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He sets the suitcase down and shifts the cat carrier to one hand, drawing me against him with the other. “You’re diabolical.”
I bite my lip. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No, it’s a perfect thing,” he says. “You’re going to keep me on my toes. But I have a little something up my sleeve, too.”
My eyes widen. “What? A puppy? We’re getting one sooner than you said?” My excitement turns to concern as I add, “Though potty training a puppy might be hard in a treehouse. We might want to wait until we’re a little more settled and have time to install a patch of grass up there somewhere.”
“A patch of grass,” he echoes. “In the tree.”
“If we can put a human toilet in a tree, we can put a platform with some grass on it up there for the puppy,” I say. “You’ve gotta think outside the box, McGuire.”
He grunts. “Speaking of boxes, there should be something waiting for you on the new kitchen table. The furniture delivery coordinator said she’d personally make sure it was in place before she locked up on Friday.”
I hug him tighter, so happy I could break into a spontaneous musical number. “You’re diabolical, too. I love that about you. About us.”
“I love you more than is decent or sane,” he says, brushing a kiss across my lips.
I hum against his warm skin. “Decency and sanity are lame.” I shiver. “So is this wind. I’m so tired of winter.”
He pulls back with a wry smile. “Good thing you installed a new heating system then, isn’t it?”
I grin. “It is! Race you to the top. Last one in has to set up the litter box.” I dash for the treehouse, leaving Matty laughing behind me. We both know I’m going to win. I have a head start and I’m only carrying a backpack full of toiletries, my small purse, and the grocery bag with the litter and a few groceries inside. Matty has the cat carrier, his backpack, and a large suitcase.
I easily reach the top of the staircase before him and unlock the door, hurrying in to make sure all the furniture is in the right place before he arrives. But Teensy, the coordinator, arranged everything perfectly, from the overstuffed mustard yellow couch with the blue pillows, to the small farmhouse table, to the rug and coordinating artwork on the walls.
It’s gorgeous, a work of art that makes me wonder if maybe I should start designing a line of home goods for my shop. I’m so busy admiring the final result that I almost forget about my surprise.
But then Matty steps inside, setting down the cat carrier and I turn, spotting the pale blue box out of the corner of my eye. “Tiffany’s?” I ask, my pulse leaping in my throat, making it ticklish to swallow.
“Tiffany’s,” Matty confirms absent-mindedly as his gaze sweeps the space. “Wow, Nora. This is…phenomenal. I knew you’d make it special, but this is…beyond anything I imagined.”
And an engagement ring is beyond what I imagined, I think as I drift toward the table. I mean, I’m ready—I’ve been ready since the night we moved in together and Matty hung all the toilet paper the right way, surprised me with fancy new sheets, and finally gave me that spanking he’d been teasing me about for weeks—but I never imagined he’d want to move this fast.
The thought gives me pause…
Is he doing this to please me? Is he forging ahead before he’s ready because I mentioned the other day that I’d like to start having kids before I’m too much older? Should I have kept that to myself so our love story could evolve naturally, without him feeling rushed?
“It’s notthat,” Matty says, just as a kitten runs over my foot, making me jump into the air. I was so deep in thought, I hadn’t realized he’d released the tiny beasts. “I’m saving that for the summer. I have an elaborate plan in the works that I can’t share, but I think you’ll like, and…” He stops in front of me, his gaze troubled. “You’re not upset, are you?”
I smile, my heart lifting as I shake my head. “No, I’m over the moon. I was just thinking that I didn’t want you to feel rushed.”
He snorts. “Rushed? Really? I was worried July might be too soon. That you’d think I was rushing. I just…don’t want to wait much longer. I want you to be mine. For real. Forever.”
Heart melting into a blissful puddle in my nacho-filled tummy I wrap him up in my arms, resting my head on his strong chest as I promise, “Me, too. And I’m going to say yes.”
He hugs me tight with a happy sigh. “I’m so glad. I thought you might, but…so glad. Now open your gift while I fill the litter box.”
Pulling back with a laugh and a happy mist in my eyes, I head over to the table, opening the lovely blue box to reveal a precious little pin featuring two cats twined together in an elegant and timeless silhouette. “Oh, Matty. It’s perfect.”
“It’s to celebrate how far you’ve come,” he says. “Less than a year ago, you never would have been able to pet a cat, let alone sleep with two of them.”
“Two of them who wake me up at least twice a night belching or putting a paw on my forehead, always the forehead,” I murmur, not missing that uninterrupted sleep one bit. I love my fuzzy sweeties, who thankfully only belch about half as much as their mother. “Oh, Bear wants to meet for a beer this week while they’re in town, by the way.”
“Sounds good,” Matty says. “Did he say when?”
“No, but I’m guessing Tuesday, once Aaron’s in town for a couple days,” I say. “He’s a huge Minnesota Midges fan. He’s so psyched that my brother’s a forward for them now.”
Matty sighs. “I wish Melissa were. Or just psyched about anything about Aaron. He’s still at the top of her shit list. I wonder if they’re ever going to kiss and make up.”
