Page 107 of Booked for Summer

That elicited a smile from the mother. ‘I’m glad we got that settled. Now, give me your jacket.’ Her gaze dropped to the small parcel he carried. ‘And whatever you’ve got there. I’ll pop it in the cupboard under the stairs. Are you hungry? I made a stew so there’s plenty left.’

Okay, he could do this, he thought as he followed her down the hallway. He could make polite conversation with Jade’s family while she was in the room, close enough to look at but not touch. To see her face but not know how she felt about him being there until he was able to get her alone.

Fuck.

The moment he stepped into the large family kitchen, his eyes collided with Jade’s. She gasped, and her knife and fork clattered to the table.

‘We have a visitor.’ Jade’s mom turned to him. ‘I’m Kathy, this is Donald,’ she waved a hand towards the balding man at the head of the table. ‘Lauren, you’ve clearly already met.’

‘And me.’ Jade cleared her throat, her gaze a mix of emotions too complex for him to decipher. ‘You’ve already met me.’

‘I daresay you’re the reason he’s here.’ Donald gave him the sort of look any doting father would give a man he didn’t trust with his daughter. ‘But if he dares to upset you, he’ll have me to answer to.’

‘Dad.’ Jade groaned, burying her head in her hands.

‘What? My warm, big-hearted, spirited, champion of a daughter has been hurt enough by men not treating her right.’

Liam watched Jade blink back tears before turning his attention to her father. ‘I have no intention of hurting your daughter. Ever.’

Donald gave him a steely glare, then nodded.

A beat of awkward silence followed, broken by Kathy. ‘Someone go and fetch another chair for Liam while I get him some stew.’

He felt like he was in some alternate universe. One where he was meeting Jade’s parents for the first time as a shy, awkward youngster. It had to be the reason he put up no objection and simply slid, meekly, onto the chair Donald set next to Jade.

Immediately he inhaled, registering her unique smell, his body stirring into life for the first time since she’d left him. He was desperate to touch her, just to reach out his hand and wrap it around hers, but he didn’t know if she’d accept the gesture. Or smack him in the face.

‘How long have you been in England?’ Kathy asked as she set a plate of mashed potatoes with some unrecognisable brown meat in a brown gravy in front of him.

He glanced at his watch. ‘Nearly two hours.’

‘You came straight here from the airport?’

What the hell else was he going to do? Seeing Jade was his sole focus. Persuading her to come back with him, his sole purpose. ‘Yes.’

Beside him, Jade let out a noise that sounded like a snigger. ‘This is going to be interesting,’ she whispered.

‘What is?’

‘Seeing you being interrogated by Mum. I’m warning you now, she’s a master.’

‘What are you two whispering about?’ Kathy called over to them.

Jade gave him an innocent look. ‘I was asking him why he was here.’

He baulked. ‘Seriously? You want me to do thisnow?’

‘Well, it would be good to know.’ It was only then he saw the fine line of tension around her mouth. She wasn’t nearly as collected, as assured, as she was letting on. ‘Have you come to ask me about the bookstore? Because I saw you’d advertised the manager job already.’

Lauren gasped, but Liam ignored her. If he was going to have to do this in front of her family, so be it. ‘Then you’ll know I didn’t come here for the shop. I’ve come for you.’

‘Oh.’ She swallowed, her gaze bouncing up to his.

‘Yes, oh.’ He glanced down at his plate. ‘Do you want to keep talking, or should we finish eating and go somewhere more private?’

‘I vote for the first,’ Lauren stated. ‘If you’re interested in my view, that is.’

Jade’s eyes searched his, and a small smile played around her mouth. ‘Mum’s cooking isn’t the best, so eating fast is probably advisable.’

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