Charming as Puck(69)

It’s entirely possible I don’t have a big enough house to date Nick.

“Is he still apologizing for missing your birthday?” Maren asks.

“Yep.”

“I might have underestimated him.”

“I thought you’d have known better by now.”

They help me carry the boxes in, and I hustle my puppies to the backyard. When they’ve all done their business and gotten fed, I return to the living room, where Maren and Muffy are still waiting.

“Are you sure you want to see this?” I ask them. “It could be naked miniature Nick dolls.”

“Anatomically correct, yes, we know,” Maren says. “Though the boxes aren’t big enough to be Nick dolls, because he wouldn’t do himself in miniature.”

“We definitely want to see,” Muffy confirms. “You owe me. I mean, you hired me to match you, and now look at you all smiling and happy.”

“You didn’t hook her up with Nick,” Maren points out.

“I helped her see what she was missing in breaking up with him,” Muffy replies triumphantly.

I don’t know if she’s serious, or if that’s her new tagline, until she adds, “And you wouldn’t have hired me if you didn’t believe I could do the same magic for you.”

Maren goes a rare raspberry color in the cheeks, and I put her out of her misery by tearing into the first box.

“Awwww!”

“Oh my god, he did not.”

“So CUUUUUUTE! Can I have one? I want one. Please? Please, Kami?”

I pull out the pillow, stamped with Sugarbear’s face, and find another pillow with a different picture of Sugarbear underneath. “They’re all different!”

We tear through the boxes, and sure enough, Nick’s delivered an entire cow photoshoot on throw pillows. Thirty different Sugarbear photos.

Some are just her face. Some are whole body shots. Some have her in costumes, wearing a mustache or a bonnet.

“He is not doing this all himself,” Maren says.

“I think he is.” I can’t stop smiling, because this is so ridiculous it’s awesome. “The dick cookies? The book? The billboard? That’s evil Nick. This is sort of also evil Nick, but with purer intentions.”

Maren blinks at me, and then we’re both cracking up.

“Okay, fine,” she says, throwing her hands in the air. “A life with Nick Murphy would not be boring. I’ll give you that. But I’m still not convinced he deserves you.”

I’m convinced.

And not because of the cow pillows, but because of everything else.

The date.

Him talking me down last night over my embarrassment over Aunt Hilda leaking my secret obsession.

The way he hugged me before we got into his car for him to take me to my parents’ place. Nick doesn’t do anything half-assed, and hugging is no exception. He had me wrapped in his body, in his scent, in his heat, and it was only the porch light flickering on and Mrs. Murphy sticking her head out the door that had kept my hands from going wandering into his jeans.

“I’m moving out first thing tomorrow,” he’d said, “and when I get back from Texas, you and me and Sugarbear are going on another date.”

I know he likes my body.

But there’s something magical about realizing he likes me also.

“She has it bad,” Muffy whispers to Maren.

“He damn well better too,” Maren replies.

Dixie, Pancake, and Tiger all claim Sugarbear pillows.

My phone dings, and I pull it out again, ready to reply to whatever Nick’s sent this time.

Except it’s not Nick.

It’s a contact I made at the Heartwood Manor Farm Park a couple weeks ago.

Kami – you still looking for a home for a calf? We might have space. Call me later this morning when you get a chance.

My heart sinks.

This should be good news, but…how am I going to break it to Nick?





Thirty-Six





Nick



The ambush doesn’t surprise me.

I knew Felicity knew Kami had a crush on me while I was oblivious—and a dick—but I don’t know if Felicity knew Kami had said she was going to marry me.

So when she, Ares, Loki, and Lavoie come trooping into the kitchen while I’m on the phone with my real estate agent, I grab a plate of bacon, hit the coffee maker button to start a new pot, and head to the back porch so they can chew me out without Mom overhearing.

But they’re not chewing me out.

They’re asking what they can do to help me get moved out of here.

“You cannot date my best friend when you can’t have her sleep over at your place,” Felicity declares.

“Or if you’re crashing with friends,” Lavoie adds.

I just stare at my sister. “You’re not here to chew me out?”

“You sent Kami dog treats.”

“Ah…”

“That takes thought, Nick. That takes noticing someone other than yourself. And you not only did it, but you also adopted a cow.”

“She’s more Mom’s than mine,” I say quickly, even though I’d arm wrestle my own mother if she tries to keep me from taking Sugarbear when I finally get a new place.