Chapter 13
Nick
Ihold onto her hand tightly as we walk down the sidewalks of Evergreen, heading back towards Chris’s tree farm that sits on the other side of town.
On one end is Holly House and on the other is the Wyte’s farm, almost like two opposite poles drawing the boundary line of Evergreen between them.
To get from one end to the other is only a thirty minute walk, but it’s a thirty minute walk through the heart of downtown where plenty of people will see us together.
The entire town will know by this time tomorrow that the high school sweethearts have reconciled and gotten together once more.
“Nick,” Noelle hushes at my side, trying to pull her hand away. I deny her request and only pull her tighter to my side. “Nick, stop it. We can’t do this now. We need to come up with a plan.”
“This is the plan, sugar. Your plan, might I remind you.” When we reach the edge of the town square, I quickly pull her in and press my lips to the corner of her temple.
A handful of people gawk at us as they see us embrace.
When I look at her, her cheeks are flushed a bright pink. “It’s showtime, better play along.”
She gives me a stern look before taking a deep breath.
Then, to my surprise, she loops her arm around my waist and hugs me.
I place an arm around her shoulder and continue to walk across the square.
Winter is working to settle in for the season so having her close is a bonus because she’s keeping me warm.
If I’m being honest, my skin feels a little warmer than it should purely by her being this close.
She brushes a piece of hair out of her face and smiles up at me as we pass more people, completely fooling them into believing we’re a real couple.
“Oh my gosh, I’d never thought I’d see the day,” an older voice comes from behind us. We spin in unison to see who it is. “Nick and Noelle, is that you? When did you two get back together?”
“Hey, Ms. Joy,” Noelle says, standing upright. I take her hand into mine once more and she stares at it for a second before going back to look at our observer. “Uhhh, when Nick came back into town, actually.”
I pull her back into my side and hold her around the waist. “We had coffee one day and old feelings came back like they never left.”
The older woman’s eyes glimmer as she looks between us. “Ugh, I always knew you were meant to be. It broke my heart when you two ended things so long ago. I know it’s a little shameful to say, but I hoped you’d get married and raise a family here in Evergreen when you were old enough.”
I feel Noelle stiffen at the mention of our breakup. Holding onto her a little tighter, I look down at her and wink. “Well, Ms. Joy, we’re actually happy to share that we got married this past weekend. It’s sudden, sure, but something we both felt was meant to be too. Isn’t that right, sugar?”
“Uh huh,” she agrees half-heartidly with a nod.
The woman gasps and brings her hands to cover her mouth. “Oh my goodness, that’s wonderful! I can’t wait to tell the girls at bridge club. Everyone is going to be so happy for you two.”
“Not as happy as I am,” I say easily. My eyes fall back to Noelle who’s looking up at me. “I never really stopped loving this one. I’m lucky to be able to call her my wife.” Then, I press my lips to her forehead and pull her into a hug.
“How sweet.” The woman sighs again. “Well, I’ll let you two get on your way. I’m sure you have some quality time to spend together, if you know what I mean.” She waggles her eyebrows at us before waving a hand at us and waddling down the sidewalk.
Once she’s gone, Noelle shoves me away and glares at me.
“What the hell was that?” she whisper shouts.
“A ten out of ten performance if you ask me,” I reply.
I carry on through town and she has no choice but to follow me if she wants to keep lecturing me.
She quickens her feet to close the gap between us and smiles at people as we pass.
Being in close proximity to other people around town, she pauses her lecture to carry on with our performance of being a happily married couple.
I take her hand in mine once more which earns me a quick scowl and the silent treatment the rest of our walk.
When we reach the tree farm and my cabin, she comes inside and crosses her arms at me.
“Okay, now that we’re alone, I’m going to ask again. What the hell was that?” Her eyes are pinned on me and I can see the tiny vein that grows when she’s pissed starting to pop out in her forehead.
“And like I said before, it was a ten out of ten performance.” I stand behind her and help her out of her coat, hanging it on the hook on the wall for her.
“I really don’t think we need to play it up that much though. I mean, what was that line? ‘I never really stopped loving this one’? You really think it was necessary to lie like that?”
Who said I was lying?
I walk back into the kitchen and start to pull things out of the fridge. It’s almost seven o’clock and I’m sure she’s starving by now.
“Noelle, we need to get the town on board with us being a couple. And that includes acting like a couple. I don’t know why you’re so upset; running into Ms. Joy is a major win.
She has the biggest mouth in town and she’s going to bridge club tonight which means all her little bitty friends will be talking about us tomorrow.
It won’t be long till the entire town knows about us. ”
She glares at me from across the room but I see the thoughts swirling around in her head. Finally, she drops her arms and seems to see my point.
“I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right.”
“Okay well you don’t need to be smart about it,” she shoots back, making a face at me. When I smile at her, I see a smile of her own crack on her face. “I will admit, it was a pretty good performance. This all seems so easy for you.”
That’s because I’m not performing at all and every word I say is true.
“I guess I should have gone into acting instead of architecture,” I joke. I’ve started to slice up some vegetables and have turned the oven on to preheat.
She pauses, looking at what I’m doing and glances at her coat on the wall.
“Well, I guess I should be going now. It looks like you’re starting dinner anyway. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Whoa,” I call out as she reaches for her coat. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She looks at me confused. “Uhm, home? I’d ask you to drive me but I don’t want to interrupt your cooking so I’ll just walk.”
I set the knife down and wipe my hands on a towel before moving towards her. “You aren’t going anywhere, sugar. You just worked a full day and it’s dark out already. I’m cooking you dinner and then I’ll drive you home after.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she tries to protest but I’m already shaking my head at her.
“You are my wife and I shall treat you as such. Now take your shoes off and take a seat on the couch. If you want, you can turn on the fireplace. I know how much you love to sit in front of a hot fire.”
She squints at me and bites back a smirk.
“Nick,” she whispers even though we’re standing face to face.
“Noelle,” I parrot.
“I’m not actually your wife. You do know that, right? This”—she waves a hand between us—“Is fake, as in, not real. You don’t need to treat me in any kind of way when we’re at home. It’s just the two of us, you don’t have to pretend anymore and you certainly don’t have to cook me dinner.”
“Maybe I just want to do something nice for you, have you ever considered that?” I lift my brows at her.
“Why would you want to do something nice for me?”
Because I’m still in love with you, that’s why.
“Okay, maybe it’s not a nice thing for you as much as it is a nice thing for me,” I lie, coming up with something off the cuff. “I don’t want to eat alone tonight and you’re already here. This is me being selfish and getting what I want.”
She studies me for a second but takes me for my word.
“Okay, if you don’t want to eat alone I guess I can stay. Do you want my help with anything?” Her eyes glance towards the prep I’ve already started.
“I want nothing other than for you to take a seat and relax. You do everything for everyone all day; let someone do something for you for once.” My hand comes to her cheek as I look at her.
She swallows hard and only replies with a nod.
When I pull my hand away she moves towards the couch, kicking her loafers off onto the floor before flipping the switch on which causes the fireplace to come to life.
When she settles into the couch, I move to the kitchen to cook us dinner.
Every few minutes I look up from the food to steal a glance at her and every few times I do, she’s already looking back at me.
Once dinner is done, I set the table and call her in. Her eyes widen as she takes in the meal I’ve made for us from scratch. Steam rises from the plates and as we both take our seats, I hear her stomach grumble from hunger.
“Oh my gosh,” she says, wrapping her arms around her stomach, looking embarrassed. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought I was.”
“I always loved your appetite,” I comment, smiling at her from the other side of the table. “I like a girl who isn’t afraid to eat.”
“More like a pig who can’t control herself sometimes,” she mutters under her breath.
“Hey,” I snap and she looks at me. “Don’t talk about my wife like that.”
She huffs out a laugh and shakes her head at me. “You really gotta cool it with the ‘wife’ thing.”
“Why? Is it feeling a little too real for you?” I tease. The corner of my lips pull back as she looks at me.
“No. But I don’t want it becoming too real for you. I only need this to work till Chrismtas then it’s all over.”
I nod my head mockingly at her. “Sure, sure. You’re worried about this becoming too real for me. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“I have no doubt that this won’t become too real for me. You’re nothing but a favor to me. That’s it,” she states a little too matter-of-factly to believe. Like she’s trying to convince herself more than she’s trying to convince me.
“Whatever you say, wife. Whatever you say.” I take a bite of the dinner I’ve made and glance up at her as she takes the first bite. When she takes a bite, her eyes close and she lets out a sound that is a cross between a moan and a squeal. Either way, it makes my dick jump in my pants.
“Holy crap, this is so good,” she compliments. She takes a second then third bite. The more she eats, the more my pride swells knowing I’ve made her happy.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Where did you learn to cook like this? You never knew how to cook growing up,” she comments, filling her mouth with more food.
“Yeah, well, when you’re seventeen and your mom is making all your meals for you there’s really no reason to know how to cook. It’s a skill I’ve picked up since being gone.”
She nods and continues to eat. A comfortable silence falls between us as we eat our meal, the fire cracking and popping in the background. When she’s done, she sets her utensils down and looks up at me.
“I think we need to set some ground rules.” Her hands are crossed in front of her and it suddenly feels like I’m sitting in a business meeting.
Wanting to tease her, I bring my hands on top of the table and fold them together like she has hers.
“I’m happy to negotiate with you,” I say, giving her a serious look. She glances at my hands and bites back a laugh before picking up a vegetable from her plate and throwing it at me.
“I’m serious, Nick. I think we need to talk about what’s okay and what’s not over the next few weeks as we work to pull this off.”
I take the potato she threw at me and pop it into my mouth. I don’t miss the way her eyes linger on my lips a few seconds longer than they should.
“What kind of rules are we talking here?” I ask, tipping my head at her.
“First, no kissing on the lips. I think we can get away with being a pretend married couple without that.”
“You want to convince the town that we’re happily married and in love without kissing?” I ask skeptically.
“Yes.” It’s a full sentence.
“Okay, these are your rules.” I shrug my shoulders trying to play it cool. I already hate these rules.
“Next, we only act like a married couple when we’re out in town or with people we know. When we aren’t being seen by other people, we keep things…friendly,” she finishes.
“Friendly?”
“Yeah, like we act like friends. Not like we’re married or are a couple because we aren’t.”
“According to the civil courts of Boston we are,” I remind her with a smirk.
“Nick,” she threatens. I raise my hands in defense.
“Okay, okay. Only friends when we’re not out in public. Got it. So I guess that means no sleepovers?” I joke and immediately see the blood rush to her face.
“Nick!”
“What? Friends have sleepovers! I had sleepovers with my friends all the time growing up, I know you and Eve did too. It’s a fair question,” I argue playfully, trying not to laugh.
She tips her head to one side and rolls her eyes. “That would be a no to sleepovers.”
“If that’s what you want,” I reply with another shrug. “Anything else?”
She furrows her brows and thinks about it. “No, I don’t think so. I think that’s plenty.”
“Perfect. Then I’d like to make my own rule,” I announce, sitting up in my chair and smirking at her.
“Why do you want a rule?”
“If you get to make a couple of rules I think it’s only fair that I get one too.”
Her eyes fall to the top of the table before looking back at me. “I guess that’s fair.”
My smile widens. “My rule is that if you break any of your rules, even once, then I get to break them as many times as I want.”
Her mouth falls open. “No!”
Crossing my arms in front of me, I lean on the table bringing myself closer to her.
“What’s the matter, sugar? Scared you won’t be able to abide by your own rules?”
She clenches her jaw and scowls at me. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she looks at me with sheer determination.
“Not at all. I have nothing to worry about so fine, I agree to your stupid rule.”
“Excellent. Then I think this will be a fine marriage if I do say so myself.” Reaching across the table, I offer her my hand to shake which she does.
Time to get you to break your rules, sugar. Because once you do, it’s game over for the both of us.