Wade Dwyer's life is turned upside down when his father dies and he learns he must marry or he and his siblings will lose the ranch. One last jab of the knife from his father. On top of that, his father's only friend knows about the stipulation and is determined to own the property by any means necessary.<br><br>He's facing the very real possibility of being the reason his family loses their home when his brother's best friend, Lance Matthews, offers to walk down the aisle with him. A faux marriage to the man he's loved for years is a torture he isn't sure he can endure.<br><br>Can he keep the ranch ... and the man of his dreams, too?

The Twisted Oak

“Looks like you’re going to beat him to the altar, huh?”


Wade set down his fork, his lips curving into a frown. “Yeah, looks like.”


“I know I’m new here, but why are you so upset about it? I mean, I get the whole fake marriage thing is probably annoying, but you and Lance look like you care about each other. I mean, he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t want to, right?”


Thoughts about Lance jumbled around his mind and he wasn’t sure what to think. “I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “He and I don’t…get along really well.”


Her eyes widened. “But he offered to marry you? That doesn’t make any sense. Why don’t you get along?”


Wade pushed away his almost-empty plate and leaned his elbows onto the counter and crossed his arms. “It’s complicated.”


“Life is complicated, Wade. But I’m sorry if I’m pushing. Like I said, always been an only child. Not used to this sibling stuff.”


Chapter 16