Read No Foolin' (Willowdale Romance Novel) for Free Online

break my heart, baby. You’ll be the first one to do it.” Teague smiled. “Ready, milady? Follow my lead.” He opened the door a crack, but the photographers moved in closer, shouting more questions. He finally got out and they backed up. Camera lights flashed like one of the big Fourth of July displays in Whitesville. Teague walked around the car to open her door.
    Kate suddenly regretted slapping on that I think, therefore I’m single bumper sticker Tonya had given her last Valentine’s Day. Teague took her hand as she stood up on wobbly knees. She felt the same stab to her gut she had experienced back at Lookout Point when he’d curled his fingers over hers.
    Cameras flashed; more questions came. Bugs danced around the lights in the dusky sky. When Teague raised a hand, the reporters shut up. “I’m surprised to see you all here. We wanted to keep things quiet. But yes, this is my new girlfriend, Kate Riley.”
    Kate tried not to roll her eyes.
    Reporters hurled more questions at them—so many, she couldn’t even gather what they were saying.
    “What are you—”
    “Where did you—”
    “How did you meet?”
    Teague turned to Kate and smiled. “It’s such an interesting story. And you tell it so well, honey.”
    That weasel .  . . Kate dug her fingernails into his palm. He asked for it.
    She dropped his hand, clasped her hands in front of her and shrugged, doing her best aw, shucks country-girl impression. “Well, ya’ll, we met on the Internet. One of those dating service thingies? I did it as a joke, but dang, he was serious about it, and here we are.” She shrugged. “You should’ve seen his funny profile picture. I felt bad for him, actually, figured he wasn’t getting many responses, so I emailed him.” She batted her lashes at him, determined not to make this arrangement easy on him.
    “T-Rex, why did you join an Internet dating service when you could have any woman in the world?” The reporters scribbling in tiny notebooks paused and looked up.
    “You’re certainly not hurting to meet women,” another shouted. Plenty of chuckles followed that one. “Why come all the way to Willowdale for a date?”
    Teague laughed and paused, and she wondered how he’d handle that one.
    “I joined anonymously under a different name, with a bogus picture.” He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Haven’t had great luck with the ladies in Hollywood, in case you haven’t noticed.”
    The crowd laughed.
    More confident, he straightened. “So, I thought I’d meet a nice, old-fashioned girl.” He looked at her and smiled. “And that’s how I met Kate.”
    She felt herself sucked into those eyes, wondering what it would be like to believe those words. It was like lapping up sugar. But then another light flashed and broke her gaze.
    “Kate, were you surprised to learn the guy you met on the Internet was Teague Reynolds?”
    She glanced at him, aware of his body heat, the firm stance, his very being, and shook her head. “Surprised wouldn’t begin to describe how I felt.”
    “What were you two doing in town today?”
    Good one . The pavement was hot under her flip-flops and she shuffled around a bit. She sucked in a breath, figuring this was the question that would stump them. But Teague kept up.
    “It was our first official date. I even bought her this ring.” He took the ring out of the bag and slipped it on her finger. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a plane to catch.”
    We?
    The crowd of journalists followed them to the tiny plane sitting in the middle of the tarmac. The sun had slipped in the sky, setting the night aglow in purple and orange. The heat and stress of the day hung on her like a cloak.
    She hugged her arms around herself. “I’m going with you right now? I didn’t even pack.” She looked up at him, panicked, aware of the delicate ring circling her finger like a tiny shackle.
    “We’ll go shopping tomorrow. I’ll buy whatever you want.”
    “How about a