He chuckles, and it rumbles through his chest. “I won’t run, trust me.”
And for some reason, I do. “You’re so cluelessly cute.”
He smiles, and my heart races in my chest.
Jeez, that smile. I can’t contain my happy sigh.
With one finger, he traces the line of my cheek, leaving behind a burning trail. “Amy, I don’t think you realise how utterly crazy I am about you,” he whispers, leaning in, brushing his nose up the side of mine. “You’re amazing, charming, beautiful, funny, captivating.” He punctuates each compliment with a soft kiss, trailing them from my lips to my ear.
When he gets there, he nips at my earlobe, and I giggle, unable to mask my happiness.
He pulls back and smiles down at me, his eyes showing me the truth of his words. He really is crazy about me; I can see it hidden in the depths of his deep amber-coloured pools.
“I’m crazy about you too,” I admit, gripping fistfuls of his jacket, holding him against me.
He nods confidently. “I know.” A cocky smirk slips onto his face as he pulls back, taking my hand and nodding towards the house. “Come on then. Let’s go meet the parents.”
I groan and lead him up the path, towards the back gate. I just have to get through the next couple of hours intact, and then everything will be fine. I just pray they don’t say anything to scare him away; both my mum and nanna can be a bit hard to handle, but together, they are overwhelming.
Luckily, I had the forethought to make this a short visit. Usually, I stay the night when I come home, just because; otherwise, it seems a long way to come just for a couple of hours. But because Jared is accompanying me this time, I already called ahead and told them we would arrive after lunch and leave in the early evening. Three or four hours are more than enough for a first meeting. Both my nan and mum promised to be on their absolute best behaviour.
As we make it to the gate, I give his hand a squeeze and reach for the handle. “Okay?” I ask, giving him one last chance to back out.
We could just go home to my place. I could call with some cholera or explosive diarrhoea excuse and put this off for another week. I must admit, I’m kind of hoping he backs out.
He huffs out a breath and reaches up, fixing his hair. He fusses with his coat a bit before nodding. The tightness to his jaw and straightness of his back, mixed with the fact that his hand has mine in a death grip, show me he’s nervous.
“I’m okay. Let’s go.”
A rush of affection warms my blood as I think about him being nervous. It’s endearing, and it shows he cares. I like that their opinions matter to him. He can do it though; I am sure of it. Jared Stone is not one to back down from a strong, feisty woman. Trouble is, three of them in one go … I feel a little sorry for him.
As we step through the gate, Puzzle bounds out of the plants, barking so loud that it hurts my ears as he runs for us, his legs moving so fast that his body can barely keep up.
Jared stops, obviously thinking he’s about to get mauled by the fat, greying, half-blind pug. “Er …”
“He’s friendly,” I insist, quickly closing the gate behind us.
As he nears, Puzzle’s bark turns into an excited yap as he starts dancing around our feet. He sniffs and snuffles at Jared’s leg. My eyes widen, as I know what’s coming but I’m too slow to stop it. He immediately wraps his front paws around Jared’s leg, proceeding to hump it.
Jared looks down at the dog and then at me, his face set in stony resignation. “Well, this is awkward,” he deadpans.
I chuckle wickedly and bend, shooing Puzzle down before scooping him into my arms. I shoot Jared a grin. “To be fair, I get that excited around you too.”
He laughs and reaches over to stroke the dog, who is going loopy in my arms, trying to lick the gorgeous stranger to death.
My mum and nanna are both chuckling by the time we cross the garden to where they’re sitting. Nanna waves, and I see her eyes assessing every move Jared makes.
Mum stands and beams over at us. “Excuse the dog. He has no manners.”
“He could have at least bought me a drink first,” Jared replies, shrugging.
There’s silence for a few beats, and then we all burst into laughter. I see the tension leave Jared’s shoulders as a smile blooms on his mouth.
I grip his hand, proudly looking up at him, my free hand wrapping around his forearm as I snuggle against his side. “Guys, this is Jared. This is Mum, Anne. And Nanna, Peggy.” I point to each lady in turn and give his hand a little reassuring squeeze.
He shoots them a charming, self-assured smile. “Ladies, it’s lovely to meet you. Amy’s told me a lot about you both.” His tone is the professional, polite one he uses whenever I call him at work.
Nanna’s eyes light up, and she sends him a mischievous smile. “You’re even better-looking than I pictured. And I have a very vivid imagination.” Her tone is flirty, and I roll my eyes.
“And so it begins,” I groan.
Jared laughs awkwardly. “Uh, thanks.”
I chuckle and shoot him an I told you so look. “Just so you remember, this was your idea to come …”
sixteen
We’ve been here four hours already, and surprisingly, both Mum and Nanna are actually staying on their best behaviour.
Jared is doing amazing. He’s holding his own and managing to keep up with the fast stream of conversation, he doesn’t flinch or mention it when Puzzle passes gas, he politely has his palm read by my nanna even though I can see he doesn’t believe a word of what she said. He drinks all the tea they’ve plied him with, and he even has a tour of the garden. He’s just generally being the all-round super-cute, polite, adorable guy I’ve gotten to know over the last five weeks. He’s charmed them completely, and I couldn’t be prouder. He makes my heart melt.
“We should probably make a move, miss the traffic?” I suggest, looking over at him now.
He’s currently in the middle of a game of gin rummy with my nanna and losing badly because he has no idea that she’s cheating whenever he looks away.
“Hmm?” he grunts, chewing on his lip and frowning in concentration at his cards.
“Leave? We should probably go once you’ve finished that hand,” I reason.
Mum leans forward. “Oh, can’t you stay the night? I have some burgers in the freezer. I’m sure Jared could drag the barbeque from the shed and get it going?”
I scrunch my nose in apology. “We can’t, Mum.”
“Ha! Rummy!” Nanna shouts, slapping her cards down on the table and smugly pointing at Jared. “Loser!”
He laughs and shakes his head. “How did you beat me five times in a row?” He looks at her cards and frowns, moving them around to see what she had. “And how did you get four aces again? Did you shuffle them properly from last time?” His forehead creases with a frown, and I can tell the suspicion is starting to dawn on him now.
Nanna’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she shrugs in answer, puckering her wrinkled lips and reaching down to stroke the dog who’s fast asleep on her bony lap.
Mum cocks her head to the side. “Jared, what do you think?”
He drags his gaze away from the cards and looks from Mum to me and back again, his expression blank. “Sorry, Anne, what did I miss?”