Scandalous Engagement

Reese shrugged and took a seat on the sofa. “Explain what? He called and you told him you were in a relationship, so when he showed up, obviously I’m the one who had to play the role.”

Josie tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed her arms over her chest. In the last twenty minutes, her ex-husband had said he truly believed they could get back together and her best friend had claimed to be her fiancé. Even stalling for a few seconds trying to gather her thoughts didn’t calm her mood or give her any more clarity...especially over the fact that she’d liked Reese’s touch more than she should.

“Engaged seems a little over-the-top, don’t you think?” she asked.

“Not really. The guy is persistent. You have to push back with people like that. Subtlety isn’t something they understand.”

“Oh, an engagement and slamming the door in his face were far from subtle hints.”

He offered her a wink and a grin. “You’re welcome.”

Josie growled and clenched her fists. Reese might be her very best friend, but he could be quite infuriating at times...in an adorable kind of way. He meant well, but sometimes that alpha quality took over and common sense vanished.

“Better drink your coffee before it gets cold,” he added, pointing to her forgotten mug.

Josie reached for the drink and crossed to where he sat with that smug smirk on his face.

“I really want to throw this in your face,” she grumbled.

“Aw, darling. Is that anyway to treat your new fiancé? Be nice or I won’t get you that ring you need.”

“You know he’s going to tell people what just happened,” she informed him. “We’re both in the public eye. How will we dodge this?”

If she had a job where people didn’t recognize her or didn’t know her name, Reese’s engagement claim wouldn’t be a big deal. But considering Reese was a billionaire mogul splashed all over the internet right now for taking over his family’s empire, and she was an influencer and columnist for the country’s top-selling magazine, there was no way an engagement between them would go unnoticed.

“I’m not too worried about the public.” Reese shrugged. Again with that damn shrug, like this was no big deal. “Just wait and see how it plays out. He may surprise you by keeping quiet, or we may need to play it up. What kind of stone would you like in your ring?”

Josie narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to need to switch to wine for this conversation.”

Ignoring his chuckle, she stepped back into her house and moved into the kitchen. From her vantage point at the wine fridge, Josie stared out at Reese, who didn’t seem to mind that he’d just upended both of their lives. He simply sat in one of the sturdy wicker chairs and stared out at the horizon.

When he’d first arrived today, he’d said he needed to talk. All she’d managed to learn was that he’d been away on personal business. If it hadn’t concerned a woman, then what else would it be? He didn’t have much of a social life. If he went out to dinners, they were all work-related, and the majority of the time, those dinners were in his own restaurant.

The man worked like a maniac, and that was saying something coming from Cocktails & Classy’s most celebrated columnist. Josie never took a day off either, but at least she could work from home and only travel to the headquarters in Atlanta when she absolutely had to. Reese traveled all over, constantly on the lookout for new ways to keep his restaurants fresh and upscale.

She poured a glass of pinot and swirled the contents before heading back out. She never got tired of the ocean breeze, and she always slid open the wall of glass doors when she was home. The added outdoor living space was what had sold her on this house right after her divorce.

Now that she’d calmed down a little, Josie stepped around the coffee table and took a seat on the sofa across from Reese.

“Want to tell me why you got so territorial?” she asked.

He propped his feet on the coffee table and laced his fingers behind his head as he stared at her, since she now blocked his line of sight to the ocean.

“Besides the fact that he was the wrong man for you to marry in the first place? I was trying to help you out.”

Josie took a sip and set her glass on the table before leaning forward and keeping her gaze locked on his. “I can fight my own battles.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” he retorted.

While she appreciated the way he was always ready to protect her, she didn’t need him to. His failed engagement and her failed marriage had really opened her eyes to the fact that there was no rush to move on to what was expected. Who said she had to get married right now? There was no magical age when she had to be married, and who said she had to be married at all?

But she knew Reese might want a family and a married life of his own.

The day would come when he would find the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

The thought unsettled her. Or maybe it was that Josie could still feel his fingertips along her waist and her hip. She shouldn’t still be tingling in those spots, but she was—which was both confusing and frustrating.

Josie’s cell buzzed on the table and she glanced to the screen at the same time Reese muttered a curse. Chris’s name popped up with an unread message.