Page 43 of The Flirt

She stepped into view along with a guy who was clearly Chad's dad. He looked a lot like him, down to the impressive eyes and stature.

"Oh, you’re both here," Adele greeted us, her eyes alight.

Chad’s dad waved at me. “I’m Remy, Chad’s father.” He glanced around. “Where’s Bella?"

"She's in the ladies' room," Chad said.

"Okay. Scarlett, I hear your first weeks have gone well?" Adele said.

"Yes. I love working here."

"And I'm so happy my boys introduced you to Sazeracs as well."

I froze. Wait, what? His parents know about my trip to the bar? I looked to Chad for help.

He just narrowed his eyes at his parents. "Mom...," he said.

"Oh, right. Um..." She smiled at me. "I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret. Xander came by the house over the weekend, and one thing led to another...”

“He told us that you two paid him a visit at the bar," Remy said in a booming voice.

Chad was staring at his father with a raised brow as if they were having a silent conversation.

"We went on a tour," I blurted.

"We heard," Adele added. She sounded as though she was on the edge of laughter. Clearly she wasn't buying that explanation. Oh, I wanted to just run away, and I wasn't a runner. I liked to face everything head-on, but this was just bizarre.

"Anyway," she said, looking at me, "we just came here because we heard from the pastry chef yesterday that you're getting a delivery of fresh shrimp."

"Yes, we are," I said. "I actually found a new source, and it’s amazing.”

She winked at me. "We know. That's why we came. We want to sneak some for ourselves at home."

I laughed. "Sure, no problem. They should be arriving soon."

She turned to Remy and said, "Let's wait in the front and not disturb these two."

At that moment, Bella sprinted toward us and said, "Nana, you're here. Papa too."

"Yes. Who's my big girl?" Remy said, lifting her into his arms. She gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. "Do you need to go already?" he asked Chad.

"We can still linger for about ten minutes."

"All right, then we’ll take this." Adele opened the fridge and took out half an apple pie, obviously knowing where the leftover desserts were stored. Then she opened a drawer and retrieved forks. "And you can tell us all about your weekend, Bella.”

"Yes, come on, pretty girl," Remy said as he carried Bella into the dining room.

The second Chad and I were alone, I realized that the tension between us had never subsided. It was just like before we were interrupted—thick and all-consuming. He seemed to feel it, too, because his eyes zeroed in on my lips, and his pupils dilated.

"Scarlett, we need to talk."

"Okay, sure."

He shook his head. "Not right now with my parents half listening from the front, and I'm about to leave with Bella. I know we already spoke about things on Friday."

I nodded. "And we agreed that we’ve both made promises. Yet the problem is that I've been thinking about breaking mine the whole weekend."

He was impossibly close now... and then his hand was on my waist. I leaned into the touch. God, how I craved it. I hadn't really realized it until now.

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