Page 10 of Heart Breaker

“Same,” I say. “I’m also glad you’re not me.”

She laughs. “So, what are you going to do?”

I shrug, shaking my head. “Nothing. I’m not doing anything. I’m definitely not pretending to be married to Wes. It’s ridiculous. It’s—” I wave a hand, searching for the right word. “Preposterous. I genuinely don’t understand how he thinks this is a good idea.”

Madeline tilts her head. “He doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Their publicist thinks it’s a good idea. She’s putting on the pressure.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“No,” she agrees. “But maybe it makes it a little easier to understand?”

I scoff. “Barely.”

She smiles a little. “Lottie…he’s persuasive. You know that. All the Winters men are.”

I groan. “Don’t remind me.”

I’ve known who the Winters brothers are since Cove took off. They’re hard to miss. Their names are everywhere. The four of them have a reputation here. In the boardroom, they’re known for being sharks, the kind of men who don’t like to lose. Outside of it, they’re intimidating in a different way—successful at a level that feels untouchable, richer than anyone needs to be, and somehow all so handsome that they would look perfectly in place modelling in Cove’s ad campaigns if they wanted to.

I got to know Jesse better when Madeline started working with him at Cove and, later, started dating him. At first, I was just her sounding board when she’d come home at the end of the day complaining about how frustrating he was, how he acted like he owned every room he walked into, how he pushed her buttons. Eventually things changed between them, and I got to know Jesse better myself. She wasn’t wrong— he somehow manages to be both infuriating and impossible not to like. But with Madeline, he’s different. Softer, even if he’d never admit it.

Wes isn’t like Jesse. There’s a distance to him, something quieter and more contained than any of his brothers. I don’t know him well, but I get the sense that he keeps most of himself pushed down, locked away where no one else can reach him.

“I’m serious,” Madeline says, interrupting my thoughts. “If Wes has decided this is happening, he’s not going to back down easily.”

“Good,” I shoot back. “Because neither am I.”

Madeline studies me for a second, like she’s trying to decide how much to push. “He might get you to say yes.”

I laugh. “Sure. But only if he buys me a unicorn. And not just any unicorn—like, a fully upgraded, custom-built unicorn with diamonds in its mane.”

Madeline snorts. “Reasonable.”

“I think so.”

She nudges my arm lightly. “I’m just saying…maybe there can be something in this for you.”

“Absolutely not.”

She smiles like she knows something I don’t. “Mm,” she hums. “You say that now.”

I point at her. “Don’t start. I can see it in your face. You’re about to romanticize this, and I need you to stop immediately.”

“I’m not romanticizing anything,” she insists, the hint of a smirk on her face. “Okay, maybe just a little.”

“Madeline.”

She holds up her hands. “Fine. I’ll stop.”

“Thank you.” I step toward the door, then glance back at her. “But if I come out of this married for real, I’m blaming you.”

“Just think of all the fun we’d have at family dinners,” she says. “Text me after.”

“I will,” I promise, already stepping through the door.

I spot him immediately and the second I do, the deep breath I just took gets stuck in my chest.

Wes is already seated at a table near the window. He’s wearing a baseball cap on backward, his dark hair curling slightly at the edges. His fitted T-shirt stretches across his shoulders and arms in a way that makes it very clear he’s built. The man oozes power and confidence.