Page 32 of Unwrapped

“Uncle Joe, you’re using your cane.” I open the door so my uncle, mother, and stepfather can walk in. Right behind them is my brother, Henry, and his wife, Gwen, along with their daughter Stephanie.

“I guess the gang’s all here,” I say, ready to make the introductions, but Uncle Joe talks first.

“Nicky, did you invite people from the office here tonight?” He looks around the house, craning his neck to see if anyone else is here.

“Nope.” I pull Miranda to me, who appears to be in shock, and I wrap my arm around her waist. Uncle Joe arches an eyebrow at the gesture, but I see when realization dawns on him. “Uncle Joe, you already know Miranda. Miranda, meet my mother, Allison, and her husband, Becker. This is my brother, Henry, that I told you about and his lovely wife, Gwen. This here is my niece, Stephanie. Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Miranda.”

Uncle Joe beckons me over while everyone hugs Miranda and engages her in conversation. As expected, Becker and Henry make a beeline for the bar while the women talk.

“When I asked you to dance with her, I didn’t mean bring her home. Does her mother know?” He speaks over me without giving me time to answer. “Never mind. You are two reasonable adults. It’s none of my business.” He points a finger at my face. “But Mona is my most loyal employee and a mama bear. A grizzly. Don’t piss her off.”

“I won’t. We’re going to tell her soon.” He gives me a curt nod. There’s more I want to say, but Miranda’s words from a few minutes ago won’t leave my thoughts. I don’t have much time to mull it over because Becker calls everyone into the kitchen for drinks.

“Nicky,” my mother says. “This place is beautiful. Last time I was here, it was empty.”

“Miranda helped, and by helped, I mean she picked out everything. You want a tour?”

Everyone except Uncle Joe jumps at the tour. I look at Miranda again, who is taking big sips of Becker’s mistletoe martini. In fact, she finishes the drink in record time and helps herself to another.

“I’ll stay and keep Joe company,” she volunteers, now halfway through her next drink.

“Okay, sweetness. I’ll go show off your decorating skills.” I bend down and kiss her temple and discreetly squeeze her ass. “We’re going to talk about what you said as soon as I kick these people out.” She looks at me, her eyes wide, and shrugs.

CHAPTER 22

MIRANDA

“I told Nicky that I’m not going to ask if your mother knows where you are. You’re both adults, but I haven’t seen my nephew this happy in a long time. The entire car ride here, his mother was worried we’d have to eat dinner while seated on the floor, and then we walk into this.” Joe waves his free hand around the place while holding on to his cane with the other. “If I didn’t have this cane for support, I would have fallen over when I saw you.”

I smile at him and reach over to get him one of those delicious drinks that Becker made.

“Come on. I’ll show you around the first floor.” I link my arm with his and we walk down the hall. I show him every nook and cranny down here, including Nick’s office. I leave out the part about Nick laying my naked body on his desk and feasting between my legs for what seemed like hours.

Soon the others come back, and they find us in Nick’s office. He links our fingers together, and we walk back to the kitchen where appetizers are eaten, and more drinks are served.

His family is loud and boisterous as they tell stories from their past. His mother sits next to me, always with a ready smile and a story from her Nicky’s childhood.

“Nicky, this dinner is wonderful,” Allison says. “The student has surpassed the master.” She holds her glass and raises it to him. Everyone at the table agrees.

“You taught him to cook?” I ask. “Thank you! He’s a master in the kitchen.”

Allison smiles and tells me the story about teaching a teenaged Nicholas to cook.

“He didn’t want to do it. He had quite a mouth on him at thirteen. He told me we had people to cook, and he didn’t understand why he had to learn. Well, let’s just say, for the next week, if he wanted to eat, he had to make it himself. It took only about three days for him to fall in love with cooking. He had no problems helping after that.” She leans over her son, wraps her arm around his bicep, and lays her head on his shoulder. It’s a sweet gesture between mother and son, and I melt when he kisses the top of her head.

“Well,” I say, after mouthing athank youto Becker for handing me another drink, “let me thank you personally. He’s a great cook.” Nick looks at me and winks. “I absolutely love a man who can cook.” I smile innocently at him and bat my eyelashes after elongating the word love.

Everyone starts talking again, and Nick looks at me as I drink. He moves from his mother and comes to sit next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist.

“You think you’re pretty cute, don’t you?” he whispers in my ear. All I do is smile and shrug. “Okay. You are, but I want you to know two things. First, I’m a master in more than the kitchen. You’ll be climbing the walls in the bedroom very soon. And second, you’re so going to pay for teasing me.”

“Tease you about what, Nicky?” I ask. He growls, leans down, and bites my earlobe. “You keep drinking those and you’re going to pay for it in the morning.”

“These taste like juice. I doubt they have much alcohol.” To prove my point, I offer him a sip.

“Keep telling yourself that. You don’t know Becker very well.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m half Jamaican. It takes a lot more than something like this to get me drunk.” I raise my now empty glass, and right on cue, Becker comes back with a tray full of fresh drinks. I stand up and grab one, unsure why the room seems a little unsteady. We clink our glasses together right before Nick pulls me back onto his lap.

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