Anyone But Nick (Anyone But... #3) - Penelope Bloom Page 0,90

he whispered. “You can stay right there for as long as you want. Oh, but there was one more thing.” He whistled sharply, catching me off guard.

I heard the sound of a dog approaching. When I pulled away from Nick’s chest, I saw Bone Thug trotting up to us with a goofy little pink ribbon tied around his head. There was a pillow on top and a . . .

“Is that?” I asked.

Nick got down on one knee and reached for the ring. Bone Thug tried to bite him, so Nick yanked his hand back and swore. “We practiced this, you big asshole.” He tried again, but then Thug thought he was trying to play and started running sprints. Thankfully, the ring fell off, and Nick was able to awkwardly crawl a little to retrieve it.

He cleared his throat. “Not exactly as smooth as I planned, but now that we’re not colleagues, I figure there’s nothing stopping this from being a great idea. So what do you say, Miranda Collins? Will you marry me?”

Epilogue

NICK

The sound of clattering bowling pins filled the air. There was also a distinct dog smell floating around. Miranda and I joined my brothers and their wives for a game of bowling to celebrate opening day of Bark Bites Resort. The bowling alleys were shaped like big dog bones—supposedly, at least. I personally thought they looked a little phallic. Each lane was flanked by a padded doggy lane where the dogs could carry plush bowling balls down and smash into the pins at the end.

We invited all West Valley to stay for the weekend for free to celebrate the grand opening. There was some slight drama concerning the fact that this weekend was supposed to be when the yodeling games were held. Eventually, we worked it out so the yodeling games could still take place, and it’d just be a Bark Bites–sponsored event.

Miranda looked casual in a silky Bark Bites polo and khaki pants that made her ass look too good not to grab. She sat down beside me with a tray of chili cheese fries and wiggled her eyebrows. “Hungry?”

“Not for those,” I said, nudging her leg.

She bit her lip, then lowered her voice. “I’m not on the menu until tonight. As a big, important CEO, I have a lot of work to do.”

“Oh, absolutely. I can see how hard you’re working right now.”

She shrugged. “Work-life balance is one of my keys to success. If I don’t have a little time to bowl with my fiancé, what am I even working for?”

I smirked. I still wasn’t used to hearing her call me her fiancé. A little jolt of excitement spiked through me every time I heard that, and every time I glanced down at the engagement band on her finger.

“Hey, nerds,” Cade said. He was standing at the computer dressed like he was in a biker gang from the eighties. There had apparently been a miscommunication about the dress code, he claimed. When he turned to look at us, I couldn’t help laughing. He had on a fake, thick black mustache, sunglasses, and a red headband. He had also ripped the sleeves off a leather jacket and wore pants so tight I didn’t really want to look below his waist. “You two gonna pick a name, or am I gonna have to pick it for you?”

“What’s with the accent?” I asked.

He made a dismissive sound and typed our team name into the computer. Balls of Fury.

“I figured I’d go easy on you guys. I did win fifty dollars from Iris when you got together, so I probably owe you.”

“He’s not kidding,” Iris said. “I tried telling him there was no way in hell our Miranda would ever go back on the oath she tried so hard to bang over our heads when Kira and I were thinking of breaking it. It was just sooo important until it was her turn.”

“Okay,” Miranda said. “For the record, it stopped being an oath when you two broke it. And my King brother didn’t actually do anything bad to deserve it. If he hadn’t thought Kira signed that poem, I never would’ve wanted to swear the stupid thing in the first place.”

Kira ducked her head. “Awkward,” she whispered.

“Sorry,” Miranda muttered. “I’m just saying that me falling for Nick was probably the most forgivable sin here. I waited the longest too.”

“It’s not a competition, Miranda,” Iris said. “But if it was, I’d win because I at least arrested my King brother