Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Her mouth snapped shut, and she stared at me in horror.
Before she knew what I was doing, I’d reached across the car and slid my hand up her sweater. When my fingers brushed over her nipple, she swore, but she made no move to stop me as I pinched one and then the other.
“Better?”
“A little,” she grumbled, leaning into my hand.
“I’ll give you more later,” I replied, pulling my hand away so I could hit the garage door opener on the ceiling.
“I don’t think I like you very much,” she mused, yanking her sweater into place.
“Sucks for you.”
“Jesus, how many cars do you guys have?”
I ignored the question as I pulled into my spot and turned the car off. My mother was probably pacing the floors, wondering what the hell we were doing. She would’ve known the moment we drove up the driveway the first time. My father, on the other hand, probably knew exactly what we’d been doing.
“I’m not good with parents,” Reese said, opening her door before I was even out of the car. “They’re going to hate me.”
“No, they won’t,” I assured her. By the time I got out of the car, she was already standing next to my door.
“No, really,” she said, taking my hand as she winced. “I’m an acquired taste. Most people don’t like me at first. I have to kind of grow on you.”
“That’s a relief,” I muttered, tugging her toward the door to the kitchen. “I was getting nervous.”
It took her almost a minute to understand what I’d said, and I was already opening the door when she replied.
“You’re such an asshole!”
Reese froze behind me when she got a good look at the faces staring at us from around the counter.
“So, it’s going well, then,” Chance said dryly, toasting me with his drink.
“Fuck my life,” Reese muttered under her breath.
I probably should’ve warned her that every person in the room had heard everything she’d said since the moment we’d pulled into the garage.
Chapter 5
Reese
If there was ever a good moment for spontaneous human combustion, it was the moment that Beau pulled me into the kitchen full of people that just heard me call him an asshole. I tried to tell myself that they already knew he was an asshole—it wasn’t as if he tried to hide it—but I still couldn’t meet their eyes. What a fan-fucking-tastic first impression.
“This is Reese,” Beau announced, his hand tightening on mine as he led me further into the room. “Reese, these are my parents, Erik and Matilda, and my brothers, Chance and Daniel.”
“Call me Mattie, please,” his mom said kindly with the smallest hint of a southern accent. “Matilda is so stuffy.”
She moved forward to shake my hand, and I gave her a pained smile as I took it. “Nice to meet you.”
“Wonderful to meet you, too, darlin’,” she replied, her smile bright. She was gorgeous. Not in a way that said she worked for it, but like it just radiated from somewhere inside of her. It was slightly disconcerting that she didn’t look older than her forties, though. I mean, I knew that Vampires didn’t age the way we did, but she definitely didn’t look old enough to be Beau’s mom. His older sister, maybe.
Beau’s dad was different. He only looked too young to be Beau’s dad until you met his eyes and realized that the guy had seen some shit. His beard was long, with just a few light red streaks through it, and there were tattoos down both sides of his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt.
“Erik,” he said gruffly, nodding at me. “Good to meet you.”
“You, too,” I murmured.
Okay, one friendly parent wasn’t so bad. I could maybe win his dad over later.
“That one is Danny,” Beau said, pointing at the brother with short hair. Then he pointed to the brother with longer hair and a full beard that looked like a carbon copy of his dad. “And that one is Chance.”
“Ulf called earlier,” Erik said. “He wants you to call him back when you get a moment.”
“He could’ve called me himself,” Beau replied.
“Didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Those first few days are a bit of a whirlwind,” Beau’s mom said conspiratorially to me, wrinkling her nose happily. “Make sure you take the time to soak it all in.”
“I think they’re letting it soak in just fine, Ma,” Chance said, laughter in his voice.
“More than once, even,” Danny muttered.
My face was so hot it felt like it was going to melt off my skull. How the fuck did they know? I glared at Beau. Someone must have seen us.
“Enough,” Erik barked, glaring at his sons. “What the fuck is the matter with you?”
Beau let go of my hand to drape his arm over my shoulders. “Ignore them.”
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Mattie said, reaching out to give Beau’s bicep a squeeze. “Why don’t you show Reese around, and I’ll call you when it’s on the table.”