Page 107 of That Kind of Guy

I jumped up. “I’ll be right there.”

Emmett turned off the burner and threw the spatula in the sink. “Five minutes.” He hung up the phone. “I’ll drive.” He picked up my bag, grabbed his keys, and gestured for me to follow.

On the drive to town hall, my mind raced. Chuck wanted the restaurant, and he was getting increasingly persistent. If Cynthia had overheard us, what was he going to do? Tell everyone that Emmett and my engagement was all fake? I blew a long breath out and my knee bobbed up and down as Emmett turned the corner onto the main street. Even if he did that, he couldn’t prove it.

My throat felt tight when I swallowed. Everyone would know Chuck was telling the truth the second they looked at my face. There was no way I could deny it to a room full of people.

Fuck.

Chuck was warming up to take me down and I had been wrapped up in Emmett, frolicking and having sex and laughing. I’d been gallivanting when I should have been focused on the restaurant and the sale.

I swallowed and looked out the window. Emmett’s hand came to my knee and squeezed.

“It’s going to be okay,” he told me, but I bit my lip with worry. I didn’t know if it would be, and his voice said the same thing.

If Chuck outed us, it would ruin Emmett’s campaign. The election was next week. He could never recover from something like this in time. No one would trust him to be mayor once they found out we lied to the town. The thought of disappointing Emmett and ruining his campaign turned my insides to granite. He had trusted me.

We pulled up to town hall, and I was out of the car before Emmett had even come to a complete stop. I sprinted into the building, through the halls until I found the large room used for town council meetings.

Everyone turned to look as I stepped inside.

There was about fifty people seated in folding chairs, mostly business owners from town. Hannah was near the back and shot me a worried look. Her face was flushed. Isaac and several members of town council sat at the front of the room, facing everyone. Max turned and looked relieved when he saw I had arrived, but beside him, Div glared at Chuck, who stood at the front of the room, paused at my interruption with an annoyed expression.

I swallowed. My heart beat in my ears. There were no available seats so I leaned against the wall at the back.

The door opened beside me and Emmett slipped inside, taking the spot beside me against the wall. His hand found mine and squeezed. A tiny fraction of my nerves untangled. Emmett was here. I didn’t know what he could do, but at least Emmett was here. I had someone on my team.

“As I was saying,” Chuck shifted from one foot to the other, eyeing Emmett and I with a sour look, “If he’s elected mayor, owning a business in Queen’s Cove would be a conflict of interest.”

Emmett’s hand tensed around mine. His voice rang out strong in the room. “I have no plans to own The Arbutus.”

Chuck’s gaze was cold. “Your little wife will, and what’s hers is yours. That’s the way marriage works, buddy.”

My throat clenched with fury. The way Chuck had saidyour little wife, the condescending, disrespectful tone he had used, it made me feel sick with anger. My stomach thrashed.

“Avery will be the business owner, and if I’m elected, I’ll be mayor.” Emmett dropped my hand and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll have nothing to do with each other’s roles.”

“That doesn’t mean you won’t make decisions in her favor,” Chuck pressed. Beside him, Cynthia was nodding with a smug look.

Cynthia glanced at me and then Hannah, and I knew she had told Chuck what she had overheard in the bookstore. Maybe they didn’t know every detail of our arrangement, but they knew. If they accused us of that, though, they’d be laughed out of town hall, so they found a different soft spot.

A soft spot that had merit.

Isaac wore a blank look but nodded as Chuck spoke.

“Imagine if she needs a permit?” Chuck asked Isaac and the council. He snapped his fingers. “Approved. There’s a dispute between her and another business owner?” He snapped again. “It’s ruled in her favor. Oh, look, a complaint against The Arbutus?” He shrugged. “Magically gone.”

“We would never do that!” The words burst out of me. My voice shook with fury and disbelief. The town council watched with rapt attention. Out of the corner of my eye, Hannah wrung her hands in her lap, looking stricken. “You know us. We would never do that. And when has The Arbutus ever had a formal complaint at town hall?”

“Chuck has made an excellent point,” Isaac said, nodding and steepling his fingers in front of him.

No. This wasn’t happening. This was a bad dream. I was still asleep, and I was having a nightmare. My mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

“Are you kidding me?” Emmett shook his head and gestured at me. “She’s wanted to buy the restaurant for years and now you won’t let her because of me?”

“Our town prides itself in upholding the rules, Mr. Rhodes.” Isaac glanced at the council on either side of him and they nodded with pensive looks.

My stomach flipped. I could see the conflict on the town council’s faces. Sure, Emmett and I were well-liked around town, but what Chuck said had resonated with them. It was a conflict of interest. There was no doubt about it.

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