The Rancher's Fake Girlfriend - Leslie North Page 0,7

Tripp doesn’t intimidate me.”

He glanced at Hannah and she was looking at everyone but Chad.

“What if you had more opportunities to help Hannah? And what if it could benefit both of you?”

“Would someone please explain to me what’s going on?” Chad exclaimed. “You sound like you’re doing an infomercial.”

Hannah let out a giggle, seemingly in spite of herself.

“Okay, here’s my idea.” She paused. “What if you pretend to be Hannah’s boyfriend?”

“Her what?”

Chad leaned over the sink in the kitchen, refilled his glass, and gulped it dry. He wished it were beer, but he needed to be sober for the conversations to come.

Noelle’s explanation of the fake boyfriend scenario made sense, but it also made zero sense. No one would believe it! Chad’s reputation as a ladies’ man stretched into the next county, so the idea that he’d be willing to settle down would get more laughs than his attempt to run for the Cattlemen’s chairman. The last damn thing he wanted was to give everyone another excuse to laugh at him. Not when he was dead set on finally getting people to take him seriously.

He shook his head. He wanted to help Hannah, but this wasn’t the way to do it.

The swinging door to the kitchen opened, and Chad was shocked to see Hannah herself. She’d been quiet throughout most of Noelle’s pitch, and he couldn’t tell if it was because she’d been bullied into the idea or she was mortified by it.

Or both.

“Hey, sorry about all of that,” she said, pointing over her shoulder. “It was Noelle’s idea to spring it on you in front of everyone.”

“So, she talked to you about it first?”

At that, she looked a little embarrassed. “Well, yeah. Briefly. But I didn’t realize how much thought she had put into it. It’s almost like she’s done this before or something.” Hannah shook her head.

Chad laughed. There actually was a story there, involving Noelle and Jett’s … unusual courtship. But now didn’t seem to be the time to get into it. “That’s Noelle for you.”

Hannah’s demeanor shifted. “You know, she’s right about one thing. I really could use some help. Some protection. Tripp isn’t letting up, and no matter what I do, he keeps pushing. When I tell him I’m not interested, he just interprets it as ‘try harder,’ and the harassment gets worse. If I make up an excuse, like you did today, then that puts him off for a little while … but it doesn’t work for long. If you and I pretended to be together … well, I get the feeling he doesn’t like you, and that might be enough to get him to back off.”

That much was true. Tripp didn’t like him, and it was mutual. But was that enough of a reason to try something so ridiculous?

They stood facing each other in silence. Once again Chad couldn’t help but notice how breathtaking she was. Her sundress loose but not so much so that it hid his other favorite asset. Or, assets.

“Are you staring at my chest?” Hannah asked incredulously.

“What? No! I was just thinking …”

She shook her head. “Wow, the rumors about you being a horndog are definitely true.”

“Exactly! And that’s why this wouldn’t work out.”

But instead of nodding in agreement, she stood her ground. “Noelle didn’t get a chance to explain another part of the, uh, arrangement. There’s something in it for you too.”

Chad couldn’t imagine what they’d offer that would make this plan sound any less crazy, but he figured he at least owed it to Hannah to hear her out. “Go on.”

“She told me that you want to win the regional Cattlemen’s chairman position, and I can help you do that. It’s sort of what I … I mean, it’s something I think I’m good at.”

He was pretty sure that she’d been about to say that it was sort of what she did. Why had she cut herself off? “What do you mean? Were you in politics?”

Her voice was a little strained when she answered. “I’ve been politics adjacent in my past, and I know how to run social media campaigns. I’m pretty good at it, actually.”

Chad leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “How would that help me?”

At that, she relaxed a little, as if she felt that she was now on solid ground. “You need to change your image before people can envision you in a leadership position. You need to look stable, dependable, and forward-thinking. With the right types of appearances around Kingsley and