Her Blind Date Cowboy - Taylor Hart
Chapter 1
It’d been three years since he’d proposed on the beach.
Three years since she’d broken his heart.
Liam sat on Bondi Beach in Australia. This was same beach where he’d proposed to Evie all those years ago—the same beach where she’d initially said yes, then … turned him down.
He’d been denied. Hard core.
Restlessness spurred him into moving. He stood, then traipsed down to the waterline and started into a jog. He ran and ran and ran until he wasn’t sure what part of the beach he was on, other than that he was far from his hotel.
When he slowed to a stop, he stretched his arms over his head. All the thoughts of that day rushed over him, threatening to drag him under: the plane ride to Australia, followed by standing on Bondi Beach and wishing he could change the past.
He was seized by the memory of how Evie had clung to him when he’d proposed. She’d cried after she’d given the ring back. “Liam, I’m sorry.” Her voice had been barely audible. “I can’t marry you. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” She’d been looking at the ground.
He’d taken her by the shoulders and gently shaken her. “Evie, talk to me.” It’d been their plan, their running joke, for one full year. He’d written so many great love ballads as during their separation. This was supposed to be their time. A tear had run down his cheek. “Evie, why? Why?”
At this point, she’d met his gaze and shown him another world of pain. She’d extracted herself from him and said, “I can’t tell you right now, Liam. I can’t tell you.”
“Bull you can’t tell me, Evie. Bull.”
She’d closed in on herself and covered her face.
He’d let her cry for a long time, wondering what to do. “How can I help you, Evie? Please, I hate seeing you in all this pain. Please tell me how I can help you.”
“I’m … already engaged to Trey. I’m sorry. I thought maybe things could be different, but they can’t.” She’d brushed out of his grasp and ran.
Even now, the whole scene didn’t sit right with Liam. The recurring memory confused him, leaving him staring off into space or abandoning song after song. Grief would creep in at random times as he mourned for a life he couldn’t have. He’d seen no sign that she would have refused him, no sign that his trip to Australia the first time would be such a failure. He’d been so crushed that he’d gotten back on the plane and never looked back—until now.
The past three years had been some of the worst for him, yet they’d been some of the best at the same time. With the band breaking out a little over a year ago, the Summervilles were hot right now. In fact, it was the week before Christmas, and the Summervilles had been asked to come to Sydney and perform Christmas Eve on live television at the Opera House.
All of them had been stoked. Yet a layer of pain soured that excitement. His whole family knew how hard this was for him. When Liam had insisted he come for a week by himself before the rest of the family came, they’d made objections all around. But he needed it. If nothing else, he would prove to himself that he was over her.
Liam hadn’t dated Evie long before she’d gone into AVI. The total time he’d known her was five days. He’d known her more through letters and Skyping. He would have bet everything on marrying her, until that day. Now he was here for the closure that had eluded him.
He sighed and finished the walk back to the posh Hilton hotel, pulling out his card to show the attendant as he walked into the lobby. It was a fancier hotel than he’d ever imagined staying in when he was younger. He pressed the elevator button and got on, waiting for the suite at the top that required private access.
When the door opened up into his suite, he made a beeline for the bottles of water on the counter, and he ripped off a bottle cap before taking a long drink. He moved to his ocean-side view and guzzled even more, all of his thoughts still meshed and cluttered.
He didn’t even know what had happened to Evie. She’d told him that she would marry Trey—the backstabbing, lick-the-boots-of-her-father man that he was. Liam assumed that Trey was continuing to rise up in the company; he was sure they still