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I’m stunned speechless, staring down at this man before me on one knee as he opens the velvet box with his thumb, his hands are steady now as he holds the most beautiful diamond ring up to me and says, “Marry me, Scar.”

I swallow deeply past the lump forming in my throat. “That didn’t sound like a question.”

He half chuckles, half scoffs. “I’m not asking.”

“It sounded more like a command,” I tell him, narrowing my eyes.

“Nope. It’s a demand.”

I scoff at his audacity. “You don’t even know me, Bennett.”

“I know enough. And what I know, I like a whole lot,” he replies with a cocksure grin that starts incredibly arrogant but turns more boyish the longer I hesitate with my response.

Fighting the sting behind my eyes, I blink past the emotions swelling to the surface. “What if I’m some sort of psychopath?” Alarm bells ring in my head that this will end badly. If not for me, then surely for Gunner and Gemma.

He chuckles at that, shaking his head at my nonsense. “You’re not. But you are a pain in my ass for making me sit here this long.”

“For how long? How long are you willing to be married?” I clarify.

“However long you need,” he answers.

He sounds so nonchalant over the fact that he’d be practically signing his life away, or putting it on hold at the very least, for me. Me . The person he calls a brat and is practically strangers with.

Mulling it over, I bite my bottom lip. “Three years. That should be enough to gain and maintain ownership,” I explain, nodding my head more to reassure myself than him.

“Deal,” he answers without hesitation, which is shocking.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he questions .

“Okay, sure. I’ll roll the dice with you, Benny Boy.”

An electric grin eclipses his face and the sight causes butterflies to soar through my chest. He stands to his full height and I look up into his eyes as he slides the ring onto my finger. My emotions are all over the place as I recognize the sincerity shining in his.

What have I done? I just agreed to use this man—to take complete advantage of his selflessness—for him to receive nothing in return.

“I’m shocked, I didn’t think it’d fit, but it looks like it might be just the right size,” he says once he’s slid it on.

I chance a glance down at my hand and when my eyes land on the stunning ring, my stomach sinks. It’s my dream ring—an elongated cushion-cut diamond ring that has to be close to four freaking carats with a hidden halo.

“Bennett, I can’t accept this ring.”

“You don’t like it?” His forehead creases in confusion and I’d probably think it’s adorable if my head wasn’t spinning at the moment.

“It’s too much. You had to have spent a fortune on this.” What I don’t say is that wearing my dream ring for an essentially fake marriage makes me sick to my stomach.

“You’re about to be the one signing my paychecks, I assure you I can afford it. But if you don’t like it—if you’d prefer something different—we can go to pick out a different one.”

“Bennett, no. It’s perfect. I just—” I take a moment to compose myself, my thoughts a jumbled mess. “What does this all mean to you? Shouldn’t we draw up a mutually beneficial contract before we agree to something so serious?”

“What do you want, Scar? What do you need ? This will mean to me whatever you need it to.”

God, what do I need? When was the last time someone asked me that?

When was the last time I did something as selfish as this?

Probably the night the two of us were together all those years ago, that was the last time I acted selfishly—did something just for myself.

And marrying Bennett would be for entirely selfish reasons.

Not only would I be the sole benefactor from this arrangement, but I’d be marrying a man who is a total catch.

Asshole tendencies aside, Bennett Wilson checks all my boxes when it comes to the qualities I’m looking for in a man.

Not only is he extremely successful, but I’ve come to learn in the past few weeks we’ve spent together that he’s smart, kind, caring, annoyingly charismatic, charming, and if this action says anything about him, he’s also selfless.

Like when he stays after practices to help the guys who need extra work and has also become a mentor to Connelly.

Or how about the fact that he’s offered to give free guitar lessons to Gemma simply because I mentioned she wanted to learn?

“This isn’t just about me, Bennett. Why would you sign your life away for me? Don’t you want a real marriage? A family of your own?”

I have to imagine he would want all of those things eventually, I know I want those things someday.

“Do you happen to know who my father is?” he asks instead of answering.

“Of course I do.”

“So then you know that my father, Senator Wilson, makes almost all of his decisions for his political gain, whatever is in his best interest, this includes who his children date or marry.”

I try to swallow past the sudden dryness in my throat. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that this marriage would be a mutually beneficial arrangement. While you’re mostly a pain in my ass, I think I could become fond of your sass over time, and it’d be a hell of a lot better than being attached to someone my father or his advisors hand select for me. ”

“You could grow fond of me . . . just what I’ve always hoped my fiancé would tell me as he’s proposing,” I deadpan.

He sighs and rubs the back of his neck, his sheepishness giving him a boyish look.

“Look, if you want the truth, I didn’t see marriage and babies in the cards for me.

It’s not that I am opposed to the idea, it’s just that I’ve only felt explosive chemistry with one person before, and it turns out I fucked that up pretty badly.

And I didn’t have the best example set by my parents for a loving marriage.

But I think we could be a good team, the two of us.

I think we have a shot at making this work. ”

My chest tightens as his words sink in and jealousy I have no right to feel takes over. “Honestly, hearing about your one that got away isn’t exactly what I want right now.”

“You did get away from me once, Scar. I’m not about to make the same mistake twice.”

I have to hold my abdomen to contain the riot of butterflies threatening to take flight from his words. I’m not sure what to make of them. “What are you insinuating?”

“I’m saying you knocked me on my ass six years ago and I’m going to do my best not to fuck up my second shot with you.”

Needing to shift the conversation from the sudden seriousness, I give him my best sass. “Don’t you mean your third shot with me? If I remember correctly, you didn’t even get my name the first night we met.”

“And look how the tides have turned. Not only did I get your name, but now you’ll have mine,” Bennett boasts, sending a playful wink my way. Goddamn. My fiancé is fine as hell when he’s flirting with me.

Fiancé . Bennett is my fiancé. This is so surreal.

“Hey, Cap?”

“Yeah, Little Red?” he tosses back, stepping into my space and clouding my thoughts with his cologne that smells like my own personal brand of pheromones.

“This changes nothing between the two of us,” I tell him, my voice unsteady due to his sudden proximity.

“Wrong. This changes everything,” he assures me, rubbing his thumb over the ring he just placed on my finger. My traitorous heart squeezes and picks up speed at his words instead of taking them as the warning they are.