Page 21 of One Night Bride
“Oh boy. You’re really going to wish my twin sister was here instead of me. She’s the cook in the family.”
Julie just laughed, not yet aware of my ineptitude in the kitchen. We chatted while we chopped, sauteed, and layered our way to a lasagna that filled two huge pans. She pretty much got my entire life’s story out of me, short as it was. I’d skirted around how Remington and I had met, not really sure how to tell her her son banged my brains out in the hotel bathroom. We’d just put the lasagna in the oven and poured a glass of wine for each of us, when I heard a diesel truck approach the house.
“The boys must be back,” Julie said, plopping down on the couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table. I loved that even though their house and property must be worth several million, the place was warm and friendly.
I glanced out the window and saw all four pile out of the truck like some kind of hot cowboy calendar photo shoot was about to begin. Their jeans were muddy and dirt streaked their foreheads. Grant wrenched off his boots, tossing them on a wood bench up against the house. A spray of water came off from the house, probably from a faucet I couldn’t see. Remy grabbed Killam in a headlock, only letting go when the kid elbowed him in the stomach. Grant rinsed his face and hands before coming around front to come in the house. The boys, all laughing and carrying on full volume, followed suit by taking off their boots too.
Remington ripped his shirt over his head and my mouth ran dry. I didn’t remember seeing him in the hotel room without a shirt, a regret I felt like a punch to the gut. He was magnificent. Six-pack abs, a V-shape of muscles angling down to the treasure I was intimately familiar with behind the buttons of his pants. Shoulder boulders that flexed as he stepped under the spray of water and ran his hands through his hair. He turned, and I got a shot of his wide back and the denim-clad ass that had kept my attention since the moment I’d caught sight of him in the bar.
“So how’d you two meet, Esme?” Grant asked, startling me.
I looked away from the window to see him inside the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine. I had to clear my throat before I could answer. Jesus, it was hot in here.
“Um, well, we met in Tahoe,” I said lamely.
“Mm-hmm. That’s about all I got out of Rem too,” he answered with a chuckle.
The front door opened and Remington came inside, wiping his shirt down his torso to dry himself. His wet hair spiked all over his head, and his face lit up in a smile when he saw me.
“Hey, honeypoo,” he drawled.
And damn him, but my knees went weak.
Being half naked was so not fair. Who could resist all that?
Ruger and Killam came through the door behind him, similarly half naked and stacked with muscle, but all my attention stayed firmly on Remington. The dog tried to come in, but Julie ran him out, saying she’d put his food out if he was a good boy. Remington sauntered over in bare feet before ducking down and kissing me, right in front of everyone.
“Did you miss me?” he whispered for my ears only.
“No,” I whispered back.
My bright red cheeks said otherwise. He tossed his head back and laughed. Meanwhile, I watched a water droplet trace down his collarbone, over his lump of a chest and into the six-pack I wouldn’t mind tracing with my tongue.
“My eyes are up here, honeypoo.”
I blinked and found Remington staring at me with laughter in his eyes. Ugh, he was impossible.
“Put a damn shirt on, would you?” I hissed, hoping none of his family were close enough to hear.
“You have just enough time to take a shower before dinner, Rem,” Julie called from the couch.
“Thanks, Mom,” he answered, still looking at me like he was about to haul me over his shoulder and carry me upstairs for being adorable.
“I didn’t make up the guest room since I didn’t know you were coming home with a wife, so you’ll have to share your old room,” Julie teased, still miffed about him springing marriage on her like this.
I didn’t blame her. My parents would freak out. I thought she was handling it quite well, all things considered.
Wait.
Share a room? My eyes went round and Remington had to roll his lips inward to keep from laughing. I really needed to work on my poker face. Remington traced a single finger down my cheek and then spun away to go take a shower, leaving me down here to chat with his parents. My fake-but-real in-laws.
Alone.
I was going to kill him.
10
Remington
