Page 111 of That Kind of Guy

And then she did something that made my brain flip upside down inside my skull.

She laughed.

My mouth fell open.

“Emmett, I’ve got a proposition for you.” She wiggled her eyebrows with a smug smile.

“Youhave a proposition forme?” I blinked. “We tried that and it clearly didn’t work.”

She shook her head and fished a large envelope out of her bag. “Before you say it didn’t work, read this.”

I took the envelope from her, flipped it open, slid the papers out, and read.

“This emergency motion proposes the following,” I read aloud. “If a conflict of interest exists between the owner of a Queen’s Cove business and a member of the Queen’s Cove Town Council, that council member will be exempt from decisions, input, and votes concerning that business. The remaining council members will oversee matters concerning said business. It is proposed that this motion be voted into effect immediately.”

The paper was a photocopy of the original. HIGH PRIORITY had been stamped along the top, and beneath the text, every member of the town council except Isaac had signed. I stared at the signatures.

Avery nudged me. “They’re voting tonight.” She reached out and flipped the page, revealing another long list of signatures. Hannah. Keiko. Holden. Wyatt. My parents. Miri. Scott. The owners of the hardware store, the grocery store, and several hotel managers and owners.

I glanced at Avery. My heart beat hard in my chest. “You did this?”

She nodded. “With Hannah’s help. We got most business owners in town to sign in.” She smiled and my heart flipped over. “It’s going to work, Emmett, I know it. There’s no way Isaac could possibly say no to everyone. The council will outvote him.”

I felt like the earth had been ripped out from underneath me. Here I was, moping and staring at the ocean, when Avery was busting her ass to figure things out.

I searched her face. “You said you needed space.”

She chewed her lip. “I did. And then I wanted to fix it.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “You take care of everyone, Emmett. Everything’s always on your shoulders.” She twirled the ring on her finger. Seeing her still wearing it eased something in me. “We’re in this together. This is real for me.”

This was new to me, this feeling that someone had my back like this. The light caught her deep blue eyes, and it occurred to me that for as long as I lived, I would never see a color more beautiful.

“This is real for me, too.” I glanced at the list of signatures again. My chest filled with pride at her quick thinking and tenacity. “You really think this is going to work?”

Her phone buzzed and she held up a finger once she saw who was calling. “Hold that thought.” She answered. “Hey.” She listened and I could hear a voice through the phone but couldn’t make out the words. Her neutral expression told me nothing. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” She hung up and looked at me with glittering eyes.

A smug grin grew on her face. “That was Keiko, calling to inform us that the council voted the motion in, and that our meeting at the bank tomorrow still stands.”

“It worked.”

She nodded. “Mhm. I’ll accept your endless gratitude in the form of morning oral.”

“It fucking worked.” I couldn’t believe it. The nightmare was over and my Avery had knocked it out of the park. “Get over here.” I pulled her onto my lap and cut off her surprised laugh with my mouth on hers.

“I love you so much,” I said against her mouth in between kisses. Her hands felt so good, roaming my shoulders, raking my hair, sending shots of electricity down my spine. “I’m so grateful for you. You’re everything to me.”

“You’re everything to me.” Her breathlessness made my cock stiffen.

Something popped into my head.It’s real to me, she had said a few moments prior.

“Wait.” My hands stilled on her ass. “There’s something else.”

A little frown creased her forehead. “Okay.”

Out with it. I blew a breath out. “Wyatt filed the marriage certificate.”

Her eyes went wide.

“I didn’t ask him to,” I added in a hurry. “I told him to put it in my car but he thought he was doing me a favor by dropping it at city hall.”

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