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“Wait, you put your arm around me as a test? I thought …”
“You thought what, Rosie?”
“I thought you were putting your arm around me because you wanted to get some tonight.”
“No, I’m your dating coach, and I was trying to train you on what to do on a first date.”
“Oh, so you didn’t put your arm around me because you wanted to. You did it because you’re my coach?”
“That’s what I just said.”
“You are so confusing, Brett.”
“How am I confusing?”
“Because …” She punches me in the arm. “You know what? Just forget it.”
“What would you do if I were Marcus and we were on a first date and I leaned over and tried to kiss you?”
“It would depend how and why you tried to kiss me.”
“What if I did this?” I lean over and kiss her on the cheek.
“A kiss on the cheek is nothing. I would be fine with it.”
“And what if I tried to kiss you on the lips?”
“Are you going to try and kiss me on the lips?”
“No, because that wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate from you, or it wouldn’t be appropriate from my fake date?”
“Look, I don’t even know. You’re just confusing me.”
“I’m confusing you? You’re confusing me. Brett, I think you may actually be losing it right now. I think we need to—” She pauses when my phone rings.
I grab it and look down. It’s my grandfather calling.
“Hey, I need to take this,” I say. “Hey, Granddad.”
“Brett, I was hoping you’d answer.”
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s great, but you know what’s coming up.”
I let out a long, low sigh as I walk into my bedroom. “Not really sure what you’re talking about, Granddad,” I say, even though I know one hundred percent what Theodore Selleck is talking about.
He’s the patriarch of the family, and more than anything, he cares about me getting married and carrying on the lineage. He wants me to take over the business as well, but I have absolutely no interest in doing that.
“My eightieth birthday is coming up and your access to the trust as well.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“You do know one of the clauses in the trust is that you are engaged or married.”
“Yes, Granddad.”
