Marrying The Wedding Crasher. Melinda Curtis

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СКАЧАТЬ been relieved she’d turned him down for the wedding. After the way things had ended between them, he never should’ve asked her in the first place. “How’s that bump?”

      She reached up to touch the back of her head. “Better.”

      He resisted the impulse to see for himself. “And how goes the tile saw repair?”

      “Worse.” Harley came to sit nearby, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. “I’ve been thinking about your brother’s wedding.”

      The humidity in the air pressed in on Vince.

      “Is it a formal affair?” she asked.

      “It’s outdoors and I’ll have to wear a suit. Does that qualify as formal?” Whatever the answer was, he hoped she hadn’t reconsidered being his date.

      “That’s not too formal.” She smiled the way a woman does just before she says yes to something she isn’t exactly thrilled about agreeing to.

      Reflexively, Vince smiled back. And then he remembered he’d changed his mind about taking her.

      “Since you’re in a bind—”

      “A bind?” Normally, Vince was slow to anger. Not today. Today anger shot through him like nitrous oxide, making him talk faster, grip the auger harder. “I’m a grown man, not some kid looking for a prom date. I can walk into a wedding alone.” Or, even better, not go at all.

      She tucked stray strands of golden hair behind her ears and avoided looking at him. “But you did ask me.”

      “And you turned me down!” There was no reason that should poke at his pride, but it did, the same as her assuming he was in a dateless bind.

      “And now...” Her gaze wound around to meet his and her lips made a slow turn upward. “I want to propose a new deal for us.”

      The muggy morning air suddenly became too thick to inhale. Vince was a man, after all, and Harley was a beautiful woman proposing something.

      “Go on,” he rasped when he should have said, “No go.”

      “I’ll...I’ll be your plus-one—” Harley couldn’t hide the desperation in her voice “—if you fix my tile saw.”

      Air moved freely in and out of Vince’s lungs again. This wasn’t a personal proposition. “Couldn’t find anyone to fix it?”

      “Not for anything less than the price of my firstborn.”

      She was as boxed in as he was.

      A part of Vince was intrigued, the way he was always captivated by things not working how they should. The saw wouldn’t be easy to fix. No telling what kind of damage was inside until he took off the outer casing.

      Another part of Vince was reminded that he enjoyed Harley’s company, their quick banter, their obvious chemistry. The bargain wasn’t completely out of the question.

      He ran a hand through his hair, wondering what their relationship would be like today if they’d never talked about higher education and college degrees.

      “Well,” he said gruffly, “we can’t have you selling off your firstborn.”

      Harley’s cheeks pinkened from more than the sun and she looked away. “I’d need the saw before we leave on Saturday.”

      “That might be a stretch.” It was Tuesday. “What if I need to order parts?”

      She considered this with the same deliberation with which she ordered from a menu. “Could they arrive while we’re gone, so you could fix it first thing when we return?”

      Again, the feeling that he shouldn’t take her to Joe’s wedding gripped him. Vince fiddled with the screw on the auger motor hood, not looking at her. “Can you really afford to miss a week of work?” That seemed unlikely given she couldn’t afford to repair or replace her saw.

      “Jerry owes me a couple days off and I’ve lined up some side jobs.” She’d put thought into this. She hadn’t asked him on a whim.

      Unless he had a good reason to retract his offer, he felt honor-bound to take her.

      Vince held out his hand for her to shake because he had to keep this on a platonic footing. “I’m paying for transportation, the hotel and food.”

      “Okay, but...” Harley hesitated, offering a question in those blue eyes, not a handshake. “Why do you want a wedding date?”

      He returned his hand to the auger, unwilling to tell her the truth and latching on to the first idea that came to mind. “There’s this girl, Sarah, from high school—”

      “And you broke her heart.” Harley tsked.

      He let her assumption stand. “Having a beautiful woman on my arm will keep my visit simple.” On so many levels.

      Harley leaned back and surveyed him as if he was a blouse she was considering from the bargain rack. “And you’ll fix my saw?”

      “I’ll do my best.”

      “Fair enough.” Harley stood and sealed the deal with a businesslike handshake.

      Her going complicated things for him.

      He just knew it. So it made no sense that he felt like smiling.

       CHAPTER THREE

      VINCE BOUGHT HARLEY a plane ticket.

      He packed a bag that included a dark blue suit, matching socks and tie, dress shoes, and an overly starched white shirt.

      He took apart Harley’s tile saw.

      Like his head, it was a mess. Bushings. Armature. Casing. All ruined. He spent a lot of time searching online for parts and thinking about the week ahead.

      But a little voice kept whispering that this trip was as disastrous as Harley’s tile saw. He didn’t just want her to sell the idea that they were dating. He wanted her to sell the idea that they’d been dating for months. And that would require more than a businesslike handshake. That would require more fence-mending between them. That would require answers to questions she hadn’t asked and hadn’t thought of; ones he didn’t want to deal with.

      Intending to get her on board with his plan before they left, Vince picked Harley up at her apartment complex on the east side of Houston. She was waiting out front in a yellow tank top and blue jeans, a small duffel bag and a backpack at her feet. Her hair was in its usual long, blond braid and her blue eyes were covered by sunglasses.

      She hopped into the truck with a simple, “Hi,” setting her things on the floorboard and making herself comfortable.

      He’d expected at least one suitcase, if not two. And maybe a dress or something a bit more feminine for the trip. It was her day off. Usually on her day off or nights out when she had time to СКАЧАТЬ