“I have an entire gallon Ziploc bag full of Twizzlers. Of course my happily ever after is here.”

“A woman can’t live on Twizzlers alone,” Karmel said with all the gravity she’d brought to her role as an eternal fairy queen in a book adaptation that had broken box office records.

Chelle shrugged. “Well, since it’s the only non-pet food in my kitchen at the moment, it’ll have to do until my grocery order arrives tonight.”

Karmel rolled her eyes, tucked Chelle’s arm into the crook of her elbow, and walked her out into the living room, where she said a quick goodbye to Nash, blew kisses to the dogs, and closed the front door behind her fast enough that it was like Groucho and Mary were nipping at her ankles.

When Chelle turned around, Nash was sitting on the floor, with Groucho laying on his back, getting tummy pets from Nash, while Mary was snoring on the floor, tucked up against Nash’s strong thigh. They say dogs always know when someone is a good person. That may or may not be true, but beyond Nash’s tendency to mansplain his way onto her very last nerve, there wasn’t anything about Nash Beckett that screamed “red flag.”

Of course, being a good person wasn’t the same as being someone she should bang—no matter what Karmel would say to that.

Nash stood up. “I have to get back to the office. Dixon and Griff will send out a search party if I’m not back for our weekly meeting.”

Yeah. That reminded her… “What are you going to tell your family about our situation?”

“The truth.” He started toward the door, and she fell in step beside him, their strides matching as if he’d adjusted his to be in line with her shorter one. “We’re doing each other a favor.”

Walking next to him set off the same sense of awareness of him as she’d had at the park, a kind of anticipation that made her breath quicken. “That’s all this is.”

“Exactly.” He nodded.

“There’s no mixing of bank accounts or fine china.” Or noticing the way his forearms looked with his shirt cuffs rolled up. “No registering for wedding gifts at Dylan’s Department Store.” Or refreshing her lingerie drawer. “You’ll stay in the guest room, and I’ll remain in my room.”

They stopped by the front door, and it took everything she had to keep her face neutral, when all she could think about were all the things that weren’t going to happen because, just like her books, this wasn’t real life.

“We’ll have to go out on six dates planned by my cousins.” He reached out and pushed a strand of the hair framing her face, tucking it behind her ear, an intense look on his face that sent a shiver across her skin.