“Sippi?” I asked him, confused, not sure if I was being punked.

“Mississippi,” he said and grinned. “Guess, you’re a natural blonde after-all.” And then because he was gross, he looked down to the front of my skirt. I was about to tell him where to get off when I felt someone behind us.

“You okay, miss?” The voice was deep and husky and I instantly knew it was the man who had been sitting at the end of the bar.

“She’s fine.” Mike sounded annoyed and possessive and I took a step away from him.

“Ooof,” said the man behind me as I bumped into him. His arms instinctively went around my waist as I stumbled back against his hard, warm chest.

“Sorry,” I said and looked back to see his face properly. His azure blue eyes stared into mine as he looked at me with an amused expression. My heart jumped as I realized that I was standing in front of Scott Taylor. Only, I couldn’t tell him that I knew his name. If I did, he’d want to know how and I wasn’t allowed to tell him about the prank that his friends were about to pull on him.

“No worries,” he said, his hands sliding off my waist slowly. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I nodded and then we both looked back at Mike, who looked anything but fine.

“Looky here, boy, can’t you see I’m on a date?” he said and it was then that I realized he was chewing tobacco. That was why I’d seen the saliva on his lips earlier, not because he was drooling because I was so hot.

“You okay?” Scott Taylor ignored Mike and addressed me again. I shook my head slightly, not wanting to say anything out loud for fear of Mike doing something stupid.

“She’s fine.” Mike took a step forward. “Get away from my lady.”

“I’m not your lady,” I said finally and looked at him in disgust. “We barely messaged twice online and you were lying!” My voice rose. “You don’t look thirty and you don’t look like your photos.”

“My photos say they were of me when I was in the marines.” He shrugged. “That weren’t no lie.”

“But it also wasn’t yesterday, was it, sir?” Scott spoke up and stepped in front of me. “How’s about you leave the young lady alone. You’re obviously not what she was expecting.”

“Hmmphm, damn Yankees,” Mike said under his breath and looked back at me. “You sure you don’t wanna learn how a cowboy moves his hips tonight?” He licked his lips again. “I might be older, but I make up for it with my tongue.”

“What?” My jaw dropped as I stared at him.

“I can’t last all night in the sack unless I take my Viagra, but my tongue can go for hours.” He flicked his tongue around. “If you know what I mean.”

I turned away from him then, shuddering in disgust. Lacey was going to be in fits of laughter when I told her about my night. Only I was going to kill her before that. Never again was I going to take her dating advice.

“Come, let me get you a drink,” Scott said and he guided me to his seat. I could feel Mike’s eyes on my back, but I didn’t care. I was sure that anyone else watching us was wondering what was going on, but it was none if their business.

“Before I buy you a drink, I must ask you a question,” Scott said with a small smile. I wanted to pinch myself. Was I really here with the man I was hired to prank next week? Was fate playing a dreadful joke on me?

“What’s that?” I asked him as I sat down, wishing I could check a mirror to make sure my makeup still looked good. My heart thudded as I stared at him. He was even better-looking in person than he’d been in the photo.

“You weren’t on a sugar daddy website or anything like that, right?” he asked me with a cheeky grin.

“No,” I said with a laugh and shook my head.

“Or ‘get an old man now and take all his money in a few years dot com’?”

“Ha ha, no.”

“Good.” He smiled and held out his hand. “Then let me introduce myself properly. My name is Scott.”

“Elizabeth,” I said with a smile. “Though my best friend calls me Eliza, like Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady.”

“Because you’re a good girl?” he asked with a wink and I flushed as he laughed. “You didn’t think a man like me would know the movie, did you?”

“No, yes, no.” I laughed. “But no, I didn’t think most people would really know that line where she says she’s a good girl. It’s so obscure and forgettable.”

“But I’m sure you’re not forgettable.”

“Are we talking about me or are we talking about the movie?” I asked softly, my face reddening.

“Both,” he said with a smile. “It’s not often I get to flirt with a hot girl at a NASCAR bar.”

“NASCAR?” I looked around and groaned out loud. “This is a country bar, huh? No wonder Mike invited me to meet him here.”

“Yeah,” Scott nodded. “I was supposed to meet my brother Chett here for some drinks, but he got stuck at work.”

“Oh, that sucks,” I said.

“Not really.” He laughed. “I’d much rather save a hot girl from a creep than have to listen to my brother talking about Gordon and The King.”

“I’m guessing Gordon is Jeff Gordon, but who is The King?”

“Richard Petty, of course.” He laughed. “Do you follow racing?”