Page 20 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice (Wayward Hollow #1)
Nic
"Now that's what I'm talking about," I whisper and sit down on my patio couch.
It's a beautiful autumn morning – a crisp breeze in the air that makes me reach for the blanket I brought along and drape it around my shoulders, heavy clouds hanging over the mountains in the distance.
Red and golden leaves fly past me, with the occasional drop of rain joining them.
It's the perfect morning to sit outside and start my day slowly. To have a calm morning, watch a squirrel climb up a tree while I'm drinking a piping hot pumpkin spice latte out on my porch, on my mission to romanticize the fuck out of life.
I blow on the hot liquid before I dare take a sip, the sweet taste of cinnamon and ginger hitting just the right tastebuds as I pull the blanket tighter around me and my legs up onto the couch.
I've waited years for a moment like this. A moment of calmness. Where my thoughts don't circle around worries. Just watching nature, no phone that incessantly buzzes, no people to disturb my peace. Just a moment of being .
At least for a while before I start my day. Reality will catch up soon enough.
“ I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?” I mumble, pacing the sidewalk two houses away from Henry’s clinic. I know he’s in. I saw him from the other side of the street when I arrived.
Then I got overwhelmed by the butterflies trying to burst out of my stomach, and now I’m here, trying to talk myself into going inside—for once, without a feline reason to.
I mean, he kissed me. And he said I’m worth the risk. That means he more than tolerates me, right? That I can pop in randomly and unannounced, because I want to see him? Or is it too soon?
Don’t be such a chicken, Nic. Take a deep breath, square your shoulders and go visit your boyfriend. Situationship.
Wait. What are we exactly? We never talked about titles. Do I need a title?
I shake my head at myself. What I need right now is to get a grip. I count down from ten in my head and then storm toward his clinic before I can change my mind.
“Nic!” His face breaks into a smile that melts my heart when he glances up from the computer on his reception counter.
Jensen emerges from behind it with a happy awoo-woo that I interpret as “So happy to see you.” It makes me grin so widely that I fear my face might get stuck. God, they’re both behaving like the biggest golden retrievers. Even the husky.
“Hi.” I give Henry an awkward little wave, then crouch to greet his dog.
And when I get up again, he’s right there. Very close. I squeal in surprise, almost losing my balance, but his arms snake around my hips and he keeps me upright, pulling me flush against him.
“No cat this time?” he asks, his eyebrow lifted in amusement and a smirk tugging at his lips.
“Pssst, don’t give Chaos any ideas,” I playfully scold him, letting my hands wander up his arms until I can interlace my fingers around his neck, and begin playing with his soft hair.
“ It’s good to see you, sweetheart.” He stares at me as if we haven’t seen each other in weeks instead of a day, and it’s sending all kinds of emotions bubbling in my stomach.
“Sweetheart?” Now it’s my turn to lift my eyebrow, biting my lip.
“Is that a ‘no?’”
I tilt my head, rolling it over in my head. “It’s not. I love it.” I release my lip, a nervous laugh spilling out. “Now I need a nickname for you too, don’t I?”
“You don’t need one.” He shrugs, but I can see him fighting a grin, telling me he’s not against that idea.
“Muffin?” I think out loud, squealing when he gently pinches my hip. “Okay, okay. I’m not a fan of ‘babe,’ so that’s out. Hmm …”
I tap my lip, pretending to think hard about it. “No, it has to come to me naturally. I’ll call you ‘hot stuff’ until I can think of something better.”
“Better than ‘muffin,’” he mumbles, finally bridging the gap between us.
“I’ll take it,” he murmurs against my lips.
A happy sigh escapes me when his warm lips touch mine.
The smile doesn’t leaving me throughout the toe-curling kiss that’s sending sparks up my spine and every rational thought out the window.
“Mmm, I’m all better now,” I whisper with a soft hum when he breaks the kiss, staying close enough to count his eyelashes.
“You didn’t feel good before?” Worry washes over his face. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” I assure him quickly. “I was nervous, and then I started overthinking, and I didn’t know if it was okay to stop by?
Maybe you were busy. And that’s such a girlfriend thing to do, and we never talked about what we are and—” He stops me by kissing me again, and I can’t help but smile agains t his lips.
If this becomes our thing, I wouldn’t be too mad at it.
That means I need to ramble if I want him to kiss me, right?
Maybe I’ll never shut up again. Because this feeling?
It’s unmatched. The butterflies in my stomach, the prickling goosebumps in my neck, making me feel so light I might just lift off the ground.
“For the record, I’d love to be your boyfriend. That would make you a girlfriend,” he mumbles against my lips. “Does that suit you?”
“Hell yes,” I whisper back softly, and now it’s my turn to lift myself onto my tiptoes and capture his lips in a messy kiss. “That sounds perfect.”
“Can I take you on a coffee date later?” He lifts his hand to swipe a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to show you off a bit.”
“Uhhh, feeding the town gossip?” I wink at him, noting the blush creeping into his cheeks.
“Yeah. I want to shout to the whole world that you’re my girlfriend now. But that seems excessive, so Wayward Hollow will do. For now.”
God, we stand here like two idiots in a tight hug, grinning at each other wider than if we won the lotto jackpot. And I mean, who knows? This sure seems like a worthy alternative.
Awoo-woo! Jensen starts getting impatient, tip-tapping around us and nudging our thighs, not appreciating being ignored.
“Yes, yes,” Henry lets go of me, and I pout at how cold I suddenly am without his arms around me. “Here’s your attention, you little drama queen. You’ve really got to stop interrupting our emotional moments.” He glances up at me. “By the way, sweetheart, how are the kittens doing?”
“Best friends.” I shrug, trying to hide my giddiness at my new nickname.
“I put them in separate rooms while I’m gone, but the only way they might kill each other is with too much love.
” I lower my voice. “I also think Chaos is giving them a spiritual ass-beating when they get sassy. Yesterday, Cinnamon hissed and then flinched back as if she got slapped.”
“That does sound like her,” he says, but I hear a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. But before I can mention it, the little bell above his door rings. Our heads turn to his front door quicker than teenagers who got caught kissing by their parents, though a lot less panicked.
“I think that’s my cue to go.” I grin and shoot him a subtle wink, away from his patients. “Let me know when you’re done with your house call.”
“Will do.”
As soon as I walk out the door, my phone rings. I’m about to decline the call out of reflex when I realize for once it’s not coming from an unknown or suppressed number. It’s coming from my financial adviser. I take a few more steps away from Henry’s clinic before I answer.
“Anna! How have you been?”
“Thanks, Nic, I’m good. Listen, I’ll skip the small talk and cut to the chase—why did you open five credit cards without telling me?”
“What?” I stop in my tracks, a sudden nausea washing over me colder than a bucket of ice water. “I did no such thing. Why would I?”
“Fuck,” she curses under her breath, and my blood runs cold. “That’s what I thought. And feared.”
“What’s going on, Anna?” I ask cautiously, not sure I want to know the answer.
“After you told me about Jay, I decided to put some alerts on your credit. You know, in case he tried to pull something. And I think he did. Is.” She takes a deep breath.
“Someone is blowing through your money, Nic. They opened several credit cards in your name and are spending your money on jewelry and designer clothes. They booked plane tickets to the Maldives in the last hour and a five-star hotel …”
My heart beats into my throat, but for once, it’s not anxiety. It’s anger. Burning hot anger.
“Jay and Marissa,” I say, surprised at the venom in my voice.
“That’s my suspicion, too.” She sighs, and I can hear her type something into her computer.
“What do we do?” I ask, slowly starting to panic. “Those … miscreants! God, Anna, tell me how I can fucking bury them.” Seriously, they didn’t get my money through marriage, and now they switched to identity theft? I can’t believe this. I quickly walk into an alley to find a quieter spot.
“The good news is, they’ve blown through so much money it’s definitely a felony. That and the identity theft.” She takes a deep breath. “I mean, not good news but a silver lining, at least.” She types something before she continues.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” I lean my back against the wall.
“I’ll freeze everything I can that I know to be fraudulent, including your credit.
I saw Marco in the hallway a few minutes ago.
I’ll hand all of it to him once I’ve gathered evidence, and he can build his case that hopefully comes with two sweet restraining orders.
We’ll see what kind of proof we can find.
Meanwhile, you need to go to the police and file a report—I’ll send you everything you need to know.
” She takes a deep breath. “We’ll take those fuckers down. Don’t worry.”
“Okay,” I whisper, a sting forming in my eyes. I bite my lip to hold back my tears. They don’t deserve them. Not even angry tears. “Let’s destroy them.”