“Rylie and I are going to Costa Rica in early May for a week. Work is busy for us both, so we can’t get away as much as your father can do. I take my job seriously.”
Arik cleared his throat. “What did I say?”
His mother let out an impatient huff. “It’s difficult when he’s so insufferable.”
“Then stop looking at him, talking to him, and thinking of him,” he said. “You don’t want to make Rylie jealous, do you?”
She caught Rylie’s smirk. “I don’t have that worry,” Rylie said.
“Your father could never keep up with me,” Erin said. “Even with his ongoing prescription. Rylie doesn’t need one.”
Oh God. Please let them go back to the cosmetic surgery conversation.
Talking about sex in front of her parents was never done. Never even thought of. She’d prefer they thought she was still a virgin even though they knew she wasn’t.
No one was a prude by any means, but it was just... awkward.
“Add sex to the off-the-topic talks tonight,” he said. “Mom. Don’t even.”
His mother laughed. “You’ll wish you had my sex life when you’re my age.”
Natalie turned to look at Arik and saw his blush was mirroring hers.
This might not be the same level of embarrassment as Arik’s father, but it was damn close to being as uncomfortable.
25
FELT SECURE
“Was your mother upset about today?” Natalie asked the next morning.
After dinner they’d returned to her apartment. All things considered, the night could have gone much worse than it had.
“No. She and Rylie went to the casino last night and are having dinner at The Retreat like originally planned. They are flying out tomorrow. I wouldn’t be surprised if they leave the island later today and stay in Boston.”
His mother’s reason for being on Amore Island had come and gone.
Erin Brown met Natalie and formed whatever opinion she was going to. He hadn’t asked and wouldn’t.
He didn’t care.
Nothing his parents said about any woman he ended up with was going to affect his opinion.
“I can guarantee my family dinner won’t be as uncomfortable as dinner with your family,” she said.
She moved closer, put her arms around his waist, held on and gave him a tight squeeze as if silently saying she had his back.
“Well, if they are, we both can handle it.” He lingered in her arms longer, his mouth going to her neck for a soft, light kiss full of everything he wasn’t ready to say.
Their second night together had been just as memorable as their first.
But this time Arik got to hold her in his arms. Her back to his chest, his hands on her belly giving him the free rein that he’d wanted in Baltimore but had been so fearful of taking.
Last night, he took and she gave. Everything he wanted, wished for, and hoped would come true.
Tangled in each other’s arms and legs, he felt secure for the first time in... forever.
Money bought a lot of things. It didn’t buy affection.
