She giggled, moving around the island to pat his chest. “I know, which is why you rip them off wherever you’re standing.”
He caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “Good thing I married you and you can’t get away from me.”
When my parents were good, they were wonderful. The model of a perfect, adoring couple. And my dad did adore my mother. He did. It was just…he was a self-centered, power-hungry bastard who put work before his mentally fragile wife time and time again. It was hard for me to see them like this when I knew the flip side all too well.
I cleared my throat before they started making out in my kitchen. “Can I ask what prompted the surprise visit?”
“We missed you. Is it a crime to want to see our daughter in her element?” Mom asked.
Dad’s eyes flicked to the space over my shoulder. I turned, my stomach dropping at the sight of my big, brutally beautiful boyfriend lumbering down the stairs, raking his fingers through his hair.
“Who’s that?” my mother whispered.
Lachlan’s head turned, first finding me, then my parents behind me. His brow furrowed, but he didn’t hesitate to join us in the kitchen.
“Good morning,” he rumbled to me, kissing the side of my head.
If meeting my parents qualified as fun and light, I didn’t know, but there was no avoiding it now.
“Good morning,” I replied, brushing my hand along his arm. “My parents decided to stop by with breakfast. Lachlan, this is my mom, Diedre, and my dad, Gil.”
Lachlan didn’t hesitate to step forward with his hand out to my dad. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Sanderson. I’m Lachlan Kelly, Elena’s boyfriend.”
Dad’s gaze snapped from Lachlan to me before he shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, young man. I recognize your name.”
Lachlan’s shoulder went tight. “Oh?”
“You’re one of Elena’s tenants, are you not?”
He nodded. “That’s right. You have an impressive memory.”
Dad did one of his business chuckles. “It’s a small part of my success.” He placed a hand on Lachlan’s shoulder. “Meet my wife, Diedre.”
From the other side of the kitchen, I observed my boyfriend meeting my parents and doing a damn good job of it. It was obvious in his mannerisms and the things he said that he’d been bred in the same kind of world I lived in. He knew how to properly shake hands with a powerful man and that powerful man’s wife. He may have been dressed in athletic shorts and a Savage U T-shirt, but Lachlan Kelly was every bit the society kid I was. He could eschew that life now, but it didn’t change the way he’d been brought up.
My mother invited Lachlan to stay for breakfast, which he accepted without hesitation. While she and I got to work setting things up, he and my father talked about Savage U professors.
My mom tipped her head next to mine as she counted plates. “You didn’t tell me you’re seeing anyone.”
“It’s pretty new,” I murmured.
“But committed? I should hope so since he woke up in your bed.”
I sighed. “Yes, we’re committed.”
She sighed back. “I guess this means no more setups.”
I bumped her shoulder. “Yes. Please, no more setups.”
“He’s not anything like the boys you’ve dated.”
“No, he isn’t.”
“He seems nice.”
I turned my head, meeting her eyes. There was nothing judgmental there. If anything, there was a layer of hope in her gaze.
“He’s actually wonderful,” I whispered.