Her Montana Christmas Groom

“About what?” Rose demanded. “That I have to wear a bag over my head?”

“No, that the woman I plan to marry is as beautiful as she is sweet and caring.”

“Yeah.” Rose nodded grudgingly. “If she wasn’t, I could take great pleasure in hating her guts.”

Laila laughed and like everything about her, the sound was beautiful. The least she could do was snort. “That’s probably the highest praise and most sincere compliment I’ve ever received.”

“But true.” Rose sighed. “Darn it.”

“You’re not happy for me?” Jackson glanced at his fiancée. “For us?”

“Of course I am. Truly.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything’s fine.” If she pretended long and hard enough, maybe that wouldn’t be a lie.

“Look, Rosie, you ought to know by now that fooling me isn’t going to happen. So why won’t you tell me what’s up with you?”

“Because you really don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do. We do,” Jackson said and Laila nodded her agreement.

Rose looked at the happy, perfect couple and loneliness sucked her in further. This room was filled with happy, perfect couples and that was hard to look at when you weren’t part of one. Especially when she’d worked so hard to make it happen. She’d dated a lot of guys, but not one of them was her prince and a happy ever after wasn’t looking hopeful.

“I think there’s something wrong with me,” she finally said.

Jackson frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“It would be easier if I could blame my singleness on a lack of men. But no one would buy that excuse because I’ve dated more than any girl in the history of Thunder Canyon.”

“We noticed.” Her brother’s tone was wry.

“Don’t start on me. The thing is, you’d think out of all those men there would be a spark, some chemistry, some hope, but not so much. There’s no magic. No zing. No lightning. No sizzle.”

Except with Austin Anderson.

It was proof that fate had a bizarre and warped sense of humor. From the moment he’d picked her up for this wedding, her skin had tingled. Being near him made her chest feel tight and don’t even get her started on the zing and sizzle when he’d held her in his arms on the dance floor.

Rose met her brother’s gaze. “The guys I’ve met are all great, so the only possible conclusion is that there’s something wrong with me. Maybe my standards are too high.”

“Maybe you’re afraid.” Jackson’s gaze never wavered.

“Of what?”

“Being hurt. You haven’t had a long-term relationship since the jerk in college.”

Rose was surprised that, not only had he been paying attention to her romantic life, but that he had also remembered. And the memory shouldn’t still sting, but it did. She wanted very much to change the subject, but blowing off the question gave the past more power than it should have.

She looked at Laila. “When I was in college there was this pre-med student. We were together over a year and I was in love with him. Graduation was coming up fast for both of us and it was time to fish or cut bait. He cut bait.”

“Why?” Laila glanced at Jackson who nodded.

“He fell into the poor-but-proud group. I believed that love was all we needed.” She shrugged. “He chose medical school over marriage.”

“That’s too bad.” Laila’s blue eyes brimmed with sympathy. “Sounds like the timing was just off.”

Apparently that was Rose’s fatal flaw—attraction to ill-timed men. The only one who interested her was born too late. Or she was too early. Either way that made him too wrong.

“Will you two excuse me?” Laila squeezed her fiancée’s hand. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”

“I’ll be waiting.” There was love and longing in Jackson’s eyes as he watched her weave through the crowd to the door.

Rose felt equal parts of envy and pleasure that the two had found each other. She loved her brother and wanted him to be happy. “She’s a keeper.”

He nodded. “You and Austin Anderson looked pretty cozy out on the dance floor.”

The words snapped her back to attention even as she wondered if Jackson Traub had turned into a mind reader. She wasn’t sure what annoyed her most: that he’d noticed her with Austin or that he was right about the cozy part. If he’d noticed, surely other people had, too. That’s just what she’d wanted to avoid.

“What are you talking about? Cozy?”

“Laila mentioned it.”

“What?” she hedged.

“That you and Austin seemed to be having a good time,” he answered. “She hoped that’s a sign that things are looking up for him.”

“For Austin? I don’t understand.”

Jackson shrugged. “Apparently he had a bad experience with love.”

Surely he’d misunderstood Laila. It was hard for Rose to believe that someone as handsome, sexy and smart as Austin wouldn’t have women falling at his feet.

“What happened?”

“Not a clue. It was before I moved to Thunder Canyon.”

Rose tried not to be curious about Austin’s past. It was none of her business. Because she’d scratched him off her list, whatever had taken place would not impact her. They were nothing more than friends. But friends cared about each other. And confided their concerns. It would help to know the details of his bad luck.

“Laila probably knows his story,” she suggested.

“Probably,” he agreed.

“You should ask her.”

“Why?” Jackson’s look was skeptical.

Rose couldn’t meet his gaze. She glanced away and saw the man in question coming toward them with a beer in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other.