Page 4 of Promise Yule Be Mine
“Yeah. I know. They would never buy we’re a couple.” There was a beat of silence before I added, “not it!” almost at the same time as her. But she was too slow.
“Damn it. I lose,” she said.
“Lose?” I raise an eyebrow. “You’re getting me as your husband and baby daddy. You’re winning all day every day, baby.”
She snorted and slapped my chest but leaned on my shoulder again. I finished my coffee trying not to think of what could possibly go wrong.
2
NOVA
A few weeks later
“You’re done?” she asked.
“Yes, Mom. I’m done. Finally. That woman almost drove me insane.”
“Hey! Don’t speak like that.”
I apologized and stepped to the side so I could adjust my grip on my suitcase and my jacket on my arm.
“I love weddings, I really do, but if I get another bridezilla I swear I’ll quit and go become a nun or something.”
“Don’t be stupid, Nova. A nunnery is for women. You’d be a monk.”
“What? Like Detective Monk? I’d be up for that. But I don’t have OCD.”
“And thank God for that. You’re a lot as it is.”
“Hey!” I cried. “You’re supposed to say I’m your little miracle and that I could never be a lot and that you love me.”
“I have my days.”
I rolled my eyes and started walking toward the exit again. “That’s it. No welcome-back kiss for you, missy.”
“I’ll live.”
“Besides, isn’t Rhett supposed to be your burden and sin?”
“I don’t discriminate. All my sons are a burden.”
“Awww, that’s sweet. I’m telling Slade you said he’s a burden.”
“He doesn’t count.”
I laughed.
“Just because he’s shacked up with a boyfriend and a kid he’s not a burden? That doesn’t seem fair.”
“We’ll talk when you shack up with someone.”
I sighed. As if I hadn’t been trying. But the scene in New York was abysmal for guys like me, although to be honest, I didn’t know if there was any scene in any city that was ripe for guys like me. Besides, most of my days were spent at home chasing suppliers or meeting with soon-to-be-married couples and neither option was ripe for meeting The One.
Especially the latter.
“I trust you’re coming straight home? I’ve got food in the oven.”
“No can do. I’m meeting a lesbian couple from Hoboken.”
