Page 68 of Noah

"Noah, darling." His mom leaned forward and fake-kissed his cheek. And his dad shook his hand. Noah had told me he hadn't seen his parents in almost a month. They were due for their bi-monthly mandatory dinner soon. Surely, that much time apart deserved a hug between them.

"I'd like to introduce you to Brody Carlisle, my partner." He touched my arm. "Brody, these are my parents, Frederick and Celine Waters."

I stalled for a brief second. I hadn't known Noah's last name was Waters. There was so much I didn't know about him yet. I extended my hand to Frederick first. I wasn't sure what the protocol was for formal introductions. I hadn't thought to look it up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Brody." Frederick shook my hand. "I hear you're a lawyer."

"Yes, sir, I am."

I turned to Celine. Thankfully she extended her hand. I gave it a delicate shake. She looked me up and down. "It's so nice to see our son with an accomplished man."

Thank you?

I flipped through possible replies and landed on, "I'm lucky to have him."

Celine made a funny little noise. "Yes … well."

"Noah. How lovely to see you." At Noah's side stood a beautiful woman. It was obvious by her features that she was related to Noah even though her hair was dark.

Definitely Noah's sister.

Beside her stood a very stiff-looking blond man. Impeccable. Despite his poker straight back and unreadable expression, I could tell he was comfortable here. This was his world.

"This must be Henry," Noah said and extended his hand to him. "Pleasure to finally meet you." He smirked at Henry. "Frances has told me absolutely nothing about you."

Frances smacked Noah's arm. "Play nice."

Noah turned and slipped his arm through mine. "This is Brody, my partner." On the way over, Noah told me he had spilled the truth to his sister about our relationship. We would need to keep up the ruse around her, though to simplify things. Especially, with his parents nearby.

"Brody, this is my sister, Frances, and Henry, her fiancé."

Henry cleared his throat and shook my hand. "Pleasure."

Frances smiled at me and whispered, "I'd hug you because you make my brother so happy, but our mother and father wouldn't approve. I'll give you one later."

I blinked at her, at a loss for words, nodded, and reciprocated her smile.

Coming toward us, I spotted a man who was a slightly older tidied-up version of Noah, his auburn hair trimmed close to his head, unlike Noah's longer waves.

On his arm; an elegant woman.

"Evening, Sean." Noah and Sean clapped their hands together and shook them in such a way that I knew they had roughhoused as children. There was a lightness in the way they looked at each other. The same as with Frances. Despite their tight-assed upbringing, they were close.

Sean studied me. "This must be your fiancé. Mother wouldn't shut up about him."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Noah replied.

"All right. All right. She mentioned him. Said he's a lawyer more than once." He reached for my hand, and I took his. "It's so nice to meet someone who can put up with my brother."

I smiled at Sean. "He makes it easy."

Sean laughed and clapped his hand on Noah's shoulder. "I already like him."

"Children." Celine's voice rose above us. I nodded at Sean's wife? I would introduce myself to her later. It seemed we were being summoned. I followed Noah as we formed a line near the doorway like a goddamned receiving line at a wedding. He gripped my hand.

"We won't be expected to stand here for long," he said. "After the first few guests arrive, we can hit the bar and then start to mingle. I'm expected to speak to the important guests."

"You're used to doing this."

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