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I nod, unable to form words as she rips the rest of her wedding dress off in the middle of the kitchen. Not giving a damn that her sheer slip hides barely anything. She’s a picture of smooth skin and perfect curves, sending blood flowing away from my brain so fast I forget she asked me a question.

“Shane?”

“I’ll grab some clothes.” I clear my throat, hopping to my feet.

I’ve seen and done just about everything. Not much throws me for a loop. But Harloe Harrison surprises me at every turn.

She’s still standing in the same spot where I left her when I return with a T-shirt and sweats. She slides them on, pulling off her slip once the T-shirt is on to hide her. It hangs baggy on her small frame, and when she tugs her bra out of one of the armholes, her nipples peak against the thin fabric.

She looks so damn good in my clothes I can barely look at her.

“You ever heard of those trash-your-dress photoshoots?” She gathers the pile of white lace and silk in her arms.

“What?”

“Never mind. We’re going to need gasoline and matches.” She wrangles the pile, pausing when she’s almost out the door. “Oh, and grab the whiskey.”

Harloe is out the front door before I can ask her what she’s planning to do with a pack of matches and a wedding dress. This girl is beautiful, funny, unpredictable.

A bad idea, even for a guy like me.

3

HARLOE

“Can’t we turn down the lights in here?” My head throbs as I lower my forehead to the worn bar top. My heartbeat pulses between my temples, and the lights overhead are doing nothing to help.

Nora slides onto the barstool on the other side of the bar, nudging my shoulder. “How much did you drink last night?”

“Enough,” I grumble. “Too much. I don’t remember the exact amount.”

“Well, at least you had fun. And I guess it’s better you were there than here.”

I look up to find Nora biting her lower lip. “Was he mad?”

“That you left him at the altar?” She tucks her short brown hair behind her ear. “Just a little. I can’t believe you actually did it. What happened? You said you and Zander were doing good this time around.”

The fact that she even has to say this time around says everything about what went wrong with us. I’m usually smart enough to cut my losses after being burned once. I should have known it was only a matter of time before it happened again.

Him cheating on me when we were teenagers was one thing. We were young and working out who we were as people. Things had been falling apart for a while, and I was a mess after what happened with my mother. Neither of us was ready to let it go until we fully imploded. But this time, it’s not just me he was messing with; it’s my family, and that’s unforgivable.

Zander made me believe he wanted to help, when really, he’s the reason my brother has been struggling to make grazing arrangements for his herds. Apparently, Zander doesn’t like that Will has been helping the bikers moving into town, so he found a way to control the situation as he always does.

Our quick wedding wasn’t because he couldn’t get enough of me. He was gunning for my piece of the family inheritance—the eastern strip of my brother’s land, the part that borders his. He wanted to use that to force Will into some business deal with the slimy oil tycoons constantly breathing down this town’s neck.

Thankfully, I overheard him boasting about it with his friends right before I walked down the aisle. I should have listened to my brother when he warned me something wasn’t right.

“You know how Zander is.” I shrug, not ready to admit how naïve I was. “We were good until we weren’t. It’s better this way.”

Nora nods, offering a supportive smile. “If you’re happy, I’m here for you. But bikers, Harloe? Of all the people you could have spent the night with⁠—”

“I didn’t spend the night with one of them.” A few eyes turn my way, and I realize how loud I said that, so I lower my voice. “I slept on the couch.”

Passed out on the couch is probably a more accurate description. Everything after burning my wedding dress in the firepit is blurry. Whiskey turned to beers, and then more whiskey.

I drank a lot.

Talked even more.