Page 75 of Irresistibly Wild

Travis walked over and blew out the flames before her hair could catch fire.

“I’m hanging out with him and his fiancee now actually,” she said. “We’re just skating and stuff, so that’s…No, that’s not a problem at all…Oh, I guarantee that’ll be fine. Okay, okay. Great.”

She ended the call. “Mr. Truss is in town early and wants to get dinner with all of us tonight.”

“What?” Travis said. “We’re not due for dinner with him until two Wednesdays from now.”

“Well, he’s insisting on sooner rather than later, and it doesn’t sound like he’s willing to take no for an answer,” she said. “I’m sure it’s just an introductory meeting, no big deal.”

“Okay.” Mr. Ralph let out a breath. “In that case, let’s use the next couple hours to rehearse the backstories and go over some body language. What time is he expecting us for dinner, Madeline?”

“Dinner?” Her cheeks paled. “Did I say the word dinner?”

“Yes. You did.”

“Oh, well, um…” She looked away.”I meant, he wants to meet us now. He reserved Gallagher’s down the street and he gave us fifteen minutes to get there.”

FIFTEEN & A HALF

PRESENT DAY

TRAVIS

Gallagher’s Steakhouse

Las Vegas, Nevada

Mr. Truss was the only person in the restaurant, and the first course had already been served for a table of five. Instead of standing to greet us when we arrived, he gestured for us to sit while he sipped his wine.

He drank half the bottle before finally clearing his throat to speak.

“I’m not one to beat around the bush, so I’ll make this quick,” he said. “I refuse to let anyone make a fool out of me with fake ass shit.”

“Come again, Mr. Truss?” I asked.

“I just broke ties with Andrew Crane hours ago. Have you ever heard of him?”

I nodded, unsure of what the world’s top golfer had to do with anything. His brand of sweater vests, smiling selfies with his mother, and being the only man on the planet who still said, “Gee golly wow” after a win was the complete opposite of mine.

“Well, he was embroiled in a scandal last year that I won’t dare go into, but he told me that it ‘wasn’t really him’ and he was a family man with a fiancee and a child on the way.” He took a long sip from his glass. “Anyway, I just happened to think about him last month and discovered that I hadn’t been invited to his wedding like I asked.”

“So, I sent someone to ask about it, and it turns out there wasn’t one.” He knocked back more alcohol. “Then I find out there was never going to be a wedding because the so-called fiancee was a fucking fraud.”

Tatiana coughed, and I raised an eyebrow.

“He hired a fake fiancée just to get in my company’s good graces for a contract.” Mr. Truss scoffed. “How fucking insane is that, Mr. Carter?”

“Certifiablyinsane…”

“Exactly.” He looked between me and Tatiana. “So, while I hate to use one man’s sins to judge another, I won’t entertain discussions about your contract until after you’re married. I expect an invite, by the way.”

“An invite to what?” I said.

“Thewedding.” He looked at me. “Your publicist did say that your loss and the rematch is the reason why the ceremony was originally pushed back, so it shouldn’t be that far off, right?”

Silence.

“Even though your line is one of our top sellers and it always sells out within seconds of going live, half the marketing team wants to cut you from our brand ambassador team,” he said. “I’m the one willing to give you a second chance, but not without a wedding and arealmarriage license. We can resume contract talks after certain benchmarks have been met.”

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