Chapter 45

“You just lost all the color in your face,” he said.

“That will happen when you get offered the best business proposal on the planet.”

“So, what do you think?”

I shrugged, shook my head, and nervously said, “This is a joke, Patrick. You’re kidding me. Or maybe I’m dreaming. None of this is real.”

He laughed, stood, moved behind me, and leaned over. His right cheek met my left cheek, and he whispered, “I want to work with you, Cannon Rake. Not under you. Not over you. With you. Something tells me we can turn Always a Groomsman into the diamond that it’s supposed to be. You and me. That’s what I want.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Can I think about it?”

He wrapped his arms around my chest and gave me a tender squeeze. Then he laughed and said, “Take as long as you’d like. I’m only going to ask you every day from here out until you say yes.”

“It’s a huge opportunity, Patrick. I really have to think about it.”