“Now that we’ve given them a show,” he murmured as he pulled back, taking his soft, beautiful lips with him, “let’s go in and face the music.”
Or maybe they could get in his car, drive away and finish that kiss? Was that just her wanting that? Okay, then.
Feeling as if she’d just been hit by a two-by-four, she simply nodded and let him take her hand in his as they headed to the front door.
As they stepped into the foyer, Ivy frowned at her three brothers who were standing there like buzzards waiting to attack. So Nash had been spot-on about these weirdos keeping watch. She wished she could be surprised, but her brothers had always been stupidly overprotective.
For a long moment no one said anything. Instead it was a bizarre sort of standoff as Sebastian, Ezra and Jordan all stared Nash down.
She broke the silence. “Really? No hug for your sister who’s been gone for a month?”
Her oldest brother Sebastian seemed to snap out of it and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you!” he said as he lifted her off her feet.
Then her other brothers quickly followed suit, practically tackle hugging her as if they hadn’t seen her in a year.
“So how long have you two been dating?” Ezra asked as he stepped back. Oh, he was getting right to it. No wonder, considering he and Nash were best friends. She was actually surprised by his restraint.
All three of her brothers sort of caged her in as they looked at Nash expectantly.
She elbowed them out of the way and went to stand next to Nash. She linked her fingers with his, which drew three sets of eyes immediately. It was weird how all eyes narrowed at the same time too, as if they’d coordinated it.
“You can file that answer under none of your business,” she said. “We’re both grown-ups and we’re dating. That’s all you need to know. While I’m in town, we’ll be spending time together, and the three of you will not act like assholes toward Nash.” She started to say more, then Nash squeezed her fingers.
“Ivy is a grown woman and can date whoever she wants,” he said, looking between the three of them, his gaze narrowing slightly on Ezra. “And I would never do anything to disrespect your sister. Ever. I care about her deeply.”
She resisted the urge to stare at him. Her brain was all fried, however, after that barely-there kiss out in the driveway. Seriously her lips were still tingling—and so were other parts. Her entire body had flared to life from that simple kiss and now she was basically a live wire walking around with all her nerve endings frayed.
Before anyone could respond, her mother bustled in, an older version of Ivy with shorter hair, smiling at both of them before she pulled Ivy into a bear hug. “I’ve missed you so much, baby girl.” As she stepped back, she cupped Ivy’s cheeks. “Are you sleeping enough?”
Laughing lightly, she nodded. “Yes, Mom, I’m sleeping great.” And alone, unfortunately.
“All right, well you two come into the kitchen. I made treats for you guys.” She gave Nash a quick hug and none of the stare-downs her brothers had. Instead she patted his stomach and told him he needed to eat more.
Ivy started to follow her mom but paused when Ezra wrapped his arm around Nash’s shoulders and basically boxed him in.
“We’re going to go shoot hoops for a minute, Ivy,” Ezra said. “We’ll meet y’all in a while.”
“What—”
“It’s fine. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes,” Nash said. And there was no give in his voice or his expression. His face only softened when he leaned over and kissed her again.
She could swear one of her brothers made a growling sound, but then Ezra tugged Nash back and they all headed out the front door.
Ivy stared at the closed door, debating if she should follow. She wasn’t worried that her brothers would actually hurt him. Not really anyway. Right?
As she stepped into the kitchen, she frowned as she eyed her mom. “Wait a minute, we don’t have a basketball hoop anymore!”
Chapter 10
Sitting at the center island, Maika snickered and slid off the stool. “They’re just going to hassle him for a little bit, I think. My brothers did it to Sebastian when we first got together.”
“Boys are weird. I’m not calling them men because they’re acting stupid,” Ivy grumbled as she sat next to Maika.
Her stunning sister-in-law just kept laughing. Maika’s dark, thick hair was pulled back with a bright floral headband, and the loose yellow dress she wore popped against her bronze skin. And as usual, her fingernails were painted a fun, bright color—coral and yellow today.
As she settled in, Ivy was pretty sure Nash had been spot-on by saying they were dating. Because now she wasn’t having to field questions about her job at least. She just felt bad that he was getting grilled right now.
“So how long are you in town this time?” her mom asked as she bustled around, already pouring Ivy coffee.
Okay, never mind, apparently she was still going to have to answer those questions as well. Which was fair. She just felt like she answered them all the time. “Ah, I don’t know. I have a contract coming up.” Which was basically a lie and she felt a little bad about it, but not bad enough to tell the truth.
Her boss had told her of two potential contracts she might be able to grab if she wrapped this one up quickly. But she didn’t want another contract after this one. She wanted to be done and move on to the next step in her life. One that didn’t involve travel most of the year. But she didn’t want to tell her family that she was moving home until it actually happened. Because it would get them all excited, and if it ended up falling through, it would just disappoint them. Which would make her feel really bad.
“How’s the pet shelter going?” Maika asked, snagging some cantaloupe from the tray of colorful fruit and putting it onto her plate.
“I’m getting it more under control. The paperwork was a big mess so half the stuff wasn’t even online. Now the people who are running the place are migrating everything to an online system and becoming more active on social media. The adoption rates are going up, and it really is the perfect area for this shelter.” She hadn’t told anyone about the financial state of the place. Because she knew her brothers would have wanted to help, and her aunt had left the place to her. Maybe it was too much pride but she didn’t care. They all had jobs and lives and mortgages and she wasn’t going to hit them up for money. This was her thing to deal with. Maybe once she did, they’d start seeing her as the capable woman that she was.
“I’m so happy that you and Nash finally got together,” her mom said as she mixed up pancake batter.
At the mention of Nash, Ivy wondered about what her brothers were doing or saying to him since they definitely weren’t playing basketball. She snagged a couple chocolate chips from the bowl next to her mom. Chocolate chip pancakes were her favorite… “Wait a minute, what do you mean, finally?”
Her mom and Maika basically cackled instead of answering.
Before she could respond, her brothers and Nash strode through the door.
Her brothers looked quite pleased with themselves and Nash had a neutral expression on his face as he came to stand next to her. He kissed the top of her head, then leaned in close as if he was going to whisper something, but then nipped her ear. It was playful and quick and she was pretty sure it was for her brothers’ benefit, because all three of them scowled, losing their smug expressions. And she felt that nip straight between her legs because holy hotness, this was Nash.