“My mom’s a bitch,” Cody announced to nobody in particular. Damn, he really was tipsy. “Maybe I should marry you instead, Gabs. You’d let me have a boyfriend, right? Then your mom could be my mom.”
I laughed, then got up and sat down next to him on the gliding rocker, leaning against him. “My mom is always taking in other people’s kids. I bet she’ll take you in too. Then you don’t have to marry some stinky old girl.”
“Hmmm.” He tipped up his beer, half empty, and drained it. “That’s a thought.”
He stumbled to his feet, heading toward the cooler, but I caught his arm. “No way, man. That’s enough for you. You’re already gonna have one hell of a hangover in the morning. You don’t need any more.”
I prepared to argue him down, but he just grunted and sighed, throwing one arm around me. I nearly buckled under his weight until Jackson came over and caught his other arm, shouldering the majority of the burden. “You go on and sit down, Gabby. I’ll get him to bed.”
“Oh…I like the shound…sound of that,” Cody said, chuckling. “He’s pretty.”
I swatted his arm. “Behave.”
“Sure thing, beautiful.” Then he winked.
I sighed and shook my head, then looked at Jackson. “Smack him if you have to. He might try to get fresh.”
Jackson laughed and helped my wobbling and drunk friend into the house.
“It sounds like their mom isn’t a great lady,” Amber said as I sat down.
I didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry.” She fidgeted with the lacy flounce on her skirt. It showcased some seriously fantastic legs. She could probably give Kendra a run for her money with those legs. “I’m not…well. I’m not trying to pry. I just understand what he means about your mom. I think I love her almost as much as I love Jackson. Just for different reasons.”
She smiled, showing a pair of dimples.
“Mama is wonderful,” I agreed, smiling back, relaxing a little.
Amber nodded, and the sadness in her eyes made me try to remember.
Oh…
I remembered now.
Her father had committed suicide a few weeks after finishing his last tour in Afghanistan. Amber’s mother, Meredith, hadn’t adjusted to it well. Meredith was the daughter of the CEO of the town’s sole bank and she could have done…well, almost anything after high school. But she’d fallen in love with the high school football captain and married him. He’d decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps, serving his country, but his country hadn’t served him very well.
“Is your mother still working at the bank?” I asked.
Amber nodded, managing a tight smile. “So am I…now. She’s trying to groom me, just as her dad groomed her. And she
hates
Jackson.”
The instinct to defend my brother rose up, hard and fast. But I could see the strain in her eyes. Instead, I said, “Well, my mother-in-law hates me.”
Amber’s gaze met mine.
I tipped my water bottle her way and cheerily said, “Fuck ‘em.”
After a moment, she started to laugh. “Fuck ‘em.”
***
Cody had slunk off with the rental car, leaving me behind while I was in the shower. When I called him, he said, “Sorry…I just…the noise. I wanted a few minutes out of there to get my head to stop trying to fall off my shoulders. I’ll pick up Edward and we’ll be there before you know it.”
“Don’t you think he’ll want to see me?” I demanded, clutching a towel to my naked breasts and staring outside. I was sharing a room with Jennifer and from here, I could see the empty space where the rental car should be.
“Well, yeah, but this way, he’ll see you just a bit later and you can be all non-rumpled from the forty five minute car ride.” Cody was at his most charming, even with a hangover, the cajoling tone in his voice working to undo my irritation.
It wasn’t totally working and I wanted to smack him. Huffing out a sigh, I turned away. “Okay, don’t you think I wanted to see him?”
“And you will. In a couple hours. Chin up, princess. I know you’re anxious, but you’ll be fine.” He hung up and left me there, staring at the phone.
Anxious.
No, I was irritated. That didn’t make me…
Scowling, I tossed the phone onto my bed.
Okay, yes. I was anxious. I had every right to be, didn’t I?
I hadn’t seen my fiancé in a week. A week where he’d been in New York with all of his...friends. With all the people who were better for him than me.
Stripping off the towel, I draped it over the foot of the bed and dug out panties and bra, donning them in a rush as I convinced myself that my irritation wasn’t irritation. It was anxiety and why shouldn’t I be anxious?
But as I slicked on lotion and donned the dress I’d saved for today, I had a problem looking at my face in the mirror. I was lying and if I looked, I’d see the lie there, stamped on my features.
I wanted to see Edward, yeah, but I could have waited until we went back to New York. I was having fun at home, just me and Cody and my family.
If I was being honest with myself, I’d have to admit I hadn’t really thought about my fiancé that much at all in the past week.
***
“You’re sure he likes lasagna?”
The wonderful smell of garlic, bubbling cheese and tomato sauce permeated the air and I almost wished Edward didn’t like lasagna, because then there would be that much more for me.
“
Yes
, Mama,” I said, smiling at the worry on her face, but wishing she’d calm down, because I was nervous as hell myself.
Four bottles of wine were chilling in the fridge. Cody and I had driven nearly an hour to the nearest decent-sized town to find something that would go with the meal, but we hadn’t had any luck. Then, on the way back, we’d seen a sign for a local winery and stopped there. Cody had helped pick out a red he’d assured me Edward would like. Then I’d bought some that I thought Mama would like. I was tempted to open one of those bottles now, because we both needed to settle our nerves.
“Why are you so nervous?” Jennifer asked, stopping in the doorway and looking at me, her lips pursed.
“I’m not,” I lied.
“You are.” She shrugged and moved to the fridge, tugging it open. She swiped a tomato from the salad I’d just finished and smiled sunnily at my glare. “You’ve got the same line between your eyes that Mama gets when she’s nervous.”
“I’m just…”
The sound of a car on the driveway had me going quiet and I moved out of the kitchen into the hall, down to the door, and then onto the porch, acutely aware of each step, of the boards that squeaked, of the faded paint on the walls. The house was clean and smelled of Pine-sol. The threadbare carpet had been vacuumed and the old wooden floors had been polished.
Yet I found myself seeing this house the same way I was suddenly afraid Edward would see it.
That was the problem, I realized. That was why I was nervous. Why I’d been irritated. I didn’t want to see anything in Edward’s eyes but the same love I’d seen from his brother.
It’ll be fine, I told myself. Cody was perfectly happy here.
I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch just as the rental car came to a stop. My dad emerged from the garage, swiping a bandana across his forehead, missing a streak of grease. Of course he’d been in the garage, tinkering on the old truck he’d been trying to keep going for the past ten years.
The doors to the rental opened, Cody emerging first, clad in his battered tennis shoes, jeans and a red t-shirt.
Then, the passenger door opened. I saw his shoes first, highly polished. I recognized the loafers as the ones he wore on weekends. He considered them casual wear. Then he stood up and I saw him over the edge of the door, his eyes shielded by a pair of sunglasses.
I was staring at him, but he was too busy looking around to see me.
Since I was watching him so closely, it was hard to miss the way his mouth tightened slightly around the corners as he took in the worn, weathered edges of the home where I’d grown up.
***
It was well after lunch before I managed to have more than two minutes alone with my fiancé. Even that had required literally guiding him out the door and through the backyard, through the latched gate for some modicum of privacy.
He seemed somewhat relaxed as we reached the quiet serenity of the babbling creek, but then, who couldn’t be at peace here?
I tipped my head back and breathed in the air, perfumed by honeysuckle and jasmine, the light softened by the crisscrossing boughs overhead.
Holding out my hand to him, I waited for him to take it. When he did, slowly, some of the knots in my belly eased.
“My parents like you,” I said quietly. My tone was quiet, but even I could hear the reserve there.
When Edward closed his fingers around my hand, the relief I found was…indescribable. I didn’t know if the words I needed to explain those emotions even existed, until that moment, but then he gathered me up to him, cupping my face and staring down at me, a gentle, understanding look on his face.
He cupped my face and held it still for a gentle, tender kiss. Warmth spread through me.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“I know.” Leaning in, I touched my forehead to his chest, breathing in the familiar scent of him, and hiding my face so he wouldn’t see anything in my eyes. “I missed you too.”
His hand slid down my back, cupped my ass and tugged me in close. Through our clothes, I could feel his cock, hard and firm, nudging against my belly. Edward’s mouth found the curve of my neck and some of the tension inside me loosened as that warmth inside me finally gave way to true heat. But when he caught the strap of my sundress and started to tug, I caught his hand.
“Nooooo…” I said, smiling and easing away. Still gripping his hand, I shook my head. “My family, including some very impressionable nieces and nephews, are likely to come tearing back here at any minute.”
“We can’t have that.” As his hands returned to neutral territory, I rose onto my toes and kissed him, then rested my head on his shoulder as he tugged me closer, hugging me. “Your mother tells me I’m sharing a room…with Cody?”
“Yes.” Biting my lip, I fought the urge to fidget as I tipped my head back to meet his eyes. The big old farmhouse had plenty of rooms, but there were also plenty of people here too, with Suzanne and her family staying rather than driving the three hours home tonight. “My folks are pretty traditional. They’re not stupid, but it would probably give them a heart attack if we shared a room. Besides, there’s no place for Cody to sleep if we do that, unless we make him bunk on the couch.”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll respect your parents’ wishes.” He smoothed my hair back from my face and leaned in, pressing his lips to my forehead. “You look happy. This trip was a good idea for you. You were more stressed out than I realized.”
“Yes.” Relaxing back against him, I slid my arms around his waist and tried not to think about the fact that before long, I’d be back in New York, back to dealing with his mother, back to trying to find a job…back to reality, indeed.
Chapter 13
Back to reality…and back to this.
I shouldn’t have answered the damn phone.
Edward had already left for work and I’d planned to spend the day hunting for a job. If I’d left on time, maybe I wouldn’t have heard my phone ringing from the depths of my purse and I could have avoided this.
Yeah, right.
“So what time can I expect you?” Flynn asked, his voice deceptively casual.
You can’t
. The answer burned on my tongue, but I remembered what he’d said about the pictures. He was keeping them as a sort of blackmail, just to make sure I kept on working for him.
The son of a bitch.
With a muttered curse, I lifted my head up and stared at the pattern carved into the tray ceiling overhead. “I need at least two hours and I can only stay a couple hours.”
“Not a problem. The client has been very specific about what they want and I’ve worked with her before so I’ve got a good idea about the direction I’m going in.”
“Fine. Anything else?” I was curt, almost rude, but I didn’t feel bad about it. Not after all the shit he’d put me through.
He started to say something else, but then stopped. “No. I’ll see you in two hours.”
“
At least
two hours,” I clarified. “Might take longer.”
“Fine, but the longer it takes for you to get here, the longer it will take for me to finish.”
The phone went dead and I stared at it as though he’d jumped through the phone and bitten me. Or worse.
The meaning of his words penetrated, along with the implied threat. He’d keep me late enough that I’d be forced to try to explain to Edward where I’d been. I jumped up, rushing around to get ready. After the quickest shower on record, I made a quick grab for clothes and was out the door in under thirty minutes. I heard a member of the staff calling for me, probably to offer to get in touch with Paul, but there was no way I could ask Paul to drive me. I’d already called for a taxi.
***
“I look ridiculous.” Staring at my reflection, I wondered if it was possible to die of embarrassment. But it didn’t take long to figure out the answer. If it was possible, encounters with Flynn would have already killed me two or three times over. If not that first day with him, then surely that morning when I’d woken up naked in his bed.