Page 127 of The Love Losers

My sister nods, but her eyes are on me. “Are we good?”

I consider her question and then nod. “But don’t do me any other favors involving my wife without asking first.”

Rosie kisses the side of my face. “I was glad to sign it. I’d sign it again. I’d sign it as Rosie Rosings Smith.”

“Oh, to be young and foolish and in love,” my mother says drolly, and then she and my sister leave the bar.

I’m still staring at Rosie, soaking in the fact that she’s here and she’s wearing my ring, and she’s going to be my wife.

“Let’s sit,” Damien says, indicating the evacuated booth, which has a spray of the vinegar wine across the tabletop as if an actual battle took place here. Rosie and I sit back down, our thighs touching—as if we’re physically holding each other up. Maybe we are.

I reach for her hand under the table, and she weaves her fingers with mine. Despite what we just sat through, I feel peaceful. At ease. Comfortable in my skin. I’m living my life, finally.Mylife.

And I get to spend it with her? How lucky can one guy be?

Nicole slaps a bowl of pretzels down on the table before sliding into Nina’s vacated spot. Damien sits down next to her.

“So, Nina obviously told me the truth,” Nicole says, popping one of the pretzels, clearly less worried about hygiene than Nina. I won’t be eating any of them—I’ve seen what’s behind that bar. “She was much too freaked out to lie to me.”

“Which means someone else set up the website,” Damien continues.

I’d assumed as much, but it’s still displeasing to hear it. I want to stride toward our future now, leaving all the unpleasantness behind us. My father. Simon. Nina and Wilson. But they’re right. This problem isn’t going to go away if we choose to ignore it. It will snowball, the way problems do.

Rosie squeezes my hand. “Go on.”

“We did learn something interesting. One of the investors in the rival builder’s deal is Leigh Dalton.”

“Leigh the accountant?” I ask in disbelief, thinking of the messages.

“I knew something was fishy about her,” Rosie says, nudging my arm. “She wasn’t impressed by your shirts.”

Nicole snorts. “Neither am I.”

“We already know you’re not normal.”

“True,” she says.

“She might have wanted to marry Anthony to sway things,” Damien says, nodding to me, “or maybe she wanted to leave you at the altar so you wouldn’t get the money.”

I shake my head, pulling up the text exchange, and show it to them. “She did try to get in touch with me a few times after Christmas, but I’d expected her to. Nina shut her down.”

Nicole snorts again. “That had to hurt.”

“But Leigh’s a professional,” I say. “It’s hard to imagine her setting up that website, sending me the link, and then doing nothing with it.”

“Itisodd,” Damien agrees with a nod. “Then again, she might have done it that way on purpose, to avoid suspicion.” He taps the table. “Hopefully the point is moot. Your deal’s not going through as is, and you’ve decided to keep the building. Presumably they’ll have to change their strategy too. If that’s what motivated this person, then there’s every chance they’ll back off.”

“And if not?” I ask.

“Expect lots of objections during your wedding ceremony,” Nicole says with a grin. “I hope we have some surprises left over.”

“I don’t,” Rosie says. “I’m hoping the biggest surprise is who gets the drunkest and how many details Anthony’s mother kept from the original terrible wedding.”

I smile, reaching for the purple streak in her hair and tracing it with my fingertips—it’s like the wildness weaving through her. The part of Rosie that makes her so…Rosie. “We’re doing this right someday. This is only a dress rehearsal.”

“Eh, terrible weddings are the best kind,” Nicole says casually. “Damien and I got married at a pawn shop.”

“Of course you did,” Rosie says fondly.

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