The presence of the driver didn’t seem to register for Jonathan as his hand slipped into her hair, fingers threading through the loose waves as he tilted her face toward his and kissed her, like he’d been dying to taste her all day.
Stopping him wasn’t really an option.
Not when he touched her like that. Not when her body answered so easily, leaning into him, wanting him just as much. It was a losing battle, and she knew it.
Still, she managed—barely—to pull back, breath uneven, lips tingling.
“Jon,” she murmured, her voice a little breathless. “You’ve destroyed my lip gloss.”
He looked entirely unapologetic.
Shaking her head, she reached for her bag, rummaging through it in a hurry. If she was about to meet his family, she needed to look like she hadn’t just been thoroughly kissed in the back of a car.
“Mags,” he growled, placing a firm hand on her thigh and squeezing. “You drive me crazy.”
“Well, think of other things. They’re your family, so you don’t need to worry about first impressions, and thank God,” she shot her boyfriend a sharp look, “but I still need to, and you will not lead me astray again tonight. Until we’re alone again, that is,” she grinned as she touched up her lips.
Jonathan snorted. “My family knows how much you mean to me. You have nothing to worry about.”
Mags wondered how much she meant to him. They’d never said the words, though, if his dick could speak, it would surely say the L word, she thought with a sniff of irritation.
He clasped the hand not holding the lip glass and said, “After this trip, I would like to discuss our future.”
Inside, she was crowing in delight, but instead of letting him know how badly she craved discussing what he saw for them, she teased, “I’ll pencil you in.”
He didn’t laugh, only took her chin, moving her head until she was staring into his eyes. “Pencil me in for getting you naked. Often. Make a notation that I’ll use every part of my bodyto make every part of yours know how important our meetings are.”
Mags felt her body shiver, and without consciously telling her hand to move, she found it running up his thigh, needing to feel his…
“We’ve reached your destination,” the driver announced. “And not a moment too soon,” the woman added, chuckling, which had Mags’ cheeks burning and Jonathan laughing.
“Thanks for the ride,” he said as he opened things up.
“No. Thank you,” she said, still laughing.
Mags couldn’t stay embarrassed. They’d brought that on themselves, after all. She and Jonathan laughed all the way to the front door of his family’s four-story monster of a home. The massive front door soon loomed before them, instantly filling her with nerves again.
She whispered an “Oh God” as Jonathan opened things up.Christ have mercy.His mom and two sisters were in the front to greet them, with his father, Patrick, and his brother, Bran, standing behind the sisters.
River cried, “Mags!” before pulling her into a hug and away from Jonathan’s side and straight into a Byrne sister huddle. She caught Jonathan’s eye over his mom’s shoulder. His shrug had her head shaking.
River led her over to a table set up with finger foods and pitchers of water and tea. “I’m so glad you two could stop by before you go home.”
“We were all relieved to hear that your mother beat cancer a second time,” Raven said, patting Mag’s hand.
“I hope she expects an ass-chewing from her brother, Thomas, Cat, and Jo,” Rowan huffed. “I know she had to have had her reasons, but…well, I would have wanted to know.”
River sighed and leaned back in her chair, sipping a lemon water on ice. “We all love your mom, Margaret. We would have helped in any way…in every way.”
“Perhaps that’s why she didn’t tell, Riv. She wanted to do it alone. With Charles, of course,” Raven said thoughtfully.
Rowan sat forward and captured Mags’ attention. “Aileen had her reasons, and we all respect that. You, on the other hand, had no reason to leave the townhouse. You should have come to one of us while your parents were away. You should have never let finances come between our love and care for you.
“Hugh would have been devastated to find out that you didn’t feel as though you could stay outside of being a student.”
As soon as Rowan spoke Hugh’s name, her eyes became glassy, and then, like dominoes, River and Raven were blinking rapidly. Mags felt her own eyes become misty and desperately hoped to salvage the situation.
“He would have blistered my ears before personally moving my things back into the townhouse, and then he would have called every man in my family.
