"Hello?" The voice that rings through the house drops mystomach to my toes and has me scrambling out of Titus’s lap so fast lightning couldn't catch me.
By the time Deidre enters the great room, I’m on my feet, smiling.
And debating if my murder plan applies to her.
"Hey, guys." Her eyes drift to where Titus sits on the couch. "How’s everything going?"
Deidre calls Titus on a regular basis, but I've noticed she doesn't come over often, and I have to guess it’s because there hasn’t been much of a point. I'm sure he would come out of his room for her, but Titus still isn’t exactly the most social person, so I'm guessing conversations with him were probably short and hard earned. So I have to assume she came here to see me, and that makes me want to throw up. And not in the morning sickness sort of way.
In the ‘I’ve got a secret and have to tell her at some point’ sort of way.
"Things are going good." It takes a little bit of work, but I manage to push what just happened between Titus and me to the back of my mind. "I was getting ready to start dinner. Would you like to stay and eat with us?"
Again, Deidre's eyes move from me to Titus, then back to where I stand. "I wish I could, but I have a roast in the oven." The words come out oddly stilted. Slow and drawn out. "I just wanted to stop by and see if you needed anything." She takes in the room around her, looking over the recent furniture additions. "But it seems like Titus is making sure you're taken care of."
I don't know what happens, but somehow my throat spasms at that exact moment, and I start to cough. Choking on nothing but the double meaning of her words. Because I'm almost positive Titus was going to ask if he could kiss me again. I might be wrong, but I don't think so. And I know for a fact that if I said yes—and I would have said yes—it wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss. For a whole slew of reasons, I would have gobbled up anything he was willing to give me.
And probably still wanted more.
Instead, I'm standing in front of his mother, fire climbing up my neck and across my cheeks, as I think about all the ways her son could make sure I'mtaken care of.
Titus stands but doesn't come close to me. He stays an acceptable—professional—distance away as he addresses his mother. "Did you need anything else?"
"Actually…" Deidre gives me a smile. "Part of the reason I came was to see if you wanted me to bring one of the side-by-sides over here. I heard you finally got to meet the rest of my boys, and thought you should have a way to easily get around the property in case you wanted to go visit any of them."
"If she wants to go visit any of them, I'll take her." Titus steps forward, this time narrowing the space between us. "I ordered her a side-by-side a few days ago. They're delivering it tomorrow."
After a lifetime of men who couldn't even be bothered to remember my birthday or an anniversary of any sort, having someone provide anything I could need or want without being asked is sort of overwhelming. And terrifying. Because, if I could convince myself those twerps were Prince Charmings, I can only imagine what my dreamy little brain will decide Titus is.
And that has alarm bells going off. Sirens wailing that I need to be careful. Need to be smart. Need to be realistic.
Not my strong suits.
"That is wonderful news." Deidre gives her attention to Titus, her smile a little different than I've seen before. "That means you can come to family dinner night too."
Titus opens his mouth, but nothing comes out for a second. He looks... Displeased.
And because I don't want him to be displeased, I pull his mother's attention my way. "Family dinner night?"
When Deidre turns to me, her smile is back to normal. Genuine and warm. "Yes. Ted and I were talking and we've decided it would be so wonderful to host all our boys for dinnerone night a week." She reaches out, resting a hand on my shoulder. "And, of course, that would include you."
I glance at Titus. He still looks not thrilled, but I don’t think there's an easy way out of this, so I nod. "That sounds really nice." I can tell he doesn’t agree, but I guess we can always try to worm our way out when his mother isn't standing right in front of us. "When are you thinking of starting this?"
Without hesitation, Deidre says, "Tomorrow."
That is… really soon. It doesn't give me much time to mentally prepare for an evening surrounded by Titus’s family, but there's no way we cannotgo, and I would never make him go alone. Not when the idea of a family dinner makes him look so grumpy.
"Can we bring anything? Dessert?" I never show up at a dinner party empty-handed, and I sure as heck don't want to show up to a dinner party thrown by Deidre Bradshaw empty-handed. But I also don't want to step on her toes and bring something that would clash with what she has planned.
"Dessert would be lovely." She gives my shoulder a squeeze before backing away. "Bring whatever sounds good to you." She gives me a wink. "But I have heard some talk about a caramel cake, so I'm sure that wouldn't be unappreciated."
"Perfect." I glance over and notice Titus’s scowl has deepened. It must not be an uncommon expression from him, because his mother is unfazed. She's still smiling as she waves goodbye and walks to the front door, letting herself out the same way she let herself in.
I turn to Titus, trying to figure out how to alleviate some of his displeasure. "You don't have to go. I can go alone and?—”
"Abso-fucking-lutely not." He shakes his head, stepping toward me. "No way are you going into the lion’s den alone."
His assessment of dinner at his mother's house makes me smile. "I would hardly call your mother a lion.”
