“We’re planting a seed,” he says in a low voice. “They think I’m sleeping around. I’m tired of them thinking that way.”
“Maybe if you just stopped sleeping around…” I find myself saying, then bite my tongue. I promised I was done with the snark and promises mean something to me. “You know what? It’s fine. Whatever happens tonight, happens, but if I end up humiliated, you owe me. Big time. Like maybe an extra couple percent big.”
Nathan’s smile disintegrates. The light in his eyes fades. It’s like watching a cloud cover the full moon, plunging the night into oblivion.
“Of course.” His voice is hard and distant. “I’ll tack another five percent onto your fee, if that makes you feel better.”
And suddenly, I’m dealing with The Prince of Darkness again. Every ounce of vulnerability I thought I saw in the guy disappears and I’m left standing next to a cold-hearted jerk. Wordlessly, he opens the passenger door on his car with an air of expectant exasperation.
This is gonna be a long night.
ELEVEN
Nathan
Nick specifically told me not to bring a dazzling and spectacular woman to my birthday party tonight. So of course, Mina shows up looking like someone hanging on Dom’s arm. Her red dress is a feast for the eyes. Her silky black hair begs for my fingers. Her ass is round and luscious and I want to grab it with both hands as I bury my face in her neck and breathe in her citrus perfume. I don’t like her, but my dick doesn’t care. There’s no doubt I’m attracted to her. At least I won’t be lying to my family on that count.
Mina pauses as we approach my parents’ house, her gaze wandering the premises with what I hope is appreciation. I try to see my childhood home through her eyes. It’s big enough for our family of six, but not overly so. It’s elegant without being pretentious. But I grew up here. Maybe I don’t see it the way the rest of the world does.
“Everything okay?” I ask, shoving my hands in my pockets to keep from brushing them against the small of Mina’s back. I don’t know what it is about that dress, but my hands want on her body. Even knowing she’s only here for the money can’t dampen the desire.
“This house.” Mina’s brows draw together, and she chews her bottom lip. “It’s not what I expected.”
“Tuck in, blue eyes. My family doesn’t exactly fit into a box.”
Dom says people are most comfortable when everyone plays their expected roles. If Mina’s outfit says anything about her expectations, she’s in for an uncomfortable evening. I take a gross amount of pleasure in that thought. When did I get so mean?
“Plus,” she says with a crooked smile, “I’m about to meet Collin and Harlow West. I grew up listening to them. I mean, they’re icons, right? And I’m just gonna spend an evening in their home. No biggie.”
Great. Not only does Mina bring out the absolute worst in me, but she’s a lifelong fan of my parents’ music. Probably one of those wackos who dissolve into tears the moment she meets them. Lord knows I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.
“They’re also just people. Come on. The faster we get this over with, the better.” I wrap an arm around her waist and draw Mina close as we near the front door. She tenses and peeks up at me, clearly uncomfortable. I get it, but we have a lie to sell.
I lean down and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. The intimate gesture sends a jolt of desire through me. I linger longer than I expect. Longer than I should.
“Game face on, Hot Mess,” I whisper, breathing in her citrus perfume. “Time to pretend you like me.”
“Believe me,” she whispers back, “my game face has been on since lunch, Sweet Prince.” Her smile says I’m the love of her life, though her eyes look mildly murderous.
We pass through the foyer into an open floor plan barely large enough to fit my extended family. My cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers and sister all greet me, calling out happy birthday and raising glasses as we pass. Inevitably, their smiles fade when they see Mina. She’s wildly overdressed. To their eyes, the epitome of the shallow women I’ve been swearing were for Dom, instead of me. My parents catch sight of us, exchange a concerned glance, then quickly cross the room. I get the distinct impression they’re running defense.
Mom wraps me in a tight embrace, tossing Mina a polite though chilly smile. She smells like lilacs and her silver-blonde hair is swept off her shoulders in a messy updo. Even though she’s wearing jeans and a loose-fitting linen top, she pulls off an understated sophistication I’ve always appreciated. Mom gives me the onceover, motherly love glistening in her blue eyes before she cups my cheeks, the star tattoo on her wrist blurring in front of me.
“Happy birthday, Nator Tot! I was just starting to wonder about you. You’re not the kind of guy who runs late.”
Fuck me.
“Mom. Please. With the nickname.”
I glance Mina’s way, silently begging her not to have heard it.
The wicked grin lifting her lips says she not only heard it, but she’ll have no qualms dragging that arrow from her quiver if the need arises.
Dad gives me a back thumping hug and wishes me a happy birthday, his gaze flicking to Mina. He’s not happy to see her, though he’d never let her get wind of that. He spent too much time feeling unwelcome in some of his foster families to pass that feeling on.
“Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Mina Blake. Mina, these are my parents, Collin and Harlow West.”
I brace for the gushing. The teary-eyed revelations of a lifelong fan that shift the atmosphere from cordial to awkward in a heartbeat.
I know all your music by heart!
Your songs are the soundtrack to my life!
I have the lyrics from Ice Princess tattooed on my ass!
It’s one of the reasons I dread bringing anyone to meet my parents. Apparently, it can be easy to forget they’re human, just like the rest of us.
To her credit, Mina keeps it together. “It’s a genuine pleasure to meet you both,” she says, then lets out a shuddering breath, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear then crossing and uncrossing her arms before letting them fall uselessly to her side. “I grew up listening to you guys and have heard such wonderful things about you from Nathan. You have a lovely home, by the way.”
Fidgeting notwithstanding, she’s cool. Calm. Collected. The perfect blend of recognition, admiration, and levelheadedness. Nothing like the Hot Mess I’ve come to know and dread. The four of us chat easily for a few minutes until my cousins Angela, Micah, and Nick join us. The men run big in my family, and Micah, Nick, and I prove that rule. Micah is physically the biggest, with a personality to match. His dark hair and eyes make him look more imposing than he actually is—though he does run into burning buildings for a living, so what do I know.
“I didn’t know you were bringing a date,” he says, tossing an arm around my shoulder in that way that used to signal an incoming noogie.
I duck out of reach, glaring to remind him I outgrew that more than a decade ago. “I thought I’d surprise you. Mina and I…we’re…”
And this is the part where I lie to the people I love most in the world. Oddly enough, deceit does not roll off my tongue.
Thankfully, Mina doesn’t share my crisis of conscience.
