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But I’d been impulsive before. Gone all the way with guys. Chased that sensual high like I suspected Rachel was doing. That high didn’t last. I was determined for this with Collin to be different. But for it to be different, I had to act differently.
“Take me to meet your family.”
“Okay.” His sexy lips forming a smile, he leaned across the console at the stop sign and touched his mouth to mine. His silver eyes shone like a new moon. “It’s my desire to fulfill your every wish.”
Settling back into his seat, Collin drove through the intersection, and I studied him as he drove. He was a confident driver, handsome in profile with his defined jaw and sculpted lips. His strong hands gripped the steering wheel. My body warmed as I wondered how his hands would feel on my naked skin.
I looked out the window to avoid changing my mind about where we were going.
The view improved the farther we got from my side of town. Less litter and graffiti, more streetlights that worked. He turned onto a street lined with houses and let up on the gas, slowing the van.
“Is this it?” I asked when he stopped in front of a small but well-kept bungalow beside a vacant lot.
“Yeah, my parents got it for a steal since the lot beside it belongs to La Rasa Prima.” He put the van in park.
I stared at the house that had a green lawn, flowerbeds with actual flowers in them, and a wraparound porch that was all lit up.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I shook my head. “I can’t go in there.”
“Why not? They want to meet you.”
“I don’t have anything in common with people who live in a home like that,” I said, feeling small. The truth was, I didn’t have anything in common withhim.
“You have me in common.” Collin shut off the engine. “You’re important to me, and that matters to them.”
“I don’t understand a family like that.” My voice rose with my panic. “You saw how my mother is. Your parents won’t understand me.”
“They will,” he said firmly. “Your mother isn’t you. Just be yourself.”
Again, his words echoed the advice of my best friend.
“Okay,” I said, and a sudden rap on my window startled me. Turning, I saw a woman peering through the glass at me. She had silver eyes like Collin, and a lot more gray in her hair than I’d expected.
“That’s my mom,” Collin said.
“Right.” I pulled in a breath and opened my door. “Hi, Mrs. Murphy. I’m Addy. Addy Footit.”
“Nice to meet you, honey,” she said warmly and threw her arms around me. “Call me Carol or Mom.”
Carol was tiny but round. She held me tightly, and when I inhaled, I realized she smelled like allspice. Being held by her was nice, really nice, especially after what my mother had done tonight. I wanted to stay in Carol’s embrace and never leave.
“Nice to meet you too,” I murmured as she drew back and studied me. Vaguely, I noted the slam of a door on Collin’s side of the van.
“She’s very pretty,” Carol said and glanced over my shoulder.
“She is.” Collin pulled me from his mom’s embrace and threw his arm around my shoulder.
“I like your shirt.” Carol nodded approvingly. “You have good taste in music.”
“You like Brutal Strength?” I asked, though of course I knew she did. I was nervous.
“Love them,” she said, her silver eyes twinkling like Collin’s did when he was happy. “But we’ll talk about BS some more later. Let’s get inside. It gets chilly when the sun goes down, and you don’t have a coat.” She wagged an accusatory finger at her son before aiming it at the house. “Come along.”
“Come, Addy,” Collin whispered in my ear. “The sooner we get this dinner done, the sooner I can kiss you.”
Warmth rose to my cheeks as we followed his mom. The screen door into the house opened. A short boy appeared with close-cropped brown hair, and a man as handsome as Collin but much older stepped out too, Collin’s father. They met us on the porch steps.
“Addy,” Collin said. “This is my dad, Thomas Murphy, who you already met.” He released me to gesture.
