Page 64 of Kiss & Collide
Rolling her eyes, she scoffed. “Right. I’ll just ring up Andrew Garfield and see if he’s free.”
Mira laughed, and Will groaned about being starving, so they all turned their attention to the menus. Violet held her phone in her lap as she typed out an answer.
See you tonight.
27Austin, Texas
“Good lord,” Violet groaned. “If it’s this bloody hot in October I can’t imagine what it’s like here in the summer.” She’d worn a slate-gray linen trouser suit, but she still felt like she was baking. She wasn’t cut out for this climate.
“Well, this is Texas,” Chase replied, leaning against the railing of the roof deck of the hospitality center, looking cool and unruffled in a deep burgundy short-sleeve dress shirt and jeans—nice, designer. She’d managed to banish those ratty old things he wore the first night they’d slept together to the waste bin. Funny that she could still remember so much of that night—a night that was meant to be forgettable—right down to what he’d worn.
“I thought this late in the day it would be nice for you to eat dinner outside,” she said. “But if your family is too hot up here, just text me. I can arrange for some space downstairs.”
Chase looked up from his phone. “Text you? Where are you going?”
She shrugged. “My office?”
He blinked. “My parents are coming. You’re meeting them.”
What?
“What?” she said out loud. She did not meet parents. No onewantedher to meet parents. She wasn’t the sort of person people presented to their parents. When she was a kid, parents usually stepped in front of their children, instinctively assuming she might bite. Later, meeting parents had usually prompted them to turn to their sons and ask,Whatever happened to that nice Claire girl? She was lovely.
“Of course you’re going to meet them,” Chase said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “They’re going to love you.”
She scoffed. “No, they will not.”
She could be winning enough in small doses. Handshakes and smiles, professional small talk—she could manage all of that with ease. But with any prolonged exposure to her, his family was sure to see just how …challengingshe was, to use Ian’s description. He was a wanker, but he wasn’t wrong.
“Trust me,” he said with a grin. “They will.”
Just then one of the track PAs opened the glass door leading to the rooftop lounge and ushered in what was obviously Chase’s family.
“Hey, guys!” Chase’s face lit up with happiness as he strode across the outdoor lounge to meet them.
His father met him first, catching him up in a bone-crushing, back-slapping embrace that lasted several beats.
“My boy!” the older man said. “We’re so proud of you.”
Chase got his dark good looks straight from his father. The older man was a little thicker through the midsection and silver had begun to sprinkle his jet-black hair, but the face was just an older version of Chase’s. Same nearly black eyes, same golden skin, same killer cheekbones. He was wearing a pale blue button-down shirt and dark trousers with a linen blazer, still noticeably European despite his years in America.
When Chase managed to disentangle himself from his father, his mother was waiting there to hug him, too, having to stand on tiptoe to reach him. She was petite and trim, in a blue floral sundress and wedge sandals. She wore her dark brown hair in a long bob and her pale skin was lightly dusted with freckles. The only thing giving her age away was the pair of light laugh lines bracketing her eyes when she smiled, which she seemed to do often. When she pulled away from Chase, she reached up and took his face in her hands, smiling up at him with an affectionate warmth that was totally alien to Violet.
The younger brother—good god, there weretwoof them—was next to greet Chase. He had the same dark hair and eyes as his father and older brother, but with his mother’s lighter complexion. If she remembered her notes correctly, he was only nineteen, but carried himself with an easy confidence that made him seem older. And beautiful, just like his brother. He gripped Chase’s hand with one hand and thumped him hard on the back with the other.
“Dude,” the younger Navarro said. “Look at you. Formula One. Now I’ll never hear the end of it. ‘Why can’t you be like your brother?’”
“Gives you something to motivate you, kid.”
His father protested that they were proud of all their kids while his mother jokingly begged Chase not to goad his little brother into taking even more risks behind the wheel.
Now that Violet had made sure they’d arrived and they were happily catching up, she’d planned to slip away and leave them to their dinner. Except Chase turned back and motioned for her to join them.
Oh, god, this was happening.Why?Why did he want her to meet his lovely, normal family? They were sure to wonder why their beloved son—and it was clear Chase was beloved—washanging around with her. But she made her feet move, crossing the deck to join them.
“Guys, I want you to meet Violet Harper, the head of Pinnacle PR. Everything that’s happened to me this season … the magazines, the interviews, the sponsorships … it’s all her.”
Chase’s mother extended her hand first. “Violet, we’re so happy to meet you. Chase has told us all about you.”
