Bourbon Bachelor - Signed Paperback (novella)

Bourbon Bachelor (Bourbon Canyon Introductory Novella)

I won a date with the most eligible bachelor in Bourbon Canyon—except I wasn’t the one bidding.

Two of my best friends dragged me to a fundraiser and bid in my place. Tate Bailey isn’t just some mountain man bachelor the rest of town gushes about. He’s also the dad of one of my most troublesome fourth-grade students.

My only dealings with the divorced bourbon empire heir have been outlining the issues his son is having in school. Not exactly the best first impression—or second, third, and fourth.

The last thing I want is another rundown of everything my exes said was wrong with me, especially not from a rugged guy like Tate. But when I tell him he’s off the hook, he insists.

Fine. It’s only a date. Then I can go back to my dull life with my heart intact. Because there’s no way a guy like Tate would give up his bachelorhood for a boring, predictable, small-town teacher like me.

Chapter One Sneak Peek:

After seven men were bid on and won, Tate walked up to the podium. My heart rate kicked up. He’d kept to his jeans-and-flannel look. His green plaid shirt lightened his dark eyes. The way he clasped his hands in front of him looked casual, but tension rode across his shoulders.

I almost felt guilty for visually devouring him while no one could see. Everyone’s eyes were on him.

What a dessert. I could lick him upside down and sideways.
But he wasn’t mine. He’d be some other girl’s lucky date.
Would he take them to the bar and grill? Or out to the massive cabin he’d built on family land? Did he have some epically romantic ideas in mind, or was he the type to pick up a girl, doze through a movie, then expect her to put out after his minimal effort?

I was projecting. A mediocre date with Tate would probably blow my best date out of the water, but then it wasn’t hard to win over the one that had ended with “Babe, you sure you want to add a dessert on to what you just ate?”

I studied all the single women in the crowd, my jealousy notching up. My attention caught on a few married ladies tapping their paddles against their hands. This could get ugly.

Tate Bailey might be worth it.

When he’d moved back to town, the chatter had been unhinged. Star high school football player. Valedictorian. Big brother to “all those poor kids”—talking about his foster siblings. He had two biological brothers too, but Tate was the mystery. He’d moved away after high school, earned his degree, and worked at the main distillery, and then when his dad had gotten sick, he’d come home to take over the ranch. Local golden boy swoops back home to roost.

“Tate Bailey is our last bachelor. He’s offering a date—an entire day and on into the evening for the winner.” Wilna’s grin was wide. Dollar signs were in her eyes. “Open bid.”

“One thousand!” a woman yelled from the front, her paddle waving in the air with a number one. Had she camped outside before the doors opened?

Wilna knew the woman’s name, but she checked her sheet once again. “One thousand from Hannah Kline.”

“Fifteen hundred.” Another woman brandished her paddle.

“Sixteen hundred.”

“Eighteen.”

“Two.”

Two thousand dollars for a date with Tate Bailey?

God, I’d pay that just to stare at him for a couple of hours without being creepy.

Nah. It’d still be creepy.

“Twenty-five.” This was from another couple. Ah, the Olsons. Knowing them, they weren’t looking for yard work either.

“Twenty-six,” Hannah said, less confident this time.

“Twenty-nine.”

My mind spun, listening to the bids. Sheer relief flowed through me. I’d harbored a secret crush on Tate, and if I’d come here to bid on him, I would’ve been wiped out after the first bid.

Following the relief was a dismal cloud settling in. He’d go on a date. Everyone would talk about it. Then he’d go on more. He’d been in town for a year and hadn’t been out beyond running errands and taking his kid to the bar and grill, but people talked about his prowess “back in the day.” They also discussed his post-divorce love life before he’d moved into his mountain cabin on his family’s land. Apparently it was juicy enough to ride the small-town grapevine the forty miles from Bozeman to Bourbon Canyon.

I let out a long sigh. The bids were up to five grand.

Could I leave mid bidding war? Claim I had to use the bathroom and walk home to my small rental house? A documentary on a serial killer would be better than watching the guy I dreamed about walk out with another woman.

Hannah rallied and shouted, “Ten thousand!”

Silence fell. I thought the first guy going for eight hundred was obscene—yet quite generous. This was for charity. If I kept that thought forefront in my mind, maybe I wouldn’t consume my weight in chocolate-covered almonds tonight.

“Ten thousand to Hannah?” Wilna scanned the audience. “Going once…”

Summer brandished her paddle. “Eleven.”

What? Everyone had turned to stare at us, but I kept my head down. I was used to a class of kids eyeing me. But anyone else and I wanted to melt through the floor. It’d been worse since my breakup two years ago.

My ex’s words rang in my mind. You’re just…uninspiring.
Summer’s foot bobbed up and down, the only sign all the attention was getting to her.

Was she trying to get her brother to be her bitch for a day?
I snuck a peek at the front. Tate’s dark brows were drawn together, and he was giving his sister a what the hell? look.

Wilna beamed. “Eleven—”

“Twelve,” Hannah snapped before Wilna could finish.

“Fifteen,” Summer countered.

Hannah’s nostrils flared. “S-sixteen.”

I almost felt bad for her. She wasn’t a mean person, but she was forward, especially with the men in town, which didn’t make her a fan of many of their significant others.

Summer fanned her paddle in the air. “Twen-ty,” she said in a singsong voice like she could bid all night.

“Oh. Say.” Wilna tapped her fingers together like hundred-dollar bills were falling from the sky. They sort of were. “Twenty thousand. Going once… Going twice… Sold. Tate Bailey to…” She ran her finger down her chart of names.

“Scarlett Breen.”

Me?