Free The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachael Anderson

Handsome,
yes. Cocky, double yes. No thanks. Hopefully the viewers thought so too.
    Three bachelors later and still no sign of Luke. When ten
additional minutes came and went, Jessa’s foot tapped impatiently. “Is he
coming?” Jessa hissed.
    There were a lot of things Taycee could have said. Maybe he
got into an accident. Maybe he’d been held up by a patient. Maybe there was an
emergency and he was now performing surgery. Or maybe, just maybe, ten yards of
manure kept him hostage in his driveway.
    Taycee settled with, “Maybe he forgot.”
    That earned the absentee Luke one of Jessa’s scathing
frowns—the kind that meant she wasn’t about to let this slide and there would
be some serious ramifications later. Taycee bit back a smile. Luke wouldn’t
know what hit him.
    Just then, a rumbling sound emerged through the trees, growing
louder and louder as a huge battered and rusted dump truck puttered into view.
It reminded Taycee of The Little Engine That Could . “I think I can, I
think I can, I think I can,” it seemed to say as it approached, finally
screeching to a halt almost right in front of her.
    She choked on a laugh as she waved the exhaust fumes away.
    Luke leapt from the driver’s seat and tossed his keys at some
poor teenager who’d been recruited to help out. “Be careful with Lumpy,” he
said. “She’s pretty special.”
    The teenager looked down at the keys with a mixture of
confusion and worry, but who could blame him? The prospect of parking “Lumpy”
would scare just about anyone.
    The camera turned Taycee’s way and she tried to keep a
straight face, but failed. Where in the world did Luke get that thing? And how
could anyone look that good jumping out of a ride like that? It wasn’t right.
Or fair. Especially since he wasn’t supposed to be here at all.
    “Nice you could finally make it,” Taycee managed to say. “Love
the wheels.”
    Luke eyed the wreck of a dump truck. “She’s a beauty all
right. That engine sure purrs.”
    Taycee giggled. She couldn’t help it. She should have known
this would happen since Luke was never one to give up. But a dump truck?
Really? “Maybe I should leave you and Lumpy alone together.”
    Luke cocked his head toward her. The corners of his eyes
crinkled ever so slightly. “Jealous of a dump truck?”
    “Nah.” Oh great, it was starting already. The goading. The
taunting. The let’s-see-what-embarrassing-thing-we-can-get-Taycee-to-blurt-out-on-camera
game. But Luke wouldn’t get away with it tonight. Taycee would stand her ground
and keep her distance. It was the only way to keep her pride intact.
    “Hey, I brought you something.” Luke dug into his pocket and
pulled out a little white box tied with a bow, like a ring box only a tad
bigger.
    A few of the other guys had brought her a flower, but no one
had given her an actual present. What was he doing? She eyed it uncertainly.
“It’s too soon for a ring, isn’t it?”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
    Taycee flushed. He was a toad, that’s all there was to it. The
kind that never turned into a prince no matter how many times you kissed him.
Not that Taycee was about to try. Or wanted to try. Or even thought about
wanting to try. Her flush deepened. “Really, you shouldn’t have.”
    “I know.”
    An awkward silence descended while Taycee stood there, holding
the box. She wasn’t about to open it while the camera rolled. Anything could be
in it. A rubber snake. A framed picture of her with braces and wild, untamed
hair. Or that candy from the novelty store that always turned Taycee’s tongue
and lips blue.
    “You going to open it?” Luke asked, his eyes glinting.
    “I’ll wait until later. We should go in.”
    “Oh, c’mon. I promise it’s not going to bite.”
    Taycee shot him a skeptical look before giving the box a quick
shake. Nothing happened. In fact, it felt empty. She lifted the corner for a
quick peek, and then opened it all the way. Inside was a folded