“I know you better than you think.” As much as Anna had tried to keep her walls of defense firmly in place around me, she’d let them down for others, and I’d been there to see behind them.

“I-I don’t fit with you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You have this beautiful, perfect life. You’re this catch that I swear every woman in Sutter Lake has her eye on. You should marry some Sunday school teacher who bakes muffins, not someone whose only real home has been a shelter.”

A muscle in my cheek ticked. “No one’s life is perfect.”

Anna scoffed. “Sure.”

“I’m only trying to help.”

Her expression completely blanked. “Of course. Sorry. I know you don’t have any actual interest in me. I was just trying to make a point that marrying me, even for show, could ruin your chances with the person you’re truly meant to be with.”

I muttered a curse under my breath. “That’s not how I meant it.”

Anna sighed, scrubbing her hands over her face. The dark circles were stark against her pale skin. It seemed as if she’d lost some of that early summer glow overnight. “It doesn’t matter. There has to be another way.”

I’d been racking my brain, but I couldn’t think of one. “It’s complete crap, but I have pull. No record. Plenty of money. A great job. And enough community service projects to put your so-called-perfect parents to shame. And while things are changing, courts still look favorably on two-parent households.”

She turned away from me, looking out the window to where the kids were running around the playground. Her eyes tracked Justin and Lyla, searching their expressions in a way that told me she already read them better than most in their lives. “We can find something else. Some dirt on them.”

Cain already had his P.I. searching. If there was dirt to find, Dante would get the proof. “We can. Just do me one favor.”

She turned back to face me. “What’s that?”

“Don’t tell Keisha you’re single. If she asks, evade.”

Anna’s brows pulled together. “Why?”

“She can’t knowingly deceive the court. If we decide we need a marriage to pull this off, we’re gonna want that to be an option.”

She bit down on the side of her thumbnail. “Okay.”

“Good. Now, tell me what I can do around here today to take some stuff off your shoulders.”

I dumped the soccer balls out onto the field. As I straightened, I stretched my back. A few hours, and these little Energizer bunnies had me beat.