He nodded once, hoping she’d put two and two together so he wouldn’t have to say it. “What if there was a different groom?”

Now she reared back slightly, blinking. Great. She thinks I’m nuts.

“I don’t exactly have a waiting list, Lucas.”

He shuffled his feet, then leaned against the workhorse, not sure if he was ready for what came next. Just say it. The worst she can do is laugh in my face. “What if I stood in for Bryan?”

He scuffed at the white paint on the tip of his right tennis shoe as silence closed in around him. A long silence. An uncomfortable silence. If he could’ve caught the words and pulled them back, he would’ve. Instead, he glanced at Kate. The expression on her face reinforced his wish.

“Why would—” She cleared her throat. “Why would you do that?”

Why would I do it? Because I love you. But he couldn’t say that. Why hadn’t he thought this out before he’d opened his big mouth?

He lifted his shoulder. “To help you,” he said.

Her brows pulled together. “We’re talking marriage here, not some little favor.”

Favor. What if he made a bargain with her? What if she could do something for him in return? “I’d want something in return.” What? What do I want in return, Jesus?

At that, her eyebrows slackened as her lips took up the tension, pressing together. Her glare was direct and meaningful, and he immediately knew what she was thinking.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he said.

She shook her head as if dislodging a distasteful picture. “It doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t work. Even if the rest of the world doesn’t know who I was marrying, my dad does. And so does Chloe, my editor, and Pam and Anna. Not to mention Bryan’s family.”

A definite glitch, but was there a way around it? Now that the idea had settled a bit, it was growing on him, feeling right. He shrugged. “Would they keep quiet?”

She gave him a double take. “Keep quiet?” Her fingers found the high collar of her blouse. “You’re actually serious.”

His heart was a jackhammer gone wild under his rib cage. He scratched at the dried paint on his thumbnail. “Would they?”

She turned away, her black hair swinging saucily. “You can’t—you can’t just marry me. Marriage is permanent. At least to me it is. A vow between God and man. You don’t just make a willy-nilly decision to marry someone. People don’t do that.” She faced him again. “I don’t do that.”

No, Kate didn’t do that. She planned every step days in advance, every detail in order, everything in its place.