Page 8 of The Wrangler Takes a Wife

“Two weeks is completely and utterly out of the question.”

“Six months doesn’t work for me. I need these women off my back yesterday. I was raised to be a gentleman, but I’m not sure how long I can go before I abandon ship and really hurt one of their feelings.”

“Hurt their feelings then. Most of your suitors are used to it.”

“Scotcheroo, that sounds really mean spirited.”

“What the hell is a Scotcheroo?”

“A name. I was trying out.”

“Wrangler, I won’t answer to that.” She speared him with a look, letting him know she meant business. “I’m willing to do three months.”

“Two weeks.” After taking the last bite of his meal, he pushed his plate away.

“You suck at negotiating,” Amara mused.

“Now who said anything about negotiating, Honey Bunch? I know what I want.”

“You need to be flexible. Two months. Honey Bunch is the worst one yet.”

“I don’t see the point of being flexible about this. One week, Kitten.”

Amara blustered. He’d taken away a week. She was unwilling to unpack her body’s reaction to the way he said the word, Kitten.

“One week is ridiculous.”

“Which is why I suggested two weeks in the first place.” He held his hand out for a handshake. Amara just looked at it.

“If I agree to this arrangement, fine two weeks, but it’s a no to Kitten.”

“Now, that one hurts. I could have gotten used to calling you Kitten.” The insufferable man had the audacity to wink at her.

Chapter Four

Amara

Amara wasn’t happy.Fuck Chase Harrison.It was her day off, the one day she didn’t go into the diner at all. She was lying in bed at her cottage on Welch land. The sun was barely up, and she was awake! Completely and fully conscious.Total bullshit.She had been trying to get back to sleep for the last hour. The mornings of her day off were supposed to begin with her sleeping in. Then a little lounging. Followed by trying out a new recipe. That was her normal routine, one she had enjoyed for years.

Not today though. She was up at the crack of dawn. Last night was the third time in a row Chase had visited the diner. She decided to move forward with the agreement and told him so. Later today, they were going to meet at Jo’s office to sign the document renting the land to her. She had asked for the land to be signed over to the family, but he declined.“As far as anyone will know, I gave my wife a gift. It’s simpler that way.”The Welches would be given use of the land on their wedding day,and its ownership would officially be transferred over to Amara two years later.

To be clear, it would be signed over to Amara Harrison. Not Welch. They had an argument about that.“I don’t want to take your last name.”

“Do I look like the kind of man that would marry a woman who wouldn’t take his name?”

“I don’t know and don’t care. It’s fake! Who cares if I take your name?”

“I do. While our marriage might not be conventional. It better not look or feel fake,” he’d shot back.Until that point, Chase had been very easygoing and jovial about the entire matter. However, now his green eyes blazed.

“Then you can pick someone else.”

“I don’t want anyone else. It has to be you.”His admission had shocked both of them. Chase’s eyes widened before he pivoted quickly.“There was one other option. This one woman left a chilli dish, with chunks of meat, white beans, and corn. I was tempted to eat it. She left her name on the tag. Crap, what was it?” He snapped his fingers. “Elaine, that was it!”

“You should have eaten it,” Amara told him.

He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Was it served with triangle shaped corn bread?” Chase nodded at her inquiry. “Elaine got it from the diner. I was wondering why she ordered so much damn chilli. The nerve of that heifer. Passing my food off as her own. I have a good mind to go over to her parents’ ranch, and demand she make some chilli on the spot.”

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