Page 32 of Their Greatest Strength

I glide my fingertip along the dewy side of my glass, the wires in my brain close to crossing. “Is this marriage one of those serious situations?”

“That’s the most serious one I’ve got.” He sets his drink down and returns to his bar stool beside me. I’m too curious to keep from glancing at him, so I give in, finding him completely zoned in on me. “Look, I want to do this right. It’s not ideal, but I think we could both benefit from it. I’ve already laid it out for you, and depending on how it goes if you agree to meet with the owner of the Pythons, I’m sure we’d be able to pull off everything that we need to.”

“I’m not in a position right now to turn you down, Jamie. Your offer is the best one I have, so yeah, depending on how this meeting goes, I’ll do it.”

It’s easy to speak those words, and I take that as a sign from the universe that maybe I’m not going to regret this. That after we’re finished with this and the divorce papers are signed, I’ll be able to move on with my life as though it never happened in the first place.

Jamie’s mouth curves as he reaches for my wrist. It’s only a friendly squeeze of his fingers, but I jerk back and away on instinct, folding my hands in my lap.

He follows my movements with curious eyes before blinking up at me. “We’ll have to work on that, too, if we want this to be believable.”

“I just don’t know you,” I defend myself.

“I get it. And we have the time to learn about one another. That’s one of the reasons I demanded a couple of weeks before getting married.”

I nod, wetting my dry lips. “What are the other reasons?”

“My brother’s getting married in two weeks, and I wasn’t about to take the spotlight from him for a fake one of my own. He deserves the moment with his soon-to-be wife.”

“The niece you mentioned, is she his daughter?”

“Stepdaughter, if we’re being specific. If we’re not, then yes, she is. Her name’s Nova, and she’s sweet enough to give you a toothache from being near her. My brother, Oliver, was into her mom, Avery, for years before they got together, but the timing was never right. A year ago, that changed, and they’re finally tying the knot,” he explains lightly, a genuine happiness floating in his tone.

I take a sip of my drink and try to relax into the ease of this conversation. Finding a man to have a real, genuine conversation with is nearly impossible in the world right now unless they’re wanting to sleep with you. So, yeah, I think I’m going to take advantage of how open and genuine this one appears to be without the promise of sex lingering above us. He might be getting my hand in marriage at the end of this meeting, but there’s something about Jamie that tells me that isn’t playing a part in why he’s being the way he is with me right now.

“Are you the older or younger brother?” I ask.

“Younger.”

“You and Nate have that in common.”

“Don’t forget about our shared love of football. Speaking of, what position does he play? Does he have a favourite team?”

“You just want to know how to win him over.”

“Damn right I do. Now that I’ve won you over, he’s next on the list.”

I keep my expression flat when my lips try to twitch. “You haven’t won me.”

When he scoots his stool over an inch in my direction, I hold my breath. His knee presses against mine, and . . . I guess that’s alright.

Jamie leans an elbow on the island and props his cheek in a massive hand, his grin teasing and bright. “But I could. If I wanted to.”

I scoff to cover the embers popping in my belly. “In your dreams, Pretty Boy.”

“You keep calling me pretty, Blakely. It’s getting to my head.”

I make a show of looking him over. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Shit, you’re going to keep me young these next few months.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Nuh-uh. If you want me to answer another question, you need to answer mine. Starting with what position your brother plays.”

I take another sip of the cool whiskey before answering. “Wide receiver.”

“Yeah?” he asks, a quiet eagerness threading through his tone. “Does he have a favourite team?”

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