“I understand your house is part of the Christmas home tour,” Colton said.
“Yes, I just love to decorate—”
“What are you two doing here?” her father interjected.
Her mother’s lips thinned into an annoyed line at the interruption. “This is her home, Frasier. She can come over whenever she wants.”
Gretchen cleared her throat against the acid rising from her stomach. “We were— I mean, I was showing Colton around the Homestead. Like you suggested.”
Her father’s left eyebrow rose an inch, a gesture that managed to both shame and amuse her. Shame because she was thirty-five and had just been busted by her parents. Amusement because, well, same. She’d shocked her parents a lot over the years, but never for this.
“Yeah, Gretchen has been very diligent in trying to talk me into this endorsement deal.” Colton slung an arm around Gretchen’s shoulder, and her life flashed before her eyes. She was going to punch him in the dick as soon as they were alone.
“Gretchen is nothing if not diligent.” Once again, her father’s tone said more than his words. She was a diligent pain in the family’s ass, he meant.
Gretchen shrugged Colton’s arm off her. “We really should go.”
“But we just got home,” her mother said. “Can’t you stay for a little while to chat? Evan and Blake are on their way up too.”
Oh, yeah. No. They were definitely not staying for that. “I’m sure you’re ready to settle down for the night after your, um, thing.”
“Nonsense,” her father said. “In fact, I could use a drink to settle in. Colton, get you anything?”
“Hell, yeah. Jack and Coke?”
Actual flames burst from her father’s eyes.
“Just kidding,” Colton laughed. “Coupla fingers of the CAW would hit the spot just right.”
Her father nodded crisply and walked away without even asking Gretchen if she wanted anything.
“Well, isn’t this so nice?” Her mother touched her necklace again, and the fact that they were still standing in Gretchen’s bedroom became a neon sign of awkwardness. “You know what? Let me go hang up my coat, and I’ll see if I can scrounge up some crudités for us.”
“We really can’t stay long, Mom.”
“Nonsense.” Her mother waved a dismissive hand and followed her father’s path to a quick retreat. No doubt because they knew Gretchen and Colton needed another few minutes to get themselves together.
Gretchen whipped around on Colton and slugged him in the arm.
“Ow,” Colton whined, rubbing the spot on his upper bicep. “Damn, girl. What was that for?”
“Are you kidding me? I do not want to stay and have a drink with my parents and my brothers. Especially not after . . .” She waved her hand toward the bedroom and then to his crotch.
He jerked his eyebrows suggestively. “After they almost busted us exploring?”
“Oh my God,” Gretchen moaned. “They knew, didn’t they?”
He snorted.
Gretchen groaned.
Colton closed the small distance between them and lowered his voice further. “We’re adults, Gretchen. There’s no shame.”
“On my childhood bed?!”
“Okay, that part is a bit embarrassing at our age.”
“And why did you have to flirt with my mom?”
“I was trying to defuse the situation.” He did the suggestive eyebrow thing again. “Not a woman in the world can resist the ol’ Colton charm, amirite?”
“I’m going to set you on fire.”
Colton barked out a laugh, hearty and loud. Then he gripped her hips and tugged her closer still. “God, I love this side of you.”
“The violent side?”
“The riled-up side. Makes me want to lie and say I didn’t vote in the last election just so you’ll get mad and do dirty things to me.” He bent his lips to her ear. An involuntary shudder went through her. “And honey . . . you’ve already set me on fire.”
“Oh my God.” Gretchen planted her hands on his chest and shoved him backward. He stumbled twice, laughing.
She spun around and stomped toward the hallway. The lush carpeting absorbed her footsteps but not the sound of Colton chuckling as he followed. How could he find any of this funny? She shot a murderous look over her shoulder, but all she got in return was a cheeky grin.
Things got worse when they exited the hallway at the same time that Evan, Blake, and their wives—Anna and Kayla—walked in. They all wore evening attire and matching expressions of What’s she doing here? She’d been getting that look her entire life.