“A parade, you say? Should we take this to the streets? Who doesn’t love a good parade?”
He was teasing, and she caught on quickly, judging by the way her hand reached between them to cup his erection. His thick length pressed uncomfortably against his pants, and he wished he hadn’t started such a heated exchange.
But really, he couldn’t muster enough regret. He was touching Nora, kissing her, nuzzling her, and he would never regret that. It made him much too happy.
“Nora, I wanna meet your family. Officially.”
Without leaving his embrace, she pushed away from him to look into his eyes. “What?” she gasped.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know that would sound insane in any other situation, but I think it’s for the best. You’ve been crushing on me for so long, and I’m sure your family knows. I need to explain to them why it took me so long to clue in.”
She shook her head. “That really isn’t necessary,” she tried to sound unfazed, but she was in his arms, and he could clearly feel her trembling against him.
“Hey,” he whispered. “What’s wrong? If you don’t want me to meet your family, we don’t have to do that. Not yet. We can wait until you’re ready.”
He was mystified. The woman had been all but ready to throw caution to the wind to have sex with him the night before, but he mentioned meeting her family in the official capacity of boyfriend, and she was balking at the very notion.
With another heavy sigh, Nora placed her forehead on his. “You don’t understand,” she said. “It’s not about being ready. I will never be ready to bring you home.”
“Okay, so now, things are even less clear for me.”
Nora pressed her mouth to his neck, inhaling deeply between kisses. It really messed with his mind because his cock was sure this was heading somewhere, but his mind wasn’t so sure.
Just tell her about your family, and then she will be able to tell you about hers. This could be a bonding thing. Just be honest with her. Tell heronesecret. Just one.
“You need to understand something about my family, Jack.” She gave him a brief explanation of the Ledger dynamic. Every anecdote she shared saw her shoulders sagging a little bit more. “They’re going to insist on doing it on a Sunday night, which means the restaurant will be closed to guests. It’ll get so rowdy.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad. They couldn’t say or do anything that would make me change my mind about you.”
She pursed her lips, skeptical. “If they don’t do it like that, they will insist on inviting you on a night The Spaghetti Bowl is open, and the whole town will turn up to watch the introductions.”
“Well, seeing as I’ve met your family before, I don’t think it will be so bad. This would just be in a different capacity.”
“We don’t even know what we are to each other yet. Maybe we can just wait and see?”
Jack brushed his lips against hers. “Whatever you want, love. Whatever you need.”
She nuzzled into him. “I just really don’t want my family to scare you away with their …” she grappled to find the right words. “They’re a bit intense, and they will do everything and anything to embarrass me. I don’t want you exposed to that just yet.”
That he could understand. After all, with any luck, Nora wouldnevermeet his family.
TWELVE
NORA
The whole town turned up for the second scavenger hunt event, and apparently, there were so many teams now participating that Jade and Parker had to get Lila and Mason to close Moonie’s for the night to help them run the event.
That didn’t stop her friend from tracking her down. Jade’s face was flushed with excitement and probably also because she was with Parker, and whenever those two were together, Jade was a little more exuberant. Nora understood that feeling now.
Not that one date and a heavy petting session actually meant he was in her life, but to be fair, he had asked to meet her family.
“He did what?” Jade gasped when Nora whispered the events of the morning. “Are youserious? When is it happening? If you want me there for moral support, I will totally be there for you. You just say the word, Nora. I will not let Cassie and Adam mess this up for you.”
“Down, girl,” Nora teased. “I said no.”
Jade’s face fell and went a whole new shade of red. “What? Nora, no! Why would you say no?”
Nora gaped at her. “You’re joking, right? You remember who my family is. You just said so yourself. Cassie and Adam will do a whole thing, and that’s not even talking about what my parents would do. No, it’s too soon.”