Free One Hot Cowboy Wedding by Carolyn Brown Page A

line of other vehicles. There was Gemma’s little red truck, Rye’s black truck, and Pearl’s vintage Caddy. She loved her friends, every one of them, but after the past twenty- four hours and fighting Dallas traffic she would have gladly driven into a parking lot that was completely empty.
    She’d followed Ace all the way from the airport, up I- 35 to Gainesville, and across on Highway 82 to Ringgold without stopping, keeping her eyes on the tail end of his truck and wishing the trip would last five hours instead of one. Normally, she hated Dallas traffic and would rather fight a hungry coyote than drive to the Dallas Fort Worth airport, but right then she’d gladly drive right back down there and get lost on every one of the loops around the city.
    At least her mother’s car wasn’t among them and she’d been spared that for a few days. Ace opened her truck door and stood to one side. The sun was bright and the day hot. The wind that rushed into the truck was hotter than Ace, and that was pretty damn hot.
    She could’ve slapped that grin right off his face, but it wasn’t his fault she was in this mess either. She’d volunteered for the job. But in her own defense, she hadn’t expected it to be anything more than a twenty- four- hour lark and a big yearlong secret.
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    “You ready for this?” he asked.
    “Hell, no!”
    “You want to get in my truck and we’ll run away and hide out until they go home?” he asked.
    She rol ed her green eyes. “They won’t go home.
    They’ll chase us down and make us be happy ever after.
    Ace, they think we are real y, truly married. The real kind where everything is kissy- kissy happy.” Ace snapped his fingers. “Okay, Jazzy, get into character. You are a new bride who just had an amazing night of sex in a big fancy hotel. You can play the wife role for a year. I know you can! Remember, those people in Vegas thought you were an actress. You can do this.”
    “I’m feelin’ pretty bitchy for a wife who just had sex.
    Strange, I don’t remember it and I’ve always had the impression you were pretty good in that area,” she said.
    Ace slung an arm around her shoulder. She was exactly the right height for a comfortable hug. “Just pretty good? Damn, Jazzy! I thought I was dazzlin’ good.”
    “I guess I can pretend.” She sighed.
    “That can be remedied anytime you want a taste of the real thing so you don’t have to pretend. That sounds like the beginnings of a good country song. Think I should call Josh Turner and see if he wants to write the rest of it?”
    “Don’t tease me!”
    The front door of the café swung open and Gemma raced out on the porch to wrap them both in a hug. “Y’all pulled a sneaky on us. We would have all flown out to Vegas with you if you’d have let us know. Come on in.
    We’ve got wedding cake and cold beer.”
    “How long have you been here?” Ace asked.
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    “Thirty minutes. I figured if you had to check out of the hotel at eleven and your flight was about noon-time, with the layovers and all that you’d be home about now,” Gemma said. “Remember, I’ve flown in and out of Vegas for the Pro Rodeo twice now.”
    Pearl was first in line to hug Jasmine when she was inside the dining room of the café. “I bet your momma is livid.”
    “Worse. We have to get married in Texas and she gets to pick out the dress.” Jasmine giggled nervously.
    “Dear God!” Pearl gasped.
    “Eloping was not her idea of an only daughter’s wedding,” Jasmine said.
    “It’ll be horrid,” Pearl said.
    “Yep, with a train from Amarillo to Beaumont. And you are going to be the matron of honor and she’s picking out your dress too.”
    “Shit!” Pearl gasped.
    “Now you are beginning to get the picture. One month from today on the second Sunday in July.
    Marcella is helping.”
    “Holy shit!”