“Do you enjoy it?”
“Yes. The company I work for is pretty flexible. They don’t require us to be in-office, so I work remotely from wherever I want.”
“That sounds amazing,” James said. Then he gave Jessa a wink before turning his gaze to Noah. “Noah, how are the slopes?”
“Good. Nothing new to report.”
“Hey, hey, hey. You know the rules. No work talk,” Karen said. “Now, Jessa?—”
Jackson interrupted. “Hey Emma, how’s school going?”
Emma laughed. “It’s good. I’m learning to read.”
“Whoa. That’s so cool!” Jackson said with an impressed look on his face.
Jessa smiled as she watched the interaction. Karen frowned.
“Jessa,” she started, but was then interrupted by Ethan.
“I think I should take a group snowshoeing. What do you think, Miles?”
“Uh, sure?” Miles said. Ethan blinked repeatedly at Miles before he sighed and set down his fork. “That sounds amazing, Ethan. Would you like me to prepare snacks?”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
“Hey! What’s with all of you and work talk? You know the rules,” Karen said.
Jessa pulled her lip between her teeth, trying not to smile. Noah squeezed her thigh beneath the table before eating the steak Miles had prepared. Jessa followed his lead.
Jackson snorted before digging into his own food. Even Miles cracked a smile.
“Now, as I was saying, Jessa?—”
“Grandma, they don’t want you to talk to Jessa,” Emma said. Then she looked at Ethan. “You’re supposed to ask me about my friends now, Uncle Ethan.”
The table fell silent, and Jessa looked around among the group of men. Ethan chortled, interrupting the silence and soon everyone, but Karen, was laughing. She flung her hands in the air and sat back in her seat, glaring at each of her sons before turning her glare to her husband.
James held his hands in the air while laughing. “Don’t look at me.”
“Come on, Mom. We didn’t want you to give her the third degree, so we were trying to help,” Jackson said before taking a bite of his steak and chewing slowly with a large grin on his face. “By the way, this is delicious, Miles.”
Miles smiled brightly and took a bite of his own steak. “Thank you.”
“Yes, it is, Daddy. Super yummy,” Emma said. She stabbed a piece of steak with her fork and slathered it in a pile of ketchup on her plate before chewing it noisily.
“Thank you, Peanut.”
“I don’t give people the third degree,” Karen said.
Jackson snorted. “We know you mean well, Mom. But for an outsider, it feels like an interrogation.”
While the group went back and forth ribbing their mom, both Noah and Jessa finished their meals. Noah rested his hand on her thigh again and heat spread through her. This was supposed to be a night they made some sexy memories, but now they were seated with his family.
But she didn’t mind it. She didn’t have a large family and had never experienced a dinner of this magnitude. The dynamic was interesting, to say the least.
Sadness at her childhood seized her. She loved her parents and enjoyed traveling with them, but now she wondered how much she had missed out on while growing up. She was never normal. Her best friends were her parents until she met Megan. She rarely got interaction with other children. Did it set her back?
Noah gave her thigh a squeeze, and she met his concerned eyes.
