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“Nice.”

“How are things at the boutique?” I asked.

“Weird,” she said.

I drew my brows down. “Weird how?”

She shrugged. “I think they’re getting audited or something.”

“Why would you think that?”

“A hunch.” She got up. “I gotta go. I open tomorrow. You off?”

“Yeah, Jen’s covering my next few shifts.” I smiled at Matty. “We’re going up to Little Christmas for a few days.”

“Okay.” She slung her purse over her shoulder. “Well, have fun.”

Matty and I pet the cat between us until the door closed.

“Soooo I wanted to ask you something,” he said as soon as we were alone.

“What?”

“Would you have gone out with me if I didn’t help you steal your cat? Be honest.”

I snorted. “What kind of question is that?” I said, moving Christmas from my lap to the floor.

“I just want to know if it was the bad-boy thing that worked for you. I think I have a right to know how much of our relationship is based on crime.”

“I think it was the cape.” I pretended to think about it. “Or maybe it was the mullet. Orrr maybe it was because you put a hundred dollars on the table when those customers stiffed me.” I cocked my head.

The expression on his face confirmed it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“I thought you might say that, so I had Laci pull up the surveillance footage.”

He looked at the black TV and blew a breath out. “How did you know?” He glanced at me.

“Because when I really thought about it, it seemed more likely that you did it than the people who treated me like crap for two hours. Any man willing to eat nine plate-sized pancakes to help rescue my cat is a good one. It didn’t even surprise me.”

He leaned against the sofa cushions and draped an arm over the back. “I had to tell my brothers that I left the restaurant,” he said. “It was against the rules.”

My face fell. “What did they say?”

If he had to pay them $500 each for this, I was going to be so mad.

“The council convened and they allowed it—given the circumstances,” he added.

“You could have just not told them.”

“I always honor my bets,” he said, winking.

I smiled at him. “What are you doing on New Year’s Eve?” I said.

“Why?”

“Well, there’s a party I have to go to. I have an extra tin hat if you’d like to come.”

“You want to introduce me to your parents?” He grinned. “You think they’ll like me?”