Page 69 of Evading the Enforcer

“Yeah, are you?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“You aren’t?”

“What good is being nervous? It’ll only make you miserable.”

“That’s true. My stomach feels pretty miserable right now,” I say, laughing.

“I have something that might make you feel better.” He reaches in his pocket, and when he holds out his hand, a diamond ring rests on his open palm. “I believe you need this.”

“Wow. It’s crazy how much that looks like a real diamond.” I pluck the platinum circle from his hand and push it onto my finger. “It fits.” I grin, looking at him. I hold my hand up. “How does it look?”

“It looks like you’re engaged,” he says.

“You know, if I were really getting engaged, the style of this ring would be perfect.” The diamond is large but not gaudy. I wiggle my fingers. “We’re officially fakegaged.”

He stares at my hand. “It looks nice on you.”

“Thank you. You did a great job picking it out.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

He pulls out of the driveway. “How’s your week been?” he asks. We haven’t seen each other since we got back from camping, but we’ve exchanged a few texts.

“It’s been good. I’ve been busy taking care of work stuff. We filmed an episode at a farm where there was a Bigfoot sighting.”

“Do you think it was legit?” he asks.

“I can’t say for sure because there’s no concrete evidence. But it doesn’t really matter to most of my viewers. They’re content just knowing it’s a possibility,” I reply, then add, “Did I tell you Murphy’s going to be on an episode?”

“No, but he couldn’t wait to announce it in the locker room. Don’t be surprised if you get contacted by some other players too.”

“That’s awesome. Now I just need an in with the Charleston Pirates.”

His eyes briefly flick to me. “You’re still not convinced that hockey players are superior?”

“Nope. I haven’t seen enough proof.”

“You’ll have to come to another game so I can convince you.”

“It might take more than one game,” I tease.

For the remainder of the drive to the gala, I stare at my left hand.

Niall pulls up in front of the hotel and opens my door, assisting me down from my seat. The valet drives the Tahoe away as we enter the lobby. We follow the signs to the reception room. On the way there, we meet up with Kaiden and Rori.

“Hey, it’s great to see you again,” Rori says with a welcoming smile.

“You too.”

“Hey there,” Murphy calls out as he and Wendy walk down the hallway.

I wave to them both. “Hey.”

“It’s my partner in crime,” Murphy says, grinning.

“That’s me.”

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