“How’s my favorite son?” he called.
“Technically, I’m youronlyson, but I won’t tell Raleigh you said that.” At my words, James rolled his eyes.
“Where’s that boyfriend of yours?” Mom asked.
“About that…” I smiled down at the man lying on my stomach. Knowing exactly where I was headed, he grinned and nodded his approval. “I don’t have a boyfriend anymore.”
Protests from both my parents. “What the hell happened?”
“I, uh…” I reached out, palm up, and James slid his hand into mine. I twirled the tungsten ring around on his finger, and that gave me the courage I needed to get the words out. “I have a fiancé now. I asked James to marry me.”
For the first time in thirty-six years, both of my parents went dead silent. My heart thundered in my ears. Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes, and I pulled my phone away from my ear to make sure they hadn’t hung up on me. “You guys still there?”
Another beat of silence, then, “You’re getting married?”
I was unable to hide the smile that tugged at my lips so aggressively that it made my cheeks hurt. Spearing my fingers through James’s hair, he leaned into my palm and shut his eyes in content. When he opened them again, that intoxicating red swirled in his irises. Something tugged in my chest, and I found myself longing for the day when I wouldn’t need to use words to express how much he meant to me. What would it feel like to wear my heart on my sleeve?
“Yeah, Mom. We’re getting marr—” I cut off with a“Christ!”as Mom shrieked so loud that even James cringed. I tugged the phone away from my ear until she settled down. She still shouted, but it was more tolerable.
“Meredith,” Dad scolded, “stop jumping around before you hurt yourself!”
James peered up at me and laughed.
“Remember,” I told him, “you chose to marry into this chaos.”
His red eyes softened. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Mom… Mom!”
My mother appeared to have run out of the breath required to continue squealing, panting into the phone. “I’m sorry! I never thought I’d see the day! When? Where? Oh, God, what am I going to wear?”
“We haven’t started planning anything yet, Mom. I don’t know when or where. It’s only been a few days, but I do know one thing: Dad, can I still wear your cufflinks?”
“Of course. What did I do with them…”
“Please tell me they aren’t with you in Florida.”
“No,” Mom jumped in, “they’re in the attic at the Cape. All the things we kept from our wedding are there—you two help yourselves.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
That was far from the end of the conversation. Once Meredith Clark got started on something, she didn’t stop. After an hour of grueling talk about color schemes, I started to wonder if colors even existed anymore. We had to pick adatefirst, and with spring approaching that sent my mom on a spiral about pastels and all of it made my head spin. Even James was getting impatient, if the way he teased me was any indication.
“You know what, Mom?” I said, voice wavering with James’s hand dangerously close to my dick. “Why don’t you call Hannah tonight? I’m sure she’d love to talk all of this stuff over with you.”
“Oh, that’s a fantastic idea!”
Perfect. I rushed through the I love yous and ended the call, all but throwing my phone aside and letting out the moan I’d been stifling since James started licking a hot path up my thigh.
“I think,” he teased, pressing his lips to my sensitive skin before rising to his knees, “all this wedding talk has me excited to start planning. Why don’t you take me to see those cufflinks?”
“Oh, hell no.” I clenched a fist in his hair, shoving him back down to his elbows. “Not until you finish what you started.”
James laughed, shoulders shaking, but he began attacking my belly again. I whimpered as he placed open-mouthed kisses down to my shaft. I sighed, only allowing my eyes to shut once he put that hot, talented mouth of his to work.
A few hours later,James and I were freshly showered and making the drive to the Cape. It was rare that we had a day off together, but for once we didn’t want to spend it indoors. He’d been right: Something about telling my parents had made the engagement that much more real. Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, the old Ryder tried to peek through. Panic threatened to break through the joy, but as if James could sense it—and he likely could with the damn mate bond—he stretched an arm across the console and placed a reassuring hand on my thigh. Just like that, my sense of fear vanished.
The last time I had made this drive I was alone, and it wasn’t under the best conditions. I could admit it now: I’d been running. Things were getting serious, and I got scared. I hadn’t realized how much my past with Erin fucked me up when it came to falling in love.
