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Victoria smiled blithely as if the idea wasn’t the least bit off-putting. She and Nellie had gotten buddy-buddy before dinner and had spent more than a few minutes oohing and aahing over babies. He’d thought Victoria was just being polite, but maybe not. Maybe she really was—he shuddered—domestic.
“Thank you for that segue, Nellie,” Raymond continued. “Today has also allowed us all the chance to celebrate with our family’s newest couple, Cory and Vicky. Though Cory and Vicky’s relationship seems sudden, we all know love has no timetable. Cory, do you have anything you’d like to say?”
Cory gulped the last of his wine. “No.”
“I will.” Victoria drew her hand away from him and bounced to her feet before he could meet her gaze. Instead he stared at her side. More specifically, her breasts, outlined in snug, stretchy cotton.
Twitch.
“I just wanted to say how happy I am to have gotten to know some of you better today. Others I just met, but I look forward to learning more about each and every one of you. Thanks to my snookums, I’ve gained not only a mate but a whole new family.”
The word mate reminded him a bit too much of the mammals at the zoo, but no one seemed to think anything of it. She held the table enthralled as she spoke with her hands, smiling and gesturing as if she were on stage and loving every minute.
God, she was beautiful. Golden hair glowing, cheeks pink with enthusiasm. No wonder his family—and assorted hangers-on—couldn’t get enough.
“So tell us, dear. How did it happen?”
Victoria bit her lip at his mom’s question. Cory willed her to sit down, to play it off. But of course Victoria never backed down from a challenge, even an ill-advised one.
“Oh, it was working on the magazine. You know, all those long hours.”
“So it’s a recent thing then?”
“Oh, very recent. I can’t say I’d even noticed him before a few weeks ago.” She let out a breezy laugh that turned into a wheeze when Cory grabbed a handful of her ass. Better to have his stepfather raise an eyebrow at the PDA than to have Victoria embellish her lie past the point of believability.
“She doesn’t like to admit how she’s pined for me for years,” he said tightly.
Victoria cast him a glance that bordered on withering. “Honeybun, are you telling tales out of school again?”
“Just pointing out the obvious, sugarteat.”
Her pupils flared and she dropped down in her chair. For a moment, no one spoke through the veil of tension that now hovered over the table.
And this was why it was better to keep quiet than to arouse needless suspicion. Not that she’d ever listen to him. Or even notice him, apparently.
As conversation slowly resumed, Cory hooked an arm around her shoulders and tipped up her chin with his other hand. He pressed his lips close to hers and murmured, “Glad I’m so invisible to you.”
She winged up an eyebrow. “Sugarteat? Really?”
He shrugged. “Sorry. I’m not as good at the terms of endearment as you are. Next time I’ll try figgypudding. Or prunyraisin.” When she giggled, he kept going. “Sourapple? Smellysock?”
Without warning, jazz music erupted from unseen speakers. “To the living room!” his mom called gaily, leading the charge out of the room.
“What’s going on?” Victoria asked, still whispering although everyone had left.
“Packing party.” This would be one of their last gatherings in this house so he didn’t want to miss a minute. “Mom will probably reminisce and go through baby pictures to embarrass us while she pretends to sort through things for the move. Everyone will get a little drunk and insult each other. You know, the usual family deal.”
At the sudden dimming of her smile, he mentally clocked himself in the head. Way to go, ace. Her family hadn’t been “usual” for a while, and he fucking knew better.
“Sounds kind of private. Baby pictures and all,” she said, obviously less than thrilled.
Maybe she’d cheer up if she got distracted enough. He could hope. “Come on.” He grinned and tugged on her hand, but she didn’t budge.
Strange. Even with her own strained family dynamic, he’d figured Victoria would be all about something fun like this. They wouldn’t have to talk or act much and could just relax for the most part. Yet she was frowning so hard he was afraid her face would freeze that way. What the hell?
“I have an idea.” Her eyes lit with mischief.
“But they’ll be expecting us to hel—” he said halfheartedly as she jerked to her feet and pulled him from the room.
