Page 16 of Married to the Frenemy

“He doesn’t want to marry me.”

“But you said?—”

“Grady is planning to sell the vineyard. Beckham made an offer, but Grady’s worried he’ll make the vineyard his life if he sold it to him.” I give her a knowing look, considering Parker can be accused of doing the same thing.

Since her parents passed away several years ago, she’s made Holley Ridge her life. Sunk all the life insurance money and her savings into transforming the barn into a wedding venue and building a luxurious inn to accommodate overnight guests. And then there’s the annual Christmas festival she puts on. I doubt she’s taken a single day off since her father died.

“So he wants him to get married?”

I shrug. “It appears so.”

“What are your thoughts on his proposition?”

“It’s definitely an attractive offer. Not only will he give me a place to live, but he’ll cover all my bills and put Maggie and me on his health insurance. I won’t have to worry about anything, so all the money I make?—”

“You can use to focus on your cake business.”

“Exactly.”

“And how long would this fake marriage last?”

“He’d like to stay married for at least six months after the sale is finalized so Grady doesn’t feel like he was tricked or lied to. We would be tricking him, but it’s for a good purpose, I suppose.”

“And Maggie?”

I shift my gaze forward, watching her pump her little legs as she swings back and forth, her auburn pigtails flying behind her.

“I can’t tell her the truth. She’d blab it all over the county. I probably shouldn’t even tell you, since this only works if the entire town believes we’re madly in love.”

“That won’t be a problem,” she snorts. “Pretty sure there’s a pool going for how much longer it’ll take before the two of you just bang it out already. You’d have to be blind not to see the chemistry between you two.”

“Maggie’s where it gets sticky,” I say, ignoring her remark. “It’s one thing if we only have to pretend to be married in public, but since I have a four-year-old, I can’t have her telling everyone that mommy’s only married so her fake husband can buy the winery. Which means she needs to believe it’s real. Which also means?—”

“She’ll believe it’s real when you split.”

I nod gravely. “The reason I didn’t go after paternity or support from her sperm donor is because I didn’t want Maggie to deal with that kind of rejection or abandonment. I’m not sure if I can put her through that.”

“Is it Maggie you’re worried about?” Parker narrows her gaze on me. “Or yourself?”

I should have known she’d see through my lies and uncover the truth I’ve been trying to hide for years.

That I’ve been trying to forget about for years.

Because she’s right.

It’s not only Maggie I’m worried about.

It’s me.

Or, more accurately, my heart.

CHAPTER EIGHT

HALEY

“I hate it here,” I mutter under my breath as I place my tray on the serving station, waiting for the bartender to finish pouring the drinks I just punched into the register.

Despite it being Christmas Eve, the casino is packed with entitled and obnoxious assholes. I don’t think I’ve ever been hit on or propositioned as many times as I have during this shift.

---