Chapter 17
Noelle
The week following Thanksgiving has been a whirlwind of people coming into the inn to congratulate me on my nuptials and trying to remind myself that all of Nick’s nice gestures are purely for show.
Every day for the last week he’s come in to bring me coffee, ask me to come over for dinner, or stop in just to say hi or to check if I need anything.
And every time he’s come in I’ve done what I could to fend him off or remind myself that all of this is fake.
He’s only home for the holidays. There’s no sense in getting lost in the haze of his swoony gestures or caught up in all the wedding excitement the town is showering us in.
This will all come to a crashing halt as soon as Grams signs the inn over to me anyway.
“I asked some of the guys to bring in the mats and rugs for the hallways. They’re calling for a major snowstorm this weekend,” Belle fills me in as I come in from straightening up the library.
Every room is booked between now and the second week of January making it all hands on deck to keep this place running.
“Oh, thank you, I meant to ask them to do that. I appreciate you.” I smile at her as I shuffle some magazines in order on the small table by the window.
“Something distracting you?” she asks with a half smirk. “Perhaps a dashing man with dark brown hair and eyes only for you?”
“Oh, stop it.” I look over my shoulder to make sure no one else is around. “You know it’s all pretend. He’s only doing it for show.”
She shakes her head and pushes her lips out at me. “I don’t know…seems pretty real to me.”
I roll my eyes. “Nick doesn’t have real feelings for me, Belle. He’s doing me a favor; that’s it.”
“It was a favor when he agreed to marry you. What he’s doing now is based purely on admiration and care. I know you aren’t ready to see it, but that man has it bad for you.”
Looking outside I see large, fluffy snowflakes starting to float down from the sky.
Nick can’t have real feelings for me. It’s simply not possible.
He called it quits a long time ago and I’ve moved on.
There’s nothing more between us than a mutual agreement to pretend to be married for a short while—nothing more.
“The snow is rolling in already, radio to the guys to hurry up and get those rugs laid out so no one slips and falls when they come in,” I direct, brushing past her to do some bookkeeping in the office simply to avoid having to talk to her anymore.
“You got it boss.” She leans into the office when I take a seat at the antique desk and pull my computer out of my bag. “But don’t think I’m letting this go. You and Nick are written in the stars. One day you’ll realize that and admit to yourself that you never stopped loving him either.”
Then she’s gone.
For the next few hours I try to keep my brain on the dollars and cents staring back at me on my computer screen.
After rereading the same line item for the fourth time, I know it’s time to call it quits and go home for the day.
Stepping out of the office with my bag over my shoulder and coat in hand, I’m about to head home when I’m met with a smug looking Belle leaning against the check-in desk.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, just because. You have a visitor. Or maybe I should call him a suitor?” Her voice peaks as her smile only grows. When she turns on her heels and takes a few steps to look into the library, I follow to see what she’s looking at.
Sitting on the old, over-stuffed love seat is Nick flipping through one of the Christmas themed coffee table books I set out at the start of the week.
“He said he was here to walk you home. Something about how he doesn’t want you walking alone in the snowstorm.” She raises her brows in my direction and waits for my response.
“Goodbye, Belle,” is all I give her before walking towards him.
“Hey,” I say, kicking one of his feet. When he looks up at me, his entire face lights up.
“There she is, my beautiful wife. You ready to go home?”
“I could have walked by myself, you know. I’ve walked home in the snow all on my own for the last twelve years just fine.”
“Well now I’m here so you don’t have to.
Here, let me help you with that.” He pushes to his feet and steals my bag from me before I can protest. Then, he takes my coat from my arms and holds it open for me to slip into.
I glare at the coat for a beat before putting my arms into it.
When I turn around, I spot Belle standing in the hallway looking at us with one hand over her mouth like she’s witnessing the cutest thing she’s ever seen.
Once my arms are in he spins me around so I’m facing him and starts to button it closed for me.
“I can do that on my own,” I say, batting his hands away and doing it myself. He chuckles through his smirk.
“I know you can, sugar. I just want you to know that you don’t have to do everything alone anymore if you don’t want to. I’m here to help you.”
“Yeah, temporarily,” I mutter under my breath so only I can hear. I take a few steps towards the front door but hear him close behind me. “Goodnight, Belle. I’ll be in tomorrow for a little bit.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she says a little too enthusiastically. “Tomorrow’s Saturday; you should take the day off, do something fun.”
“I agree,” Nick pipes up from behind me. I turn and glare at him over my shoulder before looking back at her.
“I’ll be in tomorrow.”
“I told you so,” she calls out as we step out onto the porch. I send her one more threatening look before rolling my eyes and closing the door.
“Told you what?” Nick asks.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” I take a few steps down the front porch but slip on the last one. I feel his hand come to my arm to prevent me from falling completely to the ground.
“See, now aren’t you glad I came and got you?”
Yes. But I’m not telling you that.
I pull my hand from his and start down the sidewalk towards home.
His hand reaches for mine and takes it, pulling me closer to him.
Glancing up at him, he doesn’t look back.
He keeps his eyes forward with a big goofy smile on his face.
I almost reach up and poke his dimple like I like to do. Almost.
“You know, you should really be wearing a hat and maybe even a scarf these days. It’s freezing outside. You don’t want to catch a cold when you’re so busy at the inn.”
“What are you, my mother?”
“Your husband, actually,” he says quickly before winking at me.
We’re halfway through town with my building being the next street over. I’m about to cross the street to head that way when Ms. Joy calls out to us.
“Oh, hello, you two. What a darling couple you are,” she gushes, bringing her mittened hands in front of her.
“I couldn’t agree more. I can’t believe this stunning woman even lets me within ten feet of her,” he says confidently, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer.
“Oh, stop, a fine looking man like you?” The old woman waves a hand at him and laughs. “Where are you two off to?”
“I was just walking Noelle here home after work for the day,” Nick continues to speak for the both of us.
Ms. Joy’s face falls and becomes confused. “Walking her home? Aren’t you two living together?” she asks, looking directly at me.
“Oh, uhh,” I stammer, trying to come up with a convincing lie.
“Of course we are,” Nick boasts. “When I said home I meant my place on the Wyte’s farm. I’m renting a cabin from them while I look for something more permanent.”
I stare up at him in pure disbelief at his ability to lie so readily. He looks down at me and smiles wider.
“Come on, honey. It’s time to get you home after a long day at Holly House. We’ll see you later, Ms. Joy.”
“Alright, you two, stay warm!” she calls out as we walk away.
Nick throws her a wave over his shoulder and begins marching us in the direction of his cabin.
“Nick, I don’t want to come over, I want to go home,” I protest, trying to pull away from him.
“Well we have to make the town believe we’re really married and that means living together. You don’t have to stay long, just long enough for Ms. Joy to get home so she doesn’t see you going back to your place,” he says. “Come on, I’ll cook you dinner and then take you home in a few hours.”
It’s too late to argue since we’ve already made our way down the sidewalk heading towards the Wyte’s farmFarm.
He has a point about needing to play things up still; plus a home cooked meal sounds nice.
I let him walk me back to his cabin and step inside once he’s unlocked the door.
I slip my coat off and hang it up to dry before setting my bag down on the floor.
He moves to flip on the fireplace and smiles at me as he walks into the kitchen.
“What’s that look for?”
He shakes his head at me. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“I was just wondering how it’s possible for you to get more and more beautiful every time I see you.” He says it so easily like it’s the truth.
Don’t swoon. Don’t swoon. Don’t swoon.
“You’re right,” I deadpan. “I don’t believe you.”
He laughs and starts pulling different ingredients out of the fridge and pantry to cook dinner like he promised. A short while later, he’s joining me on the couch with a warm bowl of pasta and cup of hot cider.
“Well, doesn’t this look nice.” I’d been sitting on the couch watching him cook, admiring how fluidly he moves around the kitchen. I can’t even cook myself toast, let alone a full dinner. One day my real husband will need to know how to cook or else we’ll both starve.
“Ah, it’s nothing,” he deflects. “It’s a simple pasta recipe with homemade sauce and fresh garlic I had in the fridge. I hope you like it.”
Taking a bite, I know instantly that I don’t like it, I love it. I let out a pleasant moan at the taste of it and do a little dance where I’m sitting. When I open my eyes to take another bite, I see him watching me with a smile.
“What?” I ask, suddenly embarrassed.
“Nothing, I just think you’re cute is all.”
“Stop it, no you don’t.”
“Who says?” he teases, talking with his mouth full.
“Your wife,” I joke, mocking his comment from earlier.
“I like the sound of you calling yourself my wife.”
“Fake wife,” I add, giving him a look.
“Sure, sure. Fake wife. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“Nick,” I lament. Sitting on one end of the couch, I kick my leg up and nudge him with my foot.
To my surprise, he grabs it with his free hand and starts to massage it.
The feeling of his thumb kneading the sole of my foot nearly sends me into another dimension.
I know I should pull away but I can’t. The massage he’s giving me is too good to cut short.
“So what are you going to do when you become the new owner of Holly House?” he asks, leaning over and setting his bowl on the coffee table. I take a bite and consider his question.
“Probably update some of the rooms. They’re nice as they are but I’d love to turn some of them into suites for couples on their honeymoon or taking a romantic getaway vacation.”
He nods with his eyes on his hands. Now that both of them are free, he’s going to work on my foot, giving me one of the best massages I’ve had in my life.
“I think the ones on the top floor should be the ones you pick. They’re the nicest ones in the inn, and it wouldn’t take much to spruce them up.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I exclaim. I can’t help but smile at him and how we’re on the same page about this.
Leaning over, he picks my other foot up from the floor and begins massaging it. I fully lean into the armrest on the couch, holding my now empty bowl of pasta in my lap as I soak up the feeling of nirvana he’s creating.
“You should listen to Belle, you know. Take tomorrow off, do something fun.”
I laugh and look at him. “Yeah? And what kind of fun would that be? This is Evergreen, you know.”
He gives me a wicked smirk before pulling me closer to him by my ankles. Eyes wide, I hold my breath as his face is now only a few inches from mine. With my legs draped over his lap, he smiles softly at me.
“I could show you what real fun is, sugar.”
I lick my lips and feel my chest starting to rise and fall. Trying to break the tension between us, I glance around and catch sight of the snow falling outside.
“Wow, it’s really coming down out there. I guess they were right to call it a blizzard, huh?”
He places his fingers on my chin and guides my gaze back to him.
“Guess you’ll just have to stay the night then. It’s not safe for you to be walking and it’s certainly not safe for me to drive in the snow if it’s as bad as you’re saying.”
“That would mean breaking one of the rules, remember?” I say, finding talking to be increasingly more difficult. “No sleepovers.”
“You said that, sugar, not me,” he murmurs, leaning closer to my face with every passing word.
“We…we should really maybe watch a movie or something before we do something stupid.” I blink feverishly watching him inch closer and closer.
“I’d rather watch something else, sugar.” His voice is husky as he brings his lips to mine, so close they brush together without actually making complete contact. “Tell me to stop. Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll stop,” he murmurs.
For a split second I consider it. Then the louder and more desperate to get some sort of physical attention from a man screams louder, shutting out the reasonable voice in my head begging for me to run out the front door and never come back.
“Please kiss me.”
He pulls back a fraction of an inch and I catch the corner of his mouth tip up.
“Say it again, slower this time.”
“Please, Nick. I want you to kiss me,” I whisper as slowly as I can, ready for the stalemate between us to finally break.
“Whatever my wife wants, she gets.”
Then, he presses his lips to mine and my mind comes completely unplugged with any sense of reason and logic I have going straight out the window and being buried under freshly fallen snow.