Her phone went off. She snatched it up before I could reach to hand it to her. I was taken aback. This was how Hensley had acted before…
Don’t. This is Merrie.
“I’ll make breakfast,” she blurted out.
She’s hidingsomething from you.
The thoughts bounced around in my head as I ran, Kringle loping beside me.
You don’t know that.
She had been perfect, just as I knew she would be last night and this morning. All I wanted to do was spend every minute with her, exploring her body, listening to her whimper when I touched herrightthere.
But she clearly didn’t want me to look at her phone.
Maybe it was her friends sending her embarrassing text messages, I tried to rationalize as Kringle and I turned back onto my street.Or maybe she just doesn’t want a relationship. Maybe she just wanted to hook up.
Then why had she offered to make breakfast?
You need to just forget about it. It’s not like you two are engaged; you’re not even dating.
Something in the kitchen smelled good when I came back with Kringle. I stalked into the kitchen to pull Merrie in for a kiss, hoping to convince her to go another round.
As soon as I kissed her, she flipped her phone over on the counter.
I pulled back, frowning at the phone.
Merrie gave me a wide-eyed innocent look.
“I made dog biscuits for Kringle,” she said in a rush, trying to pull me back in for a kiss.
I glared at the phone.
Before I could confront her, the doorbell rang.
“Ah, crap.”
61
Merrie
My freaking mother.
She had been texting me all morning, wanting details, wanting to know how much money Matt had, wanting to know whether I thought he was going to propose.
I had tried to throw her off, but once my mother got an idea, she couldn’t let it go. That was how she had ended up with twenty feral cats living in her house.
Not that I could judge. I had the same tendencies. After all, that was how I’d ended up with enough Christmas ornaments to supply a whole town.
Mom:He needs to come to my ugly sweater party.
Merrie:Matt is very busy.
Mom:Are you sure he doesn’t have another girlfriend on the side? Don’t let yourself be blindsided! That was what happened with your father.
I checked the bacon on the stove. Someone had left all the fixings for eggs Benedict. There was hollandaise, which I was carefully heating up in a double broiler so it wouldn’t curdle. Eggs were poaching, and English muffins were toasting.
Merrie:He just broke up with his fiancée.
