Maggie heaves an aggrieved sigh and turns to me. “The thing is, everyone wants to set their daughters up with him.”
Oh. Well, this got good. I lean in. “Tell me more.”
Ford rolls his eyes. “Skylar, what did I tell you at Twice Loved?”
“That your mom loves you deeply and had the highway patrol check on you when you were eighteen and driving to college?” I ask innocently.
He drags a hand down his face. “What did Ireallytell you?”
“It was a reasonable thing to do,” Maggie says with zero sarcasm.
“Of course it was,” I assure her.
“So what did he tell you about me?” Maggie asks. No—she insists.
“Not to give you my number. Oops. Did it anyway,” I say to his mom with a defiant bob of my shoulder.
Well, hedidsay his mom likes it when I tease him in front of her. Works for me. Teasing is my love language, and I can’t help it.
He groans. “I said, don’t feed steak to the tiger.”
“I’m the tiger?” Mom asks sharply. “Ford, that’s not nice.”
“So tell me all about these dates,” I cut in. I’m secretly hoping he turns them all down.
Unfair? Yes.
Irrational? Also yes.
But it’s how I feel.
I’m dying for the details and praying he is notinterested in these other women. As my neighbor and my client, he’s a double-whammy of off-limits. I can’t have him, but that means no one else can. Obviously.
“Cordelia Harrington wants him to take her daughter,” Maggie begins with an even heartier sigh. “Kahlia Mayami wants to set him up withherdaughter. Sunil Bakshi says his daughter is a huge hockey fan and would love to go with him. Honestly, it’s endless. And, frankly, exhausting.”
“Well, he gets proposals at games too,” I point out, since I read that online.
“I’mright here,” Ford mutters, pointing at himself.
Maggie waves a dismissive hand his way.
“But the thing is, I want to get them off my back. I can’t have everyone hounding me about my single son. I have fundraising to handle. A gala to plan. A house to prep. I need a shield from all these date requests,” Maggie says. Then she pauses, narrowing her eyes, studying me. Then Ford. Then me again.
Her smile turns Mona Lisa serene. “But I devised a plan this morning. An unbeatable plan.”
“Do tell,” Ford says dryly.
I’m on the edge of my seat.
Maggie’s grin is her entire personality as she takes an even longer pause to drink more iced tea. She sets down the glass with aplink.
“Skylar will attend as your fake girlfriend,” she announces. “I’ve watched you two this morning, and you look good together. It will be perfect. Say yes.”
I freeze.
But Ford doesn’t.
He turns to me, a slow, sexy smile forming on those lips. “Works for me.”
