Page 18 of My Billionaire Cowboy Protector

“I was wondering if you would go to a two-day family Fourth of July celebration with me and pretend to be my fiancé.”

Lane realized that he was holding his breath. He had no idea how he managed to get himself into this predicament.

“Are you nuts?”

“I know it sounds crazy. My mom is always hounding me about going to these events alone. she called me this morning and asked who I was bringing she started her usual spiel. I blurted out that I was engaged to a woman named Taylor and she insisted that I bring her to the celebration.”

“Sorry, I can’t help you there. Good luck,” Taylor said.

Lane was pretty sure that Taylor really did think that he was completely insane for suggesting it.

“I’ll just tell Mom the truth and she’ll have to be mad at me. She won’t talk to me for a few weeks,” Lane muttered to himself as he walked back toward the house.

Colton and Willow met him halfway.

Willow had a huge smirk on her face. “Is there something you would like to tell us, Big Brother?”

“I understand congratulations are in order. There wasn’t even an announcement at breakfast. We had to hear the news from Mom,” Colton added, with a wicked grin of his own.

They both knew exactly what had happened.

“A fake engagement? Really?” Willow asked. “I didn’t think that you would stoop so low.”

“I know,” Lane moaned. “I was just trying to get her to stop going on at me.”

“You should have known better,” Colton said. “Now, she has sent out announcements to every single person that she knows. It’s on her social media pages and she texted everyone.”

“Oh, Lord,” Lane said.

“You’re going to need His help to get out of this one,” Willow said. “I suggest you start praying now.”

“You could just tell Mom that Taylor already has other plans and can’t join us. Then, later on, you can say that things didn’t work out,” Colton said.

“I could, but she would fly down here to meet Taylor and try to talk her into coming. Taylor would be overwhelmed by Mom.”

“Yeah. I asked Taylor if she would go with me and pretend to be my fiancé for a couple of days.”

“I can imagine her response. That girl is a spitfire,” Colton said.

“That she is,” Lane agreed.

Caroline, Lane’s mother, answered on the first ring. “I’m just so excited for you. This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened. I can’t wait to meet her. Do you know what her favorite color is? We’ll make that the theme color for the wedding.”

“Mom, I need you to stop and listen for a second.”

“I don’t have time for that, Honey. I have some last-minute details to handle for the celebration. Plus, we just have to have an announcement party. It can be a small one – just a hundred or so people,” Caroline said, all in one breath.

“I need to tell you…,” Lane said.

“I can’t wait to meet Taylor. You could invite her parents and other family to come too. Just let me know how many. I think I can fit about twenty or more people in.”

“Mom, please…”

“Oh, that’s your father on the other line. I have to take his call. I’ll talk to you later. Love you. Bye.”

“That went well,” Lane groaned. He figured that the conversation would go something like that.

His mind spun the rest of the day. He had no idea how he would be able to get out of this jam that he managed to get himself into. Lane’s phone had been buzzing all day with incoming text messages congratulating him on the engagement. At least thirty emails were sitting in his inbox.

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