Page 59 of Love Arranged

I force myself to look into her eyes instead. “I’m confused why you’re offering to be my fiancée when you think my plan is stupid.”

“I never said it was stupid. Is it poorly thought-out and risky? Yeah, but stupid…eh. I think there’s merit to you being in a fake relationship with someone. It makes you seem…likeable.”

“Didn’t realize I wasn’t.”

Her nose scrunches. “Moving on… Unlike some woman you’d pay to be your fiancée, I’m a sure thing. People here know me, and even better,I know them, which makes me an asset. As you said earlier, theylikeme, to the point of being invested in who I’m dating and why, and best of all, they trust me.” Her eyes sparkle with a confidence I find irresistible.

“Of course they do.” She has had twenty-eight years to establish herself as a trustworthy person, and it shows.

“And most importantly, I want you to win.”

“Because you don’t like the Ludlows,” I reply, my tone riddled with skepticism.

She keeps her emotions in check, making it hard to get a clear read on her, which only verifies my doubts.

What did the Ludlows do that made Lily switch to my side, and how do I get her to tell me?

So long as you two have the same goal, who cares?

I hesitate—a rarity in itself—before speaking. “If I agree…”

“Which you will, because my plan is the best.” The way she beams at her own idea should be off-putting, but I like her confidence.

Her strong sense of self drew me into her orbit the first time, and it’s the same trait that could threaten the protective barrier I placed around myself after she blew a hole through it months ago.

Reluctantly, I reply, “In theory, yes, your plan is better.”

“There are already some whisperings about us, especially after the sheriff’s station visit and my drunken episode, so planting additional clues won’t be difficult. They’ll have no choice but to believe it because the signs have been there all along.”

It’s alarming how perfect this all sounds.

Dare I saytooperfect.

“So the official storyline is that we’ve secretly been in love this whole time but we hid it?”

She nods. “Ever since we met on a dating app last year.”

“And we kept quiet all because your family doesn’t like me?” Disbelief bleeds into the question. “Doesn’t that seem extreme to you?”

“Anyone who has met my family will understand.”

“So all of Lake Wisteria?”

“You got it.”

“And what changed for us?” I ask. “Why did we decide to go public now versus months ago?”

“I couldn’t stand the idea of keeping our love a secret anymore,” she says dramatically. “But I think to sell our engagement, we should give everyone at least two months to adjust to the idea of us being a couple before we hit them with a proposal. Because if we come on too strong, too fast, it could be suspicious.”

“Why bother getting engaged at all? We could fake a relationship and save ourselves from a future headache.”

She pauses to think it out before shaking her head. “No. We need something more…permanent. Something that tells the town you’re all-in.”

I stroke my stubbled chin. “Couples call off engagements all the time.”

“Then we’d better do a good job of convincing people that we won’t.”

Her ideadoessound far superior to mine, and it could help revitalize my campaign. But the voice of reason questions what will become of me if I agree to work closely with the one person I swore to avoid.