Page 92 of Exposed

“Baby,” he breathes against my lips. “Making a good first impression once you walk through those doors is the last thing you need to worry about. Those three women are the only family I have outside of the Rangers and DEA. They love me, so they’ll fucking love you.”

I relax into his chest.

“But—” he delivers that word with a punch. “You cannot tell them how we met. That will put Trippy on her deathbed.”

My eyes widen. “Seriously? More lies. I’m not sure I can handle that.”

“Kingston Jennings, if I faint from low blood sugar, I’m blaming you when Dr. Emmett has to come to the hospital to see me!”

“She is diabetic,” King announces. “We need to eat.”

King doesn’t need to worry about Trippy making it through the night.

I’m not sure I will.

18

ALL PRETEND BUT THE SEX

Goldie

Laken picks up her glass and points back and forth between King and me. “For real? She came running in from a rainstorm?”

King finishes the last swallow of his beer. “She sure did. She was soaked to the bone with makeup streaking her face, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t keep her eyes off me and asked a stranger to move so she could sit by me at the bar.”

I have to pick my jaw off the floor to speak as I stare at the man who I’m falling deeper and deeper for as the moments and lies click on. “You’re unbelievable.”

He gives my hair a playful tug. “You were the most beautiful drowned rat I’ve ever seen.”

Laken sits back in her chair. “You’re full of shit, bro.”

Trippy pins Laken with the look. “Watch your mouth.”

“I’ve heard the word shit before, Grandma,” Willa announces.

“It doesn’t mean she has to say it,” Trippy mutters.

I turn to the women across the table from us. “I’d never metanyone as awkward as King. It was like he didn’t know how to speak to a woman.”

I’m not sure if it’s my second glass of wine or my current state of life, but I’m becoming more and more comfortable with the lies, though that last one was not a lie. King was awkward, but they don’t need to know he was undercover pretending to be someone else.

“King Jennings, the Army Ranger turned narc, was awkward?” Laken shakes her head and turns to Trippy. “This really must be the one, huh, Trip? King has never been awkward a day in his life.”

Trippy spoons more sugar into her iced tea than anyone should consume, but really more than a diabetic. “King went through his awkward phases. Braces was the first one. I had to pay for orthodontics twice for him since he refused to wear his retainers. Then there was the gangly stage. He just grew and grew and grew. He got so tall, I thought his head would be stuck in the clouds, but he was so skinny, I was afraid he’d snap like a twig in the breeze.” Trippy looks at me and lowers her voice like she’s telling me a secret. “He didn’t get muscly like that ‘til he went to West Point.”

“You had to wear braces twice?” Willa hasn’t said much during dinner, but the mention of going through orthodontics more than once is enough to get her attention.

“You don’t have much of a choice when it comes to Trippy. And so much for trying to impress Marigold. I can always count on you two to keep it real,” King deadpans, as if he’s ever tried to impress me.

“If you’ve ever tried to impress anyone, I’d be shocked,” I say.

Laken turns to her brother. “If you do anything to chase her off, I’ll kill you myself. I love her.”

Trippy looks to Laken. “When was the last time he brought home a girl?”

“Trippy,” King grits. “Not okay.”

Trippy and Laken don’t care what’s okay with King.

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