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Ollie laughed at the pained look on his face as he bit down on his fist. “Right now, we need to go meet your family.”
Jackson sighed and Ollie stepped into his arms, sliding one hand up around the back of his neck to tug his mouth to hers. She felt Jackson’s hand slide down to her ass and Ollie yelped when she realized that if she raised her arms too high, the dress would also ride up. Pulling away, she straightened her dress and frowned at Jackson.
“Behave.”
If she hadn’t stoppedthem, they would have spent the whole party in Mindy’s office. Ollie adjusted her dress and brushed back her hair, Jackson kissed the side of her head as they stepped through the doors leading to the backyard and Ollie’s eyes widened.
This is what she imagined garden parties at estates would be like. The amount of space that spread out behind the house was unreal. The back lawn was sprawling and there were pockets of garden chairs, tables loaded with food and drinks, a small stage with two acoustic musicians, and fairy lights draped over all the trees surrounding the property. It wasn’t even a house at the end of a lane or in the middle of nowhere—there were houses on either side and further out beyond the back fence. Yet, the property never seemed to end.
Jackson led her through the crowd and she saw everyone glancing their way, sizing her up. When Jackson looked back at her with a smile, Ollie focused and felt her heart stop at the beautiful people in front of her.
She saw the same smile, the eyes and the lean build on the man standing before her. Where his son was a subtle kind of handsome, this man was all rugged cowboy handsome. Beside him stood an exquisite woman with high cheekbones and beautiful eyes that lit up with the smile aimed at her husband. Ollie appreciated men and women of all kinds, but this kind of attractiveness in one couple was truly unfair. She took a mental picture so she could describe them to Frankie later.
“Dad, Mindy,” he started, tugging Ollie beside him. “I want you to meet my girlfriend. This is Oleander.”
“Finally!” Mindy handed her glass to Jackson and clapped before stepping towards Ollie. Not knowing how to react, she let Mindy hug her, swaying as they held onto each other. When she pulled away, Ollie had to remember to blink and smile.
“You are beautiful.No…that’s not enough of a word, stunning, gorgeous, totally out of Jackson’s league even.”
“I tell her that everyday,” Jackson said and Ollie opened her mouth and closed it a few times before finally finding her voice.
“Thank you,” she said fast and blushed.
Mindy gave her hand a squeeze and gestured to the man beside her. “This is my husband, Callum. Keleigh, our daughter is somewhere in this throng. And so are Lisbeth and Carrie. I’m sure Jackson will introduce you to the family eventually.”
“Thank you for having me, I know we told you about me coming really last minute.” Ollie smiled.
Mindy waved off her thank you. “I’m so glad to finally meet the woman making my boy happy.”
“Okay, that’s enough. We’re going to go mingle,” Jackson laughed, shaking hands with his dad and Ollie saw him wink, which made Jackson smile as he lead them away.
“What was that between you and your dad?”
“He approves, that’s all.”
Ollie smiled, glad that his parents liked her. “Speaking of which…do you know that your dad and stepmom are truly the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen?”
“I mean, they’re all right. I know Mindy is out of my father’s league, like you are out of mine.”
“Obviously,” Ollie teased, Jackson chuckled and tugged her into his side, his lips finding hers for a quick kiss. She curled her fingers into his shirt as they pulled away, their eyes locked till someone interrupted them.
“Okay, save it for later. It’smyparty, and that means you have to behave.”
“Kel,” Jackson said and pulled away from Ollie, turning to the beautiful young woman in front of them. Jackson hugged the brunette and turned to gesture to her.
“Keleigh, this is my girlfriend Oleander. This is my baby sister, Keleigh.”
“Happy birthday,” Ollie said as Keleigh did what her mother did earlier and hugged her. “I’ve heard so much about you, but it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“As you can probably tell, we haven’t heard anything about you,” Keleigh said with a pointed glare at Jackson. “But I was very excited when mom said he was bringing someone.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jackson said. “Before we get caught up in festivities, I’m going to find Beth and Carrie. Any idea where they might be?”
“They’ve corralled all the kids into a room and decided to stay inside instead of enjoying this gorgeous weather.”
“We’ll go say our hellos and come find you later.” Jackson said with a dramatic eye roll that made his stepsister laugh. Ollie smiled at the interaction.
“You didn’t bring a gift, right?”
