Chapter 5 Will You Marry Me?

• “You said what now?” Rosie responded, looking at Liam like he had sprouted a second head.
• “I am in search of a wife,” Liam repeated matter-of-factly.
• "Com'on, Liam," Alistair replies, slapping his palm on his forehead as he rolls his eyes, wondering why Liam keeps pulling stunts like that.
• Who blurts out they want to marry a woman they just met?
• Their proposal was already a tough sell. They were meant to work their way into it. They had a whole script planned out, but trust Liam to pull a Liam.
• Rosie bursts out laughing, turning a few heads, making Alistair even more upset with Liam.
• Liam stood there expressionless. He knew exactly what he was doing. Catch her off guard and get her not to even consider listening to the proposal. So he wouldn’t have to face the stirring emotions inside him.
• Rosie kept laughing, trying not to fall flat on her butt while holding on to Alistair to keep her from toppling over. Tears were close to rolling down from her eyes.
• She playfully slaps Alistair's arm and points at Liam while still laughing. Her eyes meet Alistair’s, noticing he isn’t sharing in the humor; she looks at Liam as well. He has the same humorless look.
• Which is when it dawns on her. These guys are serious.
• Slowly her laugh dies down, turning to utter disbelief. “You cannot be serious!”. She looks at both men, waiting for a reassuring answer.
• Liam and Alistair remained silent. Rosie immediately clears her throat and hastily drops the whiskey glass on a nearby table. She makes a show of adjusting her evening gown.
• “Mr. Alistair, thank you for a lovely evening, but I think I should be calling it a night,” Rosie says as she gives Alistair a goodbye handshake.
• Letting his hand go, she hastily turns and makes a beeline to the exit. Alistair glared at Liam and rushed after her, while Liam stood still smirking.
• “Miss Rosie, Miss Rosie... Rosie,” Alistair called after her, which only made Rosie increase her pace.
• “Rosie please!” Alistair said when he finally caught up with her and grabbed her upper arm, causing Rosie to turn.
• “Yes, Mr. Alistair?” Rosie asked, trying to contain her anger.
• “Please forgive my friend,” Alistair replied. “He can be…”
• “A contemptuous ass?” Rosie completes, cutting him off.
• “Well, I was going to say a piece of work, but that works too," Alistair responded, trying to lighten the atmosphere with little success.
• “What’s the play here?” Rosie inquired, blinking her eyes fast while tilting her head, looking at Alistair in the eyes.
• “Can we take a walk?” Alistair asked, running his hand through his full blond hair.
• Rosie, having an increasingly soft spot for him, rolls her eyes and says, “Fine, not like I have a car, I can run to.”
• “Thank you, Rosie,” Alistair replied, flashing a perfect set of white teeth.
• They walked down the stairs of the event center and headed towards the garden.
• “When your sister reached out to me, she informed me about your father’s dream and how he raised you two up as a single father.” Alistair narrates.
• He was right. Rosie’s mom died while giving birth to Sophie. Their dad brought them up all alone while holding on to his own father’s dream of owning a vineyard and distillery.
• He never remarried, because for him, having his two girls and his dream was all the love he needed.
• Sophie and Rosie never complained; to them, coming back from school to work in the vineyard was a bonding activity.
• They enjoyed the smell of the freshly tilled earth, picking grapes and other berries and fruits, wine pressing, and, of course, wine tasting.
• “She told me that he was able to supply local bars and restaurants but was unable to scale,” Alistair continued. “Eventually, the expenses caught up with him, and he took several loans, and now you two have inherited the loans.”
• Rosie stops and looks at him.
• “Liam wants to help." Alistair stopped as well, looking back at her. She could see the sincerity in his eyes.
• “How? By marrying me?” Rosie asked. “We spoke for, like what, five minutes? He doesn’t even know me. He didn’t even ask me my name.”
• “Your name is Rosie McCallister," Liam calls out while walking towards them.
• They both turn in shock upon hearing his voice.
• Rosie thought to herself that he had to stop doing that. Who was he, Count Dracula?
• “Fine. I apologize for the way I blurted that out.” Liam continued, unfazed by their reaction. Stealth was one of the skills he picked from his late dad.
• “Your enemies never see you coming,” his dad always told him.
• Though Liam felt he needed to squash any feelings before they got out of hand, once she left, he remembered he was going to face the board with no card up his sleeve.
• He had a rethink, plus that feeling couldn’t just let her go. He still was unwilling to explore it, but that was going to be an issue for another day, one battle at a time, he thought to himself.
• He needed a foolproof plan to get the board on his side, and the only way to do that was to get the paparazzi off his case. The only way he could do that was to get married and get their attention on his wife, and not him.
• “Alistair looked you and your family business up; he filled me in on everything,” he said, stopping where they stood and putting his right hand on Alistair's shoulder. Looking into his eyes, Liam continued, "I trust Alistair with my life.”
• Rosie saw Liam’s eyes go soft with a small smile, and Alistar responded with a smile as well as he looked down.
• “I want to help you,” Liam said, looking Rosie straight in the eye. “But I also need your help as well.”
• Rosie froze. She could feel the sincerity in the words. His gray eyes pierced hers with an unusual softness as he spoke.
• “My family business means the world to me,” he continued. “But to keep its legacy, I need to get a wife.”.
• “Okay?” She responded as she felt herself getting lost in his eyes.
• “It’s only going to be one year, and in turn, I won’t just clear your debt,” he continued, still looking into her curious green eyes. “I will ensure The McCallister Vines and Wines becomes one of the biggest brands in the wine industry.”
• “So, Rosie McCallister, will you marry me?” Liam asked in a soft yet firm tone.
• “Yes, I will,” Rosie replied.