I opened my eyes and stared at Austin’s face. He was still asleep, and his dark lashes fanned across his cheek. My beautiful man. Last night had been everything I’d wanted. Austin understood me on a level no one else did. There was a part of me I could only unleash when I was with him. He fulfilled the raw, sexual need within me. We’d been together just under two weeks, but our souls knew each other.
I shifted, and his arms tightened around me. “Morning, sweetheart.”
“Morning.” After all the activity from the night before, I was deliciously sore.
Then I remembered that his mom was coming into town. I jutted out my lip. “It’s sad you’ll be over at your place tonight.”
“Why the hell would I stay over there?” he said, his brow furrowed.
Stating the obvious, I repeated what he’d said in case I’d missed something. “Your parents are coming into town.”
“Sweetheart, I’m a grown man. I can stay with my girlfriend and not need a time out.”
I wiggled underneath him as the hunger in his eyes grew. “Austin… I don’t want them to think badly of me.”
“They won’t. I don’t want to stay apart, Scarlette.” Austin’s dick hardened against my thigh.
His mother’s ringtone filtered through the room and his dick immediately softened. Austin didn’t move to answer it, but it kept ringing. “Get that. It might be important.”
“Cockblocking her son now.” He cleared his throat as I giggled, and then he answered. “Hey, Mom. What? Already?” His eyes grew wide. “Yeah, give me like twenty minutes. Yes, she is. Yeah. Okay.”
What’s going on?
He hung up the phone. “They’re here.”
I shot out of bed. “Like, here, here? As in ‘in the driveway’ here?”
“Yeah.”
There was no time to look at what he was doing. His parents were here. Like here. I’d be meeting them in minutes. In a whirlwind, I searched through my clothes and settled on a summer dress. Panic ensued. What if they don’t like me? His parents were here. And they were close. Like, really close as a family. I froze, feeling like the room was closing in on me. “Austin, I can’t meet them right now.”
I turned toward the bathroom, looking for a place to hide, when his arms wound around me. “Scarlette, it will be fine.”
The warmth from his arms soothed me some, but this was still too much. I’d planned to spend the day preparing to meet his parents. I needed more than a few minutes.
“Relax. I promise it will be fine.”
I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm. “I want to make a good impression.”
Austin spun me around, and the intensity of his stare sent goosebumps along my skin. “They already like you because you’re important to me.”
I huffed, blowing some hair out of my face. “If you say so.”
Leaning down, he gave me a little kiss, and I focused on his touch as he murmured, “Just relax. If you want me to ask them to come back later, I can. Or we can go hang out at my place.”
That would be worse. Then I would have to go over there and feel awkward walking into Austin’s place without knocking. I just needed a few minutes to gather myself. “No. Don’t do that. Let me brush my teeth. I’ll meet you in the living room in a bit. I just need to… give me a few minutes.”
He gave me another kiss. “Deep breaths. They don’t bite. Take all the time you need.”
I tried to smile, but my stomach felt queasy. When he closed the door, I sat on the bed for a few minutes to gather my thoughts. I can do this. It’ll be fine. Feeling more optimistic, I got myself off the bed and headed to the bathroom.
Before I was mentally ready, I was presentable and the bed was made. The bedroom looked like we’d only played cards there the night before. I giggled, thinking about how untrue that statement was.
At the bedroom door, I heard a booming laugh that was similar to Austin’s, yet different. Quietly, I opened the door to see two older people standing with their backs to me. Austin’s eyes lit up when they landed on me. At his change of expression, his parents turned around.
“Mom, Dad, meet Scarlette Noelle. Scarlette, these are my parents, Rose and Gene.”
Rose turned to me with a brilliant smile on her face, happy wrinkles framing her eyes. “It’s nice to meet you, Scarlette. I’m sorry for showing up earlier than expected. We made better time on the road than we anticipated. And I was excited to meet you. It wasn’t until we got here that I realized it might not be a good idea.”