had a chance to get around to open her door, and he frowned. Before he had a chance to speak, she rushed, “I know, I know, you said that you always wanted to hold the door for me, but I thought it would be quicker this way.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “Okay—for now. But next time, wait till I get you.”
Settling back into the warm seat, she watched as they drove toward the northern part of the city, where many of the older, stately neighborhoods were located. Driving down the road with large homes on either side, she peered out the window in curiosity. “I love these old neighborhoods where the homes are not cookie-cutter. Each one is different.”
“I like the different architecture as well.”
“I had no idea you lived in a neighborhood like this. Why did you buy such a large house?”
“Oh, I don’t live here.”
She swung her head around to stare at him, now noticing an unusual tenseness radiating from him.
He scrubbed his hand over his face as he slowed down. “Look, I know I should have said something earlier, but I didn’t want you to get nervous.”
“Nervous? Nervous about what?” Dread was curling through her at his response and her stomach clenched.
“My mom called this afternoon, and when I told her that I was having you over for dinner, she suggested that we have dinner with them instead.”
“And you agreed?” she screeched. “Without telling me?” She quickly glanced down, glad that she had chosen to wear a nice pair of jeans and a pretty pink sweater but was mortified that she had not taken more time to fix herself. “I can’t believe you did this!” She jerked down the sun visor, checking the mirror, wanting to assure herself that her makeup was right for dinner with his parents.
“I honestly didn’t think it would be a big deal.” Reaching across, he took her hand in his. “Really, Harper, you’re beautiful. It’s just dinner with my parents. My sister, Erin, might be there also. It’s no big deal, I promise.”
She had no more time to object considering he parked on the street in front of a large, two-story home. Her mouth hung open at the number of cars parked in the driveway and in the front. Her chest heaved and she croaked, “Please, tell me there’s no one else here except your parents.” In her peripheral vision she could see him scrub his hand over his face again before squeezing the back of his neck.
Sighing heavily, he mumbled, “Fuck. It looks like Mom may have invited the rest.”
“The… the rest?” Her gaze moved from the house over to Sean, seeing the uncharacteristic hesitation in his eyes.
Appearing to steel himself, he said, “It’ll be fine, babe. Honestly.”
“Sean, this is not my definition of fine.” She watched as he climbed from the driver’s seat and walked around, opening her door. For a few seconds, she considered keeping her ass planted on the warm seat of his SUV but knew that would be cowardly. Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly and allowed him to assist her down. He linked his fingers with hers as they walked toward the front door. “Sean, I can’t go in there and be pissy, but we’re going to talk about this when it’s all over with!”
His hound-dog expression almost had her forgive him instantly, but she faced toward the door, refusing to look at him again.
Just as they reached the door, it was thrown open, and before she had a chance to speak, a darling, dark-haired little girl stood in the doorway smiling up at them. “Hi, Uncle Sean!” Before they had a chance to greet her in return, the little girl looked over her shoulder and screamed, “Mom! Uncle Sean and his girlfriend are here! And she’s pretty!”
Sean chuckled as he squeezed Harper’s fingers. “That little princess is my niece, Colleen.”
As they stepped into the foyer, a tall, curvy, beautiful woman appeared. She immediately hugged Sean, then leaned back and stuck her hand out toward Harper. “Hi, I’m Tara, and I see you’ve already met my little hooligan, Colleen.”
“Hello.” Harper smiled, taking Tara’s hand in her own. “Your daughter is adorable.”
“Unfortunately, her latest thing is to stand in one room and scream into another, as you obviously were shown.” Tara stepped to the side and added, “Mom would have greeted you, but she’s in the middle of basting her roast. Come on back.”