She giggles. “My father hates everyone.”
We kiss again, her tongue curling around mine, and I walk her backward. “We need to christen this bed.” I smile.
She looks up at me, all gorgeous and fuckable. “How did I know you were going to say that?”
I throw her onto the bed. “Lucky guess.”
I pull the razor down my face as Hayden gets dressed in the bedroom behind me.
“So you know the plan?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Let you do all the talking.” I roll my eyes as I wash the razor out.
Hayden is freaking out, and I have to admit it’s catching. I’m sure dear old Harvey has a shotgun or two around here.
And then there’s that feral cat who wants to eat me alive under the table. Let’s just hope that fucker is out hunting what cats hunt at night.
“And whatever my mother dishes up, you eat it.”
I look up from shaving. “Huh?” I stare at her as my brain misfires. “What do you mean?”
“My mom is real country. Just . . . if you want to stay on the good side of my father, eat whatever she plates up.”
“Like what, what would she cook?”
“I don’t know.” She rolls her deodorant on. “She likes to cook with offal.”
“Offal?” I frown.
“You know, like brains and kidneys and stuff.”
“You’re joking, right?”
She shakes her head. “Nope.”
I stare at her as I begin to sweat. I imagine organs all laid out on a table, and I feel faint.
“Just. Eat. It.” She widens her eyes.
“Of course I’ll eat it. What kind of wimp do you think I am?”
Fuck me dead.
“Move out of the way while I do my hair,” she says.
I leave her to it and walk downstairs. I text Elliot.
Just about to have dinner with her family.
Her father hates me.
Her mother cooks organs and the cat wants to
rip my nuts off under the table.
Send this to the police if you never hear from me again.
Chapter 25
“Hi.” Hayden smiles as we walk into the kitchen.
“Hello.” Valerie smiles as she stirs something on the hot plate. “Dinner in ten.”
“Hmm, something smells delicious,” I say. I’m not even joking; it really does smell delicious in here.
“Only the best for my loves,” Valerie replies. “Your father is in the living room.”
Hayden disappears into the living room, and I hang back, and I watch Valerie for a moment. She’s the epitome of country loving. I know where Hayden gets her warm and happy disposition from.
Valerie has it in spades. It oozes out of her, and I felt it the moment we met, and I feel like I know her already.
The exact opposite of her prickly husband. I’m dreading that Harvey and I are not going to get along and it’s going to screw everything up.
Hayden worships the ground her parents walk on. If I fuck it with them, I fuck it with her.
I hang in the kitchen for a bit. “How was your day?” I ask Valerie.