Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 31149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
I love Holiday Ridge.
But I think I love it more being on Dermot’s arm.
“Holy moly, I love being with a celebrity.” Dermot gives me a bored look, but I can see a grin fighting to break through. “Do you think I could get your autograph?”
“Are you done?”
I smirk. “Not at all.”
I cuddle into Dermot’s side, holding his arm with both my hands as we walk along the circle. I love how he continues to kiss my temple or guide me with his hand to my back. He’s always touching me, and it makes me feel so good to know he feels comfortable enough to do so. I’m still pissed that he was ever made to feel like he didn’t deserve the kind of love and attention he craves. It’s cool. It’s my goal never to allow him to feel anything but what he wants.
“Is everyone staring at us?” he whispers into my temple, and I turn to look up at him.
“Yeah. Apparently, I snagged the most eligible bachelor,” I say with a little wiggle.
“Hardly.”
“No, it’s true. And now everyone is wondering what took us so long, with us being neighbors and me always checking you out. There is a reason everyone in town calls you Dr. Do-My-Body-Good, and it’s all me.”
His lips curve. “I should probably get a shirt that says it’s my fault, huh?”
“That would be helpful, but it’s fine. I’ll just tell everyone that I locked you down.”
He arches a brow at me. “You locked me down, or I locked you down?”
I give him a dry look. “Kip made a move faster than you did.”
Dermot grins. “But when I made a move, I made you scream.”
I wink, and he kisses me fully on the lips. The kind of kiss that is frowned upon in public, but I highly doubt either of us cares. When he pulls back, he kisses my nose, and I lean into him as we stop in front of Pierce Ridge Creamery’s tent. Elaine Pierce has a goat farm that supplies the best goat cheese in the state of Vermont. “We should get some for dinner. It’d go great with the pasta I’m making,” I suggest, and he nods.
“Good idea—”
Before he can finish, Elaine gasps loudly. “Well, lookie here. Did Maggie Welch finally snag the hot doctor in town?”
I smile brightly, then I hook a thumb at him. “I did. See?”
Elaine snaps her fingers. “Damn it. I really wanted my girl Nora to find herself hanging a lock with him.”
I laugh at that as Dermot smiles. “Is Nora finally back for good?”
Elaine’s granddaughter spent a lot of summers here, but this is the first I’m hearing of her moving back. “Yes, finally. She’s gonna take over for me.”
“How nice. You’re going to rock retirement.”
“I am, for sure,” Elaine agrees, then she points between the two of us. Her gray hair is in a long braid that reaches her bottom, and her bright-green knit hat is pulled low over her ears. She may be close to eighty, but she doesn’t look a day over fifty. Her green eyes shine as she flashes us a grin. “I have to say, you two look rather good together.”
“He is really hot, isn’t he?” I whisper, even though everyone can hear me.
Elaine chuckles as Dermot says, “She’s only with me for my looks.”
“And his co—”
His hand covers over my mouth, and I beam up at him as he laughs. “Cuddles. She means cuddles.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” Elaine teases, making Dermot blush even redder.
God, I love that he blushes.
We get our cheese, and as we head toward the next stall, he whispers in my ear, “You’re going to pay for that.”
I bat my eyes at him. “How so, Dr. Aldridge?”
His eyes narrow. “I’m going to spend my night getting you right there with my tongue but not letting you fall over the edge.”
I giggle like a fiend. “Oh, you say that like it’s a bad thing.”
He groans as he shakes his head. “Fuck, you drive me mental.”
“You love it, and you know it.”
He shakes his head, kissing my nose. “I do, and I would never deny that.”
thirteen
. . .
Dermot
“Dr. Aldridge, you mean to tell me all we needed to do was lure you out with a pretty girl and you’d grace us with your presence?” says Old Man Harrison, who is currently leaning against the skating rental cottage with his arm around Jessie Bryne.
“I almost don’t believe my eyes. Twice in one weekend? I usually have to fake an illness to see you!” exclaims Jessie Bryne, the monarch of Bryne’s Seasonal Stylings. Her words, not mine.
“Pa, leave him be,” Beau Harrison says, handing me the two pairs of skates I ordered for Maggie and me. “Hey there, Margaret.”
Beside me, Maggie makes a face. “Don’t Margaret me, Beau Harrison!”
He just laughs as Old Man Harrison says, “Make sure only to call her that when you’re cross with her. She don’t like it much.”