Page 62 of Love Bank
I burst out laughing and opened my eyes to see Bain looking all pale. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his forehead.
“Mom’s going to kill me,” I said inanely. “And I just can’t seem to scrounge up a single fuck.”
He frowned, squeezing my hands again, which seemed to pull me out of my head and back into the conversation.
“I’m sorry. What I meant to say is that I just may love you back.” My voice trembled over the truth, shaking with the huge leap I’d just made.
“May?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Did you really expect me to acquiesce so easily?”
Bain’s worried face morphed into a huge smile and he crushed me to him, the gearshift digging painfully into my leg.
“Say it again,” he ordered.
I scoffed even as I left a line of kisses along his neck. “Always ordering me around…”
He poked my ribs and I squeaked. His scent surrounded me and I melted into him.
“I love you, Bain,” I whispered in his ear.
“I love you too, Lucy,” he whispered back.
* * *
“Will you introduce me to your mom next time she’s in town?” Bain asked me, his hand fidgeting with the ends of my hair.
We were cuddling in his bed, enjoying a lazy Sunday morning to sleep in with absolutely nothing on the calendar we had to get to. My head lay on his chest, where I could hear his heart thundering away. He was like a heat rock, making me want to kick off the soft covers. Considering he hadn’t shown me a new position since the middle of the night when the moonlight cast a bright glow about the room, I couldn’t understand why he was so worked up.
Mentioning my mom gotmeall worked up. My stomach bottomed out even as my brain reminded me I should have seen this coming. Should have prepared myself for the violent intersection of us dating and the man-hating venom of my mom. I took too long to answer and Bain sat up, dislodging my head and pulling me up with him. He leaned against the wood headboard and gazed down at my face, his eyes no doubt taking in the reluctance.
“What is it?” Bain pulled his arm back as if touching me would suddenly be a problem. It was a small retreat that added guilt to my fear. A grown woman shouldn’t be ashamed to have a boyfriend and I hated that I’d made him feel not good enough to meet my family such as it was.
I ran a hand through my hair, the T-shirt of his I borrowed last night slipping off my shoulder.
“It’s not what you think. I want you to meet my mom and my sister eventually, but you have to realize how Mom is. She’s—how do I put this?”
“A blue alien who sucks out the brains of hot wardens?” Bain interrupted me, that cocky twinkle back in his eye.
I slapped his belly, and then rubbed the spot as if to apologize, but really I just wanted to feel up the six-pack. “No! She’s Northern California’s Man-Haters Chapter president.” I blew out a huge breath, like a boulder the size of the gold nugget next to the Welcome to Auburn Hills sign had lifted off my shoulders. “Boom! There, I said it.”
Bain froze. He didn’t even blink.
“Well? You gonna say something?” I quit fondling him to poke him in the stomach.
He spoke but still looked like a deer in headlights. “I’m trying to figure out if you’re being serious or just pulling my leg.”
“Oh, you’d know if I was pulling your leg, baby.” I winked with one eye and then the other, making sure he caught my innuendo.
“Lucy, this isn’t a time to talk about your insatiable appetite. Be serious.”
I spread my hands out. “Iambeing serious. She’s the prez. You’re screwed, face it.”
His face scrunched together and I found it comical. “Seriously? The president of a man-haters club? That’s some messed-up shit.” He ran both hands through his hair. “See? This is why I don’t date. I mean, I’m dating you, but damn, what bad luck is it that the first time I get serious with a girl I gotta face this shit?”
“First of all, I’m all woman, baby.” I waggled my eyebrows, pleased as punch with my flirting skills. I’d really come a long way in a few short months.
“Lucy!” he admonished me, climbing out of bed and propping his hands on his hips.
