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She pulled back slightly, leaving me wondering if I could feel her nipples through her dress or if I was losing my mind.
Her brow furrowed. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded tightly. I’d never been more aware of her physically. My body still tingled where she’d touched me.
We followed the hostess to our table. Sitting across from each other, we ordered drinks, and Everly said, “You met with your attorney today. How did it go?”
I sighed, knowing I needed to get this over with. “He said I had to make some changes in order for me to look better in front of the judge.”
Everly leaned in and lowered her voice. “What are you talking about? You’re responsible and mature. You own a business. What would you possibly need to change?”
“He said, ‘It would look better if I was in a serious relationship, engaged, or, better yet, married.’” I let the bitterness seep into my voice.
“Well, that’s ridiculous. You’re not seeing anyone, are you?”
I didn’t sense anything other than genuine curiosity in her tone. We rarely discussed our relationships unless one of us went through a bad breakup and needed the other to commiserate. I didn’t think too closely about why that was. I didn’t particularly like hearing about her dating anyone.
“What are you going to do?”
I couldn’t even look at her. “You’re going to hate me for this.”
Everly laughed. “I could never hate you.”
Knowing what I had to say could change everything, I drew in a deep breath before I told her the truth. “I told him I was going to propose.”
“You didwhat?” Her voice raised, and she looked around at the other tables to see if anyone was staring at us.
I held up my hands. “Before you freak out—”
“I'm already freaking out,” Everly hissed.
“Just wait a second. Let me explain.”
She waved a hand at me as if to tell me to go ahead.
“I’m a single guy. The judge might assume I’m bringing women in and out of Wren’s life.”
“You don’t do that, do you?”
“Of course not. Apparently, custody cases can get ugly. Lola’s married with another baby on the way. The fact is, she looks stable. I don’t.”
“I can’t believe you told your attorney we were getting engaged.”
“The case will come down to who’s reliable and steady. And let's be honest, it tends to be stacked against the guy.” I wasn’t positive if that was true or just the way it felt to me. But I wasn’t above appealing to Everly in a way that would get her behind my idea.
“That’s not fair. I cannot believe that you have to be engaged or married in order to get more custody of Wren, and I’m still stuck on the fact that you need me to do it.”
“Honestly, I panicked when he said it would look better if I was engaged. Your face immediately popped into my head because we’ve been friends for years, and everyone’s always asked us if something’s ever happened between us.” At the irritated look on her face, I rushed to continue. “And, of course, it’s not true. We know that. But at the same, no one is going to question if we get together. It’s assumed we will.”
“It is?”
“I’m talking about, in everyone else’s mind, we make sense. We’ve been friends for years. We help each other. We’re there for each other. You’re always at my house.”
“That’s because of Wren, too. I love her. She’s like a niece to me.”
“Everyone will believe it. No one will question it.” The more I thought it through, the more it made sense. “But if you’re not okay with it. I can tell him I made it up. You obviously get a say in this.”
“Let’s say I wanted to help you. What would it entail?”
