“We, Dallas. How do you proposewedo this.”
“Right,” I exhale, then clench my teeth.
She sucks in a breath, pacing the living room. “We start by asking her what she wants. If it’s the same as what you want—that you want to be together—then we gently explain how that needs to happen, softening the truth.”
I swallow. “Willow. This is a legal marriage. We’d have to .?.?. get divorced. That’s no light commitment.”
She barely blinks. “Well then, you might as well drive me back to the airport now. Because unless you’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep your little girl with you, with her father—where she belongs—then you’re going to lose. This Glenda Lost woman sounds like she plays hard. Let’s give her a real fight.”
“We can barely go ten minutes without a fight. How are we supposed to make three months work?”
She smirks. “With patience and a lot of heart.”
I know she means for Ellie—but something about the way she poses it to me is .?.?. hauntingly alluring.
“I don’t have much of either of those left,” I mumble to myself.
But she overhears. Frowns. “I know. Millie, right?”
I clench my back teeth.
“Sorry,” she breathes. “I’ll just lock that away with all the other subjects we don’t talk about.”
“It’s fine. And yes. That was her name.”
“I guess this would have been a much easier decision if it were her you were marrying instead of .?.?. well, some stranger.”
My stomach twists painfully. But it has nothing to do with my late fiancée. It’s the flicker of something raw in her voice. Maybe even a quiet ache. Like she’s some consolation prize.
I look at her. Willow’s hardly been a stranger. In fact, since the day we met, there’s been a connection that feels anything but strange. Not saying it feels right either. More like a puzzle that fits—but doesn’t quite match the picture.
I don’t want to insult Willow by leaving her assumption unanswered. In fact—I’m not sure if Millie would’ve taken so lightly to becoming a mother overnight. Especially to a child we didn’t make together. But Willow—no loyalty or connection to me. Zero obligations. Didn’t even blink twice at the thought. Her mind’s on Ellie. On keeping us together.
Where mine should be.
I run a hand along my stubble. “I’m not so sure that would have worked out well either,” I tell her honestly, and that’s all she needs to know.
She narrows her eyes at me with a soft smirk. “I do. I think one look at that little girl and that’s all it would’ve taken.”
My chest lurches with that familiar ache. And I need to change the subject. There’s no point in wondering how Millie would have reacted.
“Tell me about your family. I’m .?.?. going to need to know about them—to some degree.”
A hesitant but curt nod. “I’m an only child. My father was in and out of our lives all through my early childhood until he finally left when I was ten. That’s when my mother’s career as a romance author took off. Singingdoes notrun in my family. But my grandmother did teach me to play piano. I met Rose four years ago and she’s the closest to family I have.”
I smirk. “We were pretty quick to adopt her too.” I rub my hands together, staying on track. “How’d we meet?”
“At the Lock Bar in Manhattan, of course. I was wearing your hoodie which I stole from Rose because it smelledsodamn good. And knew exactly who it belonged to when its owner walked through the door in the matching cowboy hat.”
I chuckle, wondering how much of this will be made up. “And how’d we fall in love?”
She smirks. “Easy.” Then she turns and starts pacing the living room again. “Sparks started flying the moment I went back to finish my set.” She glances back at me. “I felt your eyes on me all night.”
Damn. “Fair enough.” I cross my arms. “What happened next?”
“I came here for a visit. Fell head over heels for your daughter. Ran into you without your shirt on and I was a goner.” She feigns a swoon with the back of her hand against her forehead and I hold back another laugh.
“So you fell first, huh?”
