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Lee snapped his fingers and my eyes flew to his. “That’s why this is perfect.”
“What is?”
He spread his arms, his thick biceps testing the limits of his T-shirt. “I’ll set you up.”
My heart thrummed as a strange humming coiled in my belly.
“You have to admit—we knowa lotabout each other. Clearly we’re both doing a shit job picking someone for ourselves, so why not do it for each other? I find someone for you, and you find someone for me.” Lee’s excitement grew as his idea developed before us. “Consider it an early birthday present.”
I thought for the tiniest moment about his proposition. “Why does this feel vaguely like a sixteenth-century arranged marriage?”
The full wattage of Lee’s irresistible smile was aimed my way. “I would happily provide my prized goat if it meant your happiness, Annette.”
I laughed at how effortlessly charming he could be. “If we do this—if”—I paused so he could take in just how serious I was—“you realize this is going to be infinitely harder for me than for you, right? You’ve already dated the entire population of Remington County.”
“Very funny.” Visible energy thrummed through Lee as his knee bounced. “But I’m not going to lie—I have a feeling I can do a better job of finding you a date than you can.”
“Just so we’re clear—I’m not looking for Mr. Right. I’m looking for Mr. Annie Doesn’t Have to See Stumpy’s ... stumpy.”
Lee’s face twisted in disgust, and a laugh burst from me.
I chewed my lip as I considered Lee finding a guy for me to date. “No weirdos ... and no Kings.”
Lee’s eyes rolled. “Obviously. No redheads.” His eyes quickly swooped up to mine, and he had the sense to look sheepish. “No offense.”
“None taken.” A thousand jumbled thoughts ran through my mind as I pushed down the immediate pang of hurt his comment caused. “No sex.” I pointed my finger before Lee could interrupt. “I’m serious. If I set you up with any of my friends, I don’t need you making it weird after you break it off. Keep it in your pants.”
A smirk tugged at his lips. “I think I can handle that, but same for you.”
I breathed a small, strange sigh of relief. “Obviously. So how many dates are we talking?”
Lee considered. “As many as it takes, I guess. We have four weeks until the gala.” He nodded confidently. “Worst-case scenario, we can always pretend to date each other.” He winked as he stuck out his hand.
I swallowed hard.Worst-case scenario.
I pressed my palm into his and squeezed my eyes closed. “Deal.”
FOUR
LEE
“So you’renotdating Annie?”
My jaw clenched as I looked at my brother, who was perched on a stool next to me at the Grudge. “Sorry, bro. Just a rumor.”
Wyatt shook his head and took a sip of his beer. “Lark is going to be pissed. She was pretty excited, even if she was pretending to not be hurt that Annie hadn’t told her herself.”
“Annie and I are ... friends.” The word was bitter in my mouth, and I quickly washed it away with a deep gulp of beer.
“If you say so.” Wyatt shook his head. “Probably for the best. Annie’s a good person.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I pinned Wyatt with a look.
He rolled his eyes. “Look, I love you, man, but we both know how she is.” His eyes flicked over me. “And how you are. You really want to hurt that girl?”
I scowled at my brother, hating the fact he wasn’t entirely wrong. “Of course not.” I waved my hand in dismissal. “It doesn’t matter. In fact, Annie set me up with a friend of hers. I’m taking her out for coffee tomorrow.”
He grunted a response, and I decided not to try to decipher what that meant. “From what I’ve seen, Annie doesn’t really seem to date. Wasn’t she going out with that Charles guy?”
