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I want to kick him. I know he thinks he’s helping, reinforcing the whole look-at-this-random-intern-your-son-just-married story, but this is not the direction I want to go with anymore. “Dee’s great, actually,” I interrupt. “It was funny, the first day we met, before her orientation, I took her out on the test track…” I flash Dad a glance. “You should see how she handles the cars out there. And not just on the road, she knows her way around beneath a hood, too.”
“I see.” Mom blinks at me slowly, and only then do I hear the way those words sound. Beneath a hood.
“So you’re into cars?” Dad perks up, zeroing in on a common subject of interest to chat about.
“Oh yeah, it’s what drew me to the company in the first place. I’ve always been a fan.” Dee beams at him, and launches into her story about growing up ogling Quint cars on the road, daydreaming about one day being able to work at designing something that beautiful and functional all in one. By the time she’s waxing poetic about her spin around the test track, I can tell that Dad, at least, is into the conversation.
Mom, on the other hand, shoots me a concerned glance and gently disentangles herself from my father’s grasp. “Jasper, can we speak for a moment?” she asks, her voice low.
“Of course, Mom.”
I step off to the side, somewhat worried about leaving Dee and Dad alone with Greg. Greg flashes me another thumbs-up, and my worry only increases.
But there’s nothing I can do about it with Mom breathing down my neck right now. “I hope you got a pre-nup,” Mom says, straight off.
My face goes red. “Mother.”
“Well, honestly, Jasper. Who is this girl? How long have you known her?”
“A month.”
“One month, and you’re ready to run off and marry her without so much as mentioning her to any of the family first?” She purses her lips.
“I told Dad about it. He seemed supportive.”
“Your father wants grandchildren so badly he’d support you eloping with a complete stranger. Which, you’ve practically done, I might add. So, like father like son.” Mom groans and waves a hand back over her shoulder toward her husband.
“How long did you and Dad know each other before you got married?” I counter.
“That was a different time,” she replies.
But I already know the answer. “He proposed to you on your third date,” I remind her. “You got married at a secret ceremony with the justice of the peace because your dad didn’t approve. How long after your third date was that?”
“Six months, not one,” she replies, one eyebrow arched wryly. “And as I said, it was a different time. Besides, our families had known one another for years before that. My father and Antoine’s may not exactly have been friends, but they were aware of one another, ran in the same social circles.”
“So you don’t approve because she’s not rich, is that it?” I roll my eyes.
“I’m saying that when you are a member of a family like the Quints, when you have the kind of resources we do, Jasper, people will try to take advantage of that. Women will try to take advantage of that.”
“What, you don’t think any gay male gold-diggers out there would try to seduce me too?” I press a hand to my chest, feigning shock.
Mom’s mouth tightens around the edges. “This is not a joke, Jasper. This is about your inheritance, your family, your livelihood. If this girl is some, some… snake in the grass—”
“Give her a chance, Mom. Get to know her before you judge her.” I arch a brow. “And if it makes you feel any better, she has no legal grounds to take me for all the money I’m worth, okay?” I don’t say pre-nup, because there wasn’t even a wedding. But if implying there’s some sort of legal protection in place will reassure Mom, then I’ll run with it.
At that, Mom sighs, and her shoulders relax a little. “All right. I’m sorry, Jasper. I just…” It’s only then that I notice the tears stinging the corners of her eyes. “I thought you’d invite your father and me to your wedding, that’s all.”
Shit. This is the real reason she’s upset. Not the gold-digging stuff—although I’m sure that’s a concern, it’s not what has her so emotional. “Oh, Mom…” I reach out my arms. Wrap them around her, and peer over her head at Dad and Dee in the distance, both chatting with Greg now.
Dee, for her part, has shrunken back in on herself, pulled her hands into the sleeves of her oversized hoodie while they talk. Dad looks, if anything, more worried than Mom by now.
What is Greg saying over there?
Crap. “I’m sorry, Mom,” I tell her, and lean down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We’ll do a real ceremony at some point, I’m sure.”
She draws in a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. I’m sorry I overreacted. I know you’ve never fallen so quickly before, Jasper, so I’m sure this Dee must really be something to have won you over.” Then Mom follows my gaze over her shoulder, and spies her husband’s face. “Oh dear. But we’d better go and save her from your father.”
We part and cross back over to Dad’s side.
“—sounds like it’s been very difficult,” Dad is saying.
Dee shuffles her feet, clearly uncomfortable. “I mean… Some things about it.”
“I don’t know how you put up with it,” Greg put in. “I’d feel awful, if I knew people all throughout the office were spreading those kinds of stories about me.”
“What’s this?” I break in, voice sharp. “Are we really talking office politics here?” I gesture around us at the blue skies overhead, the bright Mediterranean sun beating down on the beautiful cliff side resort that overlooks blue waves and white sand beaches far below. Beaches I can’t wait to bring Dee to—and not just because it will be a great excuse to see her in a bikini. Or even just bikini bottoms—a lot of the beaches here are topless ones. I bet she’d fit right in, with that sexy, curvy body of hers…
Then again, do I want all the other Greek men on the beach ogling my wife? I’m torn.
“Sorry, Jasper.” Greg tilts his head at me, his expression confused and conflicted. I’ll need to talk to him later. Explain that this whole lambast-Dee thing is no longer the plan. The new plan is to make her feel as comfortable as possible amidst my crazy family.
“I think Dee and I need to go drop our things off,” I say, with a glance past my family at the hotel attendants. Our bags have already been moved up to the room, and one attendant is waiting discretely nearby with a pair of key cards. “Freshen up a bit. What’s the plan for tonight again?”
“Cocktails on the rooftop lounge deck at sunset,” Greg pipes up helpfully, clearly trying to make up for my annoyance at him.
“Great. See you all there.” I lean in to kiss Mom’s cheek goodbye, then hug Dad. They both embrace Dee this time, at least, rather than offering handshakes. But I notice Dad’s hug seems stiff and formal, and Mom’s still tense, despite her promise to me to give Dee a real chance.
By the time we make it to our room, Dee’s shoulders sag and she lets out a huge sigh. “Well that couldn’t have gone worse,” she groans.
“They’re going to love you,” I insist, shutting the door behind us and crossing the room to open the huge balcony windows. They overlook the sea, and the view is breathtaking, with little dots of green islands in the distance and the beautiful red-tiled rooftops of the village down below us. ?
?Just give them some time to get to know you, that’s all. They’re in shock.”
She runs a hand through her hair, not even the view or the delicious-smelling sea breeze distracting her right now. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, at the end of the day, right?” She offers up a wry smile. “It’s probably stupid, but part of me… Part of me wanted them to like me anyway. I don’t know.” She shrugs one shoulder, lets it fall.
I cross to the bed and sit beside her, then wrap an arm around her shoulders to tug her against me. “They will, Dee, believe me. I know my parents. Mom is hurt about the elopement, which, to be honest, I should have seen coming. But her and Dad’s romance wasn’t so difference—they moved crazy fast when they got married, even for their generation. And Dad… he’s going to be over the moon by dinnertime. This is what he always wanted for me, after all,” I add with a wry smile.
“A wife, yeah. But probably not a wife like me.” It’s killing me to see her shoulders slumped like this. “And what was with Greg? I thought he liked me, but today…”
I scowl. “I’m going to talk to him.” He thinks he’s doing me a favor, is what I don’t—can’t—say. After the cocktail party tonight, I’m just going to have to catch him alone and explain that the plan has changed. Things aren’t what they used to be. This whole situation is quicksand under my feet.
In the meantime, I nudge Dee with my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get ready. If you’re going to wow my parents, might as well start with this party tonight.”
“Step one: I need to stop swearing, don’t I? Your mom about turned white when I said damn.” She laughs and pushes herself off the bed, then offers me a hand. I take it and pull her back down onto my lap instead, kissing her hard.
“Mm, please don’t stop. I love your dirty mouth.” I trace my tongue along her lower lip, and she parts it for me, draws my lower lip between her teeth to bite down gently.
“You do, huh?” When we break apart, her eyes are full of mischief.
“Especially when you’re using said dirty mouth to tell me all the dirty things you want me to do to you,” I reply with an arched brow, as I flip her around beneath me. With the sea breeze fluttering the curtains, and our view out over one of the most beautiful cities this side of the Atlantic—and most importantly, with Dee pinned underneath me, her body wriggling in anticipation as she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down against her—today should be perfect. This whole week should be.
