by Taylor Hart
She pulled back, a pout on her lips. “Mikey, I’ve missed you.”
“Excuse me,” Zoey said loudly with a ticked-off tone in her voice. She’d gotten to her feet and stuck her head into their space. “He’s my boyfriend now.”
Nellie’s arms fell back. “What?” She gave Zoey a disbelieving look and cocked an eyebrow. “I know you like redheads, but her?” She pointed to her feet. “Those boots?”
The way she said her made it seem like Zoey was chopped liver or something.
“Yeah.” Zoey snapped three times in a zigzag. “So back off, sister.”
Nellie frowned, but turned her attention back to Mike.
“Nells,” he said, holding her at bay. “Stop.”
“You heard him,” Zoey said. “Get back.”
Nellie got right in her face, pushing her shoulder hard. “Who’s gonna make me?”
Before Mike could even process it, Zoey pushed her back, hard and forceful. “I am.”
It would have been flattering if he didn’t have to worry about Nellie crushing Zoey’s petite frame into bits.
Nellie recovered, her eyes wide. “You did not just push me.” She pulled her fist back.
Mike stepped in between them, facing Nellie. “Whoa. No.” He took her wrist and whispered to her, pushing her as he pulled her toward the door. “Nellie. Nellie, that’s my girlfriend, and we can’t be having a scene.”
Too bad the whole place had stopped, like in a movie, motionless and staring at them.
“Ha ha.” Mike waved. “Nothing to see here.” He got to the front door and pushed it open, taking her through the door with him.
Nellie yanked free of him. “Mike, but …”
He put his hand up. “Nellie, we broke up two years ago.”
She scoffed, and her nostrils flared like a bull’s. He used to find this expression endearing. Now, he only found it annoying. “We sort of dated last summer before you left, remember?”
He’d meant the date as a goodbye, but he’d made out with her, so she was right. “I … look, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Mikey, I don’t accept this.” She shook her head.
He let out a laugh. “Sorry.”
The door dinged, and Zoey burst out, looking furious. “Mike, let’s go. Now!”
Mike found himself obeying. He moved with Zoey toward his truck, going to the passenger side with her. “Bye, Nells!” He opened the passenger door and spoke to Zoey. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that—”
Before he could finish, Zoey wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her into him, her lips on his.
The world stopped. Her lips were soft, yet fierce. Kinda like her. He tasted fry sauce, and he was surprised when she deepened the kiss. At a loss, his arms went around her waist, and he pulled her closer.
Before he could get too lost, she pulled back and then hiked herself up onto the truck platform and glared at Nellie. “He’s mine now, so keep your lips off him!”
Mike’s heart raced, and all he could do was wish to kiss her again.
“Let’s go.” She snapped her fingers.
He ran around the truck, shrugging at the look Nellie gave him, and got in. “This is insane.”
Mike’s adrenaline had kicked in when Nellie had first walked in, but after Zoey kissed him like that—like he’d just come home from war and she was lost without him—his world had shifted. The ground didn’t feel the same. He drove like a maniac back to the ranch. “What was that?”
She was staring out the window and jerked her gaze back to him, like she hadn’t even been thinking about the previous drama. “What do you mean?”
“You kissed me in a major way back there.”
She snorted. “Well, fry guy, when the past came to haunt you, I guess I had to step up. That’s what you’re paying me for, right?”
This mystified him. “Uh, yeah.”
“It was the deal. So Nellie, really? Like from Little House on the Prairie?”
He laughed. Sure, he’d thought about the reference a long time ago, but Nellie had just grown up with him. “It’s been an on-again, off-again thing for us.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “I can see that.”
For a moment, they were quiet.
She turned to him. “Why didn’t you ask her to be your girlfriend this Christmas?”
He sighed. “Nellie is aggressive and wants things from me I can’t give her.” He didn’t want to explain himself about this, but thought he probably should. “I’m waiting for marriage, and Nellie didn’t want that.”
Giving him a skeptical look, she nodded. “That’s cool.”
Not realizing how nervous he’d been, he said, “That’s the reason we broke up in the first place. I just …”
She scoffed. “You mean other than the fact she is a bit the cave woman in the relationship?”
“Exactly.” He laughed.
“But you were on-again, off-again.”
He shrugged. “Small towns.”
“Right.”
It made him feel better to have her know the truth about him and Nellie. “Since we’re talking about the past, we should probably get to know each other better.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to be together for four days.”
“No, you’re going to be with Ann Smith for four days.”
“True.” He guessed there wasn’t a good reason to get to know Zoey, but he wanted to.
“Why don’t you tell me more about Nellie Bells?”
Mike didn’t want to talk about Nellie. “Look, I liked her in high school, but I don’t know. I went to MSU for four years and didn’t see her much. The summer before business school, we hung out. She’d been engaged, and it hadn’t worked out. The problem was she wanted things I wouldn’t give her.”
She sniffed, evaluating him. “So you didn’t like her enough to ask her to marry you.”
His cheeks heated with embarrassment. “I guess not.”
They pulled up the long driveway to his parents’ house. There were a lot of trucks parked in the back by the barn.
“I guess you guys do have a lot of help,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. They moved past the house and the guesthouse, going around to the back toward the plowed path that all the trucks were on. Clearly, everyone had been busy: the pasture had been cleared of snow and had two large tents up, and Mike saw Dom working with a couple of Snow Valley peeps to put the dance floor and stage down. This was how it went in Snow Valley. A couple of years ago, he’d helped with Chase Moon’s wedding, and this was the exact same thing they had done. It was a ton of work.
He turned to Zoey. The sun had broken through the clouds and was shining on her copper hair and pale skin. She was staring out the window, looking mystified.
He parked the truck. “Look, I’m going to go talk to the guys. If you want to wait here, that’s no problem. I’ll take you back to the house and get you settled.”
“Why would I wait here?” she asked.
A nervous ball rolled into the pit of his gut, and he didn’t know why he wanted her to wait. “You wouldn’t.” He got out and went around to help her down.
She was already getting out. “Look, I’m not a princess. You don’t have to help me do everything.” She flashed a smile. “And I am your girlfriend, so introduce me around.”
Mike took her hand, and they walked toward the tents. He felt a surge of warmth. Maybe this plan was the best plan he’d ever had. “Sounds good.”
As they approached Dom and the guys, Dom stood, smiling and heading for them. He looked at Zoey, then back to Mike, giving him a double-eyebrow raise as if to say, “Nice.”
They hugged like brothers. Over the course of the last two years, he’d seen Dom at a lot of family stuff. He and Dom had actually gotten together to hang out when Dom was on leave at different points. Even a couple of months ago, Dom had gone to Boston since he got to fly for free. He’d stayed for the weekend, and they’
d taken in a Boston baseball game.
“About time your lazy butt got here.” Dom let him go, but kind of shoved him at the same time.
Mike grunted. “I’d expect you would have had all this work done by now.”
Dom turned to Zoey. He took off his work glove and put his hand out. “So you’re the one dating this numbskull?”
Zoey cocked an eyebrow. “I took one for the team.”
Dom laughed. “You mean the team of all womanhood?”
She grinned. “Pretty much.”
Dom shook her hand and then held it a bit longer, surveying her. “I didn’t meet you when I was in Boston a couple of months ago, did I?”
Zoey held his gaze and then turned to Mike.
Nervous angst went through Mike’s gut. “No, Dom, we didn’t start dating until after you’d come.”
Dom held his gaze for a moment. Mike didn’t know if it was being in the Special Forces or because Dom didn’t have a family and they’d become his family, but Dom always looked like he could see through ten layers of your soul.
A couple of the other guys—Luke Porter, Chase Moon, and his brother Adam—came over, and they all joked with Mike and met Zoey.
After a bit, Dom grinned at Zoey. “Well, good to have you, Ann. Glad to see this big lug has finally brought home a pretty girl. I’ll look forward to hearing some of your poetry.”
“Oh. Right.” Zoey smiled weakly.
Mike was a bit nervous about this. “Did Mom and Dad tell you they’d heard her?”
Dom nodded. “Yeah, your mom and dad say it’s really good, and we’ll have her read some to us, maybe at dinner tonight.” He gestured to the others still working. “But that’s a long time for us, dude, because we got a lot of stuff to do.”
Mike saw the worried, pale look on Zoey’s face. “I’ll get Ann settled; then we’ll be back.”
Mike could feel the worry coming off of her when he helped her into the truck. He got in and started it, backing out and heading toward the house.
“There’s no way I’m reading poetry tonight.”
Mike laughed nervously. “We’ll just tell them you can’t.”
She let out a sigh. “I can’t believe this. I hate poetry.”
He pulled up to the house. “Don’t worry about it.” He couldn’t stop worrying about it, though. He knew his mother, and she believed in showcasing people’s talents. “It’ll be fine.” He took her bag and showed her into the house, pointing upstairs. “You stay in my room, and I’ll crash with Dom out in the guesthouse.”
She still looked concerned as they went up the stairs and into his room. “This is your room?”
It was obvious because there were pictures of MMA fighters and football players and a wall of trophies. He grunted. “Yep. I could put you down the hall in the guest room next to Lacey.”
She waved a hand and studied his walls. “I’m fine.”
He nodded. “I gotta go help. Do you need anything?”
She smoothed her hair and smiled wider. “Nope, Ann Smith is very fine. Thank you, sir.”
Chapter 9
Zoey watched Mike leave the room, and nerves wove through her. What had she done back at Big C’s? Why had she kissed him like he really was her boyfriend and she was jealous that he’d kissed Nellie? Had she wanted to make a point that Nellie wasn’t the hen in the henhouse anymore? What in the heck did that even mean, and why was she thinking about hens?
Hmm. She turned to inspect his walls. “Maybe I can whip up a quick poem about hens for them.” The idea of reciting poetry sounded miserable. She’d only ever written one poem, and that had been for her parents; she’d been required to write it in that English class her first year in college. There was no way she was reciting that one.
Taking in a shaky breath, she stared up at a poster of a huge guy in a red and white uniform, cocking a ball back like he was about to launch it. Will Kent, from the Denver Storm. He was famous, and she guessed Mike worshipped him. The poster said, “Play hard, have fun, be excellent.”
She grunted. Sports people. Josh hadn’t been a sports person. He’d been … well, he’d been funny and tall and handsome, and he’d loved to go to museums with her. He hadn’t had the kind of muscles Mike had. She had seen them last night when he’d slept in his T-shirt.
Guilt gnawed at her insides. She shouldn’t be thinking about Mike’s muscles.
Sucking in another breath, she focused on the next poster, which featured an MMA fighter she didn’t recognize. As she moved down the wall, she got a closer look at his life. Three shelves of trophies drew her attention; many were from football and wrestling, and there were medals hanging on them. She saw two from boxing, and she wondered if Snow Valley had a team. She assumed not. The years were more recent, so she assumed they were from college.
Again, their kiss went through her mind. The way he’d held her, how he’d pulled her flush against him, and how she’d felt the strength of him.
Her heart pounded faster. Dang, the guy was a handsome and had a mountain man kind of sexy about him. Irritated with herself for even feeling that, she turned away from the stupid trophies and walked out of the room. Why had she done this stupid girlfriend thing?
For her dream. Yes, she could do this for a shot at what she wanted.
She rushed down the stairs and through the house. When she’d first come in with Mike, she hadn’t taken the time to really look around. The large kitchen opened up into a huge family room. The ceilings were high, and the room was homey, decorated with eclectic furniture that created a shabby chic look. His mother had style, and Zoey could tell that family was definitely important. A wall of photos displayed memories of Mike and Lacey posing during trips and in the fall leaves at different ages. She stared at a little version of Mike on a motorcycle. Ah, he’d been a cute kid. Ugh. She didn’t want to think he was cute or be here looking around his house. She needed something to do.
Just then, a white truck pulled up into the driveway. She watched as Lacey and her mom got out, and she remembered they had mentioned she could help with the flower arranging. Good, that’s what she would do.
She pulled the door open. “Hey, can I help?”
“Hey,” his mother called out. “We’re going to have a hot chocolate break before we go put up decorations. The guys aren’t ready for us yet.”
Zoey waited, feeling nervous. Belatedly, she thought Ann probably wouldn’t wear jeans and a thick MSU sweatshirt, would she? “Be right back,” she called out, and then she dashed back through the house. She rushed up the stairs and quickly tugged a plain red sweater out of her suitcase. She yanked off the MSU sweatshirt and changed before rushing back downstairs.
When she entered the kitchen again, Mike’s mother and Lacey were both stomping snow off their feet, pulling off their boots, and hanging up the coats.
His mother smiled at her. “Ann, I hope Mike explained the snow system to you. I require everyone stomp their boots on the first rug, then move to the second rug and take them off and leave them. That way water won’t be all over the floor.”
“Okay.” She’d noticed that Mike’s mom had a good system to keep the snow by the door, and she smiled. She liked systems.
“Goodness,” his mother said, taking off her coat. “It’s so cold. Let me make us some hot chocolate.”
Lacey finished taking off her boots, then hung her coat, grinning at Zoey. “So, I heard about Big C’s and Nellie showing up. You pushed her?” She looked impressed.
Zoey flinched. “Uh, yeah. How did you hear about that?”
Lacey shrugged and pulled out her phone, holding up a clip of the pushing. She laughed and went to another picture on Instagram. “This is crazy.” It was a picture of her and Mike in a major lip-lock. Underneath, it said, “Nellie’s in town, and Mike brought a new girl home.”
Remorse washed over her, and she didn’t know if it was because she’d pushed Nellie or because she’d kissed Mike. “Oh.”
Lacey laughed and pulled her in
to a hug. “Don’t worry about it. You gotta defend my brother with Nellie around. I think he’s really afraid of her.”
“Yes, he is.” Mike’s mom put a pan on the stove and filled it with half milk, half water.
It was so cozy. Zoey hadn’t had anyone make hot chocolate on the stove since her mother. She blinked. Being here, in this house, brought back so many feelings and memories.
Mike’s mom turned to her. “Are you okay? Nellie can be intimidating.”
“Yeah,” she said quickly. She tried to paste on a smile, but it felt rubbery. Mike wasn’t kidding about small towns. She wanted to change the subject. “What can I do to help?” She halfway slipped into what she thought a Boston accent would be.
Lacey frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Zoey said.
His mother hesitated, then nodded to the cupboard. “Sure, Ann, would you mind getting out the measuring cups from that cupboard?” she asked as she pointed.
Zoey nodded and retrieved them. Pretending to be Ann made her nervous. Hold it together. Hold it together. Hold it together. You are Ann Smith from Boston. You write poetry, eat fish, and debate.
His mother smiled at her as she pulled some cookies out of a Tupperware on the counter. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, Zoey noticed. “I’m so glad you could make it. Really. This is such a blessed time for our family.” His mother turned to Lacey, who was standing next to her, and put a gentle hand on her face.
Lacey reached up and took her hand. “Mom, don’t be emotional, okay? In a year, I’ll be coming home for good.” She motioned in the direction of the land Mike had shown her on the way to the house. “Snug as a bug in your backyard.”
“Are you excited?” Zoey asked.
Lacey dropped her mom’s hand and turned to her. “Yep. He’s stationed in Germany right now, but probably getting a transfer soon. I have been here the last six months while he’s been away, but I just want to be married, ya know?”
Zoey nodded, trying not to think what her life could have been like if …
Mike’s mom went to the stove and turned up the heat. “Lacey and Dom have been waiting roughly two years for this.” She smiled at Zoey. “It’s been a bit crazy, because Lacey danced in New York for a while.”