Page 13 of Wrangling a Texas Hometown Hero

Chapter Four

Hallie Holiday had never spoken in a soft voice.

Jace’s heart leapt into his throat as he glanced back at Decker and Sweetie to see if they’d overheard. Thankfully, they were too engrossed in each other to be paying attention—not to mention the band Liberty and Belle had hired was loud. The other people dancing around them hadn’t seemed to overhear either.

Jace had dodged a bullet. But since Hallie had always been unpredictable, he wasn’t willing to chance her blurting anything else out. Taking her hand, he quickly pulled her off the dance floor and outside. Once they were on the side of the barn, he turned to her.

“What the hell are you doing, Hallie?”

She jerked her hand from him. “That’s a good question, Jace. But it should be directed at you. What the hell are you doing still mooning over my sister?”

“I wasn’t mooning over your sister.” But it was a lie and Hallie knew it.

She glared at him. “Maybe mooning isn’t the right word. Maybe acting like a lovesick idiot is a more fitting description. Do you or do you not still have feelings for my sister?”

It was hard to lie when staring into those knowing green eyes. He looked away and sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” She forced a sharp laugh. “That is such bullshit. You know. You just don’t want to look like the pathetic asshole you are.”

That hurt. It was one thing to think he was a pathetic asshole and another for the girl who had once idolized him to think it. And she wasn’t done yet assaulting his character.

“And to think that I almost felt sorry for you that you couldn’t play football anymore. But you’re just an arrogant jerk who is used to everyone bowing down and kissing your ass. It makes me sick to my stomach that I had sex with you.”

“Jesus, Hallie.” He glanced around. “Lower your voice.”

“Right. We need to keep that a secret. We wouldn’t want anyone to know you had sex with the little sister of the woman you’re still in love with.” He cringed, but she didn’t let up. “Because that’s why you had sex with me, isn’t it, Jace? I look like Sweetie.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you were a straight-A student. Sweetie and I look enough alike that you wouldn’t have to pretend too hard.”

He stared at her as anger flared. “Wait one damn second. That had nothing to do with us having sex.”

“Then why did you have sex with me?”

“The same reason you had sex with me. We were drunk and not thinking clearly. I don’t even remember most of it.” It was a lie, but a necessary one. “I doubt you do either.”

She glared at him. “Not a second. And I thank my lucky stars for that.” He didn’t know why he felt like he’d been punched hard in the gut. Since when had she gotten so good at reading him? “What?” she said. “Is Jace the Ace’s ego bruised? Can’t you accept that there are women in the world who don’t put you on a pedestal? I’m sure all the Junkies in your fan club would remember a night with you until the day they die. They probably never wash their sheets again after you have sex with them.”

“Stop, Hallie.”

“Why? Does it bother you that I know you’ve had sex with a lot of women? News flash, Jace! There are pictures all over the internet of you with supermodels and Canadian actresses. It didn’t look to me like you were suffering from a broken heart. Just to appease my curiosity, how many women have you been with since Sweetie broke it off with you? Five? Ten? A baker’s dozen?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is.” She stepped closer, her green eyes flashing with anger. “It’s my business when you show up to my sisters’ wedding and start acting all pitiful like Sweetie and Decker did you wrong. That’s bullshit and you know it! If someone did someone wrong, it was you doing Sweetie wrong. You never truly cared about her. All you ever cared about was football. Now that you don’t have that anymore, you’ve decided to blame your heartache on Sweetie and Decker. Well, grow up, Jace Carson! Sweetie and Decker didn’t screw up your life. They just found love and grabbed it with both hands. And if you can’t be happy for them, then you need to get the hell out of Wilder and never come back.”

She whirled to leave, then stopped and turned back around. “One more thing.” The punch she landed in his solar plexus had him bending over and sucking wind.

It took him a while to catch his breath. He stared at the toes of his boots as Hallie’s words circled around and around in his head. He had come to the wedding feeling like a pathetic fool. It looked like he would leave feeling even worse. Because now he wasn’t the only one who knew how far he’d fallen.

“That one reminds me a lot of myself.”

Jace recognized the smoker’s rasp immediately. He straightened as Mrs. Stokes separated herself from the shadows cast by the huge oak tree. He squeezed his eyes closed and mentally cussed. Could this night get any worse? When he opened them, she was standing much closer, holding up a cigarette.

“You wouldn’t have a lighter on you, would you? It seems Corbin stole mine out of my purse—but left my pack of cigarettes. Which is just plain cold hearted.”

Jace cleared the fear from his throat. “Sorry, but I don’t.”

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