Seeing her standing in front of me with that tiny, sweet smile, her hair falling over her bare shoulders in a sheet of black silk, it hit me just how much I had missed her. We had gone from texting all the time to virtually nothing, and I wanted that closeness with her back. I craved it. Needed it.
I just hoped what I asked her to come here to talk about wouldn’t push her away even more.
“Hi,” I replied after a moment. The word was hardly more than a breath of relief at having her near again. I gestured to my cinnamon bun latte. “I would’ve gotten you one, but I wasn’t sure what you’d want.” In all the times we saw each other, we’d never come here, so I didn’t know her order.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing at the menu behind me. “Oh, I always get the cinnamon bun latte. It’s my favorite.”
I loved coincidences like that. “Mine too.”
She giggled, her nose scrunching. “Really? I pictured you as an Americano kind of guy, or something classic like that.”
I stood, laughing. “No, if the option is there, I’m as girly as it gets when it comes to my coffee. The more absurd, the better.”
“I guess that makes sense given the drinks you got us at the Bull Pen,” she said while we got in line.
Flashes of that night blew through my mind like a freight train. Her laugh. Her dancing under the lights. The stain from the drinks on her lips. I couldn’t help but look at them now.Pouty and full and right there, taunting me by staying just out of reach.
My mouth went dry, thinking of kissing her until neither one of us could breathe.
My gaze slid up her face slowly before meeting hers. Her pupils were large, her cheeks a little flushed. It felt like there was pure electricity simmering in the air between us the longer I got lost in her eyes. I wasn’t certain that if I reached out and touched her now, it wouldn’t jolt through me and rewire me completely.
I was tempted to find out, professional boundaries be damned.
But then someone cleared their throat behind us.
I murmured an apology, heat crawling up my neck. Tess rocked on her heels, looking anywhere but me. “Do you”—she cleared her throat—“Do you want to split a muffin or something?”
“Sure. You pick.”
She ordered her latte and a piece of coffee cake instead, another mutual favorite that I planned to file away for later.
We carried our drinks and cake back to the table, and she sat across from me, the hem of her navy dress brushing against her knees. She looked better than she had in days, refreshed, even. And for one selfish second, I let myself just look at her.
“So,” she cleared her throat, “what’s this idea you have?”
I wanted to stay in this moment with her, but I had to tell her why I’d brought her here. I traced a fingertip along the side of my cup, searching for the right words. There weren’t any, so I just said it. “Marry me.”
She choked. She straight-up choked. She slammed her cup down on the table, eyes watering, a hand clutched to her chest. “What…what thehelldid you just say? You want me tomarry you?”
I think that just might’ve been the first time I’d heard her curse.
I hated how much I loved it.
“It’d be on paper, only,” I clarified, so she didn’t think I was some psycho obsessed with her. “Married parents look stable to a judge. It means Luke has two people on the same side fighting for him. No way Jeremy wins against that, especially with your DVRO against him.”
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on the table. “I know it’s…out there, but trust me, it will work. Jeremy’s whole argument is that you’re unstable and unfit to parent Luke on your own. This is a surefire way to guarantee no judge will side with him.”
“That’s no reason to marry someone, Levi. Are you crazy?” She glanced around the shop before leaning in towards me, her voice hushed. Worry seeped into her features. “Wouldn’t this be really risky for you and your job?” Her words tumbled out faster now, panic creeping in. “And what happens when people find out it’s not real? That we lied?What if the judge sees right through it? What if Luke sees through it? God, Levi, what happens if this blows up in our faces? I can’t—” Her voice broke, and she pressed her lips together, like she was fighting against herself to keep her thoughts in her head.
“No one will find out, Tess.” I took her hand in mine. “We’ll act like any other couple in public and sign a waiver stating that it won’t be a conflict of interest to handle the legal part.”
She palmed her forehead, shaking her head. “This is insane,” she murmured. “We can’t do this, Levi. I can’t let you do this for me. It’s too much of a risk to you.”
“It’s the strongest move we have. If there were a better option, I’d take it. I’ve already spent the last two days trying to think of something with this same kind of guarantee. But there isn’t one.”
She just watched me for a moment, as if she was waiting for me to tell her this was all a joke or that I had changed my mind. But she wouldn’t see anything other than how serious I was.
“Don’t you want to marry someone you love?”
