“What’s that?”
“A surprise.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled.
He was going to spoil her rotten this weekend. She wouldn’t want to leave after he was done.
It was the perfect plan.
ChapterSixteen
Astra knew that the time to introduce Rune to her family was coming.
Her mother had been dropping hints for a couple of weeks now and Rune had been talking about it more and more.
She was beginning to feel a bit like she was being ground by a rock on each side.
Maybe Sylvie was right. Maybe she was afraid to rebel after all, because the idea of what her parents might put Rune through made her stomach shrivel up. She couldn’t stop the worry that he might run away as fast and far as he could after they started in on him. Talking them out of acting the way they usually did wouldn’t help either.
She loved her parents, but they drove her crazy when it came to her love life.
It all came to a head one Monday after work. Before she left, her mother had thrown out a casual invitation to bring her beau to a family dinner that Saturday.
“Mom, I want you to meet him, but I also don’t want you and Dad to scare him off.”
“Scare him off,” her mother scoffed. “How would we do that?”
Astra just gave her a look.
“If he loves you, he’ll deal with it,” her mother finally replied, waving a hand.
“Mom, I mean it—”
Her mother just gave her a hard look and said, “Bring him or I’ll find him myself.”
Knowing that she was serious, Astra let the subject drop. She would talk to Rune when she got home.
On edge, Astra climbed into her car and drove to her townhouse. As soon as she walked inside, she knew that Rune was there waiting on her. She’d given him a key so he could let himself in on the nights they were spending at her place.
Shit. She’d forgotten he was coming over tonight.
She squared her shoulders and put a smile on her face. She wanted some time to relax before they had the conversation about the invitation from her mother.
Astra paused when she realized that Rune wasn’t alone in her kitchen. Devorah and Claudia were sitting at the bar with two glasses of white wine sitting in front of them. They were all smiling and laughing.
“It’s my favorite sister-in-law,” Claudia said, her eyes bright and her smile wide. “How was your day?”
“It was a day,” Astra answered with a sigh.
Rune walked over, dropped a kiss on her lips, and pressed a glass of white wine in her hand. “You look like you could use this.”
The knot in her stomach relaxed as she looked up at him. This man understood her, and she was so grateful for it.
Until he studied her face closer and asked, “Did something happen?”
She forced a small smile. Oh, yes, he knew her too well. One look and he knew she was upset about something.
“We can talk about it later,” she murmured, glancing toward Devorah and Claudia.
