“You say that now, but just wait. They have no concept of boundaries.”
Unable to stop smiling, Carmela kissed her again. “That sounds like someone I know,” she joked. “Apparently they want to meet me.”
“Oh God . . . I’m so sorry. You do not have to—”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d love to meet them,” Carmela said before Rhiannon finished her sentiment.
“You really don’t have to if it’s too soon for you.
Honestly, they can be a lot. Imagine that phone call times a thousand.”
Carmela nestled into Rhiannon’s arms. “I can’t wait.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
PULLING into her driveway in the darkness, Carmela was dreading saying goodbye to Rhiannon. Even if for a day.
When Rhiannon stopped the car in front of Carmela’s garage and turned o the headlights, neither of them made any moves to get out.
“I bet you’re looking forward to sleeping by yourself in your own bed,” Rhiannon said as she picked at the seam in the leather wrapped around her car’s gearshift.
It was the exact opposite thing she was looking forward to but didn’t know how to say that without sounding clingy.
“Are you looking forward to that?”
“Not really,” she replied, looking at her with a flush of pink in her newly tanned cheeks.
The sight was a dagger in Carmela’s heart. In that moment, she realized she never wanted Rhiannon to be sad.
“You could . . . I don’t know . . .” Carmela looked away.
“Stay?” Rhiannon guessed, taking her hand in hers and forcing her gaze back to her.
Lost in gray eyes, Carmela nodded. “Only if you wanted to, of course. I’m sure your parents are so eager to get a good look at you and make sure you’re still in one piece and not a changeling.”
Rhiannon laughed and squeezed her hand. “Don’t put it past my mother to scour my body for any unusual marks.”
“Then I guess it’s bad luck for us I left those scratches all over your back,” she replied with a wink.
After a moment of levity, the unspoken anxiety returned.
“This is probably so freaking lame and against some kind of dating code to say, but I don’t want to leave you,” Rhiannon blurted much to Carmela’s relief.
“It’s even more pathetic to admit at my age, but damn it,” she sighed, “I don’t want you to leave either,” she replied, squinting as if that would soften the mortifying e ect of the admission.
“Okay. So what if I stay then? We can go into the o ce together in the morning?” Rhiannon suggested.
Carmela nodded before thinking of the hitch in the plan.
“What about your parents? If you make them wait another day—”
“I’ll just run over there really quick,” she replied, glancing at the clock. “It’s not too late. They probably ate dinner like an hour ago. I can say hello, grab some stu , and come back? If you’re really okay with that?”
Instead of a verbal response, Carmela grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her in for a kiss.
“Let me hurry,” Rhiannon said between kisses. “So I can get back.”
“They wouldn’t expect me to come with you, right? Will they think I’m rude?” Carmela asked as she opened the passenger door but didn’t get out.