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Sydney’s face was a shade of red he’d never seen before. Her eyes swept to his face and he knew he was in for it the minute they got inside. She was never going to believe he hadn’t put his parents up to this. Showing up and guilting her into being with him over that status. He never should have blurted anything to his stupid brother who couldn’t keep his stupid fat mouth shut.
“Mom,” Jesse ground out. He smiled at his mother, as sweetly as he could, which was probably the equivalent of a mouse turning around and flipping off the bastard who had just screamed on finding it and smacked at it with a broom. “Seriously. We should go inside now. Sydney and I. Alone. Thanks for- erm- coming and all that, but we really need to talk.”
His mom’s eyes shone, and her bottom lip started going, trembling and puckering like he’d just told her she had three and a half seconds to live.
“But- but… honey, we’re so excited. Our babies, all grown up. I always knew this was right. You two together. You were the most adorable friends growing up and I knew one day it would turn into something else.”
“Mom!” I am seriously a dead man.
Sydney stood there, for the first time in ten years in front of him, right there, on his sidewalk, her mouth hanging open, just as dumbfounded as he was.
Jesse hedged, caught in between trying to save his balls, which were likely to be cut off by Sydney the second she got the chance, and between trying to keep his mother from having a nervous breakdown. She was cautiously optimistic, but he was something else entirely, considering he didn’t even know the woman standing before him anymore. She was little more than a stranger, ten years of distance and time between them.
“Oh, Jesus, I’m sorry, son.”
His dad had somehow snuck up behind him and when he clapped him on the shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Jesse had no idea what he was talking about until his mom brought both her hands up, swiped at her eyes, and gave him what could only be described as a purely evil smile. She’d sell her soul to the devil for a grandchild and he damn well knew it.
As the news van screeched to a halt right behind the SUV and a female reporter with the hugest, most flammable looking hair he’d ever seen, tumbled from the van, a camera guy close at hand, another scrambling for the mics and other equipment they needed, while a third going to battle with a huge camera and telephoto lens that was completely ridiculous given the bastard was standing a few feet away from them, set up on the sidewalk.
“Mr. Samson,” the female reporter with the big hair said. Ironically enough, was just about as tall as her, since she was all of five feet, petite, with a fire engine red pantsuit on, got straight down to work. “Tell us, who is your fiancé?”
“Fiancé?” He and Sydney spoke at the same time.
They shared a look and the feral gleam in her eyes said that he should most definitely be afraid of getting neutered the second they were safe in his house. He made a mental note to hide all forms of scissors and knives possible. He knew what Syd was capable of. She blinked that fringe of thick, dark lashes, ridiculously thick and insanely dark lashes, that said she knew what he was thinking and that she’d beat him to all pointy, sharp objects since she’d always been more athletic, and she knew it.
He knew it too and swallowed hard.
“We got an anonymous tip,” the red engine, blonde beehive went on while the cameras blinked in their faces.
Snap. Snap. Snap. The guy with the camera seriously wasn’t wasting any time.
“That you’re engaged now. Are we the first to break the story?”
“Er…” Jesse hated the media. Always had.
They printed stories up about the company, which in their founding days, was good, but he hated when the focus shifted to his personal life. He’d always viewed that as off limits. He seriously wished he had a lighter, just to hold it out and flick it and threaten the lady to back the hell off before he lit her hairdo sky high.
That’s mean. Seriously. What the heck am I doing standing here, thinking about lighting that lady’s hair on fire.
That was just the media. Always seemed to bring out the best in him.
His mom turned to the side, so Sydney couldn’t see her, and winked in his direction. He knew exactly who had tipped off the media. She tilted in, wrapped her arm around Sydney’s waist, and dragged her forward a step. Sydney was so shocked she couldn’t fight back. She nearly fell on her face, probably would have, if his mom didn’t have that hand steadying her. He also realized who gave his gate password away so that the damn van with the horrible roach reporters could get into the suburb in the first place.
