Page 58 of Knot a Good Idea

But I wanted it to be her so badly that I procrastinated with the background check until it was too late to pick someone else.

We make it back to the banquet hall, where more people gush about April while I talk my way through mindless conversations.

The most important part of tonight was funding the museum and their art classes, along with providing scholarships.

Now that it’s done, I would like to go.

I’m at the bar, nursing a whiskey, when Hunter joins me.

“Hey,” he says. “I actually have to hand it to you.”

He looks just as joyful as Liam does, and it makes me feel like shit. “Oh yeah? Why?”

“She’s great. I mean, I’m pretty sure Liam is half in love with her already.”

I scoff. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“What are you pissed off about? This is the most fun we’ve ever had at these bullshit galas.”

I chance a glance at April, who is leaning her head on Liam’s shoulder as he talks with the museum director. “She’spretendingto be with us, Hunter,” I mutter.

“Iknowthat, asshole. But we can be friends with her, too. Or do you not know what that word means?”

I scowl at him and toss back my whiskey.

“Besides,” Hunter smirks. “It’s not like we can’t date her after this. She calls the shots, as per the contract. If she wants to be our girl, she can be.”

For a moment, I debate telling him about April and her past.

How even though he and Liam think she’d be a great fit for us, I know I couldn’t provide what she needs since I’m stuck in my own bullshit.

But I can’t. That’s her secret to tell if she ever wants to.

So, I have to be the bad guy and keep her at a distance with Hunter and Liam none the wiser.

Fuck.

“You like her, too,” Hunter adds. “You wouldn’t have picked her if you didn’t.”

“It wouldn’t work,” I hiss. “End of discussion.”

He narrows his eyes. “Just because you’re too closed off to see how she’s perfect for us doesn’t mean I am. She’s all but our mate, and you’re too fucking blind to see that.”

He heads back to the group, leaving me at the bar to drink alone.

April doesn’t lookor speak to me the rest of the night.

It’s fine; that’s what I want, anyway. Distance between us.

But when she tilts her head back and laughs at something Hunter says on the limo ride back, jealousy rears its ugly head.

Especially when we arrive back at the house and she intertwines her fingers with Liam’s as they head into the living room. Hunter trails behind him, his eyes wild with obsession and lust.

I head upstairs, not bothering to say goodnight.

My bedroom is the furthest down the hall from the others, giving me the privacy I need. It’s almost a replica of the downstairs office; only this one has only one monitor at the mahogany desk. A fireplace sits at the opposite corner of my bed, and a reading nook next to the bookshelf overlooks the sprawling landscape of Stone County.

I wonder if April would like it in here.

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