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Shelby tapped her fingernail against the tabletop.“They need to think you’ve moved on to something better.”
Bernie touched a finger to her chin.“You need to look like you dumped Marty for a better option.”Her lips twitched and then stretched across her face.“You need a hunky wedding date.”
Felina frowned.“I have to live in this town.How’s that going to help when he only appears for the wedding and disappears afterward?I’ll look like I can’t keep a man.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed.“You could have your wedding date appear a couple of weeks before the wedding for the buildup.”
“Then you could stage a breakup at the wedding.Only, you do the breaking up this time,” Bernie offered.
“He’d have to be much better looking than Marty,” Gisele noted.
“Absolutely,” Bernie said.
“Nothing else will do,” Shelby agreed.
Danny nodded.“And you have to have a go-to-hell dress that makes Marty regret dumping you.”
“That’s not necessary—” Felina started.
“Hell yes, it is,” all four of her friends said at once.
Felina laughed.“Assuming I go along with this plan, where am I supposed to find a better-looking guy than Marty?He’s one of the best-looking guys Bayou Mambaloa has to offer.”
“True.Bayou Mambaloa doesn’t have much to offer in the way of native men,” Gisele said.“Besides, you need someone bulked up and maybe a little more dangerous looking.”
As if conjured from Gisele’s words, the door to the Crawdad Hole Bar and Grill opened, and ten men entered.
Each guy had broad shoulders and muscular arms.They looked like they could chew nails and spit them into boards.
“What about them?”Danny said.
Bernie grinned.“No kidding.Any one of them would be perfect, except my Gerard.”
“And my Remy,” Shelby added, raising a hand to her fiancé, Remy Montagne.“For that matter, you could hire one of them.Granted, the Brotherhood Protectors are more in the line of security or protective services than paid dates.They’re all former special operations operatives with years of experience on the battlefield.”
“Yeah, but could they handle the small-town battleground and the minefield of a wedding?”Gisele asked.
Bernie frowned.“Maybe some more than others.Wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
“I don’t know...”Felina eyed the men, considering her friends’ words.She wouldn’t look so pathetic if she had one of these hunky men at her side for the next couple of weeks and as her date to the wedding.
Marty couldn’t hold a candle to their flames.Especially the tall one with dark hair and bedroom eyes.She’d seen him around town.He’d even been into her shop on several occasions to purchase small vases of flowers.Probably for his girlfriend.Which meant he was completely out of the selection pool.He’d introduced himself as Lucas.
At that moment, Lucas looked her way and smiled.
Felina’s heart fluttered, and a swarm of butterflies erupted in her belly.Holy hell.The man went from smoldering good looks to panty-melting-hottie with one stretch of his lips.
“It’s a solid idea worth checking into,” Shelby said as she pushed to her feet.“Do you want me to put a bug in Remy’s ear and find out if someone would be willing to take the job?”
Heat filled Felina’s cheeks.“No,” she said quickly before Remy reached Shelby.“I want to think about it.”
“Hey, beautiful.”Remy stopped in front of Shelby, pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly.When he finally raised his head, he smiled down at her.“Miss me?”
“Mmm.A little.Remind me again why.”She lifted her chin, and Remy kissed her again.
Felina’s heart swelled for her friend.As a friend and a deputy sheriff, Shelby did so much for the people of Bayou Mambaloa.She deserved to be happy.And Remy made her happier than Felina could remember Shelby ever being.
What they had, the love they shared, was how it should be.Not the boring existence she’d had with Marty.She was glad he’d dumped her.It had saved her the trouble.However, since he’d left her, she’d been stopped on the street where neighbors and townspeople expressed their condolences and openly pitied her.
