“Are your parents not here?” James craned his neck to peer over her shoulder.
“Dad!” Erin ran a hand across her face.
“What? What have I done now?” He glanced at Erin with confusion on his face. “Am I not allowed to ask any questions?”
“Lia doesn’t have a good relationship with her family.” Erin’s fingers twitched like she wanted to reach out to Lia, but then she bunched them into the hem of her shirt.
“Oh.” Mortification flashed across his face. “I’m sorry. Put my foot in it, did I?”
“It’s okay.” Lia smiled. “You weren’t to know.”
“Well, we tend to think that family is what you make of it, anyhow.” James puffed out his chest. “So you’re more than welcome to join ours. We’re going out for a celebratory meal tonight—will you join us? We’d love to get to know you better. I promise I won’t put my foot in it again.”
“I’d like that—if you’re sure I’m not intruding.”
“Nonsense! No such thing.” He turned to say something to Isobel.
Erin used his momentary distraction to press close and whisper. “I’m sorry. Our celebrations will have to wait.”
“That’s okay.”
Erin shook her head. “It’s not. I’ve sprung this on you. When I mentioned us going out to dinner with them, I didn’t realise it would be quite this soon.”
“That’s okay. I’m happy to get to know them.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. They’re important to you, so they’re important to me.”
“Thank you.” Erin leaned closer, shifted to press the ghost of a kiss to her temple. “That means a lot.”
The kiss was barely a whisper of contact, nothing compared to what they’d already shared, but it sent a tingle all the way to Lia’s toes. Already, she was counting the seconds until they could be alone.
Chapter 22
“What do you think you’re doing?” Erin leaned her shoulder against her father’s where he stood at the bar, wallet in his hand.
“Paying for dinner.”
“I told you I’d get it.” Insisted, in fact, before she’d excused herself to the bathroom—returning to find her father suspiciously missing.
“And I told you I would. It’s my treat, seeing as you didn’t know Isobel and I were coming.” Seeing her mouth open, ready to argue her case further, he settled a hand on Erin’s wrist. “Let me get this. You’ve already taken care of too much the past few years.”
“Because you took care of everything my whole life before then.”
“You were a kid, Erin. You needed taking care of.” He brandished his card to the barman before Erin had the chance to reach for her own. “I’m not struggling anymore.”
“Fine. But I’m getting the next one.”
He laughed, resting his hands on the top of the bar. “So. You got yourself a girlfriend, huh?”
If she’d have known he was coming to visit, she might not have been so candid the last time they’d video chatted. She hadn’t expected to subject Lia to her family so soon. “I did. What do you think of her?”
“I think she’s wonderful, Erin.”
She let out a breath, his approval meaning a lot to her. “She is.”
“Mm. I can see that she makes you happy. That’s all I ever wanted for you. I just thought it would always be football that did that for you, not another woman.”
