Miles Bailey Gets Down On One Knee: A Closed Door Marriage of Convenience RomCom (Another Bailey Bro

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Ihave never seen so many men lined up and drooling over one woman before.

“What are you watching?” I blink away from the screen to the three women glued to the reality TV show. My sister, Coco, my new sister-in-law, Annie, and my brother Levi’s fiancé, Meredith. They all sit, watching, laughing, and not hearing a word I’ve said.

I’m not sure why the show even caught my eye. It’s far from my thing. But I promised my niece, Alice, painting lessons for her birthday. That was a couple weeks ago. Lulabelle—her younger sister—turns one this month, and Alice has reminded me daily that I cannot give Lula a present when I haven’t truly given her one yet.

“Lane Jonas is gonna get a husband,” eight-year-old Alice says beside me.

“Lane who?”

“You know, from The Judys? They sing that song that Uncle Levi likes to hum. I think it’s called “A Way Out,” but he always says the wrong words, so now he just hums. Annie loves her and Uncle Levi isn’t sure he likes having that in common with Annie.” Alice’s eyes are glued to the screen where four men stand around one woman—they’re all singing to her. Each belting more dramatically than the last. On national TV. Yikes. My stomach turns a little with the scene.

“I’m rooting for Broc,” Alice says, plopping down onto a kitchen chair. She makes sure her view is directed toward the show, though she’s looking at me now. She waves a paintbrush in front of my face as I can’t seem to look away from the train wreck happening on the TV screen. “Are you listening to me?”

“Is this appropriate for you?” I wag a finger in the direction of the very PG-13 TV show in view just feet away.

“I just turned eight, Uncle Miles. I’m practically a grown-up now. I know all about kissing and paying bills.”

I lift my brows. “Right.”

“Did you bring the goods, man?”

I break away from the large flat screen on my sister’s living room wall. This great room has us together and separated all at once. I pull two bags of king-sized MMs from my backpack. “This or… this?” I ask, pulling out a bottle of craft paint next.

“Yes!” Alice pumps her little fist and snatches the bags of candy from me.

“Only one bag up during our lesson. Got it?”

“Got it. I am a sophisticated lady, Uncle Miles. I know how to savor my MMs.” Her blonde head pops up and she holds one finger in the air. “In fact, I have the perfect fancy bowl for these MMs. Wait here!” She scrambles out of her chair and hurries off down the hall toward her bedroom.

I cross over the carpet threshold and into the living room, my eyes super-glued to the TV. It”s flashing the title:

CELEbrITY LIFE

CELEbrITY WIFE

“Is this what you do on Thursday nights?”

Meredith turns her head, seeing me for the first time, though I’ve been here for ten minutes. Her lips fold in on one another as if she’s been caught doing something wrong.

“It is,” Coco says, no shame in her tone. “If you’re going to make fun of us, you can leave.”

Annie reaches for another handful from the popcorn bowl sitting between her and Meredith. Her limb freezes in the bowl and she tilts her hand, looking at the wedding band that’s been partnered with her engagement ring for only a few weeks now. She blinks away from the diamond that Owen will be paying off for the next five years. “There’s a reason Owen, Jude, and Levi aren’t here, Miles. We aren’t afraid to kick you out too,” she says.

I hold up my hands, suddenly afraid of the women in my life. “No judgment. Just a question.”

“There’s only two episodes left. Lane is down to four guys, but two have to go, tonight,” Meredith says, pulling her feet up beneath her on the couch.

“Let me guess, you like Broc?” I say, repeating Alice’s sentiment.

“No.” Coco waves a hand in the air. “He’s Alice’s guy. And before you question my mothering, she’s only allowed to watch the pinning.”

“Pinning?” I have no idea what my sister is talking about. Or what my niece is viewing.

“Yeah. You know, like the rose from The Bachelor?” she says—but I don’t know. I’ll take her word for it. “Only on Celebrity, she pins the guys she wants to keep.”

“The pin looks like a Walk of Fame star, like in Hollywood,” Meredith tells me as if this makes me officially caught up.

The show starts up again and Coco holds out her hand, arm straight, remote pointing at the TV. She pauses the scene and peers back at me.

But I’m still pasted to the screen. The blonde on Jude and Coco’s eighty-inch TV is beautiful, stupidly stunning, in fact. So, sure she has a load of fame-hungry guys fighting for her attention in front of millions all for the sake of entertainment. But is she kind? Is she passionate? Does she care for others?

Huh. I watch a minute longer.

She looks kind.

Is that weird?

People can’t really look kind, can they?

Her long ash-blonde hair is scooped to the side where a long braid trails over her shoulder and down her front, probably reaching her belly button. And I think there’s a few strands of blue peeking out from the blonde. But I’m not really sure.

I’m staring, in a trance… maybe she’s a witch and all these guys are under a spell because I can’t seem to look away.

Coco hops up, standing by my side.

“Hey,” she says, her tone hushed. “This is my one night out with the girls. Jude has Lula at Mom’s place. Do you think you could distract Alice? I mean, nothing terribly risqué is happening over here, but—”

I blink my stinging eyes from the screen and give my full attention to Coco. “But she’s eight. I get it. I’m here to paint with her. I will distract away.”

My sister’s cheeks go flush. “Because it’s just a little entertainment with friends, and I don’t want her thinking—”

“Coco. I got it. You aren’t evil for watching a dating reality TV show. I can take her to my studio if you’d rather,” I say, scratching behind my right ear.

Coco reaches up on tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “You don’t have to do that. Your stuff is already here. I appreciate you spending some time with her.”

I’m not doing her any favors, though. I’m happy to be helpful, but I love my nieces. I spend time with them whenever I can. We all do. Alice and Lula have four uncles, and we’d all fight for time with them. Even Coop, and he’s a busy, semi-self-absorbed college student.

“Actually, a marriage show,” Meredith says—though I hadn’t realized Annie and Meredith were even paying attention to us.

Then again, maybe they weren’t—because I don’t follow. I glance at Coco. Can she decipher? “Ahh—what?”

“It’s sort of a dating show—like you said,” Annie explains, “but at the end, she’ll marry the man of her choosing. That’s why it’s called Celebrity Wife. She’s a celebrity, and soon she’ll be a wife.”

“Huh.” I clear my throat. None of that sits well with me—I don’t know why. It’s not my sister, niece, or friend up there. So what do I care if some hot-shot rock star wants to marry a stranger?

I mentally shake my head. I don’t care.