Rocky Mountain Wedding (12 page)

Oh, dear God. Oh, no.
He wasn't proposing. Not like this. Not in front of 20,000 people. Whatever happened to baking the ring in a cake? She'd gladly chip a tooth over this any day! Whatever happened to discussing things like marriage? A lifetime? Forever? Those weren't exactly spur-of-the-moment decisions.

“Make me the happiest man in the world.” The goofy grin expanded. “Marry me.”

“I'll marry you!” some woman behind her screamed.

Logan handed the mic off to Dad and dug in his pocket. Out came a baby blue Tiffany's box. When he flipped it open, a gargantuan emerald-cut diamond caught the sun.

A collective gasp hushed the crowd.

“
Mamacita!
” Vanessa yelped.

“Look at that rock!” someone else shouted.

Jaw hinged open, she stared at the prism-like diamond. It was wrong. All wrong. She'd always pictured her wedding ring as something of an antique, tried and tested by two people who'd weathered year after year of storms together. It would be a family heirloom, handed down to her future fiancé as a blessing when the stars aligned and he found his soul mate…

Logan slipped the imposter-ring on her finger and gazed into her eyes. “Avery?” The mic was still close enough to project his voice to the crowd.

Everyone quieted in anticipation of her answer.

Vanessa had officially invaded her personal space to inspect the ring.

Her body trembled. Could Logan feel it? Could he feel that she didn't love him? She
liked
him. A lot. A whole lot. They had fun. But love? Marriage? Forever?

Extreme terror scorched her cheeks and made her feel like she'd sat in the sun too long.
Oh, no. I'm gonna throw up.
Chest heaving, she wrapped her free arm around her stomach.

Logan squeezed her hand a little too desperately. “Avery King, will you marry me?” he repeated in case the whole world hadn't heard him.

“Uh…um…” The stares of twenty thousand people burned into her. “I…well…”

His arms flew around her neck. He kissed her hard, his lips like steel. Then he let go and waved to the crowd. “She will! She said she will!”

What?
Wait!
No! She'd said well.
Well
. For the love of everything holy, it was a completely different vowel sound! The words remained trapped in her frozen throat. Her hand was still splayed in front her, weighted down by at least three carats.

A cheer rose from the stands and swelled into a roar.

The loudspeaker played a wedding march.

Edward stood next to her, stiff as one of his marble statues, clapping like he was at the opera and the fat lady had sung.

Only Vanessa seemed to get it, seemed to realize she was drowning.

“Oh, boy,” her friend muttered, mimicking her own look of fear.

Hands jostled her shoulders. “Wanna chug?” The guys behind her held up their plastic beer cups in a mock toast.

“Ohhhh! How romantic!” shouted females, from ages eight to eighty. Best wishes for a happy life mixed with music and chants.

Her heart palpitated. Not in a happy,
ohmygoodness I'm getting married
pattern, but in a dreaded
thud, thud, thud
, that made her chest feel too crowded and small. Oh, this was bad. So very bad.

“I didn't say yes,” she whispered.

Vanessa nodded discreetly. She got it. Her eyes shifted as though searching for an escape, some way to end this before it got too ugly.

The blood drained from Avery's face and pooled in her chest. She couldn't marry him. She couldn't.

But…maybe she should go with it and give everyone a good show, a happy ending. It was the King thing to do, as her father would say. She glanced at Logan, at his broad, friendly smile. At the generous way he waved to all of his fans.

Her heart felt steeped in pain. She couldn't live a lie. Not even for five minutes.

He deserved more than that. She couldn't lead him on.

Slowly, she rose, legs shaky and weak.

Vanessa stood, too, arms outstretched, eye blaring a warning…
Don't do it, Avery. Not here. Not now.

But she had to.

Logan finished waving to the cameras and leaned into her for another hug.

“Wait.” She jutted out her arms to stop him.
Stop.
It had to stop. Her hands rested on his broad, muscular shoulders.

His eyes met hers.

Slowly, she shook her head back and forth.

A frantic look of understanding cranked open his mouth. “Oh, no. I…I thought you knew…I'm sorry…”

He was sorry because he realized it, too. What would happen if she said no in front of 20,000 of his most devoted fans? He had to realize it. He was Chicago's Golden Boy. Everyone loved him, which gave them every reason to hate her right now.

The crowd hushed as if they'd caught on that their little fairy tale wouldn't have a happy ending. She hated to burst their bubble, but the popping had to start somewhere.

“I'm sorry.” She tuned out the horrified gasps around her and kept her eyes trained on him. Because this was right, even if breaking his heart broke hers. “I can't do this. I can't marry you, Logan.”

For a moment, a deafening silence smothered everything, then a horrible booing rose up from the crowd.

Logan said something, his eyes worried and sad, but she couldn't hear…

Cold splashed against her back. The smell of beer overwhelmed her. Things flew at her—cups and hats and…oh no! Popcorn rained down over her head, the kernels sticking to the mess on her clothes.

“Avery!” Vanessa huddled against her and raised her coat over their heads.

“Get her out of here!” Dad yelled at some security guards who'd sprinted over to help. Hands gripped her shoulders and ushered her down the aisle. She couldn't see. Beer and soda dripped down her face. Ice cubes slid down her matted hair.

“That's right! Leave, bitch!” A woman yelled.

The hands of her security entourage pushed her forward, shielding her with their coats and bodies, following her father's directives.

Vanessa found her again, threw an arm around her and somehow kept her moving. Her feet stumbled down a series of steps.

“Don't come back!” a kid shouted.

“How could you do this to him?” some lady wailed.

“Go!” Dad commanded behind her. “Bring the car!”

Locked inside the security guards' shelter, she and Vanessa staggered on and on for what felt like miles. Her body shivered from the way her wet clothes clung to her skin. Boos still echoed from the stadium, but they grew softer.

Finally, the momentum stopped.

Wheels screeched somewhere nearby. The hands herded them into the limo and slammed the door.

Avery sank into the leather seat next to Vanessa and tried to remember how to breathe. Breathe. Just breathe.

“Here, honey.” Vanessa handed her a soft towel from the minibar.

She mopped her face. When her vision cleared, she saw her father's expression, the worry lines engraved in his forehead, the sad pull of his lips. It was the same look he'd worn at Mom's funeral, and then again every time he saw Avery in pain.

“Everything'll be fine,” he insisted, even though everything was
so
not fine. His eyes brightened. She could practically see the light bulb flicker on over his head. “Schedule the jet for Aspen,” Dad said to Van. “As soon as possible. We need to get her out of the city for a while. Might as well get some work done.”

There was no point in arguing. Logan's botched proposal was destined to be tomorrow's YouTube sensation. She wouldn't be able to walk down the street without getting yelled at. “Let the death threats commence,” she muttered.

“I'll get the PR department on it. We'll release a statement,” Dad said briskly, as if that was all that mattered. Like her ruined public image was what had finally freed her tears.

He should know better. She didn't care what people thought. She didn't care if the whole world hated her.

She gazed out the window at the place she loved so much, the only place where her mother's laugh came back to life in her memory.

An overwhelming sense of loss weighted her heart.

She'd lost so much more than the city's respect.

After what had just happened in there, she'd never be able to show her face at Wrigley Field again.

Sara Richardson grew up chasing adventure in Colorado's rugged mountains. She's climbed to the top of a fourteen-thousand-foot peak at midnight, swum through Class IV rapids, completed her wilderness first-aid certification, and spent seven days at a time tromping through the wilderness with a thirty-pound backpack strapped to her shoulders.

Eventually Sara did the responsible thing and got an education in writing and journalism. After a brief stint in the corporate writing world, she stopped ignoring the voices in her head and started writing fiction. Now she uses her experience as a mountain adventure guide to write stories that incorporate adventure with romance. Still indulging her adventurous spirit, Sara lives and plays in Colorado with her saint of a husband and two young sons.

Learn more at:

SaraRichardson.com

Twitter, @SaraR_Books

Facebook.com/SaraRichardsonBooks

No Better Man

Something Like Love

One Christmas Wish
(ebook)

More Than a Feeling

When it comes to business, Avery King always comes out on top. So after a very public breakup, work is the perfect excuse to flee the Windy City for the gentle breezes of Aspen, Colorado. Her mission: acquire the land of a rundown mountain ranch. Avery expects an easy win…until she meets the rugged and irresistible rancher who won't give up his property without a fight.

Bryce Walker is stunned by the stubborn beauty determined to get what she wants. But what she wants is his last connection to the life he used to have. Bryce has plans to return the ranch to its former glory and no way will he sell his family home. Yet the more time he spends with Avery, the more her sweet touch makes him forget his painful memories. Now Bryce must decide whether living in the past is worth losing his future…

Ben Noble needs to do some damage control. Fast. His heart has always been in ranching, but there's no escaping the spotlight on his high-powered political family. Now the only thing that can restore his reputation is a getaway to the fresh air of Aspen, Colorado. Not to mention that the trip gives Ben a second chance to impress a certain gorgeous mountain guide. But Paige Harper is nothing like the shy girl he remembers…She's so much more.

Paige is serious about Ben, too: seriously annoyed that the playboy cowboy is using
her
mountain for his PR. Once upon a time she'd fallen for Ben's aw-shucks charm, but the fairy tale didn't end happily. Paige doesn't intend to let down her guard again. But keeping their relationship all business and no pleasure may be harder than she thinks—especially if the moonlight, the Rockies, and a certain irresistible rancher have anything to say about it…

There's nothing like a Christmas wedding to warm a girl's heart—or to distract everyone else from the fact that one particular bridesmaid intends to quickly skip town. Julia Noble's accident was years ago, and she's tired of being overprotected. She
needs
to be on her own. But before she flees Aspen, Colorado, Julia wants to make sure her brother has the perfect wedding and all her ducks are in a row. Yet duty soon turns to pleasure when three days before the big day Julia runs into the only man she ever dreamed of marrying.

Fresh out of the navy, Isaac Nash just wants to feel normal again. But starting his new life means winning back the girl who captured his heart years ago. Isaac didn't know the truth behind the tragedy that changed Julia's life forever, and he can't stop blaming himself for not being there for her. After all this time, he knows that Julia is what he wants, this and every Christmas. Now Isaac just has to convince her that she's earned a miracle, too…

For Ruby James the Walker Mountain Ranch is her safe haven. Here in Aspen, Colorado, she can finally build a quiet life for herself without fear of her old one rearing its ugly head. Or so Ruby thinks. Any single woman would be happy to indulge a tall, dark, and curious cop—but the closer Ruby gets to him, the closer she gets to losing her newfound peace.

Police officer Sawyer Hawkins is no stranger to secrets. He's ready to leave town for good until a security threat brings him back to Walker Ranch, and Ruby's gorgeous green eyes soon have him second-guessing his decision to go. Her kindness and quiet strength awaken feelings he'd thought long buried, even as her reluctance to talk about her past worries him. The cop in Sawyer only wants the truth—but the man in him wants Ruby in his arms forever…