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Amanda smiled. “Okay, you win.”
“Now relax and enjoy the rest of the flight. We should be there soon.”
“Oh, by the way, my parents are meeting us at the airport. I-I told them about you.”
“You told them I was your boyfriend?”
She nodded and bit her lip before replying, “And that you’ve been prodding me to get engaged.”
Engaged meant gold rings with sparkly diamonds. “Shit.”
“What?” Amanda straightened in her seat and clutched her hands together in her lap.
Leo reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t have a ring for you. A guy who’s in love and wants to get engaged would have a ring ready and waiting for when his woman says yes. Wouldn’t he?”
She frowned. “We’ll say we’re waiting to pick it out together. That’d work, right?”
“Yeah, that’s good.” Leo sighed. “Damn, this lying stuff is hard.”
Amanda laughed. “And neither of us is very good at it.”
Leo was struck by the way her laughter changed her facial features. Her eyes slanted a little, and laugh lines appeared at the corners. She’d always been pretty to him, but when she laughed he couldn’t look away. As if the sound had some magical quality. A magic only she seemed to possess. Had he ever laughed with the women he took as lovers? Probably, but he’d never wanted to say things to them just to hear their laughter. With Amanda he went out of his way to make her smile, to watch her let down her guard. It made his day when that happened.
At that moment the pilot announced they were about to land. Leo and Amanda both held their breaths. This was it. No going back. He’d be forced to kiss her, hold her hand, pretend to be her lover and do it all without screwing up their friendship. No problem.
As they entered the airport, Leo felt Amanda stiffen beside him. He followed her gaze and noticed a woman striding briskly toward them. She had blonde hair like Amanda’s, pulled up into a twist of some sort. Petite, delicate and frowning. It was the frown that did it. It made her appear unapproachable. Amanda might have her mother’s blonde hair, but as far as Leo was concerned, there’s where the similarities stopped.
“Amanda, dear.” She gave what appeared to be a forced smile, then hugged Amanda. If you could call the quick, loose embrace a hug. What the hell kind of greeting was that? She acted more like a stern schoolteacher rather than a mother greeting a daughter she hadn’t seen for a year.
“Mother,” Amanda said, her voice crisp as she stepped back, spine ramrod straight. Leo wrapped an arm around Amanda’s middle and pulled her in close. She relaxed, but not nearly enough to satisfy him.
When her mother’s gaze landed on the hand he had on Amanda’s waist, the forced smile disappeared. “Care to introduce me, Amanda?”
Amanda cast him a wary look. “Mother, I’d like you to meet Leo Prentice. He and I are…”
As Amanda stalled out, Leo came to her rescue. “We’re going to be married. Just as soon as I can talk her into it, that is.” After dropping that little bomb, Leo smiled and extended his hand, hoping to soften the woman a fraction. If anything she appeared colder—and she didn’t take his hand. Feeling like an idiot, Leo dropped it. Damn, cold didn’t begin to cover it. Amanda’s mother was a big old blast of arctic wind. He was more puzzled than ever how such an uncompromising woman could give birth to someone as warm and loving as Amanda.
She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow. “Pleased to meet you, Leo. I’m afraid Amanda has told me very little about you. What do you do for a living?”
“Mother, we can talk about all that later. It’s late and we’re anxious to get out to the cabin.”
“Of course, dear.” She put one hand on Amanda’s arm and led her down the long corridor. “Your father is in the car. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, and this heat is getting to him, I’m afraid.”
“He’s okay though?”
Leo heard the fear in Amanda’s tone and immediately wanted to take it away. He didn’t like seeing her worried.
“It’s just his age. A simple cold takes weeks to get rid of these days.” She spared Amanda another of those scolding glances. “We’re not getting any younger, Amanda.”
Amanda sighed. “Yes, I know, Mother.” She paused before adding, “Has Dad seen a doctor?”
“Yes, although he refused at first. He can be quite stubborn.”
Leo grinned at that. “So, it runs in the family then.”
For a second the woman smiled, and it appeared completely genuine. Just as quickly it was gone. “You’ll see that you have to be strong if you hope to have any say in this family.”
“Thanks for the advice, Mrs. Harding. I will be sure to remember it.”
