Page 29 of The Proposal (Brides of Beaufort 1)

“So, is he why I’m here?”

Startled, I shifted in my seat to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“There’s always a reason beyond the reason. People don’t just hire a wedding date because they couldn’t think of anyone to go with.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I’m serious. More often than not, the reason I’m hired is because of another guest who’ll be at the wedding. An old boyfriend, a meddling grandmother, the guy who only sees you as his friend.” He looked pointedly at me on that last one, then grinned when I looked away. “That’s what I thought.”

“It’s not like that, though.”

“No?”

“No. When Aria suggested hiring you, Paul had a girlfriend. In fact, he was about to propose to her. So, I wouldn’t hire a wedding date in some misguided attempt to get in the way of that.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“Beau. For real.”

“I believe you.”

“Okay.”

There was a beat of silence, then he slid his eyes over to me with a quirk of his mouth. “So, I take it the proposal didn’t go well?”

“What?”

“You saidat the timehe had a girlfriend he was going to propose to.”

“Oh, right.” I cleared my throat. “She said no.”

“Bummer.”

“Yeah.”

“But maybe not for you?”

I let out an exasperated noise. “You don’t even know us.”

“That’s true. But being a professional wedding date means I have a front-row seat to a lifetime supply of chick flicks. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve seen this one.”

“And what one isthis one?”

“Thewe’re just friendsone. Spoiler alert, you’re not.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes. The funny thing was, I’d already been planning to take the first step toward changing our status from “just friends,” and Beau didn’t even know it. “Fine. I may be secretly in love with him, but I’m not sure he feels the same way. He might, but it’s complicated.”

Beau’s gaze raked over me before he turned his eyes back to the road. “I’m sure he does.”

“Thanks,” I said meekly, a blush warming my cheeks. “I guess we’ll see. He asked me to save him a dance later, and I’m planning to invite him over for dinner and a movie next weekend. We do that sort of thing all the time, but hopefully, this time will be different.”

“Nice.”

I bit my lip and turned to him again, eyes wide. “Is that weird?”

“Dinner and a movie? No, that’s great.”

“No, Beau. The fact that I’ve told my wedding date that I’m planning to dance with the guy I’m secretly in love with and ask him on a date for next weekend.”