“Sounds like we’re birds of a feather,” he said.

No. No, they really weren’t.

“I’d love to help you,” Tessa said and meant it, “but even if you used our bread or even some pastries, I don’t see that helping either of us all that much.”

“You’re right,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “We need more than that. We need a partnership. Birds of a feather flock together.”

“A partnership?” Her head was buzzing, and not just from the wine. What was he suggesting? She’d already told him her mother would never get on board.

“Exactly.” He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought out loud. “Something to make my dad have to listen to my ideas.”

She snorted. “While you’re at it, come up with something that would convince my mother of the same thing.”

“If we had a partnership, we’d have more power together than we do individually. Then both of our families would listen.”

“We could make them an offer they can’t refuse,” she said in her best Godfather voice. Then she chuckled, because her best impersonation was probably the worst she’d ever heard.

He chuckled, too. Maybe they’d both had a little too much wine.

“Oh! Tessa, that’s it.” He smacked his hand down definitively on the tabletop, making her jump. “I’ve got it.”

“What have you got?” She laughed again. “What’s it?”

He looked at her with a laser-sharp gleam of confidence in his eye. “We need to get married.”

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Tessa sat across the table from Leo, unmoving, her startled blue eyes big and round. She appeared to be waiting for him to say something. Maybe like, Ha-ha, just kidding.

Except he wasn’t kidding. He was dead serious.

When she had a couple glasses of wine in her, even this light stuff, she was fun, and she had this way of crinkling up her nose that was kind of…cute. But he had a feeling that if she’d been completely sober, she’d be way too uptight, too by-the-book to even consider something this far out of the ballpark.

She clearly wasn’t a risk-taker. If she was, she wouldn’t still be trapped in a job she disliked.

And he hadn’t been planning on proposing to her, either, but as soon as the idea hit him, he knew it was perfect.

“I might be a little tipsy,” she said, taking another sip, “but that’s never gonna happen.”

She was adorable, with her messy bun and a streak of flour on her cheek. And the same determination to help her family as he felt.