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Fucking hell. Not him. Not tonight.

Okay, maybe there is a reason for Mark to think I would swing a slugger at a car tonight.

“No problems tonight,” Mark warns.

I grab my whiskey, downing it in one gulp. Heat engulfs my body as the drink works its magic. Now, I just need to forget tonight ever happened.

“Dakota, is that you?” A familiar boastful voice rings behind me.

Putting on my best fake smile, I turn to face my unwanted guest. “Laughlin.” I halt briefly at the bleached blonde on his arm. “I’m surprised you’re here. I thought the Whiskey Dam was beneath you.”

“What would make you think that?” the asshole laughs, squeezing the bimbo’s hand, which is placed firmly in the crook of his elbow. “I love this place, don’t I, Mindy?”

“Yup,” the blonde replies, popping the ‘p’ while twirling a strand around her finger.

“Right. And Mindy is…?” I don’t want to ask, but curiosity is getting the better of me. I also can’t help but look her up and down, seeing exactly what Laughlin is attracted to. She’s stick thin, bottle blonde with big blue eyes. She looks like she’s just going along for the ride and is perfectly okay with inflating Laughlin’s ego.

So, the complete opposite of me.

“Mindy is my girlfriend.” He emphasizes the word ‘girlfriend’ as if he knew it would hurt me more

The thought of Laughlin being with someone else isn’t what hurts me. What causes the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach is that he can move on so quickly without any remorse for what he did.

That asshole.

“How nice,” I sneer.

“Alone in a bar, I see?” I don’t miss the smirk on his smug face as he makes a show of looking around me.

I want nothing more than to wipe that look off his face. The way he’s standing there with his new girlfriend, running his finger along his lip, tells me he knows what game he’s playing. He thinks he has the upper hand on me. He thinks he’s somehow bested me because he found someone that cares more about the zeros in his bank account than the words that come out of his mouth.

The vindictive, arrogant asshole.

“What makes you think that?” My mind races for ways I can make him think I’m not here alone. Like I am. I need something that sounds believable that will get this prick out of my hair so I can go back to drinking and forget his face.

“Oh, honey. It’s okay. Break-ups are hard. I get it.” His condescending tone makes me want to throw up.

How did I ever find this attractive?

Casually looking down the length of the bar, I notice a man with his back toward me. Black cowboy hat on top of his head, leather jacket stretched across his broad shoulders. He reaches his left hand over the bar to grab his beer, showing his lack of a wedding ring.

I can use this.

Sending up a quick prayer to anyone that will listen, I smile at Laughlin while reaching out my hand and running it up the stranger’s arm.

“Laughlin, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend.” I smile the brightest fake smile I can muster, hoping beyond hope that the person I’m groping right now is willing to play along.

Chapter Two

Chance

“I’m serious, Wyatt, I’m not fucking doing it,” I growl as I take a sip of my beer.

“I think it’s a shit idea, too, Chance, but I don’t see how you can get out of it.” Wyatt Winters has been my best friend all my life, and my ranch manager for nearly a decade. He knows the business side of Whiskey Canyon Ranch almost as well as I do, as if it were his own family’s ranch. We grew up together on those grassy fields, running through the mud and horseback riding in the back forty. I couldn’t imagine running the ranch without him.

But if Wyatt makes me go through with this harebrained idea, he might just have to.

“Then why are you entertaining it?”