How a Cowboy Stole Her Heart by Donna Alward Page A

“You won’t subject me to the likes of Lisa Hamm, will you?”
    â€œLisa’s a nice girl.”
    She certainly was, but she and Clay would never suit. Lisa was high maintenance, high-strung and a bit needy. Meg could never see her as a rancher’s wife. Clay needed someone easier. Someone low-key, easygoing. Someone to work beside him, a partner and not a pet.
    â€œShe’s not my type and you know it, Megan Briggs.”
    Her lips twitched at the thought of Clay choking on a tie while Lisa and her five-inch heels flitted about him.
    â€œI haven’t been a very good friend lately, and I know it. I really am sorry for what I said last spring. Can’t we go back to how it used to be?”
    In a way how it used to be sounded great, but she also realized it wasn’t enough anymore. Not for her. But he was offering an olive branch and it would be petty not to accept it. In the end she couldn’t refuse, not when he looked at her in the warm, conspiratorial way he was looking at her right now.
    â€œAll right. We’ll go together.”
    â€œAwesome.” He sat up and clapped his hands on his knees. “There’s one problem solved. That’s the trick,Meg. Finding solutions that benefit both parties. You help me, I help you. Everyone goes home happy.”
    He had no idea.
    â€œI’ll see you around, Squirt.” He got up from the bench and shook out his pant legs while Meg sat, feeling like she’d been hit broadside and left completely off balance. How had this all happened in the space of an hour?
    She looked down at her wax paper bag. The hazelnut brownie was a mangled, gooey mess inside.
    â€œYeah, see you,” she mumbled, avoiding his gaze and reaching for her purse and keys. “Megan.”
    She looked up at him, not wanting him to know how flustered she suddenly felt, and how childish and small he’d made her feel by employing her old nickname.
    â€œAbout your project…don’t give up. You’ll find a way. You always do.”
    To her surprise he lifted a finger to the brim of his hat before walking away. For all his faults and little annoyances, she’d just been reminded that Clay Gregory was a gentleman. And that she, as a woman, wasn’t impervious to his charms.
    They had a date. To a wedding. A wedding where she’d have to wear heels and a dress and fix her hair…
    She put her fingers to her lips as the panic set in. What on earth had she just gotten herself into?

CHAPTER FOUR
    I T HAD taken Meg a week to gather up the courage to visit Lily’s boutique, and she’d played with the idea of going to Calgary and being another anonymous customer in some chain store. But she knew Clay was right about some things—one being that she couldn’t avoid people forever. Between Lily’s own unique designs and her carefully selected stock, she’d surely have something to suit Meg’s needs. It was time Meg stopped being afraid. And the wedding date was growing closer. In a way, she was grateful for the push the shopping trip provided.
    It didn’t stop the nerves from jumping around in her tummy, though. When she entered the store, Lily was helping another customer and didn’t see her come in. Meg browsed while waiting, but every single dress that didn’t belong on her mother—or grandmother—was either sleeveless or had a much too revealing neckline.
    Meg dropped her hand from the dress rack and sighed. She had nerves of steel while waiting for the start of a race but the simple task of choosing a dress for Stacy’s wedding had her in a tizzy. It wasn’t just the need to be girly. It was the added challenge of finding something she was comfortable in, considering the fact that she was still wearing supportive bras with a breast form tucked inside. She held out a misty-blue strapless concoction.How could she possibly conceal the extent of her surgery in something like