Chapter 12 #3
“I don’t need an apology, or pity.” Holly shrugged again. “And I really don’t know why the snow globe tipped you over the edge, but maybe we can just call it even now.”
He winced. Not his best moment. “That’s a long story.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” The defensive look in her eyes almost made him miss Cindy Lou Who.
Almost.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I don’t know about even, but I do hope you know that my agreement with Ryan…it really wasn’t like that.”
“So you did come to be my date?” She pointedly dipped her head. “And no other reason?”
“Well…” He squinted, hating that he couldn’t tell the truth…and equally hating that he couldn’t lie. “Okay, maybe it started like that. At first. But when I got here—”
“Spare me the humility. I’ve seen the movies, Nick.” Holly waved her hand through the air. “Let me guess. ‘It all changed after I saw you. Blah, blah, blah.’?”
He hesitated. “I wasn’t going to say that, exactly.”
“But something like it, right?” Holly’s gaze held his in a challenge.
Then he noticed for the first time how badly she was shivering. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders. “What movies?”
“ All of them. It’s the same shtick, right?
The handsome reporter who uses the ‘always a bridesmaid’ to further his career.
The snarky editor who uses her assistant for a visa.
” She huddled inside his coat, which had to be proof of how cold she was, since her expression looked more like she’d rather smother him with it.
“The executive who uses a journalist to bet his friends he could make someone fall in love with him in ten days.”
Her referencing the same movie as the love fern he’d been joking about sent a splinter of guilt through Nick’s chest.
She clutched the coat collar around her shoulders. “Notice the pattern? Uses. ”
“It wasn’t a bet, I promise you that.”
“Fine. You did my brother a favor, then, or whatever.”
Now he was cold. Nick stamped his feet as Frosty swayed in the wind next to them. “Ryan was worried about you.”
Holly groaned, pulling the jacket so it covered her face. “That’s even worse.”
Nick started to defend Ryan, then thought about it from Holly’s little-sister point of view. He’d be humiliated, too, if the tables were turned. Something he really should’ve thought about before agreeing to come. Granted, Ryan should have too.
What a mess.
He tugged at the jacket, holding it open so he could see her expression. “You don’t understand. It wasn’t like he had to twist my arm or anything.”
But even as he spoke the words, the truth tapped him on the shoulder. Would being Holly’s date have been enough to convince Nick to spend Christmas on the farm, without the bonus of scoping out the property for his dream? No.
And that part he couldn’t explain to her. His hands slipped off the jacket.
She stepped back. “Maybe you’ll understand why I have a hard time believing that.”
Frosty’s smile seemed to stretch wider above him, mocking. Maybe Nick should at least share what truth he could and quit taking the coward’s way out. He’d rather get as much out in the open with Holly as possible—the part that was his to tell.
He flexed his fingers. “It wasn’t a bet. Ryan knows about this nonprofit I have in mind, and he said if I came home with him, he could connect me with your parents as potential investors.”
Holly blanched. “So, not a bet. A bribe.”
Nick started to argue, then sighed. He couldn’t stop her from seeing it that way. And that was exactly how it sounded.
He briefly closed his eyes, unsure how to fix the damage he’d done.
Regret nestled on his shoulders. And on top of that, disappointment.
What was wrong with him? He should be relieved.
This entire conversation, awkward as it was, meant no more booby-trapped doors or forced Christmas excursions or holiday songs or inflatable sneak attacks.
But it also meant less attention from Holly—which shouldn’t bother him. The things she had done to give him said attention only caused him stress and exhaustion. Yet they’d also made him laugh and participate and feel connected to a real family over the holidays.
Something that wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d expected.
Nick opened his eyes. “I never meant for you to get hurt. What can I do to fix this?” Rhetorical question, but he had to try.
Holly pursed her lips. “I know exactly what you can do.”
She did?
“Ryan is just as guilty of this plan as you are.” Holly tilted her head, the sherpa lining of his coat grazing her flushed cheek. “And he’s had absolutely zero consequences.”
Uh-oh. “Your point?”
“I think he needs his own Operation: Naughty List.”
“Did you just say ‘Operation: Naughty List’?” Nick scoffed. “What are you, Santa’s evil helper?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I had a lot of time to come up with it.”
“Why name your evil plan at all?”
“It was serious.” She shrugged. “Serious things should be named.”
She’d really been hurt, hadn’t she? She was trying to play it off, but the evidence lingered in the crinkles near her eyes—and in the fact she went so far as to name her revenge plan.
Maybe Ryan had handled his own plan poorly, but he’d been dead-on in recognizing Holly was going to need some cheering up this season.
Yet Nick had made it worse.
“So what serious thing are you plotting now?” He could practically feel Frosty’s stare boring into his profile, shooting warning flares. Abort, abort.
“You’ve seen how upset Ryan is about Axel and Chloe.” Holly tapped her chin with one finger. “I think a little case of insta-love should help him remember to keep his matchmaking efforts to himself in the future.”
Nick’s stomach twisted. “Insta-love?”
“Think about it. He begged you to come here and be my date—”
“He didn’t exactly beg —”
“So what if he gets exactly what he wanted? We fall in love. ” She air-quoted the phrase. “The ultimate fake-date trope. Works in the movies, anyway.”
Someone really needed to take the remote control away from Holly.
Nick ran his hand over the back of his neck, releasing another breath into the night air.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.
” More like it was a really bad idea. Holly still didn’t—and couldn’t—know the whole story as to why he was on the farm.
Neither could Ryan. Adding another secret to the mix seemed to be asking for even more trouble than Nick already had.
“You asked how you could help.” Holly’s hopeful eyes pleaded. “This is perfect. Besides, isn’t it unfair you had days of Christmas torture heaped upon you while Ryan is living his merriest life?”
Not a bad point. Ryan had good motives at heart, but he had gotten Nick into this whole awkward situation. He hesitated. “Maybe.”
“Just till Christmas.” Holly tucked her hair behind her ears, making her look more youthful and less diabolical. “We can confess when we all go home.”
He frowned. “But what about the rest of your family? They’ll think we’re together too.”
“My sisters will be thrilled. They like you.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t expected that. Or the warmth spreading through his midsection like he’d chugged a mug full of Grace’s hot chocolate. “And your parents?”
“Mom will barely notice, trust me.” Holly flipped her hand. “She’s much more invested in Lydia and Olivia and her grandkids.”
He hated that she felt that way, but he had kind of noticed it too.
Yet at the same time, he had a feeling Holly was underestimating by a lot.
He also had way more to lose that he couldn’t explain.
Such as Thomas lumping him into the same category as Axel and not thinking well enough of Nick to sell him the property.
Still…the idea warmed his chest. Pretending to date Holly wasn’t the worst punishment in the world. If he did, he would still get to enjoy her company, only without the various Christmas explosions. He could finally have a reason to get to know her.
On top of that, if he refused to go along with it, the next week would be incredibly awkward. He couldn’t leave now—not before her parents approved of him purchasing the farm.
“By the way, while we’re confessing secrets…” Holly hunched her shoulders. “I paid Mason a dollar to hit you tonight with his slime.”
Nick snorted. “I should have known.” He spun Holly around and swiped at the back of the coat between the shoulder blades. “That stuff should be outlawed.”
“He was supposed to do it two more times.” Holly grinned as she turned back to face him. “I deserve a refund.”
“Right.” Nick furrowed his brows and crossed his arms. “Because that’s clearly what’s most important here.”
Her smile faded. “Oh. I’m sorry about your jacket—”
“Kidding.” He reached over and gently tugged her hair free of the collar. “If you’re going to be my fake girlfriend, you’ve got to keep up with my sense of humor.”
Her smile blossomed tenfold, and Nick tried not to panic at how naturally the word girlfriend rolled off his lips.
Tried not to notice how cute she looked in his oversized coat.
Tried to focus on the pure relief saturating her sweet freckled face instead.
He owed her. If she wanted to prank her brother, how could he resist?
Especially when it meant everything could keep going the way it was—but better. He’d get to stay and prove himself. Holly wouldn’t be mad at him anymore.
And he didn’t have to worry about winter inflatables watching him sleep.
“So we’re doing this?” Hope lifted Holly’s voice as she held out her hand.
He knew better, and yet…Nick met her palm with a firm grip. “Only if our new operation has a better name—and no snow globes.”