Chapter 4

"My hair looks okay?" I question Cammie as she talks to me over FaceTime. "Makeup isn"t too heavy?"

"You look like a million bucks. Things are going to be fine. You"re going to go into this and kill it. You"re going to be everything this man is looking for. Miss May doesn"t make mistakes."

I"ve heard that more than once since I started this procedure. I"m doing my best to let things go the way they"re supposed to and not question too much, but I"m getting nervous. "What if I"m the first one?" I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth.

"That"s not possible. She knows what she"s doing. There isn"t a couple I know of that she"s put together who are unhappy. Court, you have to trust me."

That"s the problem. I don"t trust anyone, including my best friend. "If you say so." My answer is non-comital and I"m doing my best not to let all of this show on my face.

"I do. Now go out there and knock "em dead."

"Will do." I give her my best smile. "Thank you again. If you hadn"t done this before me, I don"t think I"d be here right now."

We disconnect and I take a deep breath, rolling my shoulders to try and loosen them up. I lick my dry lips and then go try and find something to drink. My phone vibrates, reminding me of how much time I have before I go meet this man. I grab the phone and pull up the information as I pull a bottle of water out of the hotel fridge.

Shane.

Single dad.

Sheriff.

Hot as fuck.

I"ve always had a thing for guys who are in charge and in control. Somehow Miss May knew that, and she knocked it out of the park. His dark eyes are full of soul, bright smile spread wide across his face, and the slight wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. He"s older than me, and that"s also a turn on for me. She got me every single thing I"ve ever wanted.

I can"t put this off any longer, if I want to get to the park we"re meeting at in time, I have to leave now. Looking at myself in the full-length mirror located on the wall of the hotel, I give myself a quick pep talk. "You"ve got this, Courtney. This is going to change your life. No matter how hard it"s going to be, it"s necessary."

Grabbing my purse and my cell phone, I head out the door, and walk with purpose down the hallway. The heels of my shoes click against the hardwood. As they do, I have a mantra in my head. I"m doing this for my future, and for this child"s future. Helping myself will help this small family.

I get to the elevator, and hop on, pressing the button for the bottom floor.

Before I know it, a beep announces our arrival, and I step out, into the lobby. This is a nicer hotel than what I"m used to staying in. Most of the ones I"ve been in before don"t have a restaurant and they only offer a continental meal. I walk up to the host stand. "Can I help you?" The young man working asks.

"Yes, I"m meeting Shane Colter."

"Yes, he told me you"d be here. Right this way."

I follow the host, holding my hands in front of me to keep them from shaking. I see him the minute I turn the corner. He"s larger than life, almost the way I suspected him to be. His dark eyes roam my body before a warm smile spreads across his face. He stands, holding his hand out. "Courtney?"

I nod, reaching out. "Shane? Nice to meet you."

The host leaves us, and we"re alone. My stomach is jittering as he steps forward to pull out my chair. "Thank you for meeting me here tonight. I know our situation is unconventional to say the least. It was important to me to meet you in a neutral setting." He says as I take a seat and he pushes the chair under the table.

"I appreciate this more than you know. I honestly never imagined myself to be in this sort of situation, so the fact that you"re willing to handle it with care..." I trail off because I don"t have anymore words.

"It"s the same way for me, it"s not like I envisioned having a child, much less being a single dad in the middle of my thirties."

The waiter comes to take our order for drinks and appetizers. When he orders a beer, I decide it"s safe for me to order a glass of wine. "I don"t drink much." I assure him, but I definitely need something to calm my nerves.

"I understand, and no judgment here."

I take my first sip and then swirl the red liquid around in the glass. "Why don"t you tell me how you became to be a single without realizing it?"

He sighs heavily. "This is a story."

"Aren"t they all?" I smirk.

"You"ve got a point there." He takes a drink of his beer, before setting the glass back down. "I was dating a woman, nothing serious, to be honest. We were both having a good time. Never even talked about what a relationship would look like between us. We were intimate a number of times before she ghosted me, and then I never gave it another thought. I didn"t feel as if we had any kind of connection, so it didn"t bother me." He shrugs. "I"ve gone my entire adult life without having entanglements that lasted longer than a few months..." he trails off.

This man sounds so commitment phobic, I can"t believe he"s willing to get married. But then again, I guess when you"re up against the situation he is, you"ll do whatever it takes. "Until this one?"

"Yeah, until this one. I love my daughter. She"s everything to me, but I never expected her." He admits, running a hand through his hair. "Which is why I"m willing to make these changes, why I have to make these changes. I want better for her than what she has right now. Will you help me?"

This is the type of plea I"d always wanted my own dad to make, but he"d been even more commitment phobic than the man sitting in front of me. We have to be honest with one another. He can"t think I"m willing to do this just for him. I need things too. "I am, but this will be a benefit to both of us, Shane. I hope you understand that."

"I do, I don"t expect you to come into this and take all the responsibility and liability. I think Miss May explained a lot to me about your situation, but I"d like to hear it from you, too."

I hadn"t thought we"d be telling our whole life stories here tonight, but I guess it"s best to get it out in the open before we even begin. "How much time do you have?" He doesn"t have to know I"m not joking.

"All night. I think we owe it to each other before we get married, don"t you?"

My heart pounds against my chest. Are we really going to do this? Is this the craziest thing I"ve ever done? Probably. Will it be the craziest thing I ever do, probably not. "I moved in with a man who I thought was the one, and he ended up breaking my heart. Oldest story in the book, right?"

"I wouldn"t say oldest story in the book, but one we can almost all relate too. I had one who got away too." He takes a drink of his beer.

"Oh, I"m glad he got away." I reach forward, taking a piece of the bread in the basket. I twist a pinch of it off in between my fingers. "When he left, I found out a lot he"d lied to me about. Things he"d promised that were never going to come true, and I"d trusted him." God, listing this all out makes me feel so stupid.

He blows out a breath. "I"m sorry that happened to you. I can promise that with me you"ll know what you"re getting. I won"t cheat on you, I won"t ask you for things that you aren"t willing to give. All I ask is that you"re there for Rachel, you"re willing to make a life with me, and we"re honest with each other."

This all sounds almost too good to be true. There are a couple things I"m questioning, and I need the answer to. "Will we share a bedroom, have sex, what about financial obligations?"

He steeples his fingers together. "I would like for us to have a physical relationship. Especially since for me, when I"m getting married, I plan on it to be forever. I will take care of what you need me to take care of financially. You"ll obviously live with me, we"ll get you a vehicle if you need it, and I hope you"ll be able to be the primary caregiver for Rachel since my hours are so crazy."

The waiter comes with our food, and we each move back to let the plates be placed on the table. "I"m a freelancer, I can do that, and I will appreciate any help you can give me. I don"t have health insurance right now, and having that would be a big help."I hate that we"re sitting her talking about this like it"s a business transaction, but I guess this is. At least that"s how it starting out.

"Done. Are you willing to do this with me?"

Taking a deep breath I let it out slowly. "If you are, I am. For better or worse."

He reaches forward, shaking my hand. "Great to meet you, Mrs. Colter."

I give him a smile, but inside I know I"ve completely lost my mind.