Last on the List (Wait With Me #5)(87)

“Or he’s a Cozy man,” Dakota replies with a stunned look that has been on her face since I arrived here this evening. “Not to discredit your impressive ass, it’s a sight to behold, but Cozy…you do realize you’re living in a Mercedes Lee Loveletter novel, and you need to marry this man like right now.”

“Okay, calm down now.” I laugh, trying to bring this gabfest back into focus. “No one is talking marriage. We haven’t even given whatever we are a label yet. As far as I know, we’re still just in the dating stage.”

“Does Everly know he took you to Aspen?” Dakota asks, waving to a customer who walks in the door and begins shopping.

“No,” I reply quickly. “We both agreed that we should definitely keep this from Everly until I’m done being her nanny.”

“But you’re still going with him to that charity thing next weekend?” she presses.

“Yes, Everly is staying at her grandparents’, so she won’t be around when we leave.” A nervous flutter takes flight in my belly. “The Tatianna gown I picked out is incredible, Dakota. And Tatianna was so sweet. I can’t believe I’ve never met your friend before. She was amazing.”

“Well, you were kind of MIA after you moved to Denver,” she responds knowingly, and then her face grows serious at the mention of my past life. “I’m really happy you finally told him about your stroke, Cozy. It feels like an important step for you to put that awful experience behind you.”

“It does,” I agree, marveling over the fact that a couple of months ago, anytime my past job was brought up, I’d feel my body tighten with anxiety. But just now as I retold my whole night with Max to my best friend, I feel surprisingly at peace. “I think I’m ready to finally call Kate back and get going on this charcuterie project.”

“Dayummm,” Dakota peals dramatically. “Zaddy’s dick must have some magical healing powers!”

“I’ll take a little credit, thank you very much.” I laugh and wrinkle my nose. “But you’re right…his dick is magical.”

Dakota giggles, and I sigh inwardly as I realize for the first time that I’m not necessarily like my old, younger self, and I’m clearly nothing like my Denver self…but perhaps a new hybrid version that’s stronger and more capable of achieving goals and setting boundaries. The perfect room temperature Cozy—as long as Cinderella’s coach doesn’t turn back into a pumpkin anytime soon.





“You sure you’re okay with fifty people, Max? Maybe seventy-five?” Norah asks, standing in the middle of my backyard on Saturday afternoon. The July sun is scorching so I lift my hand to block the light.

“Whatever you want, Norah,” I reply, and she turns a bright smile to her mom as they point down by the creek.

Dean elbows me and nods. “Good answer. Just do a lot of nodding and smiling, and we’ll both hopefully get out of here alive.”

“We’re going to go do some measurements down by the beach,” Norah’s mom shouts, and the two of them head down toward the sandy area by the creek.

My gaze slides over to the tiny house near it. I wonder how long this wedding planning will take today because Everly is at a sleepover at Claire’s, which means I have unlimited access to the hot nanny. She’s currently in my garage doing some woodworking, which means…she’s horny.

And so am I.

“Hey, do you have any whiskey in that house? This wedding planning with my mother-in-law is stressful as fuck.” Dean adjusts his glasses and eyes me with the look of a desperate man.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” I respond with a laugh and slap him on the back as we make our way inside.

We situate ourselves across from each other at the kitchen island, and I can smell the scent of charred wood drifting in from the garage.

Dean sniffs loudly as I hand him a finger of whiskey.

“Cassandra is probably burning one of her charcuterie boards.” I answer his silent question and sip my own drink, savoring the spicy burn on my tongue. It’s the best kind of burn. A burn that tasted even better on Cozy’s tongue a few days ago.

Dean gets a wicked glint in his eye. “What’s the status update there? You’ve been a little radio silent since poker night.”

I inhale through my nose. Might as well rip the Band-Aid off because I’ve been kind of dying to talk to someone about it and my brothers are useless when it comes to advice on women.

“We’re kind of…dating.”

Dean chokes on his whiskey. “You’re actually dating the nanny?” he exclaims, coughing.

“Use her fucking name, asshole.” My tone is lethal and totally hypocritical because I love calling her the nanny in my dirty thoughts. But from Dean, that label sounds cheap. And Cassandra is obviously so much more than the nanny now. Hell, she’s slept in my bed every night since we returned from Aspen. It’s been tricky too because even though we’re not just banging it out anymore, we’ve still decided not to say anything to Everly, so it’s still a lot of sneaking around.

Our current plan is a lot like our old plan, except now we’re in my bed instead of hers. Cassandra comes over after Everly goes to sleep, and I worship every inch of her body. Then she slips out my patio door around five thirty every morning, looking well-fucked to go get ready for the day at her place.