She looked up at his act of tenderness and found his eyes boring into hers for a split second before he leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips as the door flew open. Lizzie hugged them both and practically dragged them through to the main living room of the house where everybody was sitting.
Sara immediately stood to hug Tasha before kissing Jim on the cheek.
“Tasha, you look amazing, let me introduce you all. Obviously, everyone knows Jim, so everyone this is Tasha. Tasha, this is my husband, Lenny.” She shook the hand of the balding man in his late forties while he smiled and kissed her on the cheek. She shook hands with them all in turn as Sara completed the introductions. “Lizzie you know, my step- daughter Rosa, my sister Marcia, our son Philip, his friend Juan, and Rosa’s new boyfriend is joining us later—”
“Are they here yet? I can’t wait to see who has managed to get under Jim’s skin like this. He is totally smitten,” a voice shouted as a man entered the room.
Everyone turned to look in his direction but it was Sara who spoke, “And then we have Marc, Marcia’s husband.”
“Yes, Marc, the man I may sack again tomorrow,” said Jim to an obviously embarrassed Marc.
“Nice to meet you. Sorry I missed your name.” He looked at her as if he was trying to place her face.
She smiled. He still looked mortified that his comment had been heard and she didn’t doubt he would get grief from both Jim and Marcia.
“Tasha, Natasha Winters, and I believe you were considering kicking my behind in revenge for my agent waking you,” she said, embarrassing him further as she turned slightly and allowed her behind to protrude.
“I was, but I may have been a little overwrought at the time.” Marc extended a hand that Tasha accepted as he introduced himself again. “I am, as Sara said, Marcia’s husband, and also the unfortunate soul who works in the next office to the fucking crazy son of a bitch, control freak, bastard.”
Tasha laughed loudly as everyone stared at them.
“Well, you have to have a pet name, don’t you?”
She felt a little overwhelmed by the surroundings and the people and was glad to be shown into the dining room to eat. Tasha had been placed between Jim and the empty seat reserved for Rosa’s new boyfriend. Opposite was Philip who was flanked by Lizzie and Juan. Marcia and Marc were also on the opposite side to Tasha, with the table ends occupied by Sara and Lenny.
Sara kept looking at the empty chair next to Tasha and frowning. “Rosa, I don’t want to be rude as it’s the first time we’ve all met him, but we can’t hold dinner any longer.”
Before Rosa had a chance to reply the door bell sounded and the young woman leapt up and returned a couple of minutes later with her new boyfriend.
“Come and meet everyone,” she cried, introducing him, as the others turned to look at the late dinner guest. “Everyone, this is...”
Tasha couldn’t believe her eyes and she wasn’t sure what Jim said, but he definitely said something.
As they stood before Jim and Tasha, Rosa said “And this is Jim and—”
“Tasha, nice to see you again,” he interrupted.
“Howse—sorry, Parker, hello again.”
This was one hell of a coincidence; Doogie Howser was Rosa’s new boyfriend.
“You’re the guy from the restaurant,” shouted Lizzie. “The one who flew in with Tasha.”
Tasha quickly filled in the main gaps of her previous encounters with Parker, minus the fact he’d given her his number and the details of his trip to the bathroom, but was more than relieved when Sara directed everyone to eat.
Chapter 17
Tasha tried to avoid all looks and conversation with Parker and as Jim quietly seethed next to her she was glad to have Lizzie, Philip and Juan opposite. They talked about movies, music and mutual interests leaving her feeling more at ease.
“So, are you working right now?” Philip asked.
“Not until I get back home. I have a cameo in a comedy sketch show as a character I used to play in a soap, a couple of auditions and some modelling work.”
“I want to be a model,” said Lizzie, then with what sounded like genuine interest she sought more details. “What do you model?”
“It’s not like manual labour, but it is harder than you might think, Lizzie, but you probably have a better shape than me for it.” Tasha hoped her response hadn’t come off as dismissive of Lizzie’s dreams but she also knew a lot of people considered modelling to be an easy job. Something that wasn’t taxing or even worthwhile.
Lenny huffed. “It’s not exactly a real job though, is it?” He huffed again.
