Page 21 of The Backup Groom

Too bad my wishes weren’t granted.

She flipped around toward the entrance of Bean Me Up, Scotty, and marched inside like she owned the place.

This can’t be happening.

Before I knew it, Maggoty Mercedes was standing directly in front of us, arms crossed, looking like she was about to give me a piece of her mind. “I told you to take the deal, but did you listen?Noooo. You had to get greedy, didn’t you?” She had an annoying look of satisfaction on her face. “And now that Mr. Ryan Scott is married, you get zilch.”

I sat there in shock, wondering how she found out.

“WTF?” Real Estate Ryan said. “Who told you I was married?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, not liking the direction of this conversation.

My entire plan was going to crumble faster than a sandcastle during high tide.

Maggoty Mercedes had been ignoring Real Estate Ryan, but now was looking him up and down with furrowed eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

He held out his hand over the table to show his ring finger. “You said I was married. I’m not. LOL.”

Maggoty Mercedes shook her head. “No, I said Ryan Scott was—” Something flickered in her eyes. Her gaze bounced back and forth between me and Real Estate Ryan. She was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head, while I was trying to slide my hand onto the table to cover his name that was printed at the top of his flier.

Maggoty Mercedes’ eyes went wide as she clawed the flier away from me. “What the hell is this?” She stared at the flier. “Are you serious?” She pointed to Real Estate Ryan. “You thought you could find some random guy with the same name and then get him to marry you for money? That’s not going to fly in court, I’ll tell you that much. And do you really think this man is desperate enough to marry you for money?”

Real Estate Ryan shrugged. “Desperate? No. An opportunist? Absolutely. How much money are we talking about here? Give me a ballpark number.”

Mercedes crowed maniacally. “Trust me—no amount would be worth it. Amber is under investigation for money laundering and fraud and will end up in prison, taking you right along with her as an accomplice.”

“That’s my cue,” Real Estate Ryan said, jumping to his feet. He snagged his portfolio and his coffee, and rushed out the door.

Some of the other customers were watching us, and I was getting uncomfortable. Even Scotty and Dean looked over in our direction. Talk about embarrassing.

“This conversation is over.” I glanced up at Maggoty Mercedes, fed up, trying to keep my composure since my blood was boiling. “I have nothing more to say to you. Please leave.”

She took a step closer, towering over me. “I’ll be watching you, so don’t even think of trying something else. It’s over, you got that? Over!”

Maggoty Mercedes was dead wrong about that.

I was just getting started.

ChapterFive

Scotty

“Sweet mama, we’ve got some drama.” Dean nudged me in the shoulder. He tilted his head toward Amber’s table. “The real estate dude who was speaking in code suddenly left, and that woman who came in is all up in Amber’s face.”

I tossed an empty jug of milk in the recycle bin and glanced over as the woman turned and stormed out. “She looked pissed off. I wonder what happened.”

“I’ve got a Frankenstein Frappé for Victor!” Dean set the drink on the counter, then grinned at the man. “Your name isn’t really Victor, is it?”

“It’s Richard, actually.” He winked and walked off with his drink.

“That’s what I thought,” Dean mumbled with a snicker.

Victor Frankenstein was the name of the main protagonist from the originalFrankensteinnovel and movie. Many patrons who came in for coffee liked to have fun by giving fake names with their orders, which we were totally okay with. I’ve made drinks for Darth, Flash, Fiona, Nemo, Han, Luke, Buffy, Conan, Scully, Yoda—the list goes on and on.

“Nothing gets by me,” Dean said. “I’m like a bloodhound.” He tapped the tip of his nose.

“I’ve always liked your droopy ears,” I joked.