Free The Practice Proposal by Tracy March

Seven
    Liza and Cole walked hand-in-hand down the sidewalk along one of the quiet streets
     of tiny downtown Maple Creek, Maryland. The place always reminded her of Mayberry
     RFD, the town she’d seen in reruns of The Andy Griffith Show on TV Land. Maple Creek had lots of the same characters and a few modern touches.
     Mature trees flanked the road, and decorative banners of colorful fall leaves hung
     from the old-fashioned light posts.
    A group of older ladies stood in front of the drugstore. Their heads turned in unison
     as Cole and Liza passed, their eyes wide behind their glasses. They didn’t see many
     men under sixty in this town, so Cole was certainly an eye-catcher. Liza couldn’t
     argue that.
    He walked with a little swagger, his jeans set perfectly on his hips. As if he knew
     they were watching, he ran his hand through his hair—shiny in the afternoon sun and
     messy from the breeze. His plaid shirt rippled across his muscular shoulders as he
     raised his arm, and settled just tight enough across his pecs when he lowered it.
     Tall, rugged, and carefree, he looked like the walking inspiration for a sexy country
     song.
    “Good heavens,” one of the ladies said just loud enough for them to hear.
    Liza rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Busted.”
    “What?” he asked playfully.
    “You’re shameless. Putting on a show like that for those old ladies. You’re going
     to give them heart attacks.”
    “I didn’t put on a show for them,” he said, grinning guiltily.
    But he had given Nats fans a show this afternoon. Liza had to admit she’d been impressed
     watching him play—so athletic and confident, with the crowd chanting his nickname,
     “Crush, Crush, Crush.” The jumbotron scoreboard had flashed highlights of him making
     impossible plays with ease.
    And I’m officially dating him.
    The entire setup seemed surreal, but the guilt that was nagging her didn’t. Was it
     okay to feel a little relaxed and kind of excited now that she knew where things were
     headed with Cole? A half-million dollars for BADD. She still felt kind of sleazy about what she was doing, but reassured herself that
     it was for a good cause. Just like Cole donating a date to the BADD auction… right?
    They passed a small post office and a barbershop. “You’re taking me to Sweet Bee’s,
     aren’t you?”
    Liza never would’ve guessed he’d bring her to Maple Creek, and it tugged at her heart
     a little. She’d mentioned Paige’s bakery last night, and he must have remembered.
     They stopped in front of the next storefront where a sunshine-yellow-and-pink striped
     awning shaded the doorway. The moment they stepped inside, they were enveloped by
     the sweet smell of cakes baking in the oven.
    Paige came around from behind the glass display cases—filled with cookies and cakes
     and gorgeous pastries—and gave Liza a tight hug, her white apron dirty and her eyes
     dancing with mischief.
    Liza worried what that might mean. “Cole, this is my best friend, Paige Ellerbee.”
    Paige was the size of a Polly Pocket doll with a face like a Disney princess, and
     the flair for drama to match it. She shifted her wide-eyed gaze between Cole and Liza.
     She’d hung on every word of the story Liza had told her about last night’s date when
     she’d called on her way to the baseball game. But Liza had revised it a little. She’d
     left out the part about turning Cole down for another date, and the part about her
     deal with Frank. As far as Paige knew, all had gone smoothly, if not a bit strangely,
     for the two of them. She hadn’t needed any more evidence than the picture she’d seen
     in a copy of the Washington Post that a customer left on a table.
    Paige shook Cole’s hand, looking way calmer than most people probably did when they
     met him. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said, then flipped her blond ponytail. It had
     a streak of pink in it that matched the stripes in the awning. “Now I can mark you
     off