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“It’s the gnomes,” my mother says. “I just can’t help myself. I want them all.”
“While the women shop, the men can go on a hunt,” Uncle Frank says, looking at all the men scattered around the room.
“Yes. Hunting is good,” Byron says. “I once went hunting in Vermont and took down an elk. Remember, Dad,” he says, glancing up at Uncle Frank for recognition of his great kill.
They recount the story while Nicholas sits next to me on a loveseat. We’re wedged up close together because the twins decided to sit on the opposite side.
Nicholas reaches for my hand and entwines our fingers.
We have skin on skin contact. With the roaring fire and close proximity to him, I feel hot. Really, really hot.
Can somebody turn down the fire?
I can no longer hear any of the conversation as Nicholas moves our joined hands to the top of his thigh. He draws lazy circles on the inside of my palm with his thumb, causing me to almost blackout from the intimacy of it all.
“What do you think, Jan?” my mother says.
“I’m sorry?” I ask, knowing full well all eyes are on me at the moment.
“She wants to know if you want to come hunting with me, or if I’m ok to brave the treacherous forest without you,” Nicholas says close to my ear. His hot breath fans out across my cheek, causing shivers in its wake.
“I think Nicholas can hold his own. I’d rather hang with my gnomies.”
I get a few laughs, and Nicholas squeezes my hand. He’s so close. Our thighs are pressed up together. One of the twins jabs me in the ribs, and it causes me to scoot even closer to Nicholas. I’m practically in his lap.
“Cute,” my mother says, talking about my gnome joke. “Tomorrow the men will hunt and the women will shop.”
“And all will be right in the world,” Lorraine says. “Like the one time I was backpacking through Europe. Nicholas”—he stops the lazy circles along my palm—“have you been to Europe?”
He nods. Because of course he’s been there. As his assistant I know every convention he’s ever attended. I know all of his travel plans because I make them.
“I was in Europe just last month,” he says.
My mother turns to face me. “Did you go with him, Jan?”
“Mom, I would have told you if I went to Europe with a boyfriend.”
My mother pouts. “You didn’t even tell us you had a boyfriend. How long have you two been together?”
Son of a nutcracker. Instead of going over rules with Nicholas, we should have been going over our backstory.
I stare at her, and Nicholas saves me, launching into a grand tale.
“I met January at a quaint bookstore just off Time Square last month. It’s one of those indie shops that serves overpriced coffee, but January likes it because all of the books have a certain ‘authentic’ smell.”
Oh my god. How does he know this?
“They smell like heaven,” I add.
Nicholas shifts beside me, squeezing my hand. “Personally, they just smell old to me, but the place has a cozy ambience to it. January was sitting on this pink couch, reading Little Women and I stepped up to her and asked, ‘Just how little are these women?’”
Everyone chuckles. But I’m gobsmacked, because none of that happened but the details of the place are correct.
How does he know I love that book?
How does he know I like to sit on the pink couch?
How does he even know about the pink couch?
“She gazed up at me, and said, ‘Excuse me?’ and I held up my copy of Little Men and asked if I could sit next to her and read.”
Everyone awws, and I turn to face him. I can’t believe how quickly he’s coming up with this story.
“Did she let you sit down?” February asks.
I glare at her, because obviously she knows it’s a fake story.
But I’m wondering how the story ends as well.
I try to picture it. Me sitting alone on the pink couch, reading and sipping my chai tea. Nicholas asking if he could sit next to me. Would I let him, if he weren’t my boss. If he were just a stranger in a bookstore?
I think I would.
I think we’d discuss Louisa May Alcott until the shop closed and the employees were kicking us out.
Nicholas holds up our joined hands and smiles. “What do you think?”
It’s official. My family is completely in love with him.
And I’m afraid I might be falling off that same cliff as well.
Chapter 6
Nicholas
* * *
“I was able to have everything you need ordered and delivered for the hunt tomorrow. The hotel brought it all up while you were in the shower. These are the thermals you’ll wear under your clothes,” January says, holding up black and white camo-printed material.
I stare at her, grateful for her wisdom with what I’ll need. My pulse picks up thinking of her thoughtfulness. She knew I didn’t have any kind of hunting clothing and took it upon herself to take care of it for me so I didn’t look like a tool in front of her family.
