Page 11

Chloe

I choke.

“Grandma May! What in the world?”

She shrugs.

“Well, you sure rushed into your engagement fast. In my day, you only did that if you had a bun in the oven.”

I close my eyes.

“I can’t even,” I mutter.

I don’t look at Gunner.

“There is no bun. No oven. No lovebirds.”

“Then why the quick engagement?”

I widen my eyes at her.

“Grandma May! This was your idea! You’re the one that said he needed a fiancé.”

“And you jumped right into that role, didn’t you?”

“Okay. We’re going to leave now, and you’re going to rest.” I step over to her and drag my eyes over her bruised face.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I whisper, giving her forehead a kiss.

“Of course I’m okay. I have to be okay, so I can walk you down the aisle for your wedding.”

I shake my head.

“There is no wedding.”

“Where’s the ring? If you like it, you gotta put a ring on it.”

I turn around and face Gunner.

“Okay. Time to go.” Gunner’s wearing his sexy smirk that makes my heart squeeze.

“Bye, Grandma May.” I shut her door most of the way but keep it open a crack, so I can peek in on her.

I head over to the kitchen and check her cabinets and fridge and make a quick list on my phone for what I need to grab.

I peek in one last time, and she’s already asleep.

Good.

Gunner waits for me at the door.

“You ready?”

He opens the door for me, and we head out into the hallway and back the way we came.

“I’m sorry about all that. I would claim temporary insanity, but she’s always like that.”

He glances down at me.

“She’s great.”

I smile.

“Yeah. She is.” I keep my phone out and work on my list.

Gunner opens the door to his truck for me, and I climb in.

“Thanks.”

“Where to?” he asks once he climbs in.

I look up from my phone.

“What?”

He nods at my phone.

“Where do you need to go to get that stuff?”

“Oh, if you can just take me home, that would be great. I’ll take care of this.”

He looks over at me, one hand on the wheel; but we haven’t pulled out yet.

“Let’s just get it done while we’re here; it will save you the trip coming back later.”

“I don’t want to put you out; I can just—”

“You’re not putting me out.” He starts backing out.

“Where to?”

I realize I’m not going to win.

“Walmart.” He nods and starts driving.

“Thank you.” I pull it up on my app.

“Do you need directions?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Left at the light.”

We arrive less than ten minutes later.

“I’ll be fast.” I climb down and close my door behind me.

I walk towards the entrance and am shocked when he falls into step next to me.

“You don’t have to go in,” I tell him.

He’s got his black hat pulled low over his eyes again.

“I have to grab a few things.”

I laugh.

“Like you shop at Walmart.”

“I do.”

“You shop at Walmart?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

He doesn’t answer me, and I veer over to the shopping carts.

“Want to just meet up front in like twenty minutes? Will that give you enough time to do all your shopping?” I ask with a smirk.

He picks up a basket and leaves me.

I work through my list and start making my way toward the front.

It’s when I get nearly to the front that I take in the group of people gathered.

My stomach plummets, and I instantly redirect that way.

Even in the midst of a large group of people, Gunner stands heads and shoulders above everybody else.

I take in the strained expression and stiffness in his shoulders.

Gunner has never been super great with the public.

I’ve worked at it over the years with him, but he is just really uncomfortable around people, especially a large group.

I leave my cart and push through the crowd until I get to him.

He’s signing something for a woman in front of him, but there are lots more people shoving stuff at him.

If we’re not careful, this could get out of hand fast.

“Okay, everybody. That’s all for now.” There’s a collective groan, but I don’t care.

“Come see him on the ice at a Green Thunder game soon; he won’t disappoint.” Most of the crowd starts to dissipate, but there are always a few who think they’re above the rules.

Two guys approach Gunner, who’s quiet beside me.

“Hey, Man,” one of them says.

“Can you just sign this real quick for my girl?”

“No, he can’t,” I say.

“Come to the next signing event, and he’ll be happy to sign anything for you.” My words pour off my tongue, well-practiced over the years.

The guy turns his attention away from Gunner and to me for the first time.

“And who made you his boss?”

“I’m actually the PR agent for the team,” I tell him with authority in my voice.

His other buddy steps up next to him.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not on you to decide if he wants to sign something or not.”

“Actually, it is.” I hate guys like this that won’t just let it go.

He puts his hand out.

I’m not sure exactly what it is he’s going to do, but I refuse to step back.

“You touch her, and we’re going to have a problem.” I tense at Gunner’s words and eye the men, even as Gunner moves his shoulder in front of mine.

I tap on his arm, but he ignores me.

“Move on.”

Thankfully, they finally get the message and move away.

Gunner watches them go with narrowed eyes.

“I had that handled,” I tell him.

“I know.” His eyes meet mine.

“Thanks for getting rid of the crowd.”

I grab my cart.

“Let’s check out and get out of here before another crowd gathers.” I eye the people standing around us, some with their phones up; others still trying to place who the big guy is.

“Give me your stuff. I’ll check us both out. You get out of here before another crowd gathers.”

“I’m not leaving you in here by yourself.”

I laugh.

“It’s Walmart, Coftman. And I’m not the one everybody wants to get lucky to spot.” I push on his stomach, which is completely inflexible.

Mental note—do more sit-ups.

“ Go. I’ll be fine.”

He glances at the people trying to get closer to us.

“You call me if you need me.”

“I will. Go.” I watch as he strides away, and I’m not the only one.

I check out quickly with my stuff and then just add Gunner’s stuff to my order.

Minutes later, I head to the checkout.

I’m out the door soon and halfway to Gunner’s truck when I see them—the two idiots from earlier.

I don’t slow my stride.

“Make an issue, Fellas, and you’re going to regret it. This is why we have our own lawyers.”

My words seem to hit the guy on the left faster.

“Come on, Man. She’s not worth it.”

I roll my eyes as they leave.

“Some people.” I look up to see Gunner coming towards me, not looking happy.

“They left; don’t worry about it.” He looks over in the direction they went.

“Come on, Big C. It’s not worth it.” He reluctantly redirects to his truck and helps me load the bags.

He returns the cart for me, and I settle in the front seat and check my email.

“How much do I owe you?” he asks.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re not going to pay for my stuff.”

“It was like four things,” I remind him.

“Besides, I owe you big time for today for driving me everywhere. If anything, I owe you gas money.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” His voice is a low growl, and I can tell he’s still irritated.

We make the drive back to the nursing home.

“If you want, you can just drop me off; I’ll be fast.” True to my word, I’m back out only a few minutes later.

“How was she?” he asks when I climb back in.

“She’s still sleeping.”

“Good.” He glances over at me.

“You two seem pretty close.”

“Well, she raised me; so yeah, we’re pretty close.”

The ride back to my house is quiet.

When he pulls up in front of my condo, I turn to him.

“Real quick, before you go, I think we should make some rules.”

“Rules?” he questions.

“Yeah, for this thing to work, we need to make rules.” At his look of confusion, I add, “To keep things professional between us.”

“To keep things professional, while you’re playing the part of my fiancé?” he questions.

“Yes, exactly. Because it’s going to get tricky. Anyway, I sent you an email with the list of rules. Feel free to add anything to it.”

“I didn’t get it; I checked my email this morning.”

“Oh, I just sent it.” I grab my purse and put my hand on the door handle.

“You sent me an email while you were sitting next to me?” he asks.

“Yep.” He pulls out his phone.

“All right. Well, thank you so much for—”

“Wait.”

He doesn’t say anything more, and I resist the urge to sigh.

I’ve already lost a lot of my day; I need to get inside and get work done.

“This isn’t going to work,” he says a moment later.

“Of course it’s going to work.”

He levels a look at me.

“We already broke three of the four rules today.” He looks down at his phone.

I nod.

“Yes, well, that’s on me. But today was an emergency; it won’t happen again.”

“Chloe, if we’re supposedly dating, all of these things are going to happen. I will touch you, we will be in a car together alone, we will talk on the phone, we will seek out each other outside of work, and we definitely are going to get emotionally connected. Whether we’re trying to or not, it’s going to happen.”

“Well, first of all, I said each of those things outside of what we have to do when we have to be in the spotlight. I’m talking about when we’re not doing events or doing things for the sake of your image.” He doesn’t say anything, and I push forward.

“This is how we keep things professional between us.”

He sets those intense bright blue eyes on me.

“We don’t have to keep things professional, Chloe. We just have to make it work for both of us.”

“I understand that, but for this to work for me, it has to stay strictly professional.”

He’s silent a moment.

“And the last rule?” He doesn’t say it, but I know exactly what he’s referring to.

I take a deep breath and do something I should have done years ago.

“I’m sorry for what I said four years ago. I shouldn’t have asked you out. I saw you for the first time and lost my head. It was wrong; I won’t do it again. Now, as per the last rule, I’ve apologized, and now, I want to agree that neither of us will ever bring it up again.”

He looks out the windshield.

“Yeah.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Coftman. I will follow all those rules and be the best fake fiancé you could ask for.” He doesn’t look at me and doesn’t say anything.

“Okay. Well, I’m heading in. Thank you for today, for all you did. I really, really appreciate it.”

“I’ll get the ring to you as soon as I get it.”

“Okay.”

He still doesn’t look at me.

“As far as the team goes, Coach, Aiden, Rico, and Seb know it’s fake but nobody else. They think we’re for real; so, we’re going to have to make sure we present that.”

“I know.” He doesn’t say anything else, so I slide out of the truck.

“Bye, Coftman, see you tomorrow.” I close the door and stride to my front door without looking back.

As soon as my door is open, I hear him drive away.