For a moment, she thought maybe she was hearing things or had completely lost her mind. “What? You’ll do it?”

Declan nodded and it took all of her willpower not to throw herself in his arms and kiss him.

“Really?”

He laughed and in that moment, his smile was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. “Really. What do we need to do? Are we talking about just an engagement or a full wedding?”

“You’d do that?”

The fact that he would even consider actually marrying her to help her out with Jonah’s custody was crazy. No, it was incredible. And if she wanted to kiss him before, she really wanted to—

“Of course.” He grabbed her hand. “Evie, I said I would help you and I will. But really, what do we need to do?”

Right. She had to focus. Now that she’d initiated the lie, they needed to move quickly.

“We need to be engaged. I told Russ you asked me this morning, so I guess we don’t need to do anything more except maybe tell our family and…oh God. I have to tell Jonah.”

Of course she had to tell Jonah. He needed to believe they were going to be a family. He liked Declan; he’d already told her as much. No doubt Jonah would be thrilled to find out she was going to marry Declan McCormick.

And then he would be devastated when it didn’t happen.

Oh God.

She hadn’t thought it out. What was she going to tell Jonah when they didn’t get married after all? She was going to break his heart.

She couldn’t do it.

Evie shook her head and tried to turn away, but Declan held her arm.

“What’s wrong? Is it Jonah?”

She nodded. “I just don’t…”

“Evie, I’m not a parent, so I’m not going to pretend to know what the right way to deal with children is. But I’ll tell you what I see.” Evie looked at him. “I see that you’re a mom who is doing everything she can to make things okay for her son.”

“But I’ll have to lie to him.”

Declan nodded. “But don’t you think sometimes parents need to tell small lies for the greater good?”

That made her smile. “The greater good?”

He shrugged. “Okay, well, I have to admit I’m used to dealing with more global problems. But in this case, you’re definitely doing what you have to for the overall wellbeing of your son. Don’t think of it as a lie. And maybe we can create some sort of story where you get mad at me because I did you wrong and you break up with me. That way he won’t be upset with you when it doesn’t work out.”

When it doesn’t work out. For the briefest moment, she could have sworn that she felt a flicker of regret when he said those words. But that was silly because of course it wasn’t going to work out. It wasn’t real.

“You’d do that?”

He cupped her chin and looked into her eyes. “I’d do a lot of things for you, Evie.”

There was so much implied in those few simple words. If she wasn’t careful, she could let herself fall for Declan McCormick and that would only lead to more heartbreak than she was already facing.

That couldn’t happen.

She needed to focus.

“Okay.” She pulled away from his grasp, unsure how she’d be able to focus with his touch on her skin. “We need to be engaged for a little while. I’m not sure, but probably just long enough to get all this sorted out. Maybe a few months.”

“What’s our wedding date?”

She froze. “We’re not actually getting married.”

“But people will ask.”

“We can work all of that out later. Right now we just need to be engaged.” Her eyes looked to her hand. “I’ll need a ring.”

“I’ll get you one.”

Her heart swelled. He really was a great guy. But she shook her head. “No. You’re not going to buy me a fake ring. I have some vintage rings in the back. One of them will do. Hold on.”

Evie used the few minutes she was in the back room to collect herself. It was all happening so fast. She couldn’t believe Declan had even agreed to the deception, but not only had he said yes, he was jumping in with both feet. For a moment, she allowed herself to feel a flicker of excitement that maybe it would all work out.

Custody.

Custody would work out.

The engagement wouldn’t.

She was going to need to remember that.

Evie took out the case of rings from the safe and slid her hand over it. The last time she’d had it out was for Declan’s brother, Mitch, when he proposed and then subsequently married Jade. She hadn’t looked at it lately, but she knew exactly what it contained. She’d looked through the case multiple times, fantasizing what it would be like to have one of the exquisite rings slipped on her own left hand one day.

One day.

Never had she dreamed that day would look like today.

With a sigh, Evie swallowed down any concerns she was feeling and walked back out into the shop where Declan was waiting.

“I have a few that will work.” She put the case down on the counter. They would all work, but Evie wanted to keep it simple. After all, it wasn’t a real engagement. She flipped the lid of the case and sucked in a breath the way she always did when she was presented with the stunning rings inside.

Evie resisted the urge to run her fingers along the sparkling diamonds and antiqued scrolling. She’d memorized each ring and over time had imagined the life each of them had had. What fingers they’d been worn on. What love had inspired the giving of each ring.

She was a desperate romantic, but she believed that each of the rings had a story to tell. A story born of love and they deserved a new story equal to what they’d already experienced.

These rings didn’t deserve a fake engagement. But desperate times…

“Maybe this one.” She pointed at a simple ring. It was the newest ring in the sense that it wasn’t vintage like the others. Still pretty, but very simple in its setting.

Declan picked it up and held it between his fingers. “This is the one you like? It’s your favorite?”

Her eyes went to her favorite: a cushion cut diamond surrounded by crusted rubies in the bottom right of the case. Something about that ring had always spoken to her. She imagined a great love that would inspire a man to give his sweetheart such a ring. It was the ring she’d always imagined the love of her life one day putting on her finger.

Evie nodded, looked away from the special ring and lied. “That’s the one.”

---

Declan hadn’t missed the way Evie’s eyes lingered on the square cut diamond with the rubies. He’d seen the sparkle in her eyes, the look of longing. And the way she’d lied when she agreed to the simple ring he held in his fingers.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded again and closed the case before he could reach for the other ring. “That one will be fine. Here.”

Declan pulled back, holding the ring close. “I don’t think so.”

“But I need to wear the ring, Dec. That’s how it needs to look. That’s what engaged looks like.”

He grinned. It might be a fake engagement, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do it right. “And you will. When I give it to you.”

“Declan, I told—”

“I know you told Russ we were already betrothed. But…I still think it would be okay to do things right, don’t you?”

Confusion and exhaustion lined her face. No doubt the stress of the day had taken its toll on her, and it wasn’t even noon. He didn’t want to add to her stress, but he was still old-fashioned in some ways. He needed to do it properly.

“Evie. I know there’s a lot on the line here, and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that. I promise. Just trust me.” He took her hand in his and squeezed gently before placing a kiss on the top. “Can you do that?”

Tears flooded her eyes, but they didn’t fall. She nodded. “Of course.”

“Good. I promise you it will all be okay.” He slipped the ring into his shirt pocket and stood. “After all, we McCormicks have a bit of a reputation to uphold, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t an excuse. It was very true and everyone in town was aware of the romantic grand gestures his brothers were fond of. Ian had proposed dramatically to Gwen in the middle of the summer solstice festival. Mitch had not only made up with his girlfriend, Jade, but had proposed to and then moments later, married her in an impromptu wedding in front of all their family and friends. And most recently, Cal had orchestrated a huge party at the gazebo in the middle of town in honor of his girlfriend. He’d stopped short of proposing, but it was almost more romantic that he was the only brother who hadn’t gone that route. With the exception of Declan.

Until now.

Regardless. He had his family’s reputation to uphold and maybe it wouldn’t be as grand as what they had done, but his proposal to Evie Rose was most definitely not going to consist of a handshake and an agreement.

She deserved more.

Even if it wasn’t real.

“We’ll have to tell our family and friends,” Evie was saying. “I mean, after Jonah. He needs to know first. I think that’s important, don’t you?”

“Absolutely.” Declan thought it was essential that Jonah be as big a part of what they were doing as possible. Especially considering he couldn’t ever know the truth.

Declan turned away from Evie and took a moment to compose himself as the reality of what they were about to do hit him. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he’d been convincing himself that he could never even date Evie because she had a child. Now he was agreeing to be engaged to her because of her son.

The irony of it all was laughable and more than a little overwhelming.

But Evie needed help and that’s what he did. He helped. The fact that he was unreasonably attracted to the woman and was going to be forced to spend more time with her was secondary.

But it was definitely a bonus.

“Where is Jonah today, anyway?” He looked around quickly. “He’s not here, is he?”

Evie’s hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh no. Of course not. He’s down at the lake with some friends this morning. I asked Joanne Ito bring him to the store at noon. Oh God, that’s in ten minutes. He’s going to be here soon and I don’t know what I’m going to tell him.”

She started to shake again so Declan did the only thing he knew how to do. He crossed the room and wrapped her in his arms. She was tiny in his embrace. Fragile almost. But not quite. There was a core of strength running through Evie despite her delicate appearance.

He squeezed her close, trying not to notice how perfectly she fit into his arms. She filled all the empty space. He held her for a moment, breathing in the flowery scent of her hair.

“We’re going to tell him that we want to spend more time together as a family and one day we’ll get married.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

He held her at arm’s length so he could look her in the eye. “I know it’s not so easy, Evie. But if this is what you want to do, I’ll help you with it. But we need to have the same story.”

She nodded.

He held her hand as they walked to the door. “There’s Jonah now,” Declan said when he noticed him walking up the street with his friend. “We’ll talk more about this later. I’ll come by, okay?”

She nodded. “I don’t mean to be pushy, Declan, but…the engagement. We need to—”

“Later,” he said. “Don’t worry.” He opened the door and walked out onto the sidewalk with Evie right behind him. He turned and could see the panic and worry on her face. She needed all the details to be perfect and for good reason. There couldn’t be any reason why their story wasn’t believed.

“You know, if you just put the ring on my hand, we don’t need a story or—”

“Excuse me!” Declan turned to the street full of people and hollered. “If I could just get everyone’s attention for a moment.”

---

What the hell was he doing?

Evie looked around, her eyes flying over everyone who’d stopped what they were doing and were paying attention to Declan, who’d run over and hopped up on a street bench.

She followed him, gesturing for him to get down but he only smiled and winked.

“I’m sorry to interrupt everyone’s day,” Declan continued at top volume. “But I have something to say and it’s so important that I need everyone to hear it. So if you all wouldn’t mind bearing witness to this special moment.”

Evie shook her head and tried to hide her face for a moment before she looked up again. Jonah had appeared at her side and was looking every bit as puzzled as she was feeling. Of course, she knew what he was doing, but she didn’t know why he was doing it. If everyone knew, it would only be harder to unwind.

“What’s going on, Mom?”

“I think Declan has completely lost his mind,” she said in response. “You should wait inside.”

“No way,” Jonah said. “This is getting good.”

“I want everyone to know something,” Declan’s voice boomed. “I am completely smitten with this amazing, gorgeous woman right here, and I want everyone to know it.” That got a few oohs and ahhs from the gathering crowd. “I’ve traveled the world over many times. I’ve met thousands of people and I can unequivocally say that Evelyn Rose, you are simply the most amazing woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Not only are you insanely gorgeous, you’re smart, an excellent friend, a brilliant mother and frankly…you take my breath away with everything you are.” He looked her straight in the eyes and for a moment, she actually believed what he was saying.

And then she remembered it wasn’t true. None of it was real.

He hadn’t said anything about love.

They weren’t in love.

They shouldn’t be doing this. It was wrong.

She shook her head and looked at her toes.

I have to stop this. It’s wrong. So wrong.

“Evie?” She looked up to see Declan, down from his park bench, looking at her with concern. “Do you believe me? Do you believe I think you’re amazing?”

She couldn’t answer.

“All you have to do right now is tell me you believe me,” he whispered so only she could hear.

She nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Do you still want to do this?”

She hesitated. The right thing to do was back out, walk away and figure everything out with Tony and custody. But…her eyes landed on her son, who was watching the scene with a confused grin on his face.

It was for him. It was all for him.

She nodded again. “Yes.”

Declan didn’t need anything more from her. He once again hopped up on the bench, but this time he pulled the ring out of his pocket and held it up for the sun to sparkle off it.

“With all of you here as my witness, there’s only one thing left to do.” He waved around the ring one more time for effect which elicited the desired response of more oohs and ahhs as well as a few cheers from the crowd.

And then he was in front of her, on one knee. She clasped her hands over her mouth in a natural response.

“Evelyn Rose,” Declan began. “Will you do me the amazing honor of agreeing to marry me?”

There was nothing but silence as the crowd waited for her answer. She only slightly registered Declan’s choice of words, but no one else would have noticed how noncommittal they really were.

You’re in it now. But there were definitely worse choices for her pretend husband. Declan McCormick was handsome, smart, and more importantly, kind. She still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this.

It was only a few seconds, but everything processed through her brain and finally, she took a deep breath and said, “Yes.” The smile on her face was genuine and when he leapt to his feet and put the ring on her finger, she looked him in the eye and added, “Of course I’ll agree to marry you.”

Declan grinned and before she knew what was happening, his hands cupped her face and pulled her close into a passionate kiss.

Her head spun with the taste of him. Her body’s reaction was strong and immediate as one of his hands slipped down to press against the small of her back.

She was vaguely aware of the cheers and whoops of appreciation. But as far as Evie was concerned, there was no one else around. The only thing that mattered was that moment. Declan. Her. And that kiss.

When he finally pulled away, her fingers floated up to her lips. She touched them gently, hardly believing what had just happened.

A moment later, she was jerked out of her trance by Jonah, who grabbed her arm. She looked down into his questioning face and smiled.

“What…are you…what?”

Declan laughed. “Sorry to spring this on you, buddy. I was hoping to ask you beforehand, but the moment just felt right and sometimes you need to go with it, ya know?”

Certainly he didn’t, but Jonah nodded nonetheless.

“What do you think, Jonah?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know.

He took a moment and finally he smiled and nodded his head. “Cool.”

“Cool?”

“Yup.” Jonah focused on Declan. “Does this mean we’ll get free jet skiing at Dockside?”

Both Evie and Declan laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Cool,” Jonah said again.

“Now what do you say we go get an ice cream to celebrate?” Declan asked.

He certainly didn’t need to ask Jonah twice and as far as Evie was concerned, it wasn’t a bad idea at all. “Just let me lock up.”

She returned a moment later and Declan slipped his arm around her, and she cuddled in as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The crowd had mostly carried on with their day, but there were still a few people who offered their well wishes as the threesome walked by. But it was one familiar set of eyes that caught Evie’s attention.

Across the street, Tony stood outside of Dream Puff’s, watching them intently. She was too far away to read his expression, but it sent a chill through her nonetheless.

At that moment, Declan squeezed her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Are you okay?”

She nodded and forced a smile. “Never been better.”