“I don’t know. I’m too lazy to ask.” He smirked. “It’s going to be an effort, but let’s go meet them. I doubt everyone wants to hang out in my study. Can you give my lazy ass a piggy back?” Hisdimples socked me in the stomach. How was he that gorgeous? Looking at him almost hurt, and it made me want to jump into his arms and kiss his face off. Hmm, maybe a little bit aggressive, but that was his fault for being more delicious than a display case full of donuts.
I turned my back to him, held my arms out, and rubbed my butt on his crotch. “Get on, cowboy.”
He responded by throwing an arm around my back and under my knees. Before I could protest, he’d scooped me up and was moving. I wasn’t sure whether I should be embarrassed about meeting his family this way, or if they’d think it was cute. Hopefully the latter.
Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure if they knew we were hooking up. Unfortunately, there was no other way to look at it. We weren’t exactly dating. We were spending time while the work arrangement was on. I wasn’t thinking further than that. The less I expected afterward, the more heart tissue that would survive when it all ended.
By the time we reached the foyer, the elevator dinged. Curtis placed me on the ground, and I ran my hands down my shirt, smoothing it, trying to appear as respectable as possible. Would his sister like me? Was she hostile toward the people her brothers dated until they proved they were classy enough?
The ornate doors finally opened, saving me from my anxiety.
Think of the food. The food won’t judge you.
Ally stepped out first, her blue-gray eyes widening when they found me. She hastily assumed a normal expression, then grinned, her teeth straight and perfect. The dimple fairy had also hit Ally with her wand—Curtis wasn’t the only blessed one. Ally came straight to me and held her hand out. “I’m Ally. Pleased to meet you.”
I blinked. Whatever reception I was expecting, it wasn’t this. She had no idea who I was and could only assume I was dating orhooking up with her brother since I was at his place on a Friday outside work hours, yet she wasn’t judging first and being polite later. I smiled and shook her hand. “Lovely to meet you, Ally. I’m Faith.”
After greeting me, she turned to her brother and gave him a huge hug while Jack came to me and gave me a hug. “Welcome to the family, Faith!”
I hugged him back, noticing the stink eye from Curtis. My happy heart frowned. Oh, dear. He obviously didn’t like the “welcome to the family” idea. We definitely weren’t an item, and that shouldn’t hit as hard as a raw fish to the face, but it did. I laughed nervously, trying to hide my disappointment. “Um, I wouldn’t go that far, Jack.” Suddenly I wondered what Curtis wanted his siblings to think. I wasn’t going to out him for sleeping with me. “We’ve just been working on something.” Argh, I also couldn’t say too much about what we’d been working on. How was Curtis going to explain his way out of this? Although, if he could trust anyone, surely it would be his siblings.
Ally narrowed her eyes and looked from Curtis to me and back again. “Working on what?” She cocked her head to the side.
Jack smirked. “Working on getting Faith to like him?” He clapped Curtis on the back. “I know it’s hard, but you can do it.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He shook his head, then gave me a can-I-spill look. I shrugged and nodded. If he wanted to tell them about work or about us, whatever “us” was, I didn’t care. It wasn’t as if I worked at Knight Advertising anymore. He turned back to his siblings. “Faith and I are seeing each other. It’s new, so don’t scare her off.” He turned his gaze to me and smiled.
I let the warmth of that settle in my chest. “But, um, don’t tell your parents… at least not yet. It’s new, and also, well, Curtis has that meeting next Friday with the BOD.” It was nice that he was happy to tell his siblings about us, but maybe he was using the lesser of two evils—it was easier to explain us than it was to come clean about his secret project. I wasn’t going to start imagining white dresses, wedding bells, and a chocolate-mud wedding cake. I’d never imagined marrying anyone up until now. What would it be like to be Mrs. Curtis Knight and build a life with this kind-hearted, gorgeous, creative, whip-smart man? I almost slapped myself in the face for letting my brain go there. It was time to have a bite of a reality sandwich.
Ally and Jake peered at their brother, concern on their faces. That’s when the stomach-wakening fragrances from the bags in Jack’s hand reached my nose. My stomach gurgled in a desperate plea, loud enough to echo off every hard surface in the foyer, and there were many. Everyone’s attention shifted to me. Cue the heating of my cheeks.
Jack chuckled. “Starving your woman, C? That’s bad manners. I’m so disappointed. Maybe Faith should date the more considerate of the Knight brothers.” He raised one arm, holding up the bags and linked his other arm through mine. “I’ll feed you, Faith. Come on.”
Curtis’s brows drew down, and he gave Jack another of those dirty looks. Was he jealous? No way.
Rather than contemplate that, I let Jack drag me to the kitchen because, yes, I was starving.
Ally hurried in after us and went straight to the drawers and gathered bowls and utensils while Jack pulled the plethora of containers out of the bags and placed them on the island. Curtis strode in and came straight to me. He stood behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and lowered his mouth to my ear. His whispered words tickled my ear and released an army of goose bumps on my arms. “I’m better in bed.” He nipped at my neck, and if we were alone, I would’ve jumped him.
“You wish. Also, if you’re going to carry on like that, get a room while I still have my appetite.” Jack made a shooing motion.
Ally laughed. “What Jack said, but also, it’s good to see you withsomeone… here. To be honest, I didn’t expect to find you so happy, what with everything that’s been going on.” She grabbed a bowl and started filling it.
Curtis handed me a bowl, his eyes going soft, his gentle smile saying all the things I wanted to hear: I made him happy, he was content, he liked me… a lot. But then again, it might just be a friendly smile that meant we were becoming friends, and the rest was my wishful imagination. He turned to his sister. “I am happy, and I’m just as surprised as you. It should be the most stressful week of my career, yet it’s not. Faith seems to think we can figure it out, and I believe her.”
Ally and Jack peered at me, curiosity on their faces. Ally nodded and patted Curtis’s shoulder. “You don’t want to explain how? Also, it’s about time you had a gorgeous, clever woman on your side, rather than the fake bitches that hide their scales under designer threads.” She turned to Jack. “No offense.”
He held his hands up, palms facing his sister. “No offense taken. I make beautiful clothes, but I don’t get to say who wears them. It’s a job hazard. They need to invent material that glows when the wearer lies.”
Trust Jack to make us all chuckle during such a frank conversation. I hadn’t known him long, but he was definitely the joker of the three of them.
“Great idea,” Curtis said as he handed me a spoon. “I’ll buy something from that collection just for Victoria.”
My mouth dropped open. He really was on board with the Victoria-might-be-the-saboteur idea. It left me dumbfounded for a moment because he actually believed me, took me seriously. Not many people had in this life. He could’ve taken what I’d said and pretended to believe but then forgotten about it, but he hadn’t.
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “What are you talking about? I thought you were friends.”
Ally snorted a laugh. “It’s hard to be friends when only one of the people is desperate to marry the other one.”
