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Deanna looked at her mom and smiled. “No,” she replied in a softer voice, “you should bring Mac to the wedding. It’s been long enough, Mom. It’s time to move on.”
Mrs. Harrison shrugged. “I don’t know about moving on. To be honest, I feel a little guilty for even talking to Mac. Like I’m betraying your father.”
Deanna vehemently shook her head. “No, Mom, really. Dad would want you to be happy. He wouldn’t expect you to be alone the rest of your life.” She took her mom’s hand in hers and said, “You have my support all the way.”
“Thank you, dear, that means so much,” she said, as both women shared a tearful hug. When they pulled apart, Deanna’s mom let out a long sigh. “Now, to tell your brothers, that’s not going to be fun.”
All four of them groaned. Gracie was the first to speak. “Expect Wade to run a background check on him,” she bit out, clearly recalling the way he’d done that with Catherine. “And he’s absolutely going to want to have a heart-to-heart with Mac, too, I bet. He’s very protective that way.”
Deanna laughed. “Oh, man, I can’t wait to see their faces when you tell them, Mom.”
Catherine snorted. “You have a mischievous streak a mile wide.”
“Hey, Dean and Wade still have it coming, considering the hassle they gave Jonas and me when we started to see each other.”
That surprised her. “But you two are made for each other!”
“Yeah, but I’m the little sister, so no guy is ever quite good enough.” Deanna rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous nonsense, if you ask me.”
“They’ve accepted him now though,” Gracie said. “And speaking of Jonas, he’ll probably be an usher. Dean will be best man.” She pointed to Deanna and said, “You’ll be a bridesmaid.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing wedding preparations. Catherine felt so comfortable with Gracie and Dean’s family that she forgot for a minute that she would be going home soon.
The thought was more depressing than ever.
21
When she arrived on Dean’s doorstep at seven sharp, Dean answered the door after the first knock. Catherine’s entire body went on high alert when she caught sight of him. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a plain white T-shirt. His hair was a wet, tousled mess as if he’d recently showered. And he was barefoot. Staring at the man could easily become a new favorite hobby of hers.
“Hi,” Dean said as he reached for her hand. In a lust-induced daze, Catherine stared at it a second before finally placing her hand in his. He intertwined their fingers and pulled her into the house, then kicked the door shut. Catherine started to ask him about his wet hair, but Dean quickly dragged her into his arms and proceeded to kiss her senseless. Catherine’s mind went blank and she melted against him as every fiber in her being raged to life.
When he pulled back, they were both breathing heavy and the animalistic look in his eyes sent butterflies to flight inside Catherine’s stomach. “Damn, I needed that,” he gritted out.
“Me too,” she confessed, wishing he hadn’t stopped so soon.
Dean helped her with her coat. He looked her over and Catherine could almost feel the stroke of his gaze as he stopped for a few fiery moments on her breasts. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “Then again, your curves could make a burlap sack look downright indecent.”
Catherine smoothed her hands down her sides. “I still think I need to lose a few pounds, but thank you.”
“Don’t even think about going on a diet.” He paused, then said, “Speaking of that, I made some more hot chocolate. Want a cup?”
She rubbed her hands together to ward off the chill. “Oh, it sounds wonderful, thank you.”
Once in the kitchen, he turned toward her. “I hear you visited with my mom and sister today.”
Catherine sat at the table and crossed her legs. For some reason she was nervous. She wasn’t sure why, but she suspected it had something to do with the fact that she’d discovered she loved Dean and wasn’t too confident the feeling would ever be reciprocated. Yeah, that could have a girl on edge.
“Catherine?”
She snapped back to reality, embarrassed that she’d forgotten his question. “Sorry, I got sidetracked. What did you say
?”
Dean grabbed a potholder and took a steaming pan off the stove. “I was saying that I heard you visited with my mom and sister today. How’d that go?”
“Oh, yeah, they came to Gracie’s and had lunch with us,” she explained. “I enjoyed talked with them. Your family is pretty great.”
He nodded, then turned back to the counter to pour their drinks. Catherine took a moment to admire the view. Her gaze traveled over his strong shoulders and back, all the way down to his butt, where she got stuck for a few seconds. When she recalled how good that particular body part felt beneath her fingers, immediate meltdown occurred.
