Page 54 of On the Double

“Brock, ma’am. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“And you. I’m very sorry to hear about your loss. Was it on a job?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

His words were very sincere, and I found myself looking a little closer at Edu, wondering if any of this played into his reaction to tricking my grandparents or getting married. Edu stood up, his eyes focused once again as he looked at my grandmother.

“Oh, honey, he doesn’t look so good. You should stay with him tonight.”

My jaw dropped open in shock. Was she suggesting I stay the night with Edu? “Uh…”

“That’s really not necessary, ma’am. I’ll be fine.”

“Nonsense. You’re practically family, and when family is hurting, you look out for one another. Besides, we’re having such a good time, I think we’ll stay a while longer to get to know everyone. We’ll stay at Harper and Oliver’s house. You two can have some privacy.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Either Gram was testing us or she really wanted me to find a man and assumed the only way to make that happen was to force us into the situation.

“Uh…but I have work in the morning.”

“If you wake up at his house or yours, you still have to get up. Why are you trying to get out of taking care of your fiancé?”

The chastising look she shot me made it clear there was no wiggle room on the subject. One way or another, I was staying with Edu tonight. Which I really didn’t mind, except I hardly thought he was going to invite me into his bed and give me a night I’d never remember. He’d already made it clear that I was way too crazy for him. And one thing I knew for certain, men didn’t encourage crazy.

“I’m not,” I chuckled. “I just…didn’t realize you would be okay with me staying at a man’s house before I’m married.”

“Harper, I’m old enough to realize that kids do things differently than when I was your age. Now, as long as he treats you with respect, I see no reason why you can’t go home with him and take care of him during this trying time.”

Well, shit. That really didn’t leave me much choice. So, I grinned at her and took Edu’s hand. “Perfect.”

15

EDU

“Why did you agree to that?”I hissed as I pulled her to the side.

“What did you want me to do?”

“Tell her no!” I snapped. “You can’t stay with me.”

“Fine, I’ll check into the motel in town. It’s not a big deal.”

I flinched back at her suggestion. “The motel? Are you kidding me? That thing is falling apart.”

“Then what would you suggest I do? I can’t exactly go home when my grandparents are staying the night there!”

I ran my hand over my head, trying to come up with a good solution. There had to be a way to get her out of this without making me look like an asshole. “Maybe I could just say that I want to be alone tonight.”

“Sure, you do that and tell me how it goes.”

“Fine, but you’re staying on the couch.”

“I’ve got no problem with that,” she said angrily, turning on her heel and marching over to the table with chips and dip.

“Great, now I’m the asshole.”

“Did you really just tell her she had to sleep on the couch?” Brock chuckled.

I glanced over my shoulder and sighed. “You heard that?”

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