Page 39 of Blue Jean Summer

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“What’s all this?” Hayes asked as he released himself from Walt’s study, wearing another one of those slacks and button-up combos he lived in. The man even wore dress shoes inside.

Hallie looked up from the stove, where she had been throwing herbs and spices into a pot. “We’re having Savannah Scott over for dinner.”

Hayes’s dark eyes turned and landed on me. After our pantry tryst this morning, we had made avoiding each other a competitive sport.

“She’s helping with my dress,” I said.

Hayes’s expression lifted from confusion to relief. “Oh.”

“You know her, right?” Hallie asked.

A sad, distant expression crossed his face. “I was friends with her brother.”

The kitchen door opened, and Mason appeared with a vase of roses in his hand. He toed off his boots at the door, carried the vase to the window where Hallie often stood while she worked, and set it on the sill.

I didn’t miss the way her gaze lowered to the sun-bleached blue jeans that hugged his ass and thighs.

Mason Bishop was a good-looking man and totally rocked the silver fox look. He carried himself with distinction and definitely had it bad for Hallie.

Hallie must have realized she was staring at his ass and quickly snapped out of it, clearing her throat. “Thank you, Mason. You coming up for supper?”

His beard twitched as he smiled at her. “Wouldn’t miss it,” he said before putting his boots back on and heading back to the stables.

Hayes looked between Hallie and me, trying to get a read on the silent communication we shared. “What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing,” I said.

Hallie yanked open the refrigerator door and discreetly fanned herself.

Hayes’s brows knitted together. “You were staring at him.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t have eyes for other men when you’re marrying me,” he teased with a stern expression.

Hallie’s cheeks were beet red, and I decided to take the fall. “It’s the jeans. Wranglers have a certain…effect.”

“What’s that about Wranglers?” Savannah asked as she let herself in the kitchen door.

“Cowboy butts,” Hallie and I said at the same time.

Savannah raised her hands in reverence as she kicked the door shut. “God bless cowboy butts.”

Hayes excused himself from the kitchen and headed upstairs as Savannah joined us.

“So,” she said. “The workday is done and I’ve been speculating wildly since y’all left the shop this morning. What’s with the shotgun wedding?”

Thankfully, Lewis had left the estate, so I let my guard down. “Hayes inherited the estate from his granddad.”

“But only if he’s married,” Hallie said.

“So, I agreed to marry him.”

She peered in the direction that Hayes had gone. “Honestly, you could’ve done way worse. He’s a catch.”

My mind floated back to that kiss. “Tell me about it.”

Savannah tossed her hair over her shoulder. “What’s in it for you?”

“Money and land.”