Page 25 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

Poppy laughed, then her eyes widened. “Wait. You’re not that actor, are you?”

“It depends.”

Cassie sighed. “Don’t encourage him, Poppy. He needs to go.”

“And you’re here because you’re one of the actors on set, aren’t you?” Poppy gasped. “Does this mean you’ve taken Tanner’s role on As The Heart Draws?”

“Ah…” How was he supposed to explain that?

“Oh no!”

Okay. Not the reaction he’d expected.

Cassie sighed. “Poppy, can you please leave the man alone? He needs to go.” She stepped closer and hissed up at him, “See? You need to scram. You’re making things difficult.”

“No! He needs to stay.” Poppy’s chin tilted. “I have questions.”

“Save them for another day.” Cassie looked up at him. “Please leave. This is awkward enough already, and you staying is just making things worse.”

“But nobody is embarrassed except you,” Poppy said, before gesturing to where the half dozen other women were watching them. All they needed was popcorn. “Look, even Hannah is cool.”

But it was clear that Cassie wasn’t. Her lips compressed more tightly, even as Poppy called out “Hannah!” which elicited a wave from one of the women below.

He peered at her. Something about her face was familiar. “Wait—is that the sports reporter?”

“Hannah Wade.” Poppy slung an arm around Cassie’s shoulder. “Soon to be our sister-in-law.”

“Our?” He glanced back at Cassie. She ducked her head, her shoulders slumping. “No way. Is Franklin James—the hockey player for the Flames—is he your brother?”

“The one and the same,” a third woman, a brunette, joined them. “I’m Jess.”

“Harrison,” he said automatically, recognizing the similar features shared by the three women.

Jess peered at her sister then back at him. “Aha.”

Uh oh. That kind of look never boded well. “What has she said?”

“Nothing,” Cassie snapped, at the same time Jess said, “Nothing.”

“Ooh, but there’s definitely something.” Poppy smirked at Jess. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“One hundred percent.”

Cassie huffed out a breath. “Fine. Stay. Go. I don’t care what you do. But you should probably get Buddy out of the sun. It’s too hot and he’ll need a drink.”

“He could have a drink here.” He nudged Buddy to move forward.

“It’s too steep,” Cassie warned. “You need to be careful.”

Then, as if her words had lit a match, Buddy lowered his head to drink from the creek, and Harrison’s inattention triggered his clumsy genes again, and he tumbled off and landed in the creek with a splash.

Six

Splash!

Cassie froze, hands covering her mouth, her shoulders relaxing as Harrison stumbled upright, exclaiming about the icy cold water. Thank goodness the man hadn’t done himself a real injury.

“Oh my gosh. Are you okay?”

---