Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (58)

And damn if I don’t wanna do it again.

“Okay, what’s left on the list?” I ask once we pull apart.

“Over here…” He leads us into the freezer section and pulls out a bag.

“Fish sticks?” I wrinkle my nose.

“Hey, I thought this was a judgment-free zone.”

“Since when?” I muse.

“Since I learned you don’t eat soup.”

I roll my eyes. “Chicken tenders I could respect, but these? Very questionable tastes…”

“In the air fryer they get nice and crispy, then I eat ’em with mayo and ketchup.” He presses three fingers to his puckered lips. “Delicious little snack.”

“The more I get to know you, the more past Ellie might’ve had a point…”

He pokes my side, making a bursting squeal come out of my mouth, and then he does it again to my other side when I twist around trying to escape him.

“You’re ticklish? This is great information to have.”

“I’m not! No, get away from me!” I giggle as I try to escape his stupidly long arms.

“Ellie? Hey.”

A male voice halts my laughter, and I come face to face with a man I don’t recognize.

He has shaggy blond hair and every two seconds whips it out of his eyes. He opens his arms as if he wants to hug me.

But I’ve never seen this man in my life.

At least I don’t think so.

“Do I know you?” Alarm bells go off in my head as I step backward and away from him.

He ignores my hint at wanting space and comes closer, quickly eyeing Landen before focusing on me. “I’m Gage. We met a few weeks ago at one of your races. I work with your dad. We hung out at the rodeo…”

I tilt my head, studying him for any resemblance. “Sorry, I don’t remember you.”

“We talked about your horse, Ranger…”

Anyone who knows about my career could easily look up my horse’s name, so I’m still not convinced I’ve actually met this man before.

“I had an accident a couple weeks ago and got a concussion.” I point to my head bandage. “My memory is very hit-and-miss right now.”

“I bought you a churro. You complimented my boots,” he continues, then shows them off.

They literally look like any other brown cowboy boots.

“I-I’m sorry…I—”

His face reddens as his hands ball into fists. “That’s bullshit! Stop actin’ like you don’t know who I am!”

I flinch at his raised voice and back into Landen’s chest. He squeezes my shoulders before stepping in front of me and pushing me behind him. “You better watch your goddamn mouth before I put my fist inside it.”

“And who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Landen, her fiancé.”

My what?

I stand next to Landen to peek up at his face. All hard lines and a tense jaw.

He’s not playing around.

“Since when?” Scowling, he crosses his arms. “Mr. Donovan said she was single when he hired me.”

“Well, he’s mistaken. She’s not,” Landen says firmly.

Gage sizes up Landen, which is a bad fucking idea considering how tall and muscular he is. Landen grew up on a ranch doing manual labor. I have no doubt he’d know how to kick someone’s ass if he had to.

“I don’t believe that.” Gage snarls. “How does someone go from single to engaged in a matter of a month?”

Good fucking question.

But also, mind your business.

“Sorry that you got the wrong information, but even if I wasn’t engaged, I wouldn’t be interested,” I explain, playing along with this stupid plan.

“Why not?” he asks, reaching out toward me. “Your dad thought we’d make a great couple.”

“Listen…Gage, is it?” Landen wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. “Last year, I shot a man in the dick for tryin’ to hurt my best friend. Imagine what I’ll do to a man who harasses my fiancée.”

He did what? There’s no way…

My gaze snaps to Landen again and he looks more entertained than anything by Gage’s attempt to coerce me. But I’m not sure if he’s telling the truth or not. If my dad thought that, I’m going to have a few questions about his taste in men for me.

“That was you?” Gage asks.

Wait, it’s true?

Furrowing my brows, I whisper, “You actually did that?”

He leans above my ear. “Yep, but trust me, past Ellie wasn’t impressed.”

Considering the lack of context, I’m not sure if I should’ve been or not.

“Yep, and he lost both of his balls,” Landen replies to Gage. “Now he sits in prison with a permanent reminder.”

Gage finally smartens up and backs up. “Yeah…we’ll see what Mr. Donovan has to say about that.” He shoots him one final glare before walking out of the aisle.

As soon as he’s out of view, I release a deep breath. “Why did you say we were engaged?”

He tips his hat. “You’re welcome.”

“For what? Now my parents are gonna hear about it and have several questions.”