Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,27

lead to? Your parents' house?"

"No, no, to my house. Me and Mac. In the back. They don't pick up that phone… unless they're at my house. But, no, that's my phone."

"Okay," he said "What time tomorrow?"

"Twelve-thirty or one," I said. "You do know my dad's going to be there, right?"

"Yes. Why? Should I be scared of your dad?"

"Not if we're just friends," I said, smiling. "None of this fake boyfriend stuff at my house."

He grinned. "Okay. I'll just be your friend tomorrow. I'll see you then."

Chapter 10

There were seven of us cousins. I had more in my extended family, but there were seven of us who stayed close and got together frequently. I was the oldest, but the rest of them were not much younger than me. Counting the aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends, there would be twenty or so of us at lunch today.

Tess and Billy had two kids named Tara and Will. My parents had myself, Phillip, and Evan.

And my Aunt Laney (on my dad's side) had twins named Jenny and Josh.

We all met at Tess and Billy's after church for lunch. It wasn't something that happened every Sunday, but we tried to get together for birthdays, and sometimes we would just default to the nearest Sunday to celebrate since it was a time when most of us could get together.

That was what was happening this week. Three people, including myself, had birthdays recently, so it was time we all got together and had a family lunch.

I hadn't heard from Drew, so I had no idea if he was planning on coming or not. But he did. It was close to 1pm when he arrived. My cousin heard him at the door and let him in. We had just called everyone to the kitchen to pray and make our plates. I was standing on the other side of the room when Drew came around the corner, and I made a quick introduction from afar.

My mom, who was standing next to Drew, reached out and gave him a sideways hug. My family was full of huggers, and Drew didn't hesitate to receive two or three of them from nearby women. He also shook a few hands of guys who were standing nearby. It all happened really quickly.

I was on the other side of the kitchen, holding Mac on my hip. My mom and aunt talked to Drew. I couldn't hear them, and I really hoped they weren't making him feel on the spot like they thought he was my boyfriend. He was smiling every time I glanced over there, so I assumed it was fine. I hoped it was.

My aunt had cooked pork roast and rice and gravy with potato casserole and several other vegetables, including my aunt's famous fried eggplant straws. Mac loved those. It was the only way he would eat eggplant. He was working on one of them at the moment.

My Uncle Billy said a few things about the birthdays we had celebrated, and I smiled and did a little bow when he announced my name and everyone cheered. I made eye contact with Drew briefly after that, and I had to work at keeping my expression neutral.

I just loved how he looked. He was physically strong and sturdy. That was why I had fallen so hard for Bradley. Drew was athletic, and I was drawn to that. It seemed that male muscles were my kryptonite. The sight of Drew Klein standing in my aunt's kitchen made my heart beat faster.

Because of Drew's timing, and the way we were all standing in the crowded kitchen, I didn't end up next to him for the first several minutes.

Finally, after about half of the people in the kitchen finished serving themselves and made their way out, Drew and I were able to converge.

I couldn't believe he was here. He was seeing me in my natural habitat, with Mac on my hip. I was almost scared to go up to him. All I could think about was kissing him the night before, and I didn't want him to know it was on my mind or think that I assumed it meant something. I didn't even know what I was assuming. My thoughts were jumbled, shifting, choppy. He was coming over to me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"Hello, Mac."

"Hey. Hi, Mister Drew," he said, correcting himself since he knew I would do it.

"Hello, Mister Mac," Drew said.

Mac wiggled and reached out for my mom who came up from the side of me.

"I'll take