Matching Mr. Right (Rocky Mountain Matchmaker Series Book 1) (23 page)

Then that mischievous grin he loved so much formed. “Well, I recently made a big life change. Like our pal Lisa, I felt stifled in my job as a writer, so I decided to compete with her and started an online shop. We sell spooky crystals and have a large selection of voodoo dolls. Along with all the ingredients you’d need for any spell you’d like to conjure.”

“Is that so?” He laughed and leaned closer. “Know any good
love
spells?”

“I might be willing to brew one up . . . for you.” Shelby closed the distance between them and gave him a soft kiss. “But if you screw up again, watch out. I have a voodoo doll with your name on it, pal. I’d keep the monkey suit too, if I were you.”

***

A few months later . . .

Shelby leaned closer to the bathroom mirror as she swiped on mascara. Nick’s voice from downstairs bellowed, “Dammit, Shelby. We’re late!”

She yelled back, “Haven’t you learned by now that screaming at me doesn’t make me go any faster?” She got back to business and applied liner. She was behind because she’d torn the bathroom apart looking for her birth control pills. She couldn’t imagine how she’d misplaced them. They always sat in the same place on her side of Nick’s enormous granite counter top in their bathroom.

The next thing she knew, she was upside down and over Nick’s big shoulder. “Time’s up. You can finish in the car.”

“Nice. Now my hair is messed up.” After he pressed her makeup bag into her hand, she sent the pointy tip of her shoe into his gut and got a respectable grunt out of him. “Have you seen my pills? I can’t find them.”

“Worry about the pills later, we don’t want to be late for the party.”

“Then stop by the
wrong
side of the bed and lean down so I can grab my cell off my nightstand, Mr. Impatient.” Since they both were used to sleeping on the right side of the bed, she’d agreed to flip a coin for it. And she’d lost.

After he complied, they headed down the stairs and she poked him in the ribs. “You’re going to care about those pills later tonight, buddy. No pills, no nooky.”

He pushed open the door from the house to the garage. “You’re just still mad I got my way with the best side of the bed.” He plopped her down beside the Porsche, kissed her deeply, then opened her door.

Still a little dizzy from his fantastic kiss, she said, “Yeah, that too.”

She shook her head and slipped inside. As he backed out of the garage, she flipped down the mirror. After applying gloss, she smacked her lips, finger combed her hair, and then slapped the mirror closed.

Truth was, she was getting used to the wrong side of the bed, so it hadn’t been such a bad compromise. Not that she’d share that little detail with him.

She needed to put her latest plan into action. They’d been dating for eight months, she’d been living with him for the last five, and that was long enough.

She’d tried leaving pictures of her favorite rings from Tiffany’s on the coffee table and in his study, and dropping hints about how it’d be perfect to have a destination wedding in Italy in August or September when the weather would be the best. It being July, Mr. Thick Headed apparently hadn’t caught on.

“So, Jo said something interesting today. She suggested since I wasn’t living in my house anymore but still paying the mortgage, wouldn’t it be smarter for me to sell her the house? Then she’ll find a roommate to offset her expenses. But that’d mean I’d have nowhere to live if you kicked me to the curb.”

Nick laughed. “That’s rich. If anyone does the kicking in this relationship it’s you.” He rubbed his belly, reminding her of her earlier actions.

“That was more a poke than a kick.” She stifled her grin. “So what do you think I should do?”

“Whatever you want, Shelby. It’s your house, but it does seem like a waste to pay all that money when you can live with me for free.”

She should’ve kicked him a lot harder. “Look at this from my perspective. I’m just a guest in your home. What if you get tired of me and I’ve already sold my house to Jo who has a new roommate? Where would I go?”

He shrugged. “Jo has a couch. Or your aunt and uncle’s?”

She wanted to belt him. “Okay, Blockhead. This would be a good time to say something like, ‘Shelby, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, blah, blah.’”

He chuckled as they pulled into his mother’s driveway. “Calm down, Shelby. We’ll talk about this later.”

She got out of the car and slammed her door. Then she marched inside. After she doled out hugs to everyone, she turned to Nick’s Mom. “Hi. Happy Fourth of July.” Shelby hugged Nick’s mom really hard and then kissed her cheek. She really loved Linda. “How can you be so great but have such a slow-witted son?”

Linda leaned back and frowned. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing my bat won’t cure when we get home.” Shelby took a deep breath and tried to shake it off.

Linda smiled as she pushed a glass of wine into Shelby’s hand. “You’ll be singing a different tune by the end of the night, sweetheart. I promise.”

“Doubt it.” She frowned as she took a long pull from her glass.

After a great BBQ dinner, they all sat around the backyard eating dessert, waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Shelby’s mood had lightened a little. Mostly because she’d decided Nick wasn’t getting any tonight even if he begged. Maybe even for the whole weekend. If she could hold out that long.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was pudding in his hands, but she could make him pay for one night at least.

Everyone had plates of watermelon in their laps when Emily ran toward her. “Shelby, me and Uncle Nick wrote a book for you.”

She laid her plate aside and pulled Emily onto her lap. “You did?”

Emily beamed a bright smile. “Yeah, I did the pictures, Uncle Nick wrote the words on the computer and momma took it someplace and they put the pink metal things in to hold it together.”

She glanced at Nick, who had a smug grin on his face. “You aren’t the only one who can write great books, Shelby.”

She accepted the adorable book and sighed.
“Ten things Nick and Emily Love about Summer Sinclair.”

They’d used her real name. She blinked back her threatening tears.

Emily hopped up and down on her lap. “We both got five things. Mine are first.”

“Ladies first, that makes sense.” Shelby laid a kiss on the top of Emily’s head. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

She opened the book and grinned at the crude illustrations. “This is pretty great. I’m worried you guys are going to outsell me.”

Nick slipped beside her on the picnic bench and pulled her close. “This is the time
I’m
choosing to tell you that I love you Shelby and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, blah, blah.” He kissed her cheek. “Here’s the blah, blah part.”

Tears blurred her vision as she hurried through Emily’s sweet pages. They were awesome, but she was dying to see what Nick had come up with.

When she’d turned Emily’s fifth page she said, “Thank you, Monkey-Brains, I love you too.” She kissed Emily and then handed her over to Lori who’d moved beside her, smart enough to realize what was coming next was something a person didn’t want to do with a kid on her lap.

She turned the next page, grinning in anticipation. Reading aloud for the group, she said, “Number six. Nick loves how Summer makes him feel when she’s with him. It’s even better than when he’s enjoying a cold beer and a plate of loaded nachos at a Broncos game.”

Shelby glanced at Nick and cocked a brow.

He laughed. “They get better, keep going.”

Chuckling, because nachos and beer at a Broncos game were a pretty great thing, she turned the page.

“Number seven. Nick loves how Summer smiles at kids. He wants three as soon as possible because she’ll be as great a mom as his own.”

Nick’s mom beamed a huge smile. “Thank you, Nick.” Then she turned to Shelby. “He’s right, Shelby. And I can’t wait to be a grandmother again.”

Nick’s dad agreed.

Shelby turned and met Nick’s gaze, probably grinning like an idiot. They’d never talked numbers, just that they wanted kids. She’d been too busy concentrating on the getting-him-to-marry-her part.

“Really? You want three?”

He nodded. “Is that too many? We can negotiate.”

She kissed him. “No, three is perfect. And you’re right. These are getting better.”

Flipping over the next page, she read, “Number eight. Nick loves Summer’s legs. He’s always reminded of what a brave woman Summer is when he sees them. She’s the most beautiful woman Nick has ever known. Inside and out.”

She found Nick’s hand and gave it a hard squeeze. She had to bite her bottom lip to stop the tears that threatened again. He couldn’t have said anything to touch her more deeply.

It didn’t matter what came next. All she knew was that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with such a wonderful, clueless caveman.

Still holding Nick’s hand, she cleared her throat. “Number nine. Nick loves the way Summer compromises. Nick’s really loving having his side of the bed back.”

She laughed. That was what was so great about them. He knew she’d be all choked up after his comments about her legs so he’d made a joke. They truly got each other.

Playing along she whispered, “You just caught me at a weak moment. Don’t expect any more compromising in the future, buddy.”

He slipped his hand from hers and slid it around her shoulder. His warm breath whispered against her ear, “We’ll see. Maybe you shouldn’t read the last one out loud.”

“Okay.” She turned the page. Number Ten.
Nick plans to keep Summer naked for two solid weeks if she says “yes” to his next question.

A slow smile stretched her lips as Nick slid off the bench and knelt before her. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a little blue Tiffany’s box. Tilting the lid back he said, “I want you, Chester, and all the kids we’ll be lucky enough to make to live together happily ever after, Shelby. I know I’m no prince, but will you marry me? Please?”

Everyone cheered as she grinned and snatched the box from his hand. Slipping the ring onto her finger she fought the urge to jump up and down like Emily and Chester often did.

“This is the ring I wanted the most!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “It was the biggest and most expensive of the five pictures you placed strategically around our house, so I figured.”

Our house? Nice. “Thank you, babe.” She pulled Nick’s face to hers and laid her smiling lips on his. But as she kissed him, a thought occurred to her. She leaned back and whispered, “Did you steal my pills? You said you were in a hurry to have kids, but I’m not walking down the aisle with a baby bump.”

“Yeah, but how long does the bump take to show? Because Jo, Lori, and I have been making plans for a destination wedding in Florence, per your numerous hints. If you approve, we all leave in a few weeks, the optimum time—per the printouts!”

Her heart swelled so big, she feared it’d pop. “So you were paying attention after all?”

“Really, Shelby? You can be about as subtle as a gun.”

“But you love that about me, right?”

“Nope. Not a bit.” Nick kissed her and then grinned as his lips slowly parted with hers. “But I love you for all the other stuff. So, is that a yes?”

“Yes!” Finally. Next stop—Italy—and then the chance to spend the rest of her life with the most handsome, annoying, wonderful man in the world. She couldn’t wait to get started.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This story was originally titled
Cyrano At Your Service
and won a prestigious award from The Romance Writer’s of America
^®
. It was responsible for the start of my professional writing career, yet it got pushed aside when market demands changed. Deadlines happened and contracts were signed while this story stood patiently by, waiting for me to come back to it and give it the love it deserved. It has seen many transformations, but the heart of the story never changed—love is full of surprises and comes when we least expect it.

Thank you to all who helped along the way. My patient critique group, Shea Berkley, Louise Bergin, and Robin Perini are simply the best. And thanks to my agent, Jill Marsal, for believing in this book and in me. It’s always more fun when you have team support, and I’m blessed to have these ladies, along with my wonderful family, always at my side. And a special thanks to Monique for your ideas and support, along with all the creative things you continue to do for me.

And as always, thanks to my readers, for without you, none of the words matter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamra Baumann is an award-winning author who writes light-hearted contemporary romance. Always a voracious reader, she picked up her first romance novel off the bestseller table in her favorite bookstore and was forever hooked. (Thank you, Nora Roberts!)

She lives in the Southwest, where the sun shines almost every day and the sunsets steal her breath away. She has two kids, both bilingual in English and sarcasm, and a dog who is addicted to Claritin because he’s allergic to grass. Her husband, who gamely tolerates her many book boyfriends, has been her real-life boyfriend for more than thirty years.

Stop by and say hi at
www.tamrabaumann.com
.