* * *
MATT TUCKED HIS hands behind his head and smiled up at the ceiling. His belly was full of good food, his body still humming from good loving. Lena’s hand lightly smacked his chest.
“Look at you grinning like the Cheshire Cat.”
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “You make me smile, Lena.”
She wiggled over and propped herself on his chest, looking down at him. “You are an entirely unfair human being, Matt.”
“What? How am I unfair?”
“You look like a Viking god come to life. You can cook. You got the skills to match that hound-dog swagger. What’s a girl supposed to do with you?”
Love me. The words sprang into his mind unbidden. He let out a slow breath as he looked into her dark eyes. This close, he could see flecks of darker brown within the brown. He lifted her heavy black hair and let it sift through his fingers. He was falling in love with her.
“Keep me?”
He meant it as a bit of joke, to interrupt the nearly overwhelming urge to blurt out that word. The one word he was afraid would send her running for the hills. But her look turned speculative. She’s thinking the same thing. The word hung there unsaid between the two of them. Say it, man. She’s waiting for you.
“Meow!”
The moment broke as they turned to look at Sassy, who’d jumped on the bed and was glaring at them both. “Sass, what do you think? Should we keep him?”
The cat turned and showed them her cat butt. Matt laughed and pulled Lena down into his arms. “I think that’s a no from the Sassinator.”
“Actually, it’s a sign of trust when a cat does that. But I think I forgot to feed her.”
She sat up and as she slid from the bed, he caught her hand. “Lena. We have something here.”
She sank to the edge of the mattress. “I know,” she whispered as if she were afraid to say the words too loudly.
He nodded. “We going to see it through?”
“I think we should.”
He grinned as a light, happy feeling filled him. “Can we say were dating now?”
She stood and made a swirling motion with her finger at the bed. “After those shenanigans? I think that earns an advance to dating level.”
“Hmm. Now I’m going to have to top that to advance to the next level?”
She turned with a laugh but not before he saw the flare of heat in her eyes. “I can’t imagine. I might not survive.”
“Oh, you’ll survive.”
“Come to Edisto with me for lunch on Sunday.”
Matt pushed her back on the bed and stared down into her eyes. The look on her face: regret tinged with slight horror, led him to believe she’d just blurted that out without thinking.
“What did you just say?”
“I don’t know. I claim insanity. You drove me insane with all these orgasms.”
“You want me to meet your family.”
“I shouldn’t. They’ll kill you. It will be a horrible mess. They’ll hate me forever and, oh my God, Matt, what are we doing?”
“This Sunday? Because I am so there. Lena. Do you know how much I want to be part of your life? Your family? The love I saw in the hospital? It’s like I was starving and didn’t know for what until I saw that.”
She went still and silent, and he could feel her heart pounding against his ribs. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Tears rolled from her eyes. But he didn’t think they were bad tears.
Matt leaned in and kissed the twin tears from her cheeks. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay. Let’s just feel this. We don’t have to say anything.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I’M GOING TO need to you and Wyatt to come to lunch at my parents’ this weekend.”
Sadie’s eyebrows rose as she swallowed the chunk of salmon sashimi she’d just stuffed in her face. “Any particular reason?”
Pushing her lips out in a pout, Lena hedged. “Because I want you to.”
Sadie pointed her chopsticks at Lena. “Uh-uh. Need. You said you needed us to be there. Why? What do you need protection from? Are the aunties still being crazy?”
“No. I just... Matt’s coming.” She forced the words out as quickly as she could and prepared herself for the consequences.
Lowering the chopsticks to the plate slowly, Sadie stared. “Did you just say what I thought you said?”
“Yes. Don’t make a big thing about it. He wants to meet the family. Hang out. He’s under the impression that we’re fun or something.”
“Oh,” Sadie said casually as she took a sip of wine. “Okay. No big deal. Just you bringing home the first guy you’ve ever brought home, and a white guy at that. And you’re going to drop him dead center in the Hispanic Bachelor Parade. Yeah, that’s going to be just fine.”
Lena covered her face with her hands and groaned. “What have I done?”
“Lost your mind would be my guess.”
“What should I do? Just show up? Give my mom a warning? I don’t even know how this happened.”
Sadie dragged a bit of salmon through the wasabi and shrugged. “Were you naked? That’s a lesson I learned. Never agree to do anything while naked.”
Lena felt her face go hot. That’s exactly what it was. He’d tricked her! Plying her with homemade Moroccan food and wine. Making love to her until her brain melted. “This is all his fault.”
“Sure it is,” Sadie said cheerfully. “So, what I want to know—is this Sunday an all-family Sunday or just your family Sunday?”
Horror wrapped its cold fingers around Lena’s heart and squeezed. “All family was last week,” she stammered through cold lips. “We never have it twice in a row.”
“Well then,” Sadie said. “I wouldn’t tell your mother about bringing Matt over because she’ll sound the alarm and y’all will be walking into an ambush.”
“I have to tell her. I can’t just show up with him.”
“Call her on the way.”
Using the chopsticks, Lena pushed the bits of sashimi around on the plate. She wasn’t really hungry anymore. This was going to make it real. She and Matt were skirting around the issue but they were falling in love. She knew she was at least. She was pretty sure Matt was. If she took him home and her parents were okay with it, then there would be no more barriers for her to put up. She’d have to own up to her feelings.
“You and Wyatt have to get there first. We’re going to need a cushion. My parents won’t kill me if Wyatt is there.”
“Your parents aren’t going to kill you.”
* * *
“MY PARENTS ARE going to kill me.” Lena leaned forward and put her forehead on the steering wheel.
Matt put his hand on her back and patted. “No, they won’t. They’ll kill me before they kill you.”
Sitting up, she drew in a deep breath. “Okay. Hold on. Time to make the call.”
“Make the call?”
“I can’t just show up with you. That will make my mother mad. But I can’t give her enough warning to gather all my aunts and cousins.” She lifted her phone and held a finger to her lips.
“Bueno, Mamacita. I’m just leaving town now. I wanted to let you know I’m bringing a friend with me. Is that okay?”
Matt grinned at her. It was strange to see her like this. Nervous. Unsure. She was usually so confident and decisive. She turned those dark brown eyes in his direction as she listened to her mother.
“No. Matt. Yes. Maybe. Momma...”
His grin faded and for the first time, a thread of worry wound around him. Was this a good idea? Lena’s family means everything to her. What if they rejected him? Would he lose her? He would never make her choose. His worry deepened as she switched to low, rapid Spanish.
&nb
sp; “Everything okay?” he asked when she ended the call.
“She’s mad because I didn’t tell her sooner. She only made meat loaf and thinks it isn’t suitable to serve to a guest.”
Relief flooded through him and he laughed. “I like meat loaf.”
Lena glanced in the side mirror and pulled away from the curb. “You love meat loaf. Meat loaf is your favorite meal ever.”
“Absolutely.”
Lena had spent the drive filling him in on every member of the family who might be there. Too many names to keep straight. Her father, Carl, was a retired construction foreman. Her mother, Ana, was a homemaker and an amateur photographer. They were the most important names. The others, he would learn later.
“Wow,” he said as Lena pulled into the driveway of a gorgeous redbrick house. Centuries-old oak trees framed the roofline. The front porch was deep and spanned the entire length of the house. There were rocking chairs and two hanging swings. “This is nice.”
“Okay. No one is here yet except Sadie and Wyatt. I wanted you to meet the parents before the entire family descends.”
The nerves returned. Leaning forward, he pulled a gift bag from his backpack. “Chardonnay,” he said. “A hostess gift for your mother. Yes or no?”
“Yes. If she won’t drink it, I will. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
He followed her up the porch and through the empty front room to the kitchen. “We made it,” Lena called out.
He stepped into the kitchen and glanced around. Sadie, he remembered. She owned the guy maids business. She slipped off the tall stool.
“Matt,” she said, coming to shake his hand. “It’s good to see you again.”
Lena’s mother turned her head to look at Sadie and one eyebrow rose in a perfect arch. He had to resist the temptation to laugh. Nice to know where Lena got that from.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reyes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Charles Matthews.” He crossed the room to shake hands.
They seemed like nice people. Welcoming. He was waved into a seat beside Sadie and her fiancé, Wyatt.
“So. Sadie,” Mrs. Reyes asked archly, “you two have met?”
“Uh,” Sadie said, shooting Lena a look. “Yes. Lena introduced us. Matt is putting together a charity to help kids through art. I donated some money.”
“Matt set up the art room project at St. Toribio’s,” Lena added.
“That wasn’t just me, now. Dr. Rutledge had the initial idea,” Matt said.
Ana looked from Matt to Sadie to Lena. One corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile. “I heard about that. Very good thing for the kids.”
Matt lifted the gift bag. “For you,” he said.
The sound of several car doors slamming shut broke the awkward moment. Mr. Reyes stood and clapped Matt on the shoulder. “You are welcome here, son.”
The touch. The words. Matt blinked as a warm feeling flowed into a hole he didn’t even realize was within him. “Thank you,” he managed to choke out.
A corkscrew appeared on the counter in front of him. Ana patted his hand. “Make yourself useful and open the wine.”
As Mr. Reyes left the room to greet the arriving family and Ana turned back to her cooking, Lena sidled up next to him. “See? No problem,” she whispered. “Unless...”
“Unless what,” he whispered back.
Sadie grabbed wineglasses and began to serve the wine. “So, Mamacita. Are Paula and Estrella coming?”
Lena turned with a murderous glare but Sadie and Ana only laughed. “Unless that,” she hissed.
Ana made a rude noise and took her glass of wine from the counter. “If you aren’t helping, get out.”
Matt rolled up his sleeves. “I can help.”
The look he got from Ana made his insides freeze. Oh hell.
Sadie got up. “Do you need those potatoes peeled?”
Lena put her hand in Matt’s. “Come on. Ava is here. I’m sure she’d love to see you again.”
In the front room, he pulled her to a stop. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. Don’t worry about it. It’s a generation thing. Women cook. Men go sit at the creek and have a beer while they pretend to fish.” She went up on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss. “They like you.”
“So far, so good.”
It was good. As more of the family arrived, it got louder and happier. Matt relaxed enough to enjoy himself. The weather was perfect and he found himself sitting on the back-porch steps watching the small herd of children running and screaming with laughter across the yard. From the open kitchen window, he could hear the women laughing and talking. Occasionally bickering. The bickering was in Spanish and he wondered if it was about him. The door behind him opened and Wyatt came out to sit next to him.
“It’s quite overwhelming at first. But you get used to it.”
“How long have you known the family?”
“Not long. Since last summer when I met Sadie. You’ll be fine. Just treat Lena like she’s a princess and try not to let the aunts spook you. It’s their job to disapprove of everything. Like those two old guys in the Muppets opera balcony.”
“Aw, man,” Matt said with a laugh. “Why’d you do that? Now that’s what I’m going to picture when I see them.”
A little girl with long black hair appeared at the edge of the woods. “Dad!” she yelled across the yard. “Alligator!”
Wyatt rose and hurried across the yard. Matt followed him.
“Everyone, back in the house,” Wyatt called out. “Just for a few minutes. Go on.”
They reached the path. “It jumped up on the bank and grabbed the fish Uncle Luis caught. It’s just sitting there.”
“Okay, Jules,” Wyatt said calmly. “Go on up to the house. I’m sure the alligator is long gone by now.”
“Are you going to shoot it?”
“No. I’m not going to shoot it. Get in the house.”
“Wow,” Matt said as they rounded the final curve of the path before it opened out into a clearing. Mr. Reyes and three other men were standing behind camp chairs watching the alligator watch them. “That’s a big one.”
“Six foot at least,” Wyatt said as he walked forward slowly.
“Got your gun, Wyatt?” Mr. Reyes asked. “He isn’t scaring away.”
Wyatt leaned forward and unstrapped a handgun from an ankle strap. “Yeah, got it. He’s not budging?”
“Nope. We yelled and stood up. Luis threw a bottle near him. Just standing there like he’s trying to decide who’s the slowest runner.”
“That’d be you, Carl,” Wyatt joked.
Matt edged closer, fascinated. He’d never seen a wild alligator this close before. “I thought they were afraid of people.”
“Not this one,” Mr. Reyes—Carl—said. He held out an arm, barring Matt from getting closer. “Careful, son, they can be very fast.”
Wyatt picked up one of the camp chairs and held it in front of him at ground level. As he took a few steps forward, the gator turned to look at him. “Go on, Mr. Gator,” Wyatt said in a loud voice.
Instead of retreating back to the water, the gator quickly ran left around Wyatt, toward the men. Matt jumped in front of the men and grabbed a chair. Swinging it like a golf club, he made a threatening enough move to scare the gator away, back toward the creek. Wyatt scrambled out of the way as it hit the water with a loud splash.
Matt dropped the chair. He looked at Wyatt and they both began laughing. “Dude. You just scared away a giant alligator.”
“With a chair.”
The others joined in with more adrenaline-relieving laughter. Carl shook Matt’s hand. “That was impressive.”
“Good to know all those golf lessons came in handy after all.”
The men began gathering their fishing poles and beers. “Let’s give that gator some breathing room.”
* * *
LENA LOOKED OVER at Matt as they idled at a stoplight. “Dinner went well.”
“It did. I like your family more than I thought I would.”
“You didn’t think you’d like them?”
“Don’t get your feathers all ruffled. I thought it might take a while for them to warm up to me or that I might feel out of place. But none of that happened.”
He plucked her hand from the steering wheel and kissed it.
“My place or yours?” she asked, squeezing his fingers.
“Yours. Always yours. I take the extra steps in the morning, not you.”
“Did you really scare that alligator away by yourself?”
“Yep.”
“My dad is sold on you now, you know.”
“I hope so. I saved his life. What about your mother?”
“I think she’s fine. We’ll see over the next few days if I get a phone call or not.”
She hit the gas pedal, heading toward the harbor. Matt’s hand lightly covered hers on the stick shift. “I really do like your family, Lena.”
“We can be a hot mess.”
“Maybe. But...” His words trailed off as he tried to put words to the feelings he’d experienced that afternoon.
“But what?”
“I could feel the love. The love you have for each other despite all the annoying things that families do to each other.”
It wasn’t new to him, exactly. He had friends. Buddies from college who he’d tag along home with over holidays. He’d seen loving families. But there was something about Lena’s family. The possibility that he could be part of it. It was scary and exciting. Meeting a woman like Lena was a miracle in itself. Her family was a dream he’d never imagined.
“Yeah.” Lena cut across his thoughts. “You say that now. Wait until they get used to you and there is three-naming and screaming and people stomping out in huffs. And all the crying that comes with the apologies. You saw everyone on their best behavior.”
She pulled the car into her assigned parking spot and put it in Park. Matt turned and leaned toward her. “Will they have a chance to get used to me?”
Boss Meets Her Match Page 21
