"We'll see you tomorrow," she said. "I can't wait to meet your girl."
Given the tone of her voice, I knew she meant "I can't wait to aim my evil stare at your girl while giving her a full physical including a pelvic exam." My mother was a good person, but she could do the evil-stare thing better than anyone. She also tended to get overprotective.
What was it about this resort that made our families decide to invade the place for surprise visits? Eve's family had done it. So had Mara's. Now my mom was planning a "visit" I was sure would match the Invasion of Normandy in scale and drama.
Since I seemed to have no choice in the matter, I told her, "Fine, I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Your brother is coming too. With Emily and the kids."
A total family invasion? Somehow, some way, I had to prepare Heidi for this.
Yeah, no problem. She freaked when I made love to her, but she'd handle the invasion of the Ludar horde, no problem.
I said goodbye to my mother, then dropped my head onto the desktop, facedown, and groaned.
Chapter Fifteen
Heidi
Shopping had sounded like a good idea when my friends suggested it, but it turned into the longest retail torture session ever. I didn't care about push-up bras or novelty T-shirts. Even cute skirts couldn't drag my attention back to the present. No, I kept remembering the other night when Damian made love to me. Memories of our nature walk tormented me too—the way he'd held my hand, the feel of his lips on mine, our conversations, his patience and kindness. All of that affected me with almost as much strength as the lovemaking had.
I liked Damian. A lot. I told him we're dating.
My tummy fluttered, and my pulse accelerated. Was it fear or excitement? Maybe both. Being with Damian felt like a dangerous and thrilling adventure, one I didn't want to end, not yet. Being here at the resort gave us a chance to explore this whatever-it-was between us without the distraction of our families getting involved. Sure, we had lots of friends here, but I remembered the fiascoes that happened when Eve's family and Mara's family had turned up, on separate occasions, to push their noses into their budding relationships with Val and Ollie. Mara and Ollie had survived her parents' visit. Eve and Val got through it too when her parents, her brother, and her sister showed up.
But I didn't know if I'd survive something like that. My parents would never in a million billion years show up here, at a nudist resort. I barely talked to them anymore except on holidays and birthdays. Damian's parents wouldn't come here, would they? No, of course not. I was being paranoid, worrying about something that wouldn't happen.
Even lunch at a nice restaurant didn't rouse me from my Damian daydreams.
When my friends and I got back to the resort, I told them I was tired and wanted to go back to my room. They probably believed me since I'd been yawning a lot today. Staying awake half the night fantasizing about Damian had left me at less-than-optimal wakefulness.
I trudged into the guest house, shoulders hunched, hands jammed into the pockets of my cargo pants.
And I ran straight into Damian.
"Sorry," he said, grasping my shoulders when I teetered. "Are you okay? I wasn't looking where I was going."
"I'm fine. And I wasn't looking either."
"Did you not have a good time in town?"
Shrugging, I took a step backward. The feel of his hands on my body had set off a faint tingle on my skin. "It was okay. Guess I'm not in a shopping mood today."
His features tightened into a pained expression. "I need to tell you something, and it might make you anxious again. Please don't panic. It's not as big a deal as it sounds like."
I was getting anxious just listening to him say that. But I would not panic. No way. I was done with that. So I pulled my hands out of my pockets, rolled my shoulders back, and said like a mature, level-headed woman, "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'll be fine, promise."
"Okay." He said that like he wasn't at all sure he believed me, not that I could blame him for being skeptical. "My mom called me earlier. Turns out Ollie mentioned to his mom that you and I are dating, and she told my mom, so now the whole family knows, and…" He winced. "My parents and my brother are coming for a visit."
"Here?" I was so proud of myself for not shrieking that word. It had come out sounding a touch surprised, but in a mature and level-headed way.
"Yeah, here."
"When? Like, next week or something?"
He winced again, harder. "Tomorrow."
I swore every ounce of blood in my body evaporated, leaving behind an icy chill. Damian's family? The gypsies who read palms and who-knew-what-else? What if his mother put a curse on me?Get a grip, woman, you will not panic again, absolutely not.I pulled in a slow, deep breath and exhaled it little by little.