The Maverick's Wedding Wager. Joanna Sims

he told her in a no-nonsense manner. “Now that Logan is married to Sarah and Xander is happily married to Lily, my father will think he’s three sons down with only three more to marry off. And when my other brothers get engaged, we’ll get the marriage annulled.”

      “You really want to get back at your dad that much?”

      She saw a shift in Knox’s eyes, a flash of anger that disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, like a quick flash of light in the darkness.

      “Nobody controls me. He needs to learn that lesson, yes.” The rancher continued, “After the annulment, I’ll make sure you get to California. All expenses paid. In the meantime, as a bonus, you’ll be free to live your life without any hassle from your dad.”

      “As your wife.” She scrunched up her face at the thought. She had never equated marriage with freedom.

      “As my fake wife,” he said. “A marriage in name only. You do your thing and I’ll do mine.”

      “You know what, Knox? This is absolutely the most extreme way a man has tried to lure me into his bed. And there have been some doozies, let me tell you.”

      “I don’t want to sleep with you, Gen. I want to marry you.” He said it seriously, and then added as almost an unimportant aside, “Not that I don’t think you’re attractive.”

      “Gee thanks, Crawford.” She rolled her eyes at the way he delivered the compliment. “You really know how to make a woman feel all girly inside. Am I blushing?”

      As if the sarcasm didn’t register, he asked, “So, what do you think?”

      “What do I think?”

      He nodded.

      “I think,” Genevieve said in a slow, thoughtful tone, “thank you, but no thank you.” She gripped the doorknob. “Do me a favor, would you? Please put that check in the mail. My next client awaits.”

      Before she could open the door and walk out into the hall, she noted that Knox’s expression was cloudy. He had his head tilted downward and he was tapping his finger on the top of the desk, as if that action would help him find a way to change her mind. Logan had told her that Knox didn’t like to be wrong, he didn’t like to lose and he didn’t like to be told no. She and Knox had those three things in common.

      He looked up and pinned her with eyes that looked more black than brown in the moment.

      “I suppose all of those things I heard about you must’ve been a pretty big exaggeration then.” Knox’s words were laced with a challenge that made the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

      “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      “I heard that Genevieve Lawrence never backs down from a challenge.”

      Knox caught her off guard by skillfully tapping into one of her weaknesses.

      “I don’t.”

      “I also heard that Genevieve Lawrence has never lost a wager in the town.” This was said with a small challenging smile, as if he knew that he had just sunk the hook.

      “You heard right.” She found herself still standing there, gripping the doorknob. “I haven’t.”

      She had always been a tomboy who felt more comfortable hanging out with the boys than the girls. And, for the most part, the boys had accepted her as one of their own. But they thought, wrongly, that because she was a girl she would be easy to beat. She wasn’t. The boys in town had always made bets with her and they had always lost. When the boys grew into men, they still lost. What she lacked in strength, she more than made up for it with an innate desire to win. She had been competitive since she was a kid and that had never changed. Everyone knew Genevieve was the reigning champion for winning wagers in Rust Creek Falls; it was a title she wore with pride. And she planned on leaving this town undefeated.

      There was a cockiness lurking behind Knox’s dark eyes that made her jaw clench. This was the exact look cowboys gave her right before she beat them at tractor chicken. No matter how big or tough, the braggadocios all blinked and ended up driving their tractor into a ditch while she kept right on driving her tractor on the road. She never blinked.

      “Then,” Knox said as he took a step toward her, his tone steady and serious, “I dare you to marry me.”

      She’d always had a bit of a temper and it had gotten her in trouble more times than she could remember. She took a step toward Knox.

      “You dare me?”

      “That’s what I said.”

      “You dare me?” she repeated, surprised that he had thrown down a gauntlet that he had to know she wouldn’t be able to resist picking up.

      “You’ll be married by morning, Crawford, so you’d better watch who you’re daring to do something.” She jabbed her finger in his direction, her cheeks flushed.

      “Naw, I doubt it. I bet you won’t marry me.” She hated the fact that there was smugness in his tone now. “You’ll chicken out.”

      Chicken out? Did he actually know that those words were like waving the proverbial red flag in front of the meanest bull in Rust Creek Falls? “I never chicken out, Knox.”

      “Neither do I.”

      Genevieve slipped her phone out of her back pocket, typed in a search, and then scrolled through the information on the website she chose. She held out the phone for Knox to see. “We can drive to Kalispell tomorrow, get a license and get married the same day. No waiting.”

      “That doesn’t scare me.” He smiled at her. “Does it scare you?”

      “Nothing scares me.” She kept searching for information about getting married in nearby Kalispell. “There’s a problem.”

      “What’s that?”

      “We need someone to officiate the wedding and it says here we need to book months in advance.”

      “That’s not a problem. I know a guy I can call.”

      “You know a guy?”

      “Yeah. I know a guy. I’m sure he’ll be able to squeeze us into his schedule.”

      “How romantic.” Genevieve slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Meet me tomorrow morning, eight o’clock outside of the Gold Rush Diner.” Genevieve pushed open the door, bristling mad. “If you show up, we’ll go get ourselves hitched.”

      “I like the sound of that.” Knox held out his hand. “Shall we shake on it?”

      Her hand slipped easily into his. “We enter into a platonic marriage and then when we get an annulment you pay all of my expenses to move to California—including moving my horse, Spartacus.”

      “My word is my bond as a man.”

      “My word is my bond as a woman,” she countered as she tugged her fingers free.

      She had meant to call his bluff, but it had backfired. Instead of backing down, he’d stepped up.

      He picked up a long piece of greenish alfalfa hay off the floor, quickly tied it into a small circle and, with his straight white teeth showing in a genuine smile, he knelt down before her on one knee and extended the makeshift ring.

      “Genevieve Lawrence, will you do me the honor of being my fake bride?”

      “You’re being ridiculous.”

      “Don’t ruin this special moment for me.” He moved the hay ring back and forth for her to see. “It’s not every day I get engaged.”

      “Fine,” she said with an annoyed sigh as she held out her left hand. “I will be your fake bride, Knox. But only if you show up tomorrow.”

      The cowboy stood