Page 35 of Audra: The Prequel

Audra lifted onto her elbow and took a good look at him. “I could see it.”

“Yeah?”

“Two diamonds would be cute.”

“Cute?” he repeated, sounding disgusted. “I’m trying to be sexy, not cute.”

“Fine. You’ll be sexy. You and your ego.” She shook her head in mock annoyance.

“Thank you. Much better.”

Audra played with a hair on his chest. “Hey, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“Shoot. You know you can ask me anything.”

That wasn’t entirely true. He tended to clam up whenever she tried to find out more about his childhood in Arkansas, which was odd, because he spoke fondly of his parents, and they seemed to have a good relationship. As a matter of fact, she had heard him talk to his parents on the phone a couple of times and couldn’t detect anything less than warmth and affection in his voice.

She suspected something had happened to him as a child, but it was clear he wasn’t ready to share with her yet. Meanwhile, she was an open book. She probably shared too much.

“I want you to come to dinner and meet my parents,” Audra said.

She’d thought about it for a while and now felt confident enough in their relationship to introduce him to her family.

“Okay.” He dragged out the word, a faint frown creasing his brow. “Are you sure?”

“Would you like to meet them?”

“Yes, but I want you to be sure about it. That means meeting your daughter, too, right?”

“Yes.”

“So I finally get to meet the mini-Audra. Or that would be the mini mini-Audra. Get it, ’cause you’re?—”

“So short. Yes, I get it. Ha. Ha.” He liked to tease her about her height.

He chuckled and then threaded his long fingers into her hair. The humor disappeared from his face, and his expression turned serious. “I would love to meet your parents and your daughter. Will you be doing the cooking?”

“No, and although you pay me lots of nice compliments, I’m not the best cook in my family. Don’t forget I have a brother who’s a chef.”

“Bruno.”

“Yes. He and I learned to cook from my mom. She cooks often, although we still have a chef and housekeeper. We have a whole staff, actually, though it’s not as big as when I was growing up and everyone lived at home. Sometimes she cooks, and sometimes she uses the help. It depends on her mood.”

“I don’t care who’s cooking. I just wanna eat. When were you thinking we should meet?”

“How about the next time you’re off on Sunday, you can come over? That way, you can meet my brothers too. They can be a little overbearing, but I’ll warn them ahead of time to be on their best behavior.”

What she didn’t tell him was that more than her brothers, she wanted her parents—especially her mother—to like him. Rose Santana’s eyes spoke volumes, and Audra sensed the concern. She likely had done her research on Damon and worried Audra was making another mistake.

Sunday dinner would serve two purposes. Not only did Audra want the man in her life to meet her family, but shealso wanted to show them what she knew—that he was a funny, charming, kind soul, and she was lucky to have him in her life.

“I don’t blame your brothers. If I had a sister, I’d probably be an asshole to any man she brought home.”

“It doesn’t help that my last serious relationship went up in flames.” Audra grimaced.

He combed her hair with his fingers, smoothing the strands away from her face. “That’s in the past. People make mistakes in relationships. It’s part of life.”

“Have you?”

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