“Wow, wow, wow,” Mom whispered.
She wasn’t wrong. The man was freaking spectacular.
Waylon and Beeper chose that moment to take their zoomies up the stairs.
“Daze, you wanna explain what’s goin’ on?” Knox drawled as he sidestepped the canine catastrophe.
I ducked under Dad’s arm and moved to stand between my parents and my boss…er, neighbor? One-time sex partner?
“Uh. Okay. So…I really wish I would have had more coffee.”
“Are those tattoos real? How many times a week do you go to the gym?” Mom asked, peering under Dad’s armpit.
“What the hell is goin’ on?” Dad rumbled.
“Oh, Lou. So old-fashioned,” Mom said, giving him an affectionate pat on the backside before walking up to Knox and hugging him.
“Mom!”
Knox stood there woodenly clearly in shock.
“Welcome to the family,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Oh my God. I’m going to die of embarrassment,” I decided.
Knox patted my mother awkwardly on the back. “Uh. Thanks?”
She released him and then grabbed me by the shoulders. “We were so worried about you, sweetheart. It wasn’t like you to just up and leave your own wedding like that. Not that we ever liked Warner that much anyway.”
“Always thought he was a pretentious ass,” Dad cut in.
“I thought maybe you were depressed,” Mom continued. “But now it all makes sense! You fell in love with someone else and couldn’t go through with a sham of a marriage. Isn’t that wonderful, Lou?”
“I need coffee,” Knox muttered and headed for the kitchen.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Dad demanded, still not looking very pleased.
“Naomi,” Knox called from the coffeepot. “Pants?”
I winced. “Under the sink.”
He gave me a long, unreadable look before bending to retrieve his jeans.
My mother gave me an incredibly inappropriate double thumbs-up as Knox turned his back on us and zipped the fly of his jeans.
MOM! I mouthed.
But she just continued flashing me the thumbs and a creepy smile of approval.
It reminded me of the time I’d taken her to see the Andersontown Community Theater’s production of The Full Monty. My mom had an appreciation for the male form.
“Okay, I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. Mom, Dad, this is Knox. He’s my neighbor and boss. We’re not in love.”
My mother’s face fell, and Dad looked at the floor, hands on hips, his shoulders hunched. I’d seen that reaction before. Concern. Disappointment. Worry. But never for anything I’d done. It was always Tina bringing them trouble. I hated that this time it was me.
“Is this some one-night stand? Are you having some kind of mid-life crisis, and this guy took advantage of you?” My father, who had won Best Hugger three years running at the Witt Family Reunion, looked as if he was about ready to start throwing punches.
“Dad! No one took advantage of anyone.”
I shut up as Knox appeared at my side and handed me a fresh cup of coffee.
“How long are you two in town?” Knox asked my parents.
Dad glared at him.
“We haven’t decided,” Mom said to his tattoos. “We’re very excited to meet our granddaughter. And we’re a little concerned about you know who.” She pointed at me as if I hadn’t heard her stage whisper.
Knox looked at me and sighed. He put his free hand on the back of my neck and pulled me into his side. “Here’s the situation. Your daughter blew into town trying to help her no-good sister, no offense.”
“None taken,” Mom assured him.
“I took one look at Naomi and fell hard and fast.”
“Knox,” I hissed. But he squeezed the back of my neck and continued.
“We’re just seeing where this thing goes. Could be nothing, but we’re enjoying it. You raised a smart, beautiful, stubborn woman.”
Mom fluffed her hair. “She gets that from me.”
“What is it you do for a living, Knock?” Dad demanded.
“Knox,” I corrected. “He owns businesses and some property, Dad.”
My father harrumphed. “Self-made man? Guess it’s better than Mr. Nepotism.” I assumed he was speaking of Warner, who got a job at the family company after college graduation.
“Got lucky a few years back and won the lottery. Invested most of it here in my hometown,” Knox explained. “Thought I’d used up all my luck till Naomi here showed up.”