Read Online Cowboy in My Pocket by Kate Douglas - Free Book Online

set them aside.
    She turned and almost gasped aloud at her reflection. She’d never looked lovelier, she knew that. The gown was a bit snug, but it accentuated her narrow waist and full hips, the ivory satin a perfect counterpoint to her fair skin and the dark auburn hair waving softly across her shoulders.
    “When Tag sees me in this . . .” She looked up and caught Gramma Lenore’s tearful reflection.
    “He’ll know he asked the prettiest girl around to be his wife.” Lenore stepped closer and rested her hands on Lee’s shoulders. “I just know you and Tag are meant to be together. I feel it.”
    Lee closed her eyes against the truth. She couldn’t hurt Lenore, not when it meant so much to her to see her grandson married.
     
    “YOU SURE Buck knows all the words?” Tag glanced out his office window at an exact duplicate of Coop, a solitary figure dressed in black jeans, black coat and wrinkled white shirt, leaning against the porch railing while the rain fell steadily just beyond.
    Other than the fact the duplicate was taking regular sips from a small silver flask, every move, every mannerism, was Coop’s. The bandy legs and bushy brows, the thinning gray hair slicked to one side, even the slow, careful speech.
    “He’ll do fine,” Coop said, but Tag noticed his foreman’s fingers were crossed. “My baby brother always comes through for me. He looks up to me. I’m older.”
    Tag laughed. “Yeah, by three minutes. How your poor mama stood raising two of you is beyond me.”
    “I was always good to my mama.” Coop glared at Tag. “Don’t you forget it.”
    “Well, let’s just hope Buck manages to perform this ceremony before he passes out. Did you remember to water down the booze in that flask?”
    “That I did. Don’t you worry about Buck. He’s played the preacher in lots of community theater. He knows his lines.” Coop stared disdainfully at Tag. Tag grinned back. He’d teased Coop about his identical twin for years, knowing Buck was Coop’s touchiest subject. The fact that Buck didn’t like horses and probably couldn’t tell a cow from a steer had brought more shame down on the old cowboy than had his brother’s drinking.
    It was so much easier to tease Coop than to think about what was going to happen in less than half an hour. He’d be standing next to a woman he didn’t know, promising to love, honor and cherish a complete stranger in a ceremony that was nothing more than an act.
    He’d never considered himself much of an actor.
    But Betsy Mae said Lee had done some theater, too. She was good, he had to give her that. Why, Lee’d slipped into her role so quickly when his grandmother showed up, she’d even caught him off guard. He wondered what would make an obviously intelligent woman agree to such a thing. Especially one as beautiful as Lee Stetson. He still hadn’t had a chance to discuss the details with her. As far as she knew, the reason for the marriage was merely to get his grandmother off his back.
    Using her to help him get the ranch sounded so deceitful. Tag figured it was just as well Lee didn’t know the full scope of his plan.
    According to what Betsy Mae told Will, Lee was one barrel racer tired of all her friends trying to set her up with “the perfect guy.” Maybe she figured a temporary but make-believe marriage of convenience would give her a little peace.
    Tag understood that. Still, he wondered if that was her only reason for going through with this sham. That or the money. She was certainly costing him plenty.
    Betsy Mae had insisted on half again what Tag had offered her. She’d pointed out, in the message she left with Will, that her friend was, after all, a stranger to Tag. A stranger giving up her own free time, doing Tag a very large favor.
    So far, Tag had to admit, Lee was worth it. She was smart and beautiful, obviously well educated from her manner of speech, and probably the sexiest thing to ever set foot on the Double Eagle.
    Which could, under