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“Honestly,” I put my arm around her. “I should have waited. Owen would have waited for me, I think, but I got too caught up in the carnality of it. I loved him and I wanted him to know how much. I don’t regret it, necessarily, but it’s caused me to do some soul searching and have a change of perspective.”
“How so?”
“Well, I’d made the same promises you did. To be chaste and clean so I could wear white unstained on my wedding day. But to be honest, eventually I kind of…it didn’t mean as much to me as I thought it did, I guess. Like, maybe I wasn’t completely invested in the vow of chastity. I had been, for years, but after him, things changed for me. There was a lot of wondering if he would even want me more than just as a fling, and then love was involved, and honestly there was desperation there, too.”
“Desperation?”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Do you really think that a girl like me could catch the eyes of someone like him? I really, really wanted him, and I used the only powers I knew of. Seduction.”
Her face pinkened even more. Was this what Owen saw when I talked of things? An innocent girl who didn’t cuss and who blushed too much?
“You seduced him?”
I nodded.
“He tried so hard to say no. Eventually I appealed to his baser instincts, and his attraction to me gave in.”
“Wow…” she breathed out.
“You shouldn't do that, Maria. Pat loves you, and he wants the things that you want. I mean, if you want to cross that line, then do it together, not out of desperation, but of love.”
She nodded at me and gave a slight smile.
“Thanks Mia. Your words tonight mean a lot to me. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
I blew out a long breath, grateful to be done with the conversation.
“Good. It needs thinking over,” I told her with a wink, then stood.
My butt was cold after sitting on the cement for so long, and I was eager to warm up.
“What are the odds, you think, that the pies are already rolled out and in the oven?” Maria asked as we went up the two steps to the back door.
I laughed.
“My mother has been passing the pie dough job to me for years,” I told her while cracking the door to peek in.
“Ah!” Mom called over to us. “Just in time to put the pies together!”
I turned to Maria to give her an I-told-you-so look, and she giggled before following me in and taking up a pie crust.
“I’ll help you this year. We’ll be a team.”
I smiled at the girl, and hoped that my brother really did marry her one day. She was a nice girl, and she seemed to have her head on straight. He could do a lot worse, and they would make an adorable couple.
“Alright,” I murmured, washing my hands at the sink. “Let’s get this done, sis.”
Dinner was great.
Dad laughed with Owen over stupid things like football and dad jokes, and it couldn’t have made me happier. He’d been nervous to meet my parents, even if he hadn’t expressed his worries. I could feel it from the moment I’d arrived earlier in the day. Since then, his shoulders relaxed and his smile eased. Behind those sexy glasses, his eyes were sparkling.
When we’d had our fill and stuffed ourselves full of dinner and dessert, we filtered back out to the living room. Pat sat in the chair to the side with Maria in his lap, Gran Gran sat in the other chair, and Mom and Dad had the main couch. There was one spot left beside them, and I paused to consider where I was going to sit.
“I hate to call it a night so early, but it’s a long drive home and I’ve got to pick up my boys first thing in the morning,” Owen said.
I turned to him with a frown.
