Page 108 of The Backup Groom

“What did she want?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew.

“Mercedes told me you were looking for a husband. She also said you were going to contact me and try to get me to marry you for money, because you would get five million dollars from your uncle Garfunkel’s will. By the way, I’m sorry for your loss.”

I nodded. “Thank you. What else did she say?” I guess I was in the mood to punish myself further.

“That you are being watched by the FBI and some bad things were about to go down. Also, that I needed to steer clear of you because you would ruin my life and bankrupt my clinic.”

I actually let out a laugh. “Did she tell you why the FBI was watching me?” There was no end to how evil my cousin was.

Just when I thought she couldn’t be worse . . .

“You’re under surveillance for espionage,” Ryan said.

“Of course,” I said. “Because when I’m not creating advertising materials for my clients, I love to hack into their computer networks to steal information.” I shook my head in disgust, even though I should have expected nothing less from Maggoty Mercedes.

That would explain his odd behavior on the phone, and the way he had dismissed me.

“Of course I didn’t believe her,” Ryan said.

“That’s good to know, but why are you telling me this now?” I asked.

Ryan sighed. “Well, I’m here to tell you that my marriage was annulled. I’m single again.”

“Whoa.” I jerked my head back, walloped by another huge surprise. “Why did you have your marriage annulled?”

He winced. “She tricked me into marrying her by telling me she was expecting our child. I found out she lied. She wasn’t pregnant.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling sincerely awful for him. If anyone could understand how I felt, it might be Ryan.

“Don’t be,” he said. “I didn’t want to marry her, but it felt like the honorable thing to do. But now that she’s part of the past, it’s time to move on to greener pastures. I always felt you were the one who got away, Amber. And there’s something I want to ask you.”

Please, God, no.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this moment.

It had all the earmarks of complete and utter disaster.

Ryan pulled out a ring and dropped down on one knee. “Amber, will you marry me?”

I stared down at him, unsure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. I was leaning toward laughing. Seriously, my life was a circus. No, worse. It was like I was on some reality TV show that kept getting crazier and crazier by the minute. It was unbelievable how everything had come full circle. It had all started with me contacting him to marry me, but now he was asking me to marry him. Either that or the Ryan Scott I used to know had turned into a real opportunist.

Maybe it would have been tempting to accept this odd, impetuous proposal, if it weren’t for the fact that my heart now firmly belonged to Scotty.

I missed the way Scotty looked at me. I missed his playfulness, his warmth, and his kisses. I missed every single, solitary thing about the man, except for the fact that he was a big, fat, lying liar.

“Amber?” Ryan said, still on one knee, bringing me back to the insanity of the moment.

I was about to open my mouth when the bang on the door made me jump.

“Open up!” Stella shouted from the porch.

I sighed and held up a finger to Ryan. “Hold that thought.”

I grasped the doorknob and swung the door open as Stella barged in.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “We need to talk.” She froze in her tracks, staring at Ryan, who was still on one knee. “Oh. My. Freaking. Word.” She shook her head. “No stinking way.” She walked over and clutched Ryan by the hand, helped him to his feet, and ushered him straight to the door. “It really is good to see you, Ryan. It’s been a long time. Your hair looks fantastic. Hope all is well, but this really isn’t a good time. We’ll be in touch.”

Before I could say a single word, she shoved him out the door and slammed it behind him.