Page 57 of Cowboys & Navy SEALs

One Fake Fiancé

Chapter One

“Where are you?” Lexi demanded. “You were supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago.”

Lucas pushed out a heavy breath. “Sorry, sis, I’m stuck in traffic.” That was partly true. He was sitting in traffic. However, he’d dragged his feet getting out the door. The only reason he even agreed to go on this dad-blasted blind date was because Lexi had been hounding him about it for weeks, insisting on fixing him up with one of her close friends. “You’re gonna love her,” Lexi kept saying. The most frustrating part was that Lex wouldn’t tell him who the girl was. She just kept saying that it would be well worth Lucas’s while to go. Lucas could tell that Lexi had something up her sleeve, but he couldn’t figure out what. It wasn’t like he was hard up for a date. He went out with lots of women.

Had Mom put Lexi up to this? Lucas was thirty-two years old—still plenty young. However, his mom was getting antsy about him finding someone to settle down with. When Lexi was single, their mother had pestered both of them about getting married. However, now that Lexi was with Asher, all the focus was turned to Lucas. His mom was more determined than ever to marry Lucas off, saying with a jubilant, “I figure Lexi and Asher will getmarried in the spring. Is it too much for a mother to ask for two weddings?”

Lucas had been married once, but it ended disastrously. An image of his ex-wife Renee flashed through his mind as the stench of painful memories pressed around him, filling his nostrils with the sourness of dung. Renee had left on Christmas Eve, without so much as a note or parting word. Just like that, his marriage was over. Lucas had been devastated, but that was years ago. He pieced himself back together and went to work at Thousand Acres Ranch for his uncle Knox. Most of the time, Lucas was fine. But when Christmas rolled around, things got tough.

“Must be some awful traffic,” Lexi muttered, “considering that it’s only a thirty-minute drive from your place to my apartment.”

“If it’s a big deal, we can just reschedule for another time,” Lucas said lightly. He wasn’t in the mood to go out with some woman he’d never met. Lexi assured him the woman was beautiful, butbeautifulwas a relative term. If the girl was as beautiful and wonderful as Lexi claimed, then why did she need to be fixed up on a blind date?

Lexi’s words rushed out in a ball of fire. “Oh, no! You’re not weaseling out of this one, bro! We’re here … waiting.”

A wry grin pushed over Lucas’s lips. He’d known that would set Lexi off. “Alright, sis,” he laughed, “don’t get your panties in a wad. I’m on my way. Tell the mystery girl that I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.” The plan was for him to go to Lexi’s apartment to pick up the girl. Lexi had arranged for them to go to dinner at the fancy restaurant where she used to work. Lucas glanced down at his flannel shirt and Levi’s. Lexi had told him to dress up, but this was as good as it was going to get tonight.

“Oh, good! You’re close. Okay, I’ll tell her.”

He tightened his hold on the steering wheel. “Lex, what’s this about? Why are you so determined to fix me up with your friend?” He paused, bunching his brows. “There’s an ulterior motive lurking around somewhere. Did Mom put you up to this?”

“No!” she laughed, but he detected a hint of nervousness. “What makes you think I’m up to something? Maybe I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” he growled.

“I can tell,” she retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You sound ecstatic. I’ve seen morticians happier than you.”

“Don’t dance around the topic. You’re up to something. This is not one of those women you met on that idiotic reality TV show is it?”

“Nope,” she sang, “it’s not.”

He felt a smidgen of relief. “Good, because I don’t have the time nor the patience to put up with some hoity toity diva.”

Lexi giggled. “You’re terrible.”

Lucas tensed. “She’s not a diva, right?”

“Um … no, not exactly.”

He grimaced. “Seriously? You know I hate pampered girls. I need someone tough, someone who’s not afraid to let her hair down or get her hands dirty.” More than anything, Lucas wanted to purchase a ranch so he could work his own land. It was a pipe dream. The price of land was out of sight. The best that Lucas could hope for was that Knox would keep giving him more responsibility. Lucas had proven his value time and time again, but the problem was—Jaxson was the general manager of the ranch, and that’s how it would always be. Angst churned in Lucas’s gut as he thought of his first cousin. From the time they were kids, he and Jaxson had been rivals. Things got worse in high school when they played football together. And there was the bit about them both liking the same girl. But that wasall water under the bridge now. Lucas’s infatuation with Lemon Massey had been fleeting, but not so with Jaxson. He and Lemon had reconnected and were now engaged. Lucas was happy for Jaxson. He’d certainly been a lot easier to deal with now that he was with Lemon. As for their working situation, deep down, Lucas didn’t blame Knox for putting his own son in charge of the ranch. Still, it cut to know that Lucas had risen about as far up in the chain of command as he could go. He’d always be just an employee, working under his uncle and cousin.

Lexi trilled out another high-pitched giggle, breaking into Lucas’s thoughts. “Just trust me, bro.”

“That’s kind of hard to do when you’re not telling me the full story.”

She let out a long breath. “Okay,” she relented, “you’re right. There is more to this than a simple blind date.”

“Just as I thought,” he said, feeling vindicated for having ascertained the situation correctly. “Spill it,” he ordered.

“No can do. You’ll just have to hear it from your date.”

“Huh? Hear what?”

Lexi’s voice went squeaky. “She’ll have to tell you the full story. Did you get the flowers?”

Lucas glanced over at the bouquet in the plastic sleeve, resting on the passenger seat. “Got them, as instructed.”

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