The Billionaire Glitch Date - Elle James Page 0,46

slug in the face.

Yeah, his mood wasn’t great, but it was all he had.

He climbed down from his truck, checked the BODS app on his phone for a photograph of Melanie Armstrong so that he could recognize her when he saw someone who looked like her.

Tall, dark and slender.

When he looked around the parking lot for a dark-haired woman, his gaze was drawn to a bright splash of red hair. Ariana? She stood by herself next to her vehicle, looking around the parking lot just like him.

He willed her to turn his way as he walked toward her. She didn’t. Instead, she smiled and waved at a dark-haired, athletic man striding toward her.

Dillon’s footsteps faltered, and he ground to a stop as Ariana held out her hand to the man and he smiled at her. He wore nice khaki trousers and a white polo shirt. He looked like a man who was comfortable in a boardroom or in a gym.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“Dillon Jacobs?” a female voice said from behind him.

He turned to face a beautiful dark-haired woman with brown eyes. She wore form-fitting yoga pants, running shoes and a light blue tank top that fit her slender body to perfection Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and her makeup was minimal and tasteful. She was just the kind of woman Dillon would have taken out on a date…before Ariana.

Now, all he could think about was how soon he could ditch her and head out to the ranch. He needed to muck stalls or ride out to the farthest pasture and pound some fence posts, anything to take his mind off another man putting his hands on Ariana’s petite body.

He forced a smile for the woman. “Yes, I’m Dillon.”

She held out her hand. “Melanie Armstrong.”

When he took her hand in his, she squeezed hard, as if she had something to prove.

Dillon returned the pressure, a degree lighter. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same. Thanks for picking a public location. You never know who you’ll meet with dating services.”

Dillon raised his eyebrows. “You do many of the dating apps?”

She shrugged. “I’ve tried a few. Leslie says hers is different. I hope so.” She tilted her chin toward the tents, fire trucks and equipment displays. “This looks like fun. Leslie said there’s games and competitions. I wouldn’t mind joining. Where can we sign up?”

“They usually have the signup sheets at the fire station.” He looked over her shoulder in the direction he’d seen Ariana. She was gone.

Just as well, he didn’t need to ruin her date by staring at them all day.

“Come on, I’ll show you where it is.” He led the say to the station where they signed up for the tug of war, adding their names to a team halfway full. They also signed up for the three-legged race and the egg race.

“The tug of war is first,” Mel said. “We should go find our team. We’re on number five.”

They found Team 5 and lined up alongside a rope stretched across a pit of mud.

“I didn’t know they were going to get serious about this.” Dillon looked skeptically at the pit. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I read the descriptions of the events and came dressed to play.” She smiled and lifted the rope. “Let’s do this.”

The other team fell in beside their end of the rope. When Dillon looked across at their competition, he had to swallow a groan.

Ariana and her date were in the middle of the team, holding the rope.

Her date gripped the rope like he knew what he was doing.

Dillon sized up both teams and smiled. His team had it in the bag. At the last minute, a woman joined his team. Okay. They had this, no problem.

The referee stepped up to the rope and settled a whistle between his lips. Before he could blow, another man approached the opposing team.

Dillon and his team groaned.

The man had to be six feet seven, if not taller, and probably weighed over three hundred pounds. He took a position at the end of their line and grabbed the rope in his big, meaty hands.

“It’s about to get interesting,” Mel said with a grin. “I hope you don’t mind getting dirty.”

The referee blew the whistle, and the teams leaned backward, digging their feet into the ground.

With the big guy on the other end, Dillon’s team didn’t stand a chance.

Inch by inch, Team 5 lost ground, although they fought valiantly.

The front member of the team soon