Page 49 of The Wrong Bachelor

“You guys did so well!” she exclaimed as she pulled back from hugging them.

“Us?” Teagan asked. “What about you?”

“Damn girl, you are fast,” Evan added.

“You would be too if you grew up being chased around the ice by your demon brother,” she replied.

Evan took hold of Madi’s shoulder and eyed her seriously. “If your brother’s a demon then sign me up for hell. He is one hot boy.”

She shook her head at him, her nose crinkled in a cringe. “Evan, please don’t say how hot my brother is. His ego is already way too big from hockey, we don’t need to add good looks into the equation.”

Evan laughed and gave a shrug. “I cannot help but speak the truth.”

“And here I thought you only had eyes for me,” I said, grinning at Evan as I joined them.

“Give me the final piece of your heart and maybe I’ll consider limiting my scope of vision to you,” Evan replied with a coy smile.

The guy was good at flirting, I had to give him that.

“So we have our four finalists,” Angus said, waving a hand at Evan, Madi, Teagan and Laurie. “For our final round we’ll be playing a little game I like to call Catch-a-Bach. Our bachelor, Cole, will have this handkerchief tucked loosely into the back of his pants. The first contestant to capture it gets a date alone with Cole.”

“I guess we should just give the date to Madi,” Laurie said, her lip curling in annoyance.

Madi glanced over at her with wide and concerned eyes. She was chewing on her lower lip, and again I found myself worried she was going to back out. Her gaze flickered to Angus though as he countered Laurie’s comment.

“You forget, Laurie, our bachelor will have his skates on too. This is as much a game of strategy as it is speed.”

That seemed to quieten Laurie and Angus gave the group a satisfied smile.

“Remember contestants, our bachelor isn’t easy to get. If you want to catch him, you’re going to have to be up for the chase.”

I felt a smile creep onto my lips, actually enjoying one of Angus’ lines for once. I certainly hoped Madi was listening.

Angus passed me a large handkerchief and I went about tucking it in the back of my pants so it hung down my backside, long enough that it would be easy for the contestants to yank out.

Angus leaned in close. “Make 'em work for it,” he murmured before he turned back to the contestants, a broad fake smile plastered on his lips once more. “Okay everyone, to your places.”

The contestants followed Angus toward a starting line at the other end of the rink.

“I hope you’re faster than you look, Kingston,” Madi said as she skated past me. There was a wicked glint in her eye, and I got the feeling she was looking forward to chasing me down.

“You saying you want to catch me, Matthews?” I asked.

“I’m saying I want to win. You can take that to mean what you like." She gave me a wink before skating off.

I stared after her, my heart thudding a whole lot faster than it had been a moment before.

“You ready, Cole?” Skye asked as she approached me.

I glanced at her but didn't respond. All I could think about was Madi’s cheeky response and her wink.

Was I ready for Madi to catch me?

“Cole?” Skye repeated.

“Yeah,” I said, coughing to clear my suddenly dry throat. “Let’s get this started. I’m ready to be caught.”

14

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