Marry Me, Mr Knight

Chapter1

Winter had finally hit Seattle, and Lara Hayes was fairly sure her bank account had frozen right along with it.

Lara walked down the stairs with her phone pressed to her ear, pulling her cardigan tighter more out of habit than actual warmth.

She had been calling her boyfriend, Alex Carter since last night, but not once had the call gone through.

Alex had left for a business trip the day before, and all Lara wanted was to know if he had arrived safely.

Was that too much to ask?

“Alex will always be Alex,” she muttered as the call failed again.

Lara stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was completely empty.

She opened the cabinet.

Empty too.

“Oh, Lara,” she sighed, shutting the door. “You’re so finished.”

Her groceries were officially gone. Along with the last of her money... not that there had been much of it to begin with.

She dropped her phone on the kitchen counter and leaned against it.

Last night, she had sent the rest of her money home after her parents called about their usual bills for rent, groceries, and lots more.

Being the eldest daughter meant there was always something to sort out because her family always needed something.

And it was exhausting.

That was one of the reasons she had decided to move out and live alone.

She thought maybe living alone would finally help her think.

Unfortunately, it seemed like her bank account had decided to think for her instead.

Sometimes, she wondered if being the first child came with an invisible contract she had signed at birth.

A contract that just showed up already signed, and somehow, everyone acted like she had agreed to it.

Tch.

Her phone suddenly pinged, cutting off her thoughts.

A text message from Bryce, her best friend.

Bryce: Are you free?

Lara stared at the message.

Bryce Knight would never send a normal message like a normal human being.

Why couldn’t he simply say hello?

She picked up her phone, ready to type a reply, when his name lit up the screen.

Bryce calling…

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Hello?”

“I’m outside.”

That was all he said before hanging up.

Lara blinked.

Whenever Bryce Knight showed up unannounced, it meant one of four things.

A problem, trouble, something messy had happened, Or food and drinks.

The last two were her favorites.

********

Five minutes later, Lara was downstairs and climbing into the passenger seat of his black car.

The moment she shut the door, she turned to him.

Bryce was staring straight ahead without sparing her a glance.

His face was moody. This was past his usual board-meeting-ran-long face. This was his Grandma May called face.

Lara didn’t say anything.

She simply reached forward and turned on the music. Only then did Bryce glance at her.

“Seriously?”

Lara leaned back comfortably. “What?”

“You’re not going to ask me what’s wrong?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll always talk to me whenever you’re ready to talk. So, let’s go.”

Bryce stared at her for a few seconds. Then he looked away and started the car.

That was Lara and Bryce.

They had been best friends since high school.

Lara had expected him to change after he took over his family business. She had quietly prepared herself for the day he would become too busy and disappear completely.

But he never did.

If anything, the bond between them only grew stronger.

She’d never once asked herself why. Asking felt like the kind of thing that could ruin a perfectly good Tuesday.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at their usual spot.

Eat, Chill, & Spill.

It had been their favorite place since their high school days.

The only real change was that they now sat in the VIP section so people wouldn’t constantly stare at Bryce.

Back then, they used to squeeze themselves into a tiny corner table after school and spend hours talking about everything.

Lara followed Bryce inside until they were shown to their usual private area.

She immediately took her seat. “I’m starving.”

Bryce gave her a look. “You’re always starving.”

“Because I’m always hungry.”

“Tch. That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Well, it makes perfect sense to me.”

He shook his head.

They ordered almost immediately, with Lara single-handedly ordering enough food for two people.

Bryce didn’t say a word. He only ordered a bottle of water.

Her food arrived, along with several drinks.

For the first few minutes, Lara focused entirely on eating while Bryce remained unusually quiet.

She let him have the silence. Pushing never worked with Bryce anyway. He’d only talk whenever he was ready.

“I have a problem,” Bryce finally said.

Lara paused with her fork halfway to her mouth.

She slowly lowered it. “Finally,” she said, pushing her plate aside. “So, what happened this time?”

“My family.”

She sighed. “Oh.”

Bryce leaned back in his chair. “They want me to get married soon.”

Lara blinked. Then she continued eating.

The word married sat there like a fishbone. She swallowed around it and reached for her fork instead.

Bryce stared at her. “That’s all? Your reaction?”

She shrugged. “What do you want me to do? Cry?”

“Lara, they’re serious.”

“I’m sure they are. And you should be happy.”

“They already picked someone.”

Lara finally looked up. “Someone?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“A family friend.”

Lara nodded slowly. “And?”

“And she works at my company.”

“That’s convenient enough.”

Bryce frowned. “Lara.”

“Please, be serious for once. They’ve been talking about this for months. I ignored them because I thought they’d eventually stop.”

“Well…” She sighed. “They didn’t.”

“They’ve already started making arrangements.”

Lara’ eyebrows rose. “Wow.”

“Exactly!” he hissed, rubbing his brows.

She went back to munching on her food.

“You’re still not saying anything reasonable.”

Lara swallowed. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Just give me some advice. What should I do?”

“Advice?”

“Yes.”

She leaned back and stared at him. “Bryce, you’re a billionaire CEO. And I’m broke and can’t even figure out what I’m eating

tomorrow. So how am I supposed to help you?”

“Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t help. You know I can always get you food.”

Lara laughed. “True. But you came to the wrong person this time around.”

“I came to my best friend.”

That made her quiet for a moment. He said it like it was obvious, like she was an i***t for even asking.

Usually, she was the one saying things like that to him. And now it was weird having it pointed back at her.

Bryce looked away.

For the first time that morning, Lara noticed how genuinely bothered he was.

This wasn’t the usual Bryce she knew.

She put her fork down. “Okay. Fine.” She folded her arms. “What exactly do you want?”

“I don’t want to marry her.”

“Then don’t.”

“My family won’t accept that.”

“Neither should you.”

“Grandma May won’t listen.”

“Then shout.”

Bryce stared at her. “Shout? Are you crazy?”

“You’re the scary billionaire everyone is afraid of, right?” She took a quick sip from her drink. “So use your powers.”

He rolled his eyes before picking up his water. He gulped it down and quickly placed the bottle back on the table.

Bryce sighed while Lara sat there, trying to think. But nothing was coming to her.

Watching him wreck the label on his water bottle, she felt the first flicker of guilt. Usually, she could tease him out of anything.

This one wasn’t budging.

“Okay…”

She tapped her fingers against the table. “Maybe…” She paused. “Maybe you should just marry her.”

Bryce gave her a flat look.

“At least someone will finally contain your dirty character.”

Bryce’s eyes narrowed. “That’s the alternative?”

“Yeah,” Lara said, waving her fork in the air. “Just marry her. I mean, how bad can she be? You said she’s a family friend and she works at your company. She probably knows how to manage your moody face better than most people.”

Bryce hissed, “I see. You’re very helpful.”

Lara burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t process a thing.”

“You’re terrible at this.”

“I told you!” She picked up her drink. “I don’t know how to help you, Bryce.”

He stared at her. “Be serious for once.”

Lara frowned. “Are you kidding me?”

She stared at him for a moment. Then an idea suddenly popped into her head.

One of her ridiculous ideas. Not even a real idea, honestly. Just the kind of thing that flew out of her mouth before her brain caught up, same as usual.

But he looked so cornered, and she just wanted to make him laugh.

Lara stood up without a word and walked outside.

“Where are you going?” Bryce asked.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Lara…”

A minute later, she returned holding a single red rose.

She had clearly just plucked it from one of the small decorative vases near the entrance.

Bryce stared at the flower. “What’s going on? Why did you pluck it out?”

Lara smiled. She stopped in front of him, dropped down onto one knee, and held the flower up between them.

Bryce’s eyebrows rose. “What are you doing?”

Lara smiled, wearing her usual toothy smile that was always completely unbothered.

“Proposing, of course.”

“Huh?”

She cleared her throat dramatically.

“Marry me, Mr. Knight.”