“You were talking about me with your dad?”
“Oops, maybe. See, we’re perfect together. My folks already know about you.”
“Mine don’t know about you.”
“Then how about I meet them?”
“You want to meet my family?” she asked.
From the full document he had on her, she had three brothers. She was the only daughter and the youngest one. Kind of reminded him of his sister, Tamsin. He loved his little sister.
“Why not? It’ll be a hoot.”
“I’m not ready to take you back home to Mom and Dad. They wouldn’t let me go back to college.”
“And why is that?” he asked.
This time she leaned forward. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Because you know that you’re handsome, Mr. Denton, and they would worry about their daughter’s well-being.”
“I’d take care of your well-being.” He reached out, taking hold of her hand, and locked their fingers together.
“You just don’t give up, do you?”
“Never. I never step down from a challenge. If I want something, I believe in going after it no matter what.”
“I find that particularly interesting.”
“Good, it’s supposed to be.” He stroked her hand, going to the tip of her fingers. “If I can’t convince you to marry me today, maybe another day.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe so.”
“So, tomorrow is Sunday, and my family has this huge get-together. My oldest brother is back, and I was wondering if you’d like to come.”
Her eyes went wide.
Abel’s heart pounded. Why was he so nervous when it came to her?
“Dinner with your parents?”
“Yes. It should be fun.”
“You really do like to move fast, don’t you?” She hadn’t moved her hand from beneath his, so he considered that progress.
“I’m thirty-three years old. There’s no other way for me to be. I’ve already missed so much.”
Holding her hand up, she shook her head. “I’m twenty.”
“I’ve missed your first kiss, your first everything. Some other guy claimed that, and I wanted it to be me.”
She frowned. “Are all Denton men this possessive?”
“For the right woman, yes.” He was finding it harder to keep his thoughts to himself. “Will you come to lunch? You’ll see that I’m not a creep.”
Harper sighed. “Okay, I will go to lunch with you.”
“Thank you.” He lifted her hand up, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. It was the first of what he hoped were many to come.