LITMIR.BIZ

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that list do I not have? I’m all of those things and more.”

      “Maybe, but you’re not around. I’m not going to sit at home alone with this baby while you hopscotch around the planet.”

      “What if I said I could be better about that? Maybe having a wife and a family will give me something to come home to.”

      “We’re still not in love,” she argued.

      “Love is overrated. Look what it got Christine and me—a bunch of heartbreak. I’m not saying it will work. We might end up being totally incompatible, and if we are, we end it and you can go back to your quest for the White Buffalo. But why can’t we at least try? Pandora’s box is open. There’s no going back to where we were.”

      She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know, Tyler. I can’t...lose you. You’ve been the person in my life I can always count on. You’re my rock.”

      “You’re not going to lose me, no matter what.” A wicked smile curled his lips as a thought came to mind. “We’ve slept together and the world hasn’t ended. I’m still here. And since I’ve seen you naked, I’ve got even more incentive to stick around. I’ve touched and tasted every inch of your body, and if there’s the potential I’ll get to do it again, I’m not going anywhere.”

      Amelia’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. “Tyler...” she chastised, but he wasn’t hearing it.

      “I know you’re attracted to me. You just have to admit it to yourself.”

      “Wh-what?” she sputtered. “What makes you say that?”

      “Oh, come on, Amelia. You can’t blame that whole night on tequila. You were wildly passionate. You couldn’t get enough of me, as though you’d finally let the floodgates open and allowed yourself to have something forbidden. It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever witnessed,” he added, and it was true. He hadn’t lusted over his best friend in the past, but since that night, he couldn’t get her out of his head.

      He placed a hand on her knee and leaned in close. “If that night was any indication, we might have a chance. So why not see what could happen if you opened your mind to the possibility of us? Forget about Tyler the friend and think of me as the hot new guy you’re dating.”

      That, finally, made Amelia smile, and relief washed over him all at once.

      Her eyes narrowed at him, her lips twisting in deep thought. “Okay, fine,” she said at last. “We’ll give this relationship a trial run. I will date you, Tyler, but there are some ground rules I want to lay down first. Number one, no one is to know we’re married, or that I’m pregnant. Especially not your family. Did you tell anyone?”

      “No,” he said quickly. He’d never thought their marriage would last as long as it had. His family loved Amelia, but he wouldn’t get their hopes up for nothing.

      “Okay. My three coworkers found out this morning, but they’re the only ones and that’s how I want it to stay. Number two, I’m putting a time limit on this so it doesn’t drag on too long. You’ve got thirty days to win me over. And I mean it. I want to be wooed, Tyler. I want romance and passion and excitement. You’re not going to get off easy because we’re friends. I’m going to be harder on you because you should know what I want and need.”

      A wide grin broke out across his face. Tyler never backed down from a challenge, and this wouldn’t be any different. He could win her over in thirty days, no problem. He knew her better than he knew himself. She just had to let him try. “That’s fair.”

      Amelia turned to look across the coffee shop and survey her surroundings. She sighed heavily and shook her head. She seemed disappointed by everything that had happened. Worn down. He didn’t like seeing her that way. If there was one thing he loved the most about her, it was her optimism when it came to love. She believed—really, truly believed—in the power of love. But she didn’t believe in them. He would change that. To make it happen, he would lift her up, make her smile, make her believe this was the right choice for them both, even if he wasn’t entirely sure of it himself.

      “All I’ve ever wanted,” she said softly, “was a marriage like my grandparents have. They’ve been happily married for fifty-seven years, and they’re just as in love today as they were the day they got married. That’s what I want, and I’m not going to compromise that for anything or anyone.”

      Tyler took a deep breath, wondering if she was on the verge of changing her mind. He knew all that about her. She’d always talked about her grandparents and how she wanted a love like theirs. That was a high bar to set, but he was up to the challenge. If she didn’t fall in love with him, it wouldn’t be for lack of effort on his part.

      No, he wouldn’t even allow the negative thought. Amelia would fall in love with him. There could be no doubt of his success.

      “At the end of thirty days,” she continued, “we’ll decide how we feel about each other. If we’re in love, you’ll propose again—properly—and we’ll announce our engagement to the world. I want to get remarried with the big ceremony and all our family and friends there. And if one of us doesn’t want to continue, we quietly agree to end it.”

      “And then what? Are we just supposed to go back to how things were and pretend it never happened? That will be pretty hard with a child.”

      “If we divorce, we make the best of things. I hope there won’t be any animosity between us. We stay friends, okay?”

      “Okay.” Tyler knew failure wasn’t an option, but he was comforted by the idea that he would have her friendship no matter what. She was notoriously picky when it came to men. He refused to become just another guy thrown onto the reject pile with the rest. “Anything else?”

      “I think that’s it,” she said with a smile that betrayed she already knew it was too much.

      “Okay, then, I have one demand of my own.” If she was only going to give him thirty days, he needed to make them count and get every advantage he could. That meant proximity. There was no way this was going to work if they went to dinner a couple times a week and went to their separate corners when it was done. He couldn’t disappear to Antwerp or work eighteen-hour days. If they wanted to figure out whether they could cut it being married, they needed to go all the way. “I want us to live together the whole time.”

      He watched Amelia frown into her lap with dismay. “My apartment isn’t really big enough for two people. It’s just a one bedroom, and my closet is already overflowing.”

      Tyler had zero intention of living in her tiny little apartment with her. There was a difference between proximity and being locked in a cage together for thirty days. He was certain only one of them would make it out alive. “I’ll get us a new place,” he said simply.

      “I have a lease.”

      “I’ll pay the fee to break it.”

      She sighed, obviously irritated with his ability to shoot down her every concern. “And what if at the end of thirty days, we’re not in love? I’ll be pregnant and homeless.”

      He sighed. “You will be nothing of the sort. If we don’t work out, I’ll help you find a new place that’s big enough for you and the baby. I’ll buy you whatever you want.”

      “You don’t have to buy me a house, Tyler. I’ll just keep my apartment for the month, stay with you, and we’ll figure out what to do about it when we’ve made a decision about us.”

      He chuckled, knowing there wasn’t much sense in continuing to argue about this when that wasn’t how it was going to end. “Fine, but you’ve got to get used to the idea of someone else helping out. You’re having my child and I’m taking care of you. That point is nonnegotiable. Have we got a deal or not?”

      “It’s a deal. Congratulations, Tyler,” she said, holding out her delicate manicured hand to shake on their agreement. “You may now date your wife.”

      

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