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“I pulled my head out of my ass eventually,” Theo said, pulling Mallory into his side and kissing the top of her head. “I told Luke if he fucked up, I’d kill him and put him through the Pearson Tree Service’s woodchipper.”
“Evil. I like it,” Mallory said, grinning.
“He comes back, he’ll answer to me.” This grumpy guy was protective. And it made me smile.
“He got what he wanted. I’m sure he’s already on the movie set somewhere,” I said, sad and wistful. And pissed. The woodchipper idea sounded like a good one though.
“Then let’s get this Pounder asshole out of your life, too. Sounds like we need to organize a hike in the woods,” Theo said. “I hear there’s a bulldog rock that’s worth finding.”
Mallory’s cell rang and she grabbed it off the coffee table. “It’s Georgia.”
Theo and I listened as Mallory replied to whatever Georgia was saying. “Oh no. Really? Tomorrow?”
“Is she okay?” Theo asked her and I remembered she was pregnant.
Mallory pulled the phone from her ear. “The Cowboy Goes A Courtin’ live show is tomorrow night and the bachelorette has appendicitis and is having emergency surgery right now. Georgia’s new in town and doesn’t know people like I do. She needs my help to find a single woman to take her place.”
Theo and Mallory stared at each other for a second, then turned to look at me.
I blinked. “What? Me?”
No way.
45
ASPEN
* * *
Mallory put the call on speaker. “Aspen’s here with us. She’s single.”
“No way,” I said aloud, shaking my head at what she was suggesting.
“What happened with Dr. Dark and Dangerous?” Georgia asked through the phone.
“It’s over.” I wasn’t going through it all again. Ever. “And Sierra comes back tomorrow.”
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to watch the show on set,” Georgia said, which was probably true. I had a night of movies and popcorn planned, which couldn’t compete. “I’m sorry to hear about you and Derek Dashwood, but if you want to get back on the horse, so to speak, you can have three hot bachelors vying for you tomorrow night on live TV,” she offered, as if the opportunity was tantalizing. It sounded awful.
“Just what I need, more fake boyfriends,” I muttered.
“I saw the commercial,” Mallory replied, her eyes alight with eagerness. “The guys are cute. They’re cowboys. Like real ones. And the saying is, spare a horse, ride a cowboy.”
I was not amused. “It’s a TV show. It’s not real,” I reminded.
“You’ll be given the questions to ask the men, but they don’t know them in advance. Their responses will be genuine. At the end, you pick your favorite. You get a free trip to Hawaii with the guy.”
“Hawaii? The last thing I want to do is go to Hawaii with a strange man.”
“Take Sierra,” Georgia tossed in. “I’ll make the production company pay. I’m really desperate and Mac will have a stroke if I start wandering around town to find someone in my condition.”
The way she said the last, I imagined her using her fingers to make little air quotes.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. “A Hawaiian vacation with Sierra? Since when have you two gone anywhere on vacation besides that hot springs down by Yellowstone? I’d say that’s not bad for a night’s work.”
“With a strange cowboy,” I reminded. “I think I’ve learned my lesson about going places with strange men.”
“You’d have a nine-year-old chaperone,” Mallory reminded.
