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Embarrass me? Like she could. He may be worried, but I wasn’t.
“What could she possibly do? Make me lose my job?” I said with a little unperturbed laugh. “I’m not scared of her, Duncan. She can’t hurt me at all. Not if you love me.”
“I do,” he said with conviction. “Never doubt it.”
My heart skipped about a thousand beats. I was pretty sure I was going to turn into goo every time he was around from this point on if he kept this up.
“I don’t. So come on. I’m coming with you.”
His brows drew together. “Why?”
“Because I don’t wantyouto have to face her on your own,” I said. “You’re not alone in this, Duncan. I’ll be there with you. I’ll do everything I can to help you smooth things over with your family. Okay?”
He went still. So still.
“Have I told you how amazing you are?” he said on a breath.
I tiptoed up to press a kiss to his mouth, one that didn’t last nearly as long as I wanted it to. “Tell me later. Let’s go get ready.”
It was time to face his family again. Between threats from psychos who recently escaped from jail and the wrath of Mrs. Hawthorne? I’d take the latter.
I should have known she wasn’t the worst thing I’d face once we got there.
THIRTY-ONE
rosabel
Duncan either didn’t carethat we were late or didn’t realize just how late we were. Though Clive had parked behind the row of mountain bikers waiting at the Crystal Bridges Museum’s entrance, Duncan didn’t move or make any attempt to exit the vehicle. Instead, he stared at the rounded hat box in his lap.
He killed it in a tux. His freshly gelled hair was combed into place, and I had the hugest urge to run my fingers through it and tangle it up again. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I just wanted to touch him again, or because I liked the devil may care look messy hair gave him.
Clive peered back at us from his rearview mirror. I met the questions in his eyes and slid closer to Duncan—an easy feat in this dress—resting my hand on his arm.
“What’s the matter?”
He peered at me, his gaze shadowed. “Nothing.”
Oh, no he didn’t. “I thought we were being open with one another,” I reminded him. “Is it the house? Because you didn’t get it for her?”
I’d thought he’d whip out his ninja investor skills and make another attempt at schmoozing Eudora, the way he would have done with any other deal. As far as I knew, he’d simply let it go.
That wasn’t like him.
He patted the circular box. “I’m sure she’ll love the hat we picked out for her. It’s just…I can’t help the feeling that we’re walking into something we won’t come back from.”
Was there some other problem between him and his family? Or between him and his grandma? Or did he think whoever this Ulrich character was would attack us at an old lady’s birthday party?
“Are you sure you’re not just being paranoid?” I said, sliding my hand beneath his and giving it a squeeze. “You don’t know where Ulrich is right now, remember? For all you know, he’s off living in Maui and finding someone new to pester.”
He still didn’t react.
“If you’re still worried, we won’t let our feelings show. Okay? No handholding. No kisses. We’re just two people attending an event together. Okay?”
“I’ve never been good at hiding how I feel about you,” he growled.
“You fooled me.”
“Did I, though?”
