“I hoped so. You’re a smart woman, business-minded, and even though you say you hate me, you don’t really.”
“I do.”
“Look, you already know your lines.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not helping your case, Taylor.”
“Fine, hate me. But I need you to marry me tonight before the auction, love me or hate me.”
“I suppose you’ve already booked an appointment at city hall too?”
I smirked. “Aye. And I’ve got a suit in my car.”
She took a heavy breath, then let it out in a rush. “What time is the appointment?”
2
THREE MONTHS EARLIER
BECCA
“A dating app wants to sponsor the team?” I asked my sister Clara as we sat together in the living room of the house they’d just moved into.
I bounced my baby niece Quinn in my lap, her little gurgles of pleasure making me smile through the stress of the last few weeks.
“Yeah, they got a look at the roster and think it’s a perfect match. Hot hockey boys. What’s not to love?”
“Hot, huh? You been lookin’ Mrs. Wilde?” My brother-in-law, Maverick, sauntered in from the kitchen, a tool belt around his waist and a smirk on his lips.
“You know I have a thing for cowboys, Mav. Not puck boys.” Clara’s cheeks went pink.
He leaned down and kissed her before plucking Quinn off my lap and giving her loud kisses on her neck until she giggled.
“That’s right, mama only likes cowboys.” He snuggled her close. “Tell your mama her sink is all fixed and she should come give her favorite cowboy some sugar.”
Clara gave him a smile so full of adoration my stomach twisted as she stood and laid a kiss on him. I rolled my eyes. They were so in love it hurt to look at them.
“Well, you can count me out when it comes to this dating app. I’m not interested. Is it too much to ask for to just meet someone the old-fashioned way?”
Mav cocked one brow. “I happen to love doing things the old-fashioned way, Becs. I think more people should try it.”
Clara smirked. “Of course you do.”
“Yes, we all know. Now please never remind me how you and Clara...”
“That’s enough. Aren’t you supposed to meet Scarlett at the bakery location? You need to get out of here before you’re late. She’ll freak.”
I glanced at my phone and saw I had missed two texts from our sister.
“Well, shit. I’ll never make it to the space in time. She moved up the walk-through.”
“Who did?”
“The landlord. I swear, she doesn’t want us to rent the space.”
Mav jerked his chin toward the door. “Come on, I’ll take you to the ferry. You’ll make it in time. Just have a little faith.”
Scarlett was too sweet. It made her a pushover, easy to take advantage of. This was a prime example. We weren’t supposed to meet for the walk-through until this afternoon. Which meant I should have had plenty of time for this visit and to get home for lunch before we had this meeting. Now everything was shot to hell.