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But Nolan merely nodded. “Maybe I can. Hmm, should I bring a new inflatable for your dad as a Christmas present? Does he have that giant dragon wearing a Santa hat yet?”
Groaning, I shook my head. “No, and he’d love it, even if it’d drive my mom nuts. She would say dragons aren’t very Christmas-y.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize there was a firm list about what is okay for Christmas or not. I mean, I’ve seen skeletons wearing Santa hats before.”
“That’s probably because of Nightmare Before Christmas. However, there hasn’t been a famous Christmas movie or special about a dragon yet.” I smiled at him. “Maybe that could be a project of yours—to make dragons a part of Christmas traditions. I mean, you do have Drake as your stage surname, after all.”
Nolan grinned. “That’s quite the challenge. And we’ll see. I’m always looking for new script ideas…”
He stopped talking, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait, have you written any movies or TV shows before? Because I’ve never heard anything about that.”
“That’s because I use a pseudonym. For acting, I use Nolan Drake. For scripts, I use Jeremy Stone.”
“Your father’s name and…?”
“Stone was my mother’s maiden name.”
“To honor them both.”
He nodded and glanced away. “Yes.” He cleared his throat and looked back at me. “Provided we can keep this up—and you don’t want to call it off and run away—until Christmas, I’ll get him the inflatable and we can visit with your parents.” He came closer and held out a hand. I took it. “And we can start with this baseline: we’ll be the couple who holds hands in public but maybe doesn’t have kisses as heated as earlier. Agreed?”
Him just mentioning kisses made me remember his heat and taste and the feel of his hard body against mine.
I wanted that again. Desperately.
And yet, I nodded. “Got it.”
He released my hand, and I nearly snatched it back. “Let me drive you back, and we can use the time to work out some more details for Thanksgiving.”
And far too soon, we were back in the car. The drive back to my family’s dairy was strictly business, with no talk of PDA or kisses, but only the made-up backstory and some superficial knowledge. Apparently, Nolan didn’t like cranberry sauce or brussels sprouts.
Just as Nolan drove away from my parents’ house, my eldest sister, Cassie, pulled up in her car. With a wave, she exited. “Was that Nolan Wolfe? He’s back in town?”
“Yes.” Taking a deep breath, I decided it was time to get the ball rolling with my family. “He came to see me.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re dating.”
Cassie blinked, and then again, her mouth moving with no sound coming out.
Eventually I patted her shoulder and said, “Yes, yes, I know—it’s unbelievable. Yada, yada, yada. But it’s true, I swear. Now, let’s head inside. I need to butter up Mom before letting her know I can’t attend Thanksgiving since I’ll be going to Nolan’s place as his date.”
Cassie finally closed her mouth and searched my gaze. My older, no-nonsense sister would be the hardest to fool.
Eventually, she shrugged. “If you say so. Now maybe Mom will stop pestering me about my breakup and focus on you and your love life for once.”
“She’s not still nagging you about dumping that winery owner, is she?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Yes. I think she’s so desperate for her over-thirty daughter to get married that she’s willing to overlook a little thing like him cheating on me.”
I hooked my arm through Cassie’s. “You definitely deserve better, Cassie. And just how big of a distraction do you want me to be? If it’s extreme enough, maybe you’ll owe me one.”
Cassie raised her eyebrows. “Owe you? What about sisterly love and doing it out of the kindness of your heart? Or maybe repaying me for some of those favors you promised when you were a kid and I never collected on?”
I stuck out my tongue. “Fine. We’re even. And who knows, my news might even put me in Mom’s favored status.”
Which had never really happened before. Oh, she tried to love us all equally, but kids could tell favorites. Always.
