I nodded solemnly. “As far as I know.”
Yet another reason to feel sorry for myself. Even after tossing him aside during my moment of weakness, treating him like he was just some random bloke who lived in my building, Austin was still keen on fulfilling his offer.
Stupid jerk.
Why did he have to be so wonderful?
The plan was to meet at Santa Monica Pier, assuming he showed up. I wouldn’t blame him if he backed out, not after the things I’d said and, worse, didn’t say.
I had racked my mind for a way to apologize to him and come up empty. Words didn’t seem like enough, especially since they were what had gotten me into this mess.
I had already decided to throw in the towel on the holiday hoopla, which I was now referring to as the Christmas Crapola. A stupid yacht party or wine tasting wasn’t worth throwing away the connection I had with Austin. There were other ways to earn that promotion, and none of them came at the expense of my integrity.
“I hate feeling like this,” I whined.
“Like what?”
“A mess.” Nora’s lips twitched. “I hate mess.”
She snorted. “Well, if it makes you feel better, you’re a hot mess.”
A beautiful mess.
There he was again. In my ear, in my dreams, by the mailbox—there was no getting rid of him. Austin had stamped a place in my heart with that very first box of cookies, and I feared that no amount of milk would ever wash it away.
“Inconvenient is what it is.”
Bowie and Killian shared a laugh. “The best things often are,” Killian said. “Do you think it was convenient for your sister to pretend to be my fiancée last Christmas?
“Convenient for you, maybe.” Though I hadn’t known it at the time, Killian had been pining after my sister for nearly a year before their fake engagement. In fact, their farce of a relationship had been my idea. “You’re welcome by the way.”
He shook his head.
“It definitely wasn’t convenient when I fell in love with someone who was supposed to be a casual fling, but turned out to be the love of my life,” Nora admitted, resting her hand on Bowie’s lap.
I nearly orgasmed on the spot when he wrapped a hand around her neck and tilted her head back to meet his scorching kiss. Damn. I always knew that guy had a kinky side.
It’s the quiet ones who bite—or spank—the hardest.
“And I wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” Bowie said after he removed his tongue from Nora’s mouth.
“Nothing at all?” Nora asked, searching his face.
“Nothing. Even the messy, inconvenient bits.” He spared a glance in my direction. “It’s all part of our story.”
I didn’t realize I was crying until the first tear hit my wadded-up program. Only this time, it wasn’t because I was sad—the pity party was officially canceled—but rather because I was thinking aboutmystory. Mine and Austin’s, messy bits and all.
Hopefully, it wasn’t too late to rewrite our ending.
Austin
When we’d been kids, my sister, Madison, had gone through a phase where she’d only spoken in riddles.
“What kind of cup doesn’t hold water? A cupcake.”
Stuff like that. The kind of shit that was cute when a nine-year-old said it, but insufferable coming from an adult. Eventually, she’d outgrown the habit, though I knew for a fact that she had a special place in her heart for word puzzles to this very day.
I would have to run this one by her during our next phone call.
