Something that wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d expected.
Nick opened his eyes. “I never meant for you to get hurt. What can I do to fix this?” Rhetorical question, but he had to try.
Holly pursed her lips. “I know exactly what you can do.”
She did?
“Ryan is just as guilty of this plan as you are.” Holly tilted her head, the sherpa lining of his coat grazing her flushed cheek. “And he’s had absolutely zero consequences.”
Uh-oh. “Your point?”
“I think he needs his own Operation: Naughty List.”
“Did you just say ‘Operation: Naughty List’?” Nick scoffed. “What are you, Santa’s evil helper?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I had a lot of time to come up with it.”
“Why name your evil plan at all?”
“It was serious.” She shrugged. “Serious things should be named.”
She’d really been hurt, hadn’t she? She was trying to play itoff, but the evidence lingered in the crinkles near her eyes—and in the fact she went so far as to name her revenge plan. Maybe Ryan had handled his own plan poorly, but he’d been dead-on in recognizing Holly was going to need some cheering up this season.
Yet Nick had made it worse.
“So what serious thing are you plotting now?” He could practically feel Frosty’s stare boring into his profile, shooting warning flares.Abort, abort.
“You’ve seen how upset Ryan is about Axel and Chloe.” Holly tapped her chin with one finger. “I think a little case of insta-love should help him remember to keep his matchmaking efforts to himself in the future.”
Nick’s stomach twisted. “Insta-love?”
“Think about it. He begged you to come here and be my date—”
“He didn’t exactlybeg—”
“So what if he gets exactly what he wanted? Wefall in love.” She air-quoted the phrase. “The ultimate fake-date trope. Works in the movies, anyway.”
Someone really needed to take the remote control away from Holly.
Nick ran his hand over the back of his neck, releasing another breath into the night air. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” More like it was a reallybadidea. Holly still didn’t—and couldn’t—know the whole story as to why he was on the farm. Neither could Ryan. Adding another secret to the mix seemed to be asking for even more trouble than Nick already had.
“You asked how you could help.” Holly’s hopeful eyes pleaded. “This is perfect. Besides, isn’t it unfair you had days of Christmas torture heaped upon you while Ryan is living his merriest life?”
Not a bad point. Ryan had good motives at heart, but hehadgotten Nick into this whole awkward situation. He hesitated. “Maybe.”
“Just till Christmas.” Holly tucked her hair behind her ears, making her look more youthful and less diabolical. “We can confess when we all go home.”
He frowned. “But what about the rest of your family? They’ll think we’re together too.”
“My sisters will be thrilled. They like you.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t expected that. Or the warmth spreading through his midsection like he’d chugged a mug full of Grace’s hot chocolate. “And your parents?”
“Mom will barely notice, trust me.” Holly flipped her hand. “She’s much more invested in Lydia and Olivia and her grandkids.”
He hated that she felt that way, but he had kind of noticed it too. Yet at the same time, he had a feeling Holly was underestimating by alot.He also had way more to lose that he couldn’t explain. Such as Thomas lumping him into the same category as Axel and not thinking well enough of Nick to sell him the property.
Still…the idea warmed his chest. Pretending to date Holly wasn’t the worst punishment in the world. If he did, he would still get to enjoy her company, only without the various Christmas explosions. He could finally have a reason to get to know her.
