“Am I still sleeping? Because this place looks like I just stepped onto the set of a Hallmark movie.”
Her laughter is everything, and for a few perfect minutes we just wander around the adorable town of Dogwood Cove. I can see why she loves it here. Eventually, we stop in front of The Nutty Muffin bakery.
“I finally get to meet Mila.”
“Yup, you do. And I’m just going to say right now, I’m sorry if she’s a little…” Kelly bites her lip.
“A little what?” I ask, curious as to what it could possibly be.
“A little excited.”
“About meeting me?”
Kelly nods. “Yeah, and that we’re, you know, obviously notjustfriends anymore.”
I pull her into my body and wrap my free arm around her waist before lowering my head and kissing her lightly. “Not just friends, huh? What are we, then?”
“Oh my God, yes!” A loud female voice pierces between us and Kelly pulls back with an apologetic look on her face.
A brunette woman grabs her and cups her head, turning it from side to side. “Yep, you had sex last night.”
“Mila, come on.” Kelly sounds embarrassed, so I pull her back into my side and kiss her head.
“What? She’s right,” I say, then stick my hand out toward the woman who clearly is Mila. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jensen. Kelly’s boyfriend.”
“Thank God you two finally got your shit figured out. I thought I was going to have to find a new cookie baker. Or —” Mila stops dramatically “— try to bake them myself.”
“God, no. Never.” Kelly shudders.
“Was she really that hung up over me?” I can’t resist asking, and when Kelly elbows me in the stomach, I know I deserve it.
“Worse,” Mila confides, coming to my other side. “Come inside for a muffin and some coffee, and I’ll tell you all about how she was pining over you.”
“I did not pine!”
Mila leans in front of me and pats Kelly on the arm. “Oh sweetie, you pined. Or have you forgotten the day you made so many damn cookies we couldn’t even give them away.”
A little while later, after introducing me to a couple of Kelly’s friends and Mila’s fiancée, Jackson, we’re sitting down at a table near the front window. Mila insisted I try her apple nut muffin, but Kelly has one of the cookies her assistant Barb made — for quality control, she claims.
“So. Do you think you could take down that damn dating site profile now?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest and smirking at Kelly, who has her cookie halfway up to her mouth. She slowly finishes taking a bite before giving me a devious smile.
“That depends,dog dad,are you willing to discuss me being more than just Oliver’s fun Aunt Kelly?”
I lift up out of my chair, lean over, and kiss her hard. “If I have it my way, pretty soon you’re gonna be adog mom.”
The surprise on Kelly’s face quickly morphs into joy. “That sounds good to me.” She takes another bite of her cookie before one upping me, yet again. “But that means no apartment hunting.”
“Why?” I ask, even though I think I know the answer.
“Because I will not share custody of our fur baby. It’s all or nothing. You and Oliver move into my house, or he stays and you go.”
“Ouch. You’d pick our dog over me?”
Kelly looks me in the eye, a dead serious expression on her face but a twinkle in her eye that gives it away. “Absolutely.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Fine, final offer. You and Oliver both move into my house, or I move into wherever you decide to live.”
