded. âI donât like it, but I can accept that maybe this just isnât something youâre willing to do. You can move back to the boardinghouse. Weâll tell everyone we realized it wouldnât work, after all. But then, if thereâs a baby, I want you to promise me that youâll come back.â
Call it offâ¦
Did she want that?
Theyâd been âmarriedâ for just three days. Not only did Jordyn Leigh have to deal with her guilt over the lies they were telling, but sometimes when she told a lie, it came out seeming way too much like the truth.
The stuff sheâd just said to Cece, for instance. About how wonderful Will was, how superhot and protective, how when he kissed her, she meltedâ¦
Well, she found it easy to tell those lies because those lies felt so very true.
It didnât seem possible. She didnât know how it had happened. But somehow, Will Clifton was beginning to look like her dream man.
***
Montana Mavericks:
What Happened at the Wedding?
A weekend Rust Creek Falls will never forget!
Chapter One
âYou remind me of a girl I used to know,â said a way-too-familiar deep voice in Jordyn Leigh Catesâs ear. âShe was just a kid, really. Pretty little thing, always following me around...â
Jordyn whirled on the killer handsome cowboy sheâd known all her life. âWill Clifton, you liar. I never, ever followed you around.â
âYes, you did.â
âDid not.â
âDid so.â
She laughed. âYou know we sound like a couple of overgrown brats, right?â
âSpeak for yourself.â Will gave her the sexy half smile that had broken more than one girlâs heart back home in Thunder Canyon. âNever could resist teasing you.â
Jordyn sipped from her paper cup of delicious wedding punch. âI heard that you were in town.â
âCraig, Jonathan and Rob, too.â Those were his brothers. âWeâre staying out at Maverick Manor.â Formerly known as Bledsoeâs Folly, the giant, long-deserted log mansion southeast of town had been transformed the year before into an upscale hotel with a rustic flair.
She gave him a teasing look from under her lashes. âI also heard a rumor that you bought a place right here in Rust Creek Falls...?â
âAs a matter of fact, I did.â There was real pride in his voice, and his gorgeous blue eyes shone bright with satisfaction. âBeautiful spread in the Rust Creek Valley, east of town, not far from the Traub ranch. Escrow closes on Tuesday.â
Jordyn was happy for him. It had always been Willâs dream to have his own ranch. âCongratulations.â
âThanks.â
They grinned at each other. She thought he looked even hunkier than usual in a white dress shirt, a coffee-colored Western-cut vest and a bolo tie. Heâd polished his belt buckle to a proud shine, and his black jeans broke just right over his black dress boots.
He reached out a hand and tugged on a blond curl that trailed loose from her updo. âYouâre lookinâ good.â
A warm lick of pleasure stole through her. He was five years her senior, and heâd always treated her like a kid. But right now, the way he gazed at her? She didnât feel like a kid in the least. She dared to flutter her eyelashes at him. âThank you, Will.â
He tipped his black Stetson. âItâs only the truth. You look greatânot to mention, patriotic.â
âRed, white and blue all the way.â She flicked a glance down at her strapless knee-length chiffon bridesmaidâs dress. It was Old-Glory Blue.
Just a couple of hours ago, Braden Traub, second oldest of the Rust Creek Traub boys, had married angelic blonde Jennifer MacCallum, who had moved to town a year before. Theyâd decided on an outdoor wedding receptionâan Independence Day picnic in Rust Creek Falls Park. Red-and-white-checked oilcloths covered all the picnic tables. Red, white and blue canopies provided shade from the summer sun.
Plus, theyâd set up a portable oak dance floor not far from the punch table, where Jordyn and Will stood. The six-piece band wasnât half bad. Right then they were rockinâ a great Brad Paisley song. Jordynâs sparkly blue high heels had a tendency to get stuck in the grass when she wasnât out on the dance floor, but she refused to let that slow her down. She kept her weight on her toes and had no trouble tapping a foot to the music as a certain tall cowboy in a big white hat two-stepped by with a curvy brunette. That cowboy gave Jordyn a wink.