The Rancher's Fake Girlfriend - Leslie North Page 0,10

Playful. It warmed Hannah’s heart to see a grown man not afraid to look silly in order to make a child laugh.

“What are you three up to?” Noelle asked as she joined them. She was holding Lucy in her arms and grinning at Hannah and Chad like a victorious matchmaker.

“Good morning, Noelle,” Hannah said. She lowered her voice. “We’re just doing what all happy couples do. Are we convincing?”

“Definitely!” Noelle laughed as she shifted Lucy to her other hip. She pointed at Aria. “Are you really going to race with the stroller?”

Hannah shrugged. “No babysitter. We’ve been running together for years, so we’ll be fine.”

“No big deal—I don’t mind waiting for you at the finish line,” Chad said as he stretched out his quads.

“That’s what you think,” Hannah snapped back at him. “Do you even run? Did you train for this?”

“Uh oh,” Noelle said under her breath.

“Considering I just found out I had to do it two days ago as a part of my ‘campaign,’ no. But real ranchers stay in shape. The work we do trains us to face anything every day. Just watch, little lady.” He winked at her.

“That’s not fair, Chad,” Noelle said. “She’s running with an extra fifty pounds. Hannah, let me watch Aria during the race so you can have a fair chance against this show-off.”

Hannah didn’t even stop to think. “Yes, please,” she answered, staring at Chad as he flexed and preened.

The race organizer’s voice came over the loudspeaker, calling the runners to line up at the starting point. Hannah scanned the crowd as she and Chad took their places and spotted Jett, and then Shane with Drew on his shoulders. They waved at her and gave her a thumbs-up.

Her heart filled with a sense of belonging. Even though nothing that was going to happen with Chad was real, the support of his family seemed sincere and made her hopeful that even when the fake relationship was over, new friendships would remain. She smiled and looked out at the crowd again, hoping to spot Matilda among them, but stopped when her eyes landed on the figure looming a foot above most of the crowd.

Tripp.

He wasn’t focused on her, but he was looking through the crowd like he was trying to find someone.

“Hey,” Hannah said softly, bumping into Chad’s shoulder like they were just sharing a private moment. “He’s here.”

He frowned. “Well, I’m here too.” He gazed into Hannah’s eyes and nodded. It was a look that said he had her back, and she instantly felt a sense of calm spread through her body.

A few seconds later the starter pistol went off. The crowd in front of them started to drift away.

“You ready?” Chad asked her with a gleam in his eyes. “Because the real race starts now.”

Hannah didn’t answer, but instead took off in the space that had opened up in front of her. Chad seemed caught off guard by jackrabbit start and bounded after her.

Three miles later they were ahead of the rest of the pack and running in step beside each other. The endorphins had kicked in early, and Hannah felt like she could run another three miles. She looked over at Chad and noticed that his face was tomato-red, and his breathing was uneven, but he looked determined to keep going. She assessed him out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t that he was out of shape because the rippling leg muscles were hard to miss. It was that he didn’t know how to pace himself, and his gait was too long. But his desire to beat her seemed to give him the drive he needed to push through his discomfort.

The finish line came into view too soon for Hannah’s liking.

“You ready for the last sprint?” she asked Chad.

He nodded, breathing heavy.

“Let’s go,” she replied, picking up her pace.

Chad rose to the challenge and met her speed no matter how many times she tried to leave him in the dust. He looked like he was miserable, but he clearly wasn’t about to let her win. They pushed each other to run faster as the finish line got closer. Hannah pulled ahead for a split second, but Chad caught up to her with a woosh, and they crossed the finish line at the exact same time.

The crowd exploded when it was confirmed that they had tied, and Hannah reflexively reached out to Chad to give him a quick, sweaty hug. He panted as they briefly connected, and the second she

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