Page 1 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

Oh, the idiot. What a total bonehead. She couldn’t believe this. Hala Hanan stood there, staring at the man she had known her entire life and wondered how she had missed it. He was serious.

Gorgeous apparently wasn’t synonymous with brains.

“You…are beyond insane.” She gawked at the gorgeous man in front of her.

He…was serious. Like a total fool, an idiot, and a complete and total ass.

“I don’t want to date you, Grady Hiller .

I’m definitely not here to complete some master matchmaking plan of your mother’s, either.

That’s hilarious. Where did you even come up with that idea?

I’m here to check on my family. That’s it.

I certainly don’t have designs…on you. Especially as future husband material.

The idea is…kind of laughable. You are the last Hiller brother on the planet I would ever be attracted to. ”

Hazel eyes just narrowed, and the dork’s scowl deepened. Well, so he was grumpy again. Imagine that. Grady was always grumpy whenever she was around. Probably because his precious sanctuary had been invaded by her kind again.

Women—the scariest creatures of all, in Grady’s world.

She had long known that about this man. There probably wasn’t much his baby sister hadn’t told her about him.

Grady Hiller wasn’t exactly great with women, according to her main source of information. His youngest sister—and Hala’s closest friend ever—Greer had told her that time and time before.

He was far too pretty to be a boogerhead like he was. What a waste.

Grady acted like a troll at times, but he was seriously hot and beautiful. Every Hiller brother was gorgeous. Drool-worthy completely. Every woman in Value knew that.

Gorgeous Hiller brothers were just a thing in Value, Texas. Grady thought his own mother had set a trap—for Hala to catch him. Oh, hilarious.

“I never said you would. I said you had just…probably better not get any ideas. Get your hopes up.” His cheeks were red now. Good. He deserved to be embarrassed for this one. She was going to enjoy this.

“Why would I, to begin with? You are seriously not my type. Now…if Gunn would look in my direction, or Guthrie, then maybe it wouldn’t be so shocking.

But you ?” Him? She and Grady Hiller hadn’t liked each other for a good ten years now.

Maybe longer, but since she’d been a teenager ten years ago, she hadn’t paid much attention to this guy nine years older than she was.

Other than as an irritating older brother of her best friend. A completely, beyond belief, irritating older brother of her closest friend on the planet. His grumpiness had no bounds, and had been present for a long, long time.

It had always driven her crazy.

Now Grady Treyton Hiller was standing there in his own hallway, telling her that he suspected his mother had concocted some diabolical plan to see to it that all of her sons married her daughters’ friends.

Because in the last few weeks, as Grady had so helpfully pointed out to Hala, Chantal had fallen head over heels for Gene Hiller, Chantal’s bestie Genny Hiller had fallen fast for Gene’s bestie Chad Fields.

Who happened to be Chantal’s brother. Then there was whatever was going on with Genny’s other bestie Aubrey and Genny’s brother Guthrie—those two just burned when in range of each other.

And…Aubrey’s baby sister Ayla had been seen making googly eyes at Grady’s identical twin Gunn recently.

And Gunn had been turning bright red and adorable in return.

It was kind of hard for someone to keep up with all the romance around here lately. That was for sure.

Everyone was pairing off ridiculously fast. Like there was something in the water, maybe?

Next thing Hala knew, her own brother would romantically swoop the oldest Hiller sister off her feet and just carry Gia away forever. To live in his castle and have lots of babies. Lots and lots of babies—who would ironically look like a cross between Hala…and this goob right in front of her.

Not that Hala would mind that at all. In fact… that was a part of her own plan someday. Hudson and Gia so seriously belonged together—she’d long wondered why no one around here realized that.

No one understood Hudson like Gia did. Now…if Gia would just stop despising Hala’s brother with a passion and get down to business, turn that passion in a different direction…

Hala wanted more nieces and nephews someday, after all.

Every Hiller brother was pairing off right now. Except…

This one. Mr. Completely Cranky Pants.

Her. And Grady. Together together.

For real ? It was never going to happen.

He’d actually told her not to get her hopes up. That Hala didn’t have a shot with him. He was forewarning her. So she didn’t get any big ideas.

He was just standing there, waiting, those Hiller hazel eyes of his just…so patient.

OMG. He was utterly serious. She bit back a laugh.

She had never had ideas about him in her entire life. She wasn’t about to start now.

“It’ll never happen.” Hala informed the beautiful, clueless idiot in question, trying not to giggle like one of the kindergarteners she taught every weekday.

“Sorry to dash your hopes. But I won’t ever even think there might be something like that between us.

You are the worst Hiller brother of the bunch, Grady.

The whole bunch. I know all your bad habits, dude.

I mean…now, Gunn, maybe. He’s definitely more my type.

Too bad Ayla claimed him first, though.”

Maybe. No one really knew exactly what was going on between Ayla and Grady’s twin, Gunn. Even Ayla. But it was true—Gunn looked just like this beautiful bonehead in front of her, but Gunn was kind, compassionate, helpful, and loving. Hala wanted a man just like Gunn someday.

When the time was right. The time was most definitely not right, right now, though. Far from it.

Grady was just…broody and glaring. Constantly.

Especially at her. It was a lifelong habit.

Hala glared a long way up at the man in front of her. In return. One good glare deserved another, after all. She was pretty certain she’d first learned how to glare by mimicking Grady when she’d been really, really little.

Oh, the big goober. He had always been so clueless. Yes, he and Gunn were fully identical. But she’d never had a moment’s trouble telling them apart. Gunn had a sweet soul. Kind and loving. This man…had the soul of a stump. “If you’ll excuse me, my darling future husband, your sisters are waiting.”

“They can wait. I’m not certain why all the girls are here again tonight, though.”

“They are here for me.” She tried to pull her arm free of the barbarian who held it. She was not about to let Grady Hiller ruin tonight for her. “It’s a big night for me. They are helping me get ready.”

It was her first time in years. Since a man she thought she could trust had almost destroyed her.

Grady wasn’t going to be allowed to pop her happiness bubble tonight. Not for her.

It just wasn’t happening.

“Why?”

“Why? Because I have plans, my darling future husband .”

Yep. That pushed his button right there.

“Quit saying that.” The scowl deepened again. Oh, Grady was so predictable.

She yanked her arm free, and just for the fun of it, kicked him lightly—very lightly, like she had so many other times before—in the shin. He deserved it for the things he’d said, implied about her.

Scheming to capture herself a Grady-shaped husband? No way. Not ever.

She didn’t want him.

He didn’t even know her. She hadn’t said two words to him in a good five or six months.

She hadn’t even lived in Barratt County for four years, until two weeks ago, when she’d moved back to take a suddenly open spot at the Value elementary school.

She hadn’t been to the ranch once in that time since.

She’d just been too busy settling into her new job, finding an apartment and getting out of Hudson’s guest room, that kind of thing.

She still had two dozen boxes to unpack!

To think he thought she had the hots for him and was planning to seduce him into marrying her…that was utterly insane. Because of his mother’s scheming. Really?

The man was insane. Yes, his mother was a champion schemer, but Gayle wouldn’t do that to Hala, right?

Hala headed inside. She needed someone rational—before she tossed him in the water trough.

“There you are!” Grady’s youngest sister, and her closest friend in the entire world—the sister of her heart—Greer said. “We were getting concerned. We are running out of time. We need to get started.”

“You planning on this taking a while?”

“Started on what?” Grady asked, in a seriously grumpy tone, right behind her. The man was limping. Score. “What are you brats doing tonight?”

Brats. Like they were ten years old or something. Did he seriously think they were still just kids?

“Getting Hala ready. She has a big date tonight. I thought we told you guys to get lost?” Greer glared at him. Greer had been a bit anti-man lately. Including her brothers. Hala still hadn’t gotten to the bottom of why. Not yet.

She would. Greer was hurting. It was hard to miss. Greer was hurting—there wasn’t anything Hala wouldn’t do to fix it.

“Yeah, well, I live here. I don’t want to hide in my room so you can have another slumber party with all your pretty little friends.” Grady looked at Hala. Little friends. Grr . “So you have a date tonight? Who with?”

“None of your business. But let’s just say…

he’s exactly the kind of man I want in my life.

” She shot him a look. That told him what she thought of him.

She crossed her eyes at him just for the hell of it, where no one else could see.

The glower—yep. The man was so predictable. “Much more my type and everything.”

Grady Hiller was never going to measure up.

The idea of her wanting to marry him…absolutely laughable.

Grady was not and would never be the marrying type.