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“Yes.”
“Good. He’s a smart kid and I don’t want him to think we lied to him.”
She picked his jeans off the floor and tossed them Nate’s way. “Get dressed. All that sexiness is distracting me and, like I said, we still have work to do.”
He stood and pulled his jeans back on. “So, this birthday dinner your parents are throwing for you tomorrow. Who’s going?”
“Just my parents, Henry, and me. And Felicia, of course. She’s practically part of the family.” She paused. “Oh. I don’t think tomorrow night is a good night for us to come out as a couple. For one thing, Daddy’s just so unpredictable these days. And Momma will make a huge deal out of it. Let me tell Henry on my own, and we can ease Momma and Daddy into it later. Maybe next week we can hang out together at the festival and get everyone used to us?”
“You think people need to get used to us?”
“Just some people.”
Just me.
It had been four months since the proposal and less than three months since The Kiss. Tonight had been....wonderful. She hadn’t exaggerated when she’d said it was the best birthday of her life. Nate seemed to be over Jessica. They never talked about her and he never seemed anything other than perfectly happy with their relationship. But still. It didn’t hurt to take things slow.
“And the by way. Yes, I do love key lime pie, but I think cheesecake has just become my favorite dessert.”
He grinned. “Mine, too.”
The minute Lanie opened the door to her apartment, she thrust Hector into Nate’s arms. “Thank God you’re back. This is the neediest dog ever.” She turned to address the two big mutts barking in the living room. “Isn’t that right, ladies? Penelope and Medea h
ave been traumatized by your son,” she said, pointing to Hector. “He’s been trying to hump them all night.”
Hector, who looked completely innocent of any wrong doing, squirmed against him, wagging his tail and making happy dog sounds. “So now he’s my son? Don’t forget you’re the one who insisted I have him.”
He studied his sister’s two dogs—both were lab mixes that probably weighed about seventy pounds each. “Hector’s all of ten pounds, tops. Besides, he’s neutered. He couldn’t have…you know, humped them. Not successfully, anyway.” He turned Hector around to face him. “Did bad old Aunt Lanie mistreat you?” He was rewarded by a slobbering kiss.
“Well! Someone’s in a good mood.” She looked at his jeans and the old T-shirt he’d found in the trunk of his car. Lauren had insisted on keeping the shirt he’d worn last night. They’d worked till the wee hours of the morning. Had another go at some birthday sex (technically, post-birthday, he supposed, since it had been after midnight), then fallen asleep on the couch, only to wake up fifteen minutes ago. Lauren barely had time to run home and shower before going back to open the store.
They went into his sister’s kitchen and she poured them each a big mug of coffee. “That’s last night’s jeans, but that’s not last night’s shirt,” she pointed out.
He took a sip of his coffee.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she demanded.
“You made an observation. It didn’t require a response.”
Lanie sighed. “As usual, I’m going to have to be very specific.” She cleared her throat and modulated her voice to make her sound like a robot. “So, Nate, I take it the surprise went well and that Lauren was happy to see you.” She glanced at her watch. “According to my time piece, it is morning now. Where did you spend the night? What did you do? Did you have fun? And more importantly, do you plan to have more of this same kind of fun in the future?”
He tried to hide his smile and answer her questions in order. “Yes, the surprise went well. Lauren was very happy to see me. Where I spent the night is none of your business. Nor is what I did. But, to answer your last questions, yes and yes.”
Her jaw dropped. “Wait till I tell Mom you have a new girlfriend!”
“What are you, sixteen? All right,” he conceded, “You can tell Mom. But just Mom. Lauren wants to tell Henry first.”
“That makes sense.” She smiled and tossed the morning newspaper at his chest. “This is definitely your day, bro. First you swagger in here with your I just got laid vibe and now you’re a celebrity. If I didn’t know you personally, I’d say you were the best thing to hit this town since sunblock.”
Hector tried to bite the edge of the paper, but Nate pulled him away. He opened up the front section of the Gazette. There in living color was a huge picture of him in his lab coat standing in his office next to his med school diploma. Another picture showed him with his arm around Doc. There was even a picture of him with Hector, and of course, one of him with Kitty Pappas and baby Amanda. “Damn. I’m all over the place.”
“I’m just surprised they didn’t get one of you taking a piss.” She giggled at her own joke. “Seriously, though, this Allie Grant? She’s like your number one fan. According to this article you practically walk on water.”
He quickly read the article. “Shit,” he muttered.
Lanie made a face. “Let me guess. You’re at the part where Jessica left you so broken-hearted that you had to look to Hector for comfort? I think this Allie was trying to do you a favor. Think of all the single women who are going to read that and think, ‘Aw, poor sad rejected doctor.’ Then they’ll take one look at that mug of yours with those adorable dimples, and you’re going to have more tail than you’re going to know what to do with.”
“What are you talking about?”
