“My aunt,” Zoe said with a straight face, trying to ignore Hope, who remained unnoticed behind her parents with unbridled amusement on her face. “She works in fashion so she’s always traveling though. My parents are in Portland. It’s just them and me.”
Gavin wrapped an arm around Zoe’s shoulders and squeezed, supportive. Their gazes connected, and the compassion she saw there, for the loss of her sister, meant more than she could say.
He kissed her temple. “Yeah, Zoe was ripe for the plucking when I found her.”
She snorted. “More like stalked. He bugged me incessantly at the gym.”
“Ha.” Theo laughed. “Figures. He nagged you into a date, am I right?”
“Pretty much.”
Van’s laugh sounded a lot like Theo’s. “That’s how I got Linda. Took me a while, but eventually she gave up and said yes.”
“Yep.” Linda smiled, gave Van a kiss on the cheek, then asked if anyone wanted drinks.
“Just water for us, Mom. Eating and drinking healthy, you know.” Gavin squeezed Zoe. “Nothing’s more important that clean living.”
Van looked surprised. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I’ve been on him to try some terrific herbal tea to help with sleeping, Zoe. It’s infused with chamomile.”
“My aunt loves the stuff. Personally, I’m more a fan of green tea.”
“Oh?”
While she and Van engaged in conversation about teas, she noticed Linda watching her and frowning every so often.
Hope gave Zoe a subtle thumbs-up, while Theo and Gavin moved to distract their mother.
When it came time to sit down, Linda gently guided her to a spot. Van sat at the head of the table with Linda to his right. Zoe sat next to her, with Gavin at the other end of the table, just on her left. Across from her sat Theo and Hope.
“I hope pepper steak is okay,” Van said. “Gavin didn’t mention you being a vegetarian or anything.”
“Actually he didn’t mention much of anything about you.” Linda smiled to take away the sting. “But then, our boy likes to keep things close to his chest, hmm?” Linda glanced down at the more noticeable bulge in Zoe’s shirt and stared. “What the…?”
Zoe shifted and tried to hunch over to cover the bump, thinking she just might be able to get away with sneaking off to remove the fake pregnancy. That’s if the Donnigan siblings would keep their mouths shut. She could sacrifice a day of Gavin’s company and take care of tomorrow by herself. Who did he think he was he fooling? He’d give her orgasms without incentive. Just because. No reason to carry on this charade any longer. And no need to upset his parents.
“Oh, uh, Gavin being quiet is my fault,” Zoe ad libbed.
Linda’s attention once more fixed on Zoe’s face. At this point, Van was frowning at his wife’s odd behavior. “You?” he asked.
Zoe nodded and drank more water while Linda passed around the first of the plates. Zoe piled on a small amount of rice and meat. Then a salad and some sautéed vegetable medley. “Yep, me. Oh wow. This looks terrific.”
Van smiled. “Thank you.”
“I heard you’re quite the cook. Gavin can’t—”
“He’s not very good, no,” Linda interrupted. “So what’s this about you keeping him quiet?”
Hope coughed. “Sorry. A little spicy, Dad.”
“Really?” He glanced at his steak.
Hope coughed again, no doubt trying to cover laughter.
Theo continued to stare at his plate, shooting small glances at his parents.
Gavin nodded, encouraging her. “Don’t worry, honey. Nothing you say will upset my parents.”
“If you say so. Fine. Well, Linda, it’s just, I was embarrassed about my family. And I wanted Gavin to like me and not be scared off by my family. So we decided to keep our new relationship just to ourselves at first.”
