Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Aunt Gabby muttered something that sounded vaguely polite as she glanced around, probably looking for the other lady who’d run off. She was better at being sneaky, so I knew I’d have to worry about her.
It was generally the quiet ones that were the most dangerous, and I was smart enough not to forget that as I smiled and looked happy to see everyone.
Everyone.
Half the town seemed to be in his parents’ backyard.
Most of them looked familiar from the board, but after a few random introductions, I realized that several neighbors had snuck in for either the food or because they were nosy too.
Maybe both?
Everyone kept going over to the big grill that looked almost professional before they wandered away, so it made me think I wasn’t the only one who was excited for a cheeseburger.
So far. So good.
But we hadn’t won the war yet.
Chapter 18
Enzo
Terrence’s work face was amazing—disturbing, but amazing.
If I hadn’t spent so much time around the real Terrence, who wandered around in his pajamas talking to himself and ogling my cousins, I’d have been fooled. But my Terrence was much more interesting and sexier. This one was, well…very grown-up.
And very good at subtly being snarky.
His question about the cat was incredibly subtle for him and he’d done the innocent face pretty well. It’d been done good enough to freak out all three busybodies. I was curious to see how the rest would go, though.
The neighbors had surprised me and made me wonder what my family had said, but free food was always a temptation. No matter how they’d ended up here, Terrence had done an incredible job of smiling and getting to know everyone.
His work persona was really good.
Everyone liked it even if a few of them were watching us a bit too closely.
I wasn’t sure what they were expecting but it almost felt like a few distant cousins already knew we were more interesting than we appeared.
The idea just wouldn’t go away, so as we made our way around the crowd again and finally found a quiet corner of the yard, I whispered to my cutie. “Have you dated anyone here? We’re getting looks from at least one neighbor and a few distant relatives…and we haven’t done anything.”
Neither of us.
“I don’t know.” Frowning, Terrence started rolling the question around in his head and I had a feeling he was running through a rolodex-like system where he was trying to match faces with the pictures flying around. “Oh.”
Not good.
“Well, I haven’t slept with any of your relatives.” Starting off that way didn’t make me feel any better, but I nodded so he’d keep going. “But I think I’ve seen a few of their faces on a kink website I tried to use last year? Earlier this year? How are you all this kinky? Is it, like, a genetic thing?”
“For fuck’s sake.” Reminding myself that at least he hadn’t slept with any of them, I took a deep breath. “Okay, just remember who you saw on there in case we need ammunition, but we’re going to ignore it. Just because they have no poker face doesn’t mean we’re that obvious.”
Terrence seemed more interested in the how is everyone kinky part than anything else, which didn’t surprise me. “I wonder if anyone has done studies on that. Do you think it would fall under scientific studies as far as funding goes or would the military be interested in it?”
At some point I was going to ask flat out what the fuck he did for a living.
It was not that point.
“We’re getting back on track for the time being, but we can spend some time researching that later. Once you’re caught up on whatever you’re supposed to be doing tonight.” He was definitely behind on something based on the pout he was giving me. “It’s not my fault you got stuck, but it might be my fault you got distracted?”
I was willing to accept that but he shook his head. “No, and I’m not supposed to lie about that.”
Leander.
“Thank you.” Giving him a quick kiss so it looked like we’d been doing something romantic and not suspicious, I took his hand again. “Alright, ready to brave more relatives? Round one went really well but Uncle Alonzo escaped.”
From whoever was supposed to be watching him.
“Oh, that’s going to be fun.” Looking thoroughly entertained and ready for battle, Terrence grinned. “How do I look?”
“Gropeable.” It was the answer he’d wanted to hear based on his widening smile, and I definitely reached best Daddy ever status. “But don’t get too cold just because you wanted to look cute.”
It wasn’t bad for December, but I wanted to be careful because he had very little common sense when it came to looking good versus freezing to death. But Uncle Alonzo got to us before I could lecture him anymore.