The Reluctant Bachelorette (9 page)

Luke had finally given her his cell number. That seemed to
pacify her.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, Luke was late.
His foot hit the pedal and he reversed his truck, and then headed down his long
winding gravel drive toward the highway. He rounded a bend, and then slammed on
his brakes. Directly in front of him, piled high in the middle of the road,
were several yards of manure. It spanned the narrow road and blocked his only
exit out.

“What the—?” Luke flung his truck into park and jumped out.
The putrid smell assaulted him, and he groaned. Carl must have mistakenly
delivered it to the wrong farm—today of all days. Talk about rotten timing.
With a shake of his head, he glanced at his watch and bit back a curse. How
would he get to The Barn now? He wasn’t about to saddle up a horse and arrive
smelling like one. Maybe Betty or Lyle was home. He could always borrow their
car.

Luke yanked his keys from the ignition then took off through
the trees for the neighboring farm. Several minutes later, he arrived slightly
out of breath and pounded on the front door. Betty answered.

“Luke!” Curlers framed her face, matching the robe and
slippers she wore. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at that
bachelorette thing tonight?”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, which is why I’m here. A load of manure
got dropped off in my driveway and I can’t get out. Can I borrow one of your
cars?”

Betty’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, dear me, that’s not good. My
car’s in the shop, and Lyle just left with the truck. All that’s left is
Lumpy.”

“I’ll take it.”

“H
ey, Jake, it’s great to meet
you,”
Taycee said to the blond haired, blue-eyed bachelor wearing a tan
sports jacket on a warm spring evening. She gave him ten solid minutes before
he did away with it and draped it over the back of a chair.

He looked good in it though. Really good.

“It’s nice to be met,” Jake said, casting a sidelong glance
through the door of The Barn where several other bachelors already stood. His
smile turned lopsided as he cocked his head toward the room. “How about we skip
this thing and go for a ride instead? I’ve never been good at sharing.”

Taycee smiled. “And I’ve never been good at dividing myself.
So sure, count me in.”

Jake laughed. “You don’t think I’ll get beat up for something
like that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. You could take it though, right? Think
of it as saving a damsel in distress.”

He laughed again, louder this time. “A drive with you is
sounding better and better. Here’s hoping I can take you up on that sometime.”
With a wink, he backed toward the open door. “Guess I’ll see you inside?”

Taycee nodded and watched him walk away. Suave, collected,
charming, good-looking. Yeah, she’d definitely see him inside.

“Taycee? So great to finally meet you in person.”

Taycee twisted back and blinked at the tall and lanky redhead
with slightly bushy eyebrows. Normally she had a chance to collect her thoughts
before another bachelor came. “Uh . . . it’s Sterling, right?”

“The one and only.” He grinned. “I’ve been looking forward to
this night for a long time.”

Taycee suddenly felt like she’d been spritzed with some sort
of liquid. Had he really just spit on her? She resisted the urge to wipe a hand
across her face. “Me too. I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Well, I almost didn’t.” A few more flecks of saliva landed on
her neck, and Taycee took a small step back as he told her about his missed
flight and mix up with the rental car company. What seemed like hours later, he
finally disappeared inside. Taycee tried not to cringe as she wiped the
moisture away with the back of her hand.

Note to self: Stand as far away from Sterling as possible.

Jessa glanced her way and held up five fingers. “Only five
left,” she mouthed.

It sounded like five hundred to Taycee. Already her feet ached,
and she had long since run out of different ways to say, “Hey, nice to meet
you” or “So glad you could make it.” She snuck a glance inside. There they all
were, milling about and waiting to be entertained by her wit and charm.

What wit and charm?

Taycee sighed and looked around. The sounds of a car pulling
into the parking lot alerted her that another bachelor would be coming soon.
She quickly slipped off her sandals and luxuriated in the feel of the cold,
soft grass beneath her feet. Her dress was long so hopefully no one would
notice.

Moments later, another guy strutted toward her, his keys
whipping around his finger and clinking. He had that over-confident look to him
that reminded Taycee of a used car salesman. She accepted his hug and shot
Jessa a panicked, I-can’t-remember-his-name look over his shoulder.

“Alec,” Jessa mouthed.

“Bless you,” Taycee mouthed back. She pulled free and smiled.
“So great to finally meet you, Alec. I’m excited to get to know you better.”

“Likewise,” he said, giving her a once-over and making her
feel like a shiny new car. Taycee waited until his gaze returned to her face
before she lifted an eyebrow. Not cool.

She managed to exchange a few more words with him before he
said a quick see you later and disappeared inside. Good riddance. 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 piece of paper.
“Oh, how sweet. You wrote me a love sonnet,” she joked.

“Sorry, no. Did you want me to write you a love sonnet?”

She wanted to kick him. Shake him. Tell him to knock it off
right now or she’d call his mother. Honestly, who says stuff like that on
camera? Luke. That’s who. And he’d keep doing it. All. Night. Long.

Taycee unfolded the paper, not quite sure what to think. It
was a take-out menu for Maris’s diner, including a coupon for some free curly
fries. At the bottom, Luke had scribbled in Liza’s work schedule for the next
couple of weeks, along with the words,

If you want to avoid long waits, I suggest you steer clear of
these times. Luke

Taycee’s heart thump-bumped in her chest. Why did he have to
be so nice and thoughtful at times? It was becoming cyclical. Goad Taycee into
despising him. Do something charming to throw her off. Then repeat.

Burt stepped closer with the camera, and Taycee slid her
fingers over the handwritten words at the bottom. “Thank you, Luke. Curly fries
are my favorite.”

Luke gave one of his adorable half smiles. “Maybe we’ll bump
into each other there sometime.”

Taycee’s eyes met his in a look that made her forget how to
breathe. His expression was almost . . . sincere, as if he actually wanted to
bump into her. But no, Luke wouldn’t want that or even think about wanting
that. This was just his way of discomfiting her. And, to her frustration, it
was working.

Taycee broke eye contact and refolded the note, placing it
back inside the box. “I guess I’ll see you inside?” She needed time to compose
herself. To slow her racing heart and convince herself that Luke wasn’t worth
all this fuss. He was a sour grape. The sourest of the sour.

“Am I the last one?” Luke said.

“You were pretty late.”

“It was unavoidable.” He held out an arm. “Can I take you in
or would that mess with some sort of protocol?”

“Um . . .” So much for composure, not that it really mattered.
It wouldn’t take long before Luke stripped it away anyway. “Sure.” She took a
tentative step toward him, and then paused when her bare feet touched the
concrete. Oops. Her sandals. She flushed yet again. “Uh . . .”

A smiled tugged at the corner of Luke’s mouth as he reached
for her hand and placed it in the nook of his arm. “Barefoot works for you.
C’mon.”

Taycee stumbled and gripped him tighter, needing his support
to keep her upright. Just touching him seemed to cause some sort of chemical
reaction inside her—the kind that made her want to run for cover.

Jessa gestured for them to stop right outside the door so Burt
could move his camera inside.

Taycee took the opportunity to lean in closer. “Whatever
happened to being un-charming?” she whispered.

Luke winked and gave her that look again—the serious one that
couldn’t possibly be serious. “Maybe I changed my mind,” he whispered back.

Burt signaled that he was ready, so Luke led her inside, where
he promptly left her standing alone in front of a large group of staring guys.

Mama Mia.

With two cameras now trained on her, Taycee hesitated, not
quite sure what to do now. Soft music played in the background, and a fire
crackled in the fireplace. The room grew warm, and the air around her seemed to
thicken as she struggled to fight back a rising panic. What was she doing? She
hadn’t wanted this spot, and yet somehow here she was, forced to pretend that
she was worth all this attention. That she really was searching for Mr. Right.

Without meaning to, her eyes rested on Luke. Off to the side
and toward the back, he now leaned against a wooden support post—a reminder
that Taycee no longer had his arm to lean on. She swallowed and forced her feet
forward, toward a group of men who were all about to compete for a date with
her—a girl they didn’t even know.