The Legal Eagles won 4–3, but Will hadn’t been kidding. The sweeper, who actually did resemble Rachel, had left bruises behind his shin guards. And the things that had come out of that mouth…
She waved and smiled as she left, looking not much older than Daniel, portraying an innocence he hadn’t seen once during the game. “Tell Rachel she owes me ten bucks, Will.”
“Sure thing, Caroline.” He waved back. In a low voice to Evan, he said, “Rachel’s cousin.”
“Red Card Caroline is Rachel’s cousin?” When he’d heard her nickname, he knew it fit. Especially since Caroline had earned not two butthreeyellow penalty cards and a final red one—which normally would eject a player from the game. But that sweet grin she turned on the older male ref, and her diminutive stature compared with his much larger one, had swayed him from booting her.
“Yep.”
“Ah, I see the resemblance.”
Will left him by Lila, who’d been cheering so loudly he couldn’t help but hear her over everyone. “Good luck, brother. You’re gonna need it.”
Evan sat on the nearby bleachers as the next team warmed up. He carefully removed his shin guards and winced at his sore legs.
“That’s gonna leave marks,” Lila said, empathizing. “Never tangle with Caroline in a soccer game. Why do you think everyone usually lets Will lead? She attacks him and leaves everyone else alone.”
“Apparently Will forgot to clue me in to that strategy.”
“I guess so.” She cleared her throat. “Okay, I’m here to make a bargain.”
“Said the devil,” he muttered.
She laughed, purposefully cackling, then held out a hand. “How’s this for a deal? You help me with Hector, I help you with Kenzie, who I know for a fact has been avoiding you.”
“Oh, okay. Deal.” They shook on it.
“So when are you planning on marrying her?”
Chapter 18
“Marriage?” Evan’s heart fluttered. He wasn’t sure he’d heard right. Lila couldn’t possibly know about the engagement ring he’d already picked out and put a deposit on downtown.
“Yep. You love her. We can tell. So what’s the deal?”
“Hold on.” Evan draped his long legs over the lower bench and groaned. “Man, my legs are killing me. Now try again.”
“Evan, I like to think big. The future is ours for the taking, am I right?”
“Maybe.”
“When we see a company in need, Sykes Designs incorporates all facets of that company into a design. Now, if I was designing you, I’d make sure to put an immovable force on your page somewhere.”
“Uh-huh.”
“A knight in shining armor. A protector, a man with romance in his heart and soul and—”
“Why is Kenzie avoiding me? How about you start with that?”
She sighed and twirled one of her braids. “Kenzie is neurotic, and she’s got a right to be. You know about Bryce, right?”
Never one to turn down useful information, he shrugged. “I know what Daniel and Will thought of him. What did you think?”
“I thought he was nice. At first. He was a good guy until the end. And I think he did genuinely love Kenzie.”
He didn’t like hearing that, but he nodded for her to continue.
“The problem was Bryce heard what he wanted to hear. She was straight with him from the jump. Daniel was just a kid, and he needed someone to look out for him. Bryce liked Daniel and was kind. But you could tell he was only nice to the kid for Kenzie’s sake. I’m not saying he wasn’t genuine with Daniel, but he never went out of his way to help the kid unless Kenzie could see him helping.”
