How to Lose a Fiancé Read online

  Cally followed Kaimbrey’s gaze to where Tate and Brody had a gaggle of women tittering around them. “Which one?” she spit out.

  “The hot blond one. Well, I guess they’re both hot, but Brody …” Kaimbrey gritted her teeth, her brow furrowing and a headache forming at the base of her skull. “He was flirting with me one second, and the next he was mack-daddying some redhead. Ooh, I tossed an icy drink in his face, gave him a whole yard-length of cussing, and then I stormed away.” She winked. “He won’t soon forget me, I tell you what.” She snapped her fingers and gave a sassy little swirl of her hips, trying to cop an attitude when she really just wanted a carton of cookie dough and a new Jennifer Youngblood romance on her Kindle.

  Cally laughed. “I like you.”

  Kaimbrey grinned, grateful for the easy acceptance. She’d picked the right person to talk to. “I’m easy to like.” She glanced at Tate and Brody again; both were surrounded by women. “I saw you talking to the tall, redhead brother.” She whistled. “They build these Jepson boys fi-ine. If only they weren’t pompous womanizers.”

  Kaimbrey stared at Brody. He had an arm slung around a petite brunette. He glanced up, caught her staring, and gave her an inviting smile. Kaimbrey swallowed and focused back on Cally.

  “I hate him,” Cally said vehemently.

  “Tate?” Kaimbrey guessed. It was an easy guess, as that was who they’d been talking about and Cally was currently shooting daggers at the man. This lady had fire in her. She and Kaimbrey could definitely be friends.

  “Yeah.” But Cally’s voice was all wistful again. Kaimbrey would love to know her story. She talked about Colt like she worshipped him, stared at Tate like she really worshipped him, yet claimed to hate the man. Interesting.

  “So what are we going to do about it, girls?” a feisty voice piped up from behind them.

  Cally whirled, and Kaimbrey turned more slowly.

  “Mrs. Jensen,” Cally murmured. “How are you?”

  “Oh, it’s Emma, dear.” The petite woman grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You look just beautiful, the pair of you, and I couldn’t help but overhear some frustration with Colt’s brothers.” She sighed and fanned herself. “Ah, those Jepson men. They make them over-the-top hot, don’t they?”

  Cally’s mouth dropped open.

  Kaimbrey let out a bark of a laugh. “Who are you again?” she asked bluntly.

  Emma put out her hand. “Emma Jensen, dear. This is my home. Thank you for coming.”

  “Oh, Emma. Of course. I’ve met you with my parents in Park City before. It’s been a few years, though.” Kaimbrey shook her hand. “I’m Kaimbrey Jackson. Bri’s best friend.”

  “I’m sure you’re just as angelic as Bri is.”

  “Not a chance. I’m the spice of her life,” Kaimbrey drawled out. She snapped her fingers and wiggled her hips. Being around Cally and now Emma was restoring her confidence. Forget Brody and his gaggle of admirers. “I keep her laughing.”

  Emma grinned. “I like you.” She glanced at Cally. “And I have a proposal for the both of you.”

  Cally shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve been wanting to apologize,” she started.

  That caught Kaimbrey’s attention, but Emma waved the sentence away. “I know you have. It’s in the past.” She rubbed her small hands together. “Now, this is what I propose.” She inclined her chin to Tate, Brody, and their entourage of women. “From what I gather, you wouldn’t mind teaching those two a lesson.”

  Cally shrugged as Kaimbrey nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’ll give you each a million dollars if you get a marriage proposal out of one of those boys by the night of Colt and Brikelle’s wedding.”

  Kaimbrey’s stomach lifted and then dropped, as if she’d been promised the world and then thrown off a cliff. Get a marriage proposal out of that jerk Brody in the next two weeks? Not a chance.

  “You’re a crazy old white chick,” Kaimbrey exploded. “I don’t want your filthy lucre.”

  Emma simply smiled, not appearing offended at all. “I am … an eccentric old woman who likes to have fun, and I think you do want my money.” Emma tilted her head. “I know your parents, remember? Jamison and Mary?”

  Kaimbrey nodded, her stomach growing queasy. She’d had an epic row with her parents a couple weeks ago, and they hadn’t spoken since. Her mother was a pompous brat who’d told her she’d never fund her “childish” charity, and that Kaimbrey needed to grow up and accept her role in society or she could march herself right on out of their family.

  “And I know you recently achieved your degree in social work, but no one will back up your idea to start a house in Ogden for homeless families, single parents, and vets struggling to get back on their feet. You plan to expect the people to help around the house and yard to earn their keep, and you’d have employment and education specialists on staff to help them become self-sufficient and get them jobs and eventually in a home of their own.”

  Kaimbrey’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

  “Word gets around when somebody’s trying to get a million dollars in private funding, but the people who should be helping her aren’t. Maybe those people are even asking their friends not to help.”

  Kaimbrey gasped, clenching her hands into fists to stop the trembling. She knew her parents were tired of hearing about her charity and wanted to teach her a lesson, but would they stoop to blackballing her attempts at funding? “They wouldn’t!”

  Emma gave Kaimbrey a significant look, and Kaimbrey saw it all. Her parents not only thought her charity and her ideas were stupid; they were now trying to sabotage her. With family like hers, who needed enemies? She wanted to go yell at her mother and then have a good cry, but she knew neither would accomplish anything. She’d been trying to get private funding for years and was so discouraged she didn’t know what to do, besides pick herself up and keep trying. She had a small fund started with extra money her parents had given her over the years. She’d save all she could from each paycheck and keep praying and trying.

  Emma turned to Cally. “And you, my dear. I know you gave up many wonderful opportunities in Chicago to come to Utah with the promise of all kinds of work from that snake of an uncle who turned out to be just as selfish as his sister. But I’ve blackballed the man from construction work in Utah.”

  Cally nodded, and Kaimbrey felt compassion for her new friend. Did Emma mean that Cally’s mom was the selfish sister? Maybe Kaimbrey and Cally had even more in common than a great sense of style and being suckers for the Jepson boys.

  “I don’t think you want to go back to Chicago,” Emma said. “It’s a hard life and too cold, right?”

  Cally simply nodded again. She may have thought she wasn’t giving anything away, but her pretty blue eyes were full of angst and regrets.

  “A million dollars would be a great start to that charity I’ve heard you want to do.” Emma smiled knowingly at Cally, and Kaimbrey wondered what kind of psychic powers this little woman had. “Remodeling or building homes for those who have been through rough times, without all the pomp of an Instagram account or YouTube Channel to brag on … I love it. I thought originally about working with both of you and your charity ideas, but …” Her grin became positively wicked. “I like this idea better. I’m pretty insightful about my challenges. Ask Colt and Bri about it sometime.”

  “All we have to do is get the proposal?” Kaimbrey asked, starting to warm up to the idea. It would be a great way to get back at Brody for being a womanizer. “You’re not propositioning us into marrying the losers, correct?”

  “That’s the best part.” Emma’s blue eyes glinted mischievously. “You’ll dump him right after he proposes and be able to get him back for the way he treated you tonight. Of course, you can’t tell him about the challenge, or it becomes null and void.” She wrapped her thin arm around Cally’s waist and squeezed. “What do you think?”

  Kaimbrey let herself focus on Brody again. He was giving h
er a come-hither look. Oh, he’d better watch out. She was going to come hither, and then some.

  “I think it’s perfect,” Cally said. She looked to Kaimbrey.

  Kaimbrey grinned. “We’ve got nothing to lose, right?” And she had a million dollars to gain. That would fund her buying or building the size of house she’d need, food and clothing for many people, and pay for the help she’d need to staff her house right off the bat. Excitement rushed through her. This could really happen.

  Cally nodded as Emma laughed.

  Brody couldn’t keep his eyes off of Kaimbrey, even though he’d promised himself not to chase after her when she’d chewed him out earlier tonight, throwing a drink in his face to boot. She was an unparalleled natural beauty with her long, black hair in curls and her bronzed skin so smooth and supple-looking. Her dark eyes and full lips beckoned to him, but dang, he’d messed up earlier. Curse Jill coming at him and kissing him when he’d gone to get Kaimbrey a drink. Jill’s kiss meant nothing to him—she kissed everybody hello—but Kaimbrey obviously didn’t know the history.

  Tate excused himself from the group of mostly high school friends, and Brody did the same and followed. “Bro.” Brody leaned close, drawing from the strength and calm that was his next oldest brother.

  “What’s up?” Tate directed Brody behind the dessert table so they could have a little privacy.

  Brody folded his arms across his chest and said, “Bri’s friend. Kaimbrey.”

  “Yeah?”

  “What’d you think of her?”

  Tate shrugged. “Beautiful, funny, lots of spice. Perfect for you. Why?”

  Brody threw his hands in the air. “Exactly. That’s exactly what I thought. So we were flirting, getting along great. I was about ready to ask her to have my babies.”

  “Brody,” Tate warned as only a big brother could.

  “I know, I know. I’m not trying to be crude. I’m saying I thought she was amazing. I really thought I’d met my woman, you know?”

  “Please don’t say you called her ‘my woman’ like some caveman.”

  Brody gave him a brief smile, but then he frowned. He glanced over at where Cally and Kaimbrey were talking. Kaimbrey was half a foot shorter than Cally and had more curves, while Cally was tall and lean. The two women looked fabulous together, Cally’s sheet of shiny blond hair complementing Kaimbrey’s gorgeous dark curls. “I was teasing her that it must be destiny that my brother had married her best friend and we should definitely hook up,” Brody explained to Tate.

  “Hook up?” Tate pushed his hand through his hair as he often did. “You didn’t.”

  Brody splayed his hands innocently. “She teased me about it, but she was into me, like really into me, and she’s so funny and feisty and perfect, but then …” He shook his head and blew out a breath. “I went to get her a drink and Jill Timberline came running up, grabbed me, and kissed me hello. You know it meant nothing—Jill kisses everybody—but holy cow, it ticked Kaimbrey off. She cussed me up one side and down the other. I couldn’t even get a word in. Then she stormed away. Man, I love me some Southern spice.” He really did. He must be a glutton for punishment. Or maybe it was like she’d said, and she was playing hard to get. He really didn’t care as long as he had a chance.

  Tate arched an eyebrow.

  “I’m not kidding. I seriously, desperately love her. What do I do, bro?”

  Tate glanced at the two women again, and Brody knew an idea was brewing. “Well, I guess you might need a wingman.”

  Brody felt a rush of excitement. His brother was the best. “You’d do that for me? I know you don’t like Cally anymore.” They all used to adore Cally, but when she’d ditched Colt for Chicago, Tate had seemed to take it as hard as Colt did. His brothers were pretty down on Cally right now, and though he knew he had to keep his distance because she’d hurt Colt, he still loved Cally like an older sister.

  Tate clapped Brody on the shoulder. “I’d do anything for you, bro.”

  “I love you, man. Truly, I do.”

  Tate smiled and then started searching for a little helper. Brody took a slow breath, telling himself to calm down. He wasn’t in with the gorgeous Kaimbrey yet, but he’d recruited the right help. Things were definitely looking up.

  Chapter Three

  Kaimbrey found herself catching Brody’s eye over and over again while she and Cally ate some dessert, biding their time before they approached the men. Kaimbrey wasn’t usually nervous, but she had no clue how this was going to play out. She’d cussed Brody, and now she had to eat crow and make him fall for her. That part should be fun, but she had to stay strong and not fall herself. No reason to repeat loving and losing like she’d experienced in college. Brody was definitely not the “settle down with one woman” kind of man.

  “So what’s your plan of attack?” Cally asked.

  “Hmm.” Kaimbrey popped a cake bite in her mouth and wrinkled her nose. “I guess first of all that I’m going to have to actually apologize for reaming him after he kissed that girl. That will bite the big one.”

  Cally laughed. “Brody’s a really great and easygoing guy. He’ll take it well.”

  “Oh, good. Then I’ll just have to use my sneaky lures to trap him and make him fall in love with all this sass.” She swirled her hands as if to showcase the generous curves displayed in her fitted dress. “My only question is, do I get a bonus if he proposes tonight?”

  Cally laughed harder. “Oh, my. Brody better watch out.”

  “You got it, sister. What about you?”

  “I don’t think it’s going to be quite so easy for me. He hates me.”

  “Hmm. All those lingering glances he’s been gifting you with? Doesn’t look like hate to me.” Kaimbrey wouldn’t mind hearing all about Cally and her past experiences with and without Tate. Sadly, now was definitely not the time, as Kaimbrey’s stomach was tied in knots and she had no clue how her own experiences with Tate’s too-handsome younger brother were going to play out.

  Cally crossed her fingers. “Here’s hoping. I really want to fund my charity and stay in Utah.”

  “I’m with you. There are so many people trying to get back on their feet.” She wanted to do so much good, and now she was finally free of her parents trying to hold her back from her dreams of helping. Yet her mother was still trying to throw a shady blackball at her. “If only my mother wasn’t a hard-hearted harbinger of haggis.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s a snot, my mother. She’s spoiled me rotten my entire life, and so I wrongly assumed she was generous. Then, when I pursued a career in social work, her benevolent mask slipped off and her true witchy self appeared.” She made her voice more high-pitched, and her eyes widened mockingly. “‘To think of my only daughter not working in the family business but associating with people who are beneath her social status? To dream of sharing your daddy’s hard-earned money with those in need? Those people are just lazy and brought their trouble on themselves.’” How many times had she heard that line?

  Thankfully, her parents would soon be leaving their home in Park City, Utah, and going back to Kentucky for the winter. Kaimbrey was praying she could carve out a career and a chance to start her charity here, make a name for herself without her parents’ influence. She’d started working at the veterans’ hospital in Ogden as a social worker, but the pay was pretty low and growing her charity fund was going to take many years. “I pretty much despise her. My daddy would help, I know he would, but she’s forbidden me from asking again, and it sounds like from what Emma said that my mother’s calling her friends off of helping also.”

  “We both scored in the mother department, eh?”

  Kaimbrey focused on her new friend, sad that she might be in the same boat. “Your mama’s a piece of work too?”

  “Yes. But I haven’t seen her much since I was eight, so it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

  “Excuse me,” a voice piped up from Cally’s waist level. Kaimbrey glanced down to find the
cutest little boy smiling up at the two of them. He had strawberry-blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a dusting of freckles across his nose. He held up a white rose for each of them. “Hiya, baby dolls,” he said.

  “Oh, my, goodness,” Kaimbrey squealed. “You are the most adorable thing ever!”

  He winked and handed over their flowers. Then he did an about-face and held up a hand to each of them. “If you beautiful ladies would come with me, please.”

  Kaimbrey grinned at Cally over his head. “How do we resist him?”

  Cally took the hand he offered. “Not possible.”

  He grinned up at her. “I like the black-haired lady a lot, but you with the yellow hairs? You’re my favorite.”

  Cally and Kaimbrey were both laughing now. They let him lead them away from the wedding party and down the sloping lawn toward the water. The sun had set while they were chatting, but between the dusky sky and the tiki lamps, it was still light enough to see the path to the dock. The fairer of the two men standing on the dock set Kaimbrey’s heart racing. She should be thrilled with this opportunity to secure Emma’s money for her charity, but all she could think about was how blue and alluring Brody’s eyes were.

  “Kaimbrey,” Cally hissed. “Do you think Emma bribed them too?”

  That yanked her from Brody daydreams. She frowned. “She wouldn’t do that to us, would she?”

  Cally shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, why would they both …” She trailed off. They were getting too close to say any more.

  “We are just that hot, my friend,” Kaimbrey said. She was always confident, but right now, she was a little unsure of Brody’s intentions. While her own intentions weren’t pure, she was ultimately doing this to help others. She hoped his intentions were solely that he wanted to be with her. How messed up was that?

  The little boy cocked his head up to stare at her. “Yes, you are, pretty lady.”