Page 48 of That Kind of Guy

Avery’s eyes lit up. “Amazing. You’re going to eat like royalty.”

Sam gestured at us. “You two should come stay with us. It’s a big house, lots of room.”

“Maybe,” Avery mused with a lopsided grin. “I’m not sure if I can leave the restaurant while we’re transferring ownership.” She gave them a pressed smile and shrugged.

“Maybe you can do some location scouting,” Elizabeth suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at us. “A summer wedding in the south of France? What could be more romantic?”

A thought struck me.

“Excuse us for a second,” I told my parents. “We need to check on the food.” I pulled Avery into the house and through the party.

“Why are you being so weird?” she asked as we stepped into the quiet kitchen.

“I have a great idea. I don’t know if you knew this about me but I’m a genius.”

She stared at me blankly.

“It’s fine to be intimidated by my intellectual prowess.” I shot her a charming grin.

Her nostrils flickered with rage, and I felt happy inside.

“Did you pull me in here to brag about yourself?”

“No, actually.” I braced my hands on her arms. “We should get married.”

She frowned. “We are. Supposedly.”

“No.” I looked into her eyes. “We should do it for real.”

She froze. “What? For real? Absolutely not.”

I shook my head. “We wouldn’tactuallyget married, fuck no. We could sign a fake document or something. But we should have a wedding. Adams, you saw how my mom went ape shit in there for a wedding. Think of how the town would react.” I sighed. “My polls would shoot through the roof.”

“Elizabeth did not go ‘ape shit’ in there, she was politely asking questions.”

“This is the boost I need to crush Isaac,” I told her. “I have a good feeling about this.”

She shook her head. “Emmett, no. We’re already in too deep. I’m not planning a stupid wedding that I don’t want.”

I leaned down, closer to her. “Adams, you wouldn’t have to lift a finger. It would all be taken care of.”

She shook her head again. “No. I’m not doing it.”

I paused, thinking, ignoring how warm her skin felt through the sleeves of her dress. Avery wanted the restaurant. I was already cosigning on her loan, we’d already agreed to it. I was already giving her double-paned energy-efficient windows because she agreed to the engagement.

When I was at the restaurant a few weeks ago, I noticed water damage to part of the deck.

That was it. That was the bargaining tool I needed.

“Deck repairs,” I told her. “Rhodes Construction will replace those rotting planks so you can open up the rest of the patio.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “More patio space means more income throughout the summer.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “New deck.”

I scoffed. “Hell, no.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “The new planks won’t match the old planks. It’ll look cheaply done.”

I narrowed my eyes back at her. “Our work never looks cheaply done.”

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