Secret (Betrothed #9) - Penelope Sky Page 0,38
my face with my hands. “Ugh…”
He grabbed both of my wrists and pulled them from my face. “I thought my baby wasn’t afraid of anything?”
“I’m not…except humiliation.”
He brought my wrists to his lips and kissed each one. “Come on.”
“Why do we have to have dinner at all?”
He shrugged. “My brother wants to meet you—properly. He’s my closest friend, so it makes sense that he wants to spend time with the woman I’m seeing.”
This was supposed to be a fling, not a relationship where we met each other’s family.
He seemed to read my thoughts. “I’ve met your friends.”
“But you haven’t slapped any of them…”
“On the ass, maybe.”
My eyes turned to fire.
He smiled, telling me it was a joke. “You and Cassini will get along well.”
“Uh, I really doubt it.” I remembered the way she threatened me when I struck her husband.
His arm wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me close. “I know you’re embarrassed, but I think it’s a lot more embarrassing not to show up. Then they’ll think you’re weak, that you don’t have the spine to look them in the eye, have the balls to keep your confidence, have the poise to laugh it off like the funny story it is.”
Damn, he got me. “Alright…”
He parked his truck at the curb and turned off the engine.
I looked through the windows at the tables inside the restaurant. It was a busy night, the tables full of couples and families. I could feel his stare against the side of my face. “This is gonna be weird.”
“Only weird if you make it weird.”
I turned back to him, seeing the outline of his pecs in his shirt. He was so muscular and firm that the clothes he wore couldn’t hide how fit and sexy he was. It left little to the imagination, but when he was naked, it was so sexy. “I meant because you’re twins. There will be two of you…”
“My brother and I are nothing alike.”
“Really? Because he grabs his wife’s ass exactly the way you grab mine.”
He grinned. “Baby, that’s just a man thing.” He opened the door and got out.
I joined him on the sidewalk, and we entered the restaurant. Heath wrapped his arm around my waist and guided me to the table, seeming to know exactly where his brother was sitting.
We approached the table, seeing Balto with his arm around his wife’s shoulders, looking at her like he didn’t hear a word she spoke, just watched her lips move because he was utterly infatuated with her.
I got that same look from Heath all the time, and now that I saw it from an objective view, I realized just how potent it was, how lucky I was that I had a man who looked at me like that. I was jealous of their affection even though I already had that chemistry with someone.
Heath cleared his throat and pulled out the chair for me. “Make out later, alright?”
Now that I was face-to-face with them again, the nerves got to me. My heart raced so fast, and I felt so out of place, not my usual confident state.
Heath sat beside me, his arm moving over the back of my hair just the way Balto’s did with his wife.
Balto slowly turned his gaze to his brother, his blue eyes just a tad bit more hostile than Heath’s usually were. “Would you rather me kick your ass instead?”
Heath grabbed the arancini balls from the center of the table and dropped them on his plate before he ate one whole. “I’m too hungry right now.” He placed one on my plate. “These are good, baby. Try one.”
He just called me baby in front of his family, and I was too nervous to enjoy it. I sliced my fork into the rice ball and took a small bite. “Yeah, they are good.” I put the fork down and stared at them both, the memory of that night fresh in my mind. “So…I’m super sorry about that night—”
“Don’t apologize.” Balto cut me off with his deep voice, sounding just like Heath. His face was still slightly bruised, but he’d healed pretty well. “Honestly, when you did that, I knew you were perfect for my brother.”
“Did Heath tell you about the first time we met?” Cassini looked at me, her long dark hair that was almost black, with almond-shaped eyes and a beautiful smile. She had a glass of water in front of her while Balto had a scotch.
“No.” I ate the rest of the rice