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The house is cozy and inviting with its warm lighting and plush furniture. Family photos cover the walls in small framed collages. It reminds me a lot of Jonas’ with its wooden floors and red and brown color scheme. I wonder if he modeled his own house after his childhood home.
Jonas leads me into the kitchen, and I see another member of the family sitting at the large table on one end of the room.
“Hey, Jared, what’s up?” Jonas asks.
The man sitting at the table holds up one finger, indicating he wants us to hold on a moment. When he finally looks up, he mutters, “Shit.”
“Jared Joseph, watch your mouth in this house!” Annie scolds.
“Sorry, Momma,” the man says. “Lost at Candy Crush again.”
“Seriously?” Jonas laughs. “Don’t you have better things to do with your time?”
Jared catches a glimpse of me and says, “Well, I’m not as busy as you’ve been. I’m sure if I had a woman this pretty on my arm, I’d put the phone down.”
“Jared, this is Andi…and she ismine,”he growls.
I’m usually not all about the possessive thing, but the way he calls me his makes my heart flutter…as well as what’s in between my legs.
Jared stands up to shake my hand, and I see he has the same hair and eye color as the others, but his hair is longer and pulled into a loose bun on the back of his head. He also has a scruffy beard. It’s not too long but still long enough to be considered a beard. He’s also a couple of inches shorter than Jonas, although still quite a bit taller than me.
“And what are you doing with my big brute of a brother here?” Jared asks me.
I don’t know what to say, but Jonas’s words about holding my own flash through my mind. So, I wrap my arms around Jonas’ waist and respond with, “Well, I guess he’smybrute, and I’m pretty crazy about him.”
Jonas's eyes snap down to look at me, and he grins, giving me a glimpse of those delicious dimples.
“Fair enough,” Jared laughs.
“Boys, help me carry the food to the table,” Annie interrupts.
Quickly, the two men do as their told and help carry dish after dish to the table. It’s a smorgasbord of comfort food, and my mouth waters just looking at it. There’s fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, and some sort of pudding dish for dessert.
As we all sit down at the table, I can see that Jonas was right. Nobody is shy about eating, and as we pass the plates around to get filled, they pile every item on my plate so high, I don’t know that I will be able to finish all of it without making myself sick.
Jonas notices my eyes as wide as saucers and leans over to whisper, “Just eat what you want. Momma always makes enough to feed an army.”
When I take my first bite of fried chicken, I have to stifle a moan at how good it is. It puts that fried chicken-making Colonel to shame for sure.
And everything else is just as good as I make my way through the mountain of food.
“So, Jared, where’s Macey?” Jonas asks between bites.
“She’s with her mom this weekend,” Jared replies.
“Oh, Tanya is actually home?” Annie asks.
“Yeah, but who knows for how long,” Jared says.
Jonas leans in once again to whisper. “Tanya is Jared’s ex. They have a daughter together, Macey. She lives with Jared full-time because Tonya’s job has her traveling constantly.”
Wow, I can’t imagine taking care of a kid. I can barely take care of myself.
Annie mumbles something about Tanya making a kid but not being around to help raise her, but no one acknowledges it. Instead, Jared turns to me and asks me what I do for a living.
“I’m…uhm…sort of in-between things at the moment,” I say, slightly embarrassed because I realize that it must look like I am using Jonas for his money.
Jonas steps in and begins to speak. “Andi just moved here from California, and she’s looking for something new. She has experience in office management and has a college degree in Marketing. So, if you see anything around town, let us know.”
