Page 76 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice
“Fair point,” he admits and pulls me past it, when I suddenly see a familiar face.
“Ralph?”
“Nic! It’s great to see you.” The familiar middle-aged man’s face turns into the same bright smile he always had on his face when we ran into each other. His temples have grayed a bit since I last saw him, and he’s gotten tanner, but he’s still the annoying-because-of-his-job-but-actually-a-nice-guy I’ve gotten to know over the years.
“Were you on vacation?” I ask him, and he breaks into a grin.
“I mean, yeah. Now that I can’t photograph you anymore, the job is only half as fun. Might as well reap some rewards from my hard work.” I shake my head at his blatant flattery.
“Henry, this is Ralph, one of the paparazzi I’ve become acquainted with over the years. Ralph, this is Henry, my boyfriend.”
God, saying it aloud makes me giddy. Some days I still fear that I will wake up and it turns out he was too perfect after all and only a product of my imagination. Henry extends his hand with a pleasant smile to greet Ralph, and when they shake hands, they nod at each other with some kind of quiet understanding.
“It’s good to meet you,” Henry says, sounding a little stiff. No wonder. He might be used to being around me, but paparazzi? That can be scary stuff. Ralph is one of the good ones, though, the kind who waits at a respectful distance and wouldn’t kneel to try to get a shot of my panties. He’d say hi instead of barking orders to pose at me.
“Hey, would you mind if I—” He motions between Henry and me, and I glimpse up at my boyfriend. Ah, I’ll never get enough of calling him that in my head. Boyfriend.
“Is it okay?” I whisper. “You don’t have to.”
“Sure,” he agrees then leans closer to my ear. “Did you really think I’d oppose claiming you in front of the whole world?” I glance up at him, my face flushed. “You’re mine. And everyone can know that.” He winks at me.
“You can’t say that kind of cute stuff. Now I’ll look like I’m auditioning to be the face of sunburn awareness month,” I complain playfully and pat my cheeks, hoping the redness will go down while we find a spot in front of some of the decorations and coordinate a cute little pose.
“Three, two, one, smile,” Ralph counts us down until his flashlight instantly blinds me. “Oops, sorry. My bad!” He takes another one without it and lowers his camera.
“Send me a pretty version,” I tell him with a wink, and he gives me a thumbs-up.
“Of course, Nic.”
“I’m curious, though,” I say, trying to act completely innocent, noting Henry hiding a grin behind his hand beside me. “It’s lovely to see you and all that, but what brings you here?”
“You know, there’s a tip going around that this is the place to be. They didn’t even want any money for it. Not sure what it’s about, but I thought I’d take a chance. And now I met you, so I guess the tip wasn’t half bad.”
“I take it you’re not the only one, then?” I lift my eyebrow, and he quickly nods.
“I think I saw about five of us about. Welcome back to the spotlight, I guess,” he says with a chuckle, and I exhale a deep sigh.
I talked to my former PR company, and while they can’t predict the future either, they are confident I can ride out any kind of public attention by continuing to live a normal and, as the woman I talked to called it, “extremely boring” life.
She predicted that when the paparazzi couldn’t find me doing anything interesting, they’d leave me alone, and even my new relationship would become old news at some point.
And I guess I have to find out the hard way if that’s true. Henry and I shoot each other a look. It means our plan is working, though, and we didn’t even have to do anything yet.
But then something else catches my eye.
“Oh no,” I whisper, my stomach dropping as I glance past Ralph and spot my egg and seed donors. They’ve got a familiar expression on their faces: smug, polished, and dripping with condescension. They stroll past the stalls as if they’re too good to even breathe the same air as everyone else—their noses tilted sky-high, probably ranting about how the scent of warm apple cider personally offends them. Their tense body language screamswe don’t belong here.
“Ralph, we need to go,” I say, already tugging on Henry’s sleeve. “I’ll see you around.”
Henry pulls me and Jensen around a stall, pressing my back against the solid wood while Jensen curiously sniffs around in the grass.
“You know I’m starting to dig this whole hide-and-seek vibe,” he whispers, his face only a breath away from mine.
“Thank you,” I whisper and interlace my fingers around his neck. “Having you here makes all of this a whole lot easier to handle.”
“I aim to please,” he mumbles and when his lips find mine, I forget all about the shitshow happening in my periphery. All I can think about is the taste of caramel on his tongue, and his cinnamon scent mixing with the smell of caramel in the air. About the way his hands roam my body and pull me closer to him, and the way he takes my damned breath away.
Before I know it, the sun slips behind the trees, and Harry switches on the string lights Lauren and I spent the last week hanging. They flicker to life one by one, casting a soft glow over the fair. I can’t help the small smile that forms as I take it all in.
