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She paced into the bedroom and back out again. She checked her hair in the hall mirror and smoothed the breezy pink floral fabric of her sundress. Her sweater was hanging on the back of the apartment door with her purse. She was ready to go if he ever showed up. She looked out the window just as Zander pulled up and climbed out of his truck. King jumped out right behind him.
She locked up and jogged down three flights of stairs and met him in the lobby. He looked amazing. His khaki chino shorts were pressed and looked incredible against the light tan of his skin. He wore a coordinating green T-shirt proclaiming him World’s Best Uncle. His hair was damp, and his dark beard was neatly trimmed to look like a long fiveo’clock shadow. He seemed unfazed by the early evening humidity rolling in off the ocean.Golly, he looked delicious. Her heart frolicked in anticipation.
“Hi.” She let herself through the locked inner lobby door into the foyer.Oh my. He smells amazing. Her skin prickled and a shiver of longing skittered down her spine. “You’re late. I wondered if you’d changed your mind about going.”
Gosh, she’d missed him. She told her mind to hush.
“I did text you,” he said. “I had a late walk-in.”
“Oh, I didn’t get it.” She pulled out her phone to double check. “Nothing.” She showed him.
“Weird.” He showed her his phone and the text he had indeed sent.
“Technology.” She laughed. “Should we go?” She was feeling giddy and upbeat now that she knew she hadn’t been ditched.
He held the lobby door open, and they went down the two front steps to the sidewalk. “I’ll just shoot Mom a text that we’re on the way. With luck it will get there before we do. A word to the wise,” he paused, “I told Mom we’re dating. I’m hoping it stops her matchmaking attempts.”
Heather frowned. “What about Derrick? He was mad when you kissed me. He doesn’t want you near me. How do we handle that?” She stopped dead on the sidewalk. “Oh man. I should have thought of this earlier. I could lose my job!”
“Relax. It’ll be fine. I told Mom we were keeping it quiet for now. That we wanted to go slow and not go public until we knew if it was going to work out. I think she’ll keep it under her hat.”
She didn’t care for the uncertainty in his voice. “Are you sure?”
“With Mom, nothing is certain. But she seemed to understand that we wanted privacy.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to lose this job.”
“Honestly, I think you’re worrying too much. I don’t think Derrick will fire you if we’re dating.” The certainty in his voice was reassuring.
She resisted the urge to ask him what happened when they broke up.
Each time their shoulders bumped as they walked along the narrow sidewalk, she wanted to lean into his warmth. It wasn’t that she was cold, it was more that touching him filled her with an energized contentment that she wanted, needed, more of. The contact chased away some of her fear.
She carried her purse between her hands, with her sweater hanging over top. She probably looked prissy, but it kept her hands too busy to heed the temptation to hold his hand.
She was nervous about the evening. After Zander asked her to dinner, his mother showed up in the kitchen to invite her as well. Her exact words were, “Just making sure my son didn’t forget to invite you.” His mom put a sarcastic emphasis on forget.
Heather asked the question that had been roiling in her mind all afternoon. “What do I expect tonight? I’ve met everyone, but I don’t really know them.”
“Noise. Expect a lot of noise. There will be teasing, laughter, and probably a few arguments.” He chuckled. “Definitely arguments.”
She bit her lip. She wasn’t a huge fan of confrontation. She dealt with it fine, but she didn’t like it. After the scene with Marv’s pregnant wife, she wanted to keep her life calm and drama free.
“It won’t be anything to worry about. We’re just loud and boisterous and we fight amongst ourselves a lot. Don’t let the bickering fool you. As a family, we stand together against the world.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” His words echoed Quinn’s comment the other day.
They weren’t even inside the house when the sound of raised male voices reached them. She paused at the base of the front steps.
“Go on,” Zander urged. “We don’t bite.” He splayed his hand across the small of her back.
She swore the heat from each individual finger branded her through her dress. She stepped forward to get away from the sensation. Zander followed her up the stairs and leaned past her to open the screen door.
“We’re here,” he shouted toward the house from right beside her. She winced at the shard of pain piercing her eardrum.
The argument ended as if someone had flipped a switch. His mother, Beth, hurried to greet them, wiping her hands on her apron as she came. “Perfect timing. I just finished mashing the potatoes.” She half turned away from them and shouted, “Derrick pull the ribs out of the oven.” She threw her arms around Heather. “Welcome to the family, dear,” she said loudly.
Did anyone in this family talk at a normal tone of voice? King pushed past her and wandered inside, obviously used to visiting here.
