The Husband Hunt (a novella) (The Bachelor Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

in the wine, Jaxie sipped at her glass and ate sparingly, knowing the tight dress she needed to squeeze into at the next rose ceremony would show everything. The other ladies had mostly moved out to the pool and dining room to eat and the festive mood in the house was more like a party than the taping of a T.V. show.
                  “I hope you get voted out soon,” one of the girls said as she went for seconds, “or I’m going to be fat by the time I go.”
                  “Jaxie, you must cook every night,” a sound guy dipped his garlic bread into the homemade sauce.
                  “Let’s keep her on even if she gets voted out,” Crane winked at her. “Or, let’s give her a cooking show.” He popped an olive into his mouth and raised his eyebrows to Jaxie.
                  Her heart stopped.
                  “You need your own cooking show, Jaxie.” Someone else chimed in.
                  Crane didn’t look serious and she had to tell herself that he was only kidding. But she wasn’t laughing.
                  Hours later, after the kitchen had been cleaned by the cleaning crew, a box was delivered to the front door to tell them that the girls that there would be a group date the next day. Jaxie’s name was on the card that said “Rein in your love and get ready for a day of fun.” She suspected they were going horseback riding. Or to a rodeo. Others thought maybe they were roping cows or learning to line dance. It had something to do with cowboy hats because a delivery of hats arrived with the box and everyone had chosen one to fit. Several of the girls were dancing around in their hats, pretending to line dance or ride a horse and giddyupping all over the room. Wine did lovely things to inhibitions.
                  Having been raised on a ranch in Winthrop, Jaxie thought she might have an edge on the rest of them if there was any sort of competition on a horse. Horses had been her thing from age three to when she left for college. There wasn’t much time to ride in college, and when she went to cooking school in Europe she’d only ridden a few times on days off. But, she’d gone to sleep that night knowing it would be a fun day if they were to wear cowboy hats and muck around in a corral.
     
                  After coffee and fruit salad, for breakfast, Jaxie threw on some jeans, a T shirt, grabbed her jean jacket and dug through the mounds of clothes she’d brought for her cowboy boots. She pulled a brush through her curls, pulled her long hair back with a headband, dragged some mascara across her eyes and went downstairs to wait. Others were gluing on false eyelashes, curling their hair, and trying on outfits for the date, but Jaxie felt just fine the way she was. They were probably going riding, for crying out loud.
                  Staring outside from a window seat, Jaxie saw Crane pull up in an SUV and get out of the car. She ran outside to talk to him before he disappeared again. Crane was always coming and going, mostly going, it seemed to her. Within sight of him, she stopped rushing and walked like she wasn’t anxious to see him. Everyone referred to him as David, not Crane, and everyone but her had known he was the host of the show. But she’d never watched the show. When Jaxie explained to the girls that he’d picked her up at the airport, the other girls were surprised he’d been the one. They’d had drivers from The Husband Hunt driving pool. “I don’t know why that happened. Maybe they were short a driver,” she’d said.
                  “Howdy, Crane.” She did a little two step and he laughed, his gaze resting on her fancy footwork, then traveling up her body to her face.
                  “Well, Miss Foxie, you look right fine this morning.”
                  “Thankee. Much obliged.” She shrugged. “I’m