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“Shut up, that’s mine! Did we just become musical besties?” I squeal.

“We most certainly did not.” He sounds offended at the suggestion, but he unbuttons his jacket and sits back down, which tells me I haven’t run him off quite yet.

“Sure, sure. Yet you’re making yourself right at home in my office. Do you plan to stick around for the afternoon? Should I order us lunch, bestie ?”

“I almost forgot how much of a brat you are,” he resigns.

Why do I like it so much when he calls me a brat? I’m seriously depraved.

“I was kidding about the bestie part, but I’m famished, so I’m going to have my assistant order some lunch.

Do you want anything?” I ask, though I’m not sure why.

It’s not like I want him to stick around.

It’s just nice . . . having someone to talk to.

Before starting this job, I hadn’t had a lot of adult interaction over the past five years.

It’s not that we were isolated at the cabin, but I didn’t necessarily make new friends, and I was at a completely different phase of life than all of my college friends.

Bennett looks at his watch and shrugs. “Sure, I don’t have anything going on aside from an afternoon skate with Connelly in two hours.”

A half hour later we’re passing takeout boxes back and forth from my favorite Chinese restaurant across my desk. Bennett’s taken off his suit jacket and has the sleeves of his shirt rolled up his forearms. Carved forearms that are most certainly distracting me in the very best way.

“So,” Bennett starts, but pauses to steal the piece of sesame chicken from my chopstix with his own before plopping it in his mouth.

Until this moment, I didn’t realize I could be turned on by the sight of a man eating. The way his strong jaw clenches while he chews, and the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows has me wiggling in my desk chair .

I could be quite literally drooling right now.

“So?” I toss back halfheartedly, still distracted by the show he is completely unaware he’s putting on for me.

He brings his fist up to cover his mouth as he clears his throat. “So any other hot dates you’ve got coming up?”

“Why is that any of your business?”

“It’s not. I just wanted to see if we had to schedule Gemma’s guitar lessons around any more dates.”

I wrinkle my nose at his logic. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the lessons thus far were the past three evenings with no interruptions and one more tonight.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So . . . quit beating around the bush and just ask me if I’m single.”

Bennett seemingly chokes on a mouthful of rice at my request. After taking a swig of his water, he clears his throat and looks across my desk. “Are you?”

I flutter my eyelashes innocently. “Am I what, Benny Boy?”

“Single. Are you single?”

“Yes, I’m embarrassingly unattached. And my current relationship status has made things that much more difficult for a predicament I’ve found myself in,” I admit, sighing in frustration.

“And what predicament is that?”

“A large problem.”

“Humor me. What problem? How can I help?”

“Yeah, well, this is a problem you couldn’t possibly fix. I’ve already had every lawyer at my family’s disposal look into it. And it’s some fucking archaic bullshit, if you ask me, pardon my French.”

“What’s the problem, Scar?” I stare back at him, my eyes searching his to find nothing but genuine concern in his expression .

Rolling my lips together, I hesitate before asking, “Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut?”

“Who am I going to run and tell your problems to?”

“Your teammates,” I point out.

“I won’t. Your secrets are safe with me. Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

“My grandfather was diagnosed with early stages of dementia. I am working as his apprentice this season with the hopes that I’ll take over ownership by next year.”

Bennett’s face falls and he clears his throat.

“I’m so sorry to hear about Joseph. If you’re worried about getting up to speed with the team, I’ll help in any way I can.

But what does that have to do with lawyers?

Can’t he legally hand over ownership to you while he’s still in the right frame of mind? Before it progresses?”

“That’s not the issue. It’s the terms of ownership that my grandfather only just shared with me earlier this month.

You can’t help my biggest problem, though.

No one can. And you wanna know why?” I pause for a beat, taking a deep breath that fails to calm my racing heart.

“Because I’ve got to get married within the next year in order to take over ownership.

” The word tastes bitter on my tongue and I swallow before continuing.

“The sooner the better according to my grandfather. And I’ve got zero prospects.

Besides, even if I did find time to date, the whole ‘single guardian of her two younger siblings’ thing is probably really attractive to a lot of guys.

So, no, unless you’re willing to sign your life away and marry me, you cannot help me. ”

Complete silence fills my office as I end my rant. Bennett stares back at me, not saying a single word, head turned to the side like he’s trying to see inside my head.

“I’ll do it.”

The laugh I let out in response is slightly hysterical, bordering on unhinged. “You’ll do it. Do what, exactly? ”

“I’ll marry you.”

Now it’s my turn to stare back in silence, mouth agape.

I’m not sure how long I gawk at him across my desk, or how long my jaw remains dropped to the floor, but when Bennett finally breaks the silence, I have no idea what to think anymore.

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

Oh, thank god. Because it’s one thing to marry someone out of mutual convenience.

I don’t need to love the man I marry. I just need him to respect me and keep his distance from Gemma and Gunner.

But Bennett? He’d be a risk. A six-foot-five, chiseled risk I couldn’t afford.

Because while I might not fall in love with him, I already know the way my body responds to his touch.

And there would be nothing mutually convenient about the arrangement.

He’s a millionaire professional hockey player with women lining up to have him in every city he plays in.

“What I meant—what I mean to say is, that isn’t any way to propose to a woman. I-I can do better.” He takes a deep breath, and I’m too stunned to ask the million questions running through my mind.

Before I can blink Bennett is standing and gathering our garbage. When he gets to the door, he pauses and says, “Don’t worry, Scar. I’ll take care of everything. See you tonight for Gemma’s guitar lesson.”

What does that even mean? Dear Lord, help me.