Page 5 of Tying the Knot with her Sweet Scrooge

“Shut up.” And looked up to see the dawning awareness on Ortega’s face. The man barked out a laugh, fist-pumped the air, and did a little jig.

“I knew it,” Ortega crowed in delight. “It’s the ‘Or Something’, isn’t it? A man only giggles like a dork for a few reasons and you’re not naked – cause if you were, then Larry-the-Cow might not be the only one screaming in fright, wanting to gouge my eyes out with a rusted fork. I mean, we’re all built the same, but I have no reason to ever wanna see the…”

“ORTEGA!” Houghton snapped, jumping to his feet. “Do you ever shut up? I mean, seriously,do you?”

The man shrugged indifferently before giving him a sideways glance and shoving his hands in his pocket, smirking.

“Sooo… what’s the big secret?”

“Whatsecret?”

“Well, if you aren’t diddling Larry-the-Cow…”

“Oh, heaven help me,”Houghton muttered, interrupting the sarcastic man and dragging a hand down his face. The man had no boundaries in the slightest, and it made him wonder how Lena ever found her way around falling for the guy and not choking him to death in his sleep. Ortega was annoying, bordering on harassment.

“Then you must have something pretty big planned for Jill, which explains why she’s been moping and avoiding talking to Lena. And you know if it affects my girl, it’s nowmyproblem.”

And Houghton peered through his fingers on his face in disbelief. The man had guessed immediately that he had something up his sleeve.

“What? I might be a jerk – but I’m asmartjerk. So, spill the beans, or I can start guessing again until I figure it out and can fix it. Lena wants girl-talk and with Christine in Texas, Daphne off doing who-knows-what with Collins; that leaves the new chick due to arrive any day now, right?”

“Lyndsey?”

“Whatever,” Ortega shrugged. “Griffin’s ‘Po-Po-Princess’is probably some goth chick with weird fetishes – and you are putting her in the cabin with the Boy Scout who has PTSD? I had no idea you were so twisted…and I love it.”

“You realize ‘Po-Po’ is derogatory, right?”

“So is calling a girl ‘Princess’ to some women, the term ‘chick,’ ‘goth,’ and sooo many more words I use on a daily basis. I’m just a derogatory kinda guy, I suppose.”

“You are, but you are also pushing to try to get your way.”

“I could help you get your way if you trusted me with this big ol’ secret,” Ortega grinned playfully – and Houghton sighed, looking at the man and realizing that this wasn’t going to be a secret for very much longer. No, he needed to handle this, startputting his plans into motion, and repair whatever was broken with his wife.

“It’s a huge secret…” Houghton said guardedly.

Ortega clapped his hands together gleefully, rubbing them with delight.

“I’m in, dude – what can I do to help?”

CHAPTER 3

JILL

“Idon’t understand,” Jill said softly, staring at Lena. The woman had arrived at the ranch to heal from her addiction and had been paired up with Ortega. The two fell in love, much like how she had fallen for her sweet Babe so many years ago.

Jill closed her eyes and hung her head, remembering those first moments so vividly despite the years that have passed. She had been volunteering to help out at a Christmas charity event – only to see her friend from high school show up out of the blue, dressed in uniform, with a couple of friends.

“What are you doing here?” she crowed happily, hugging Dasher in disbelief. “Look at you – why, you almost look like a man!”

“Oh gosh, Jill… you are killing me,” Dasher grinned nervously, yanking on his collar. “The military is hard on you, but it’s a good-sorta ‘hard’ and makes you stronger. I’ve gained at least twenty pounds of muscle.”

“You need to work on gaining that weight in your head,” she retorted, laughing as they shared a look. It was so easy to talk to Dasher and always had been, but she hadn’t seen him in at least two years… maybe three. The scrawny kid she knew was gone, and in his place was a person with a heart of gold.

A true friend.

“Soooo,” Dasher drawled slowly, trying to be playful as she rolled her eyes. “Are you still single?”

“Are you asking me out – again? Don’t you remember how painfully awkward that was to begin with, and I think that I’d prefer someone a…” his laughter interrupted her.

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