Just the Thing

by Marie Harte

  After a shower, she dressed in a nice pair of cotton capris and a long, flowy, floral top.

  A dark-blue Charger pulled up in her driveway. Showtime.

  Gavin got out and walked to her door.

  She watched him, thinking he looked thinner. The poor guy.

  She opened the door, not prepared for the huge hug he gave her. “Oomph.”

  “I missed you.” He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and breathed her in. “Ah. Eau de Zoe.” He pulled back and looked at her with smiling gray eyes. “So, after my parents, we on for another round of Mistress Z Schools Her Naughty Schoolboy, Volume 2?”

  She studied him. Something was off. “You named our sessions?”

  “Ooh. Sessions. As in, plural.” He wiggled his brows, and she saw the old Gavin, all smiles and laughter.

  “You okay? I missed you at the gym.”

  “I won’t lie. I felt like shit for two days. But I’m better now.” He looked into her eyes again. “Seriously. I’m good.”

  “Well, that’s too bad.”

  He raised a brow.

  “Because I have nothing to do with good boys,” she said, all innuendo.

  “Oh. Right. No, I’m bad. So bad.” He put her hand between his legs, where she found him growing larger, filling out her palm and then some. “My balls are so blue, baby. You have no idea.” He nipped her throat. “While recuperating, I had a lot of fantasies about tying you up.”

  “Me?” came out in a squeak.

  He laughed. “Oh yeah. But you have to earn it. Let’s see you dance at my parents.”

  “Huh?”

  “On my puppet strings.” He held out a small padded shirt.

  “What’s this?”

  “This is called payback. And a chance for utter annihilation against the enemy.”

  “I thought we were going to dinner with your parents.”

  “Oh, we are. All of us are. You, me, and Zoe Jr.”

  She stared at the padded shirt, realizing it was actually a shirt with a fake pregnant belly. “Huh? Oh no. No way. I can’t meet your parents pretending to be pregnant!”

  “Sure you can. Look. I have to win this thing. It’s a point of honor. Besides, they can take a joke. Trust me.”

  “No.”

  “Honey, you do this, I’ll give you so many orgasms tonight, your legs will fall off.”

  She laughed. “Um, I need those legs.” Then she realized she’d have an excuse to spend more time with him without seeming desperate. “Hmm. Well, there’s one thing. If you promise to go with me tomorrow and help, I’m in.”

  She’d expected the guarded expression on this face. “Go where? Help with what?”

  “A blind yes or no, Smoky. What’s it going to be?”

  He narrowed his eyes, but she refused to budge. “Fine. I’m in.”

  “Great.” She gave him a wide smile. “We can’t be up too late tonight. We have to be there early tomorrow morning. And I’ll need you for most of the day. Until at least four.”

  “Fine. Sure. Put this on. We get one over on my mother, and you will have achieved legendary status. Oh, Theo and Hope will be there tonight too. They’re in on it.”

  “Great. How is it I’m the last to know?”

  “Come on. Let’s do this.”

  After putting on the padded shirt and covering it with her own, now showing off her—oh dear Jesus—baby bump when she shifted just right, they walked to his parents’, taking their time while Gavin told her what to say. Goodness, but the elder Donnigans lived maybe minutes away from her house. She’d had no idea. A large tan-and-black Craftsman with a wide, cozy, wraparound porch, a double garage, and a nicely manicured lawn greeted them.

  “They live here?” The house had to be worth more than a solid mil.

  “Yep. We grew up here, but my mother’s been updating it for years. The place looks a lot different than it used to. I think I told you Mom sells real estate. She’s friends with a lot of bigwig designer types.” He sighed. “Frankly I liked it more when the floor was covered in Legos, but you’ll probably like it.”

  “Why?”

  His hand went to the small of her back. “Because you’re a chick, and chicks dig designer places. Now try to be subtle about that bump, okay? That shirt is perfect, because it kind of masks the bulge until you drag the fabric back. Then it’s baby time.” He chuckled.

  “I cannot believe you talked me into this.” She had a sudden case of déjà vu, remembering how she’d get swept up into her sister’s antics.

  “Hey, I have no idea what I’m walking into tomorrow with you. Consider it worth it. Now, like we practiced on the way over. Try to be a little creative.”

  Stung, because Aubrey had always said the exact same thing to her when it came to lying, and especially to their parents, she growled, “I can act.”

  “Sure, baby. Sure you can.” Patronizing SOB. “Pretend you’re trying to hide it.” He kissed the side of her neck and put a hand over her now-distended abdomen.

  She felt a strange sense of excitement, the thought of having a real baby someday jump-starting something in her biological clock, now tick, tick, ticking away. Oh hell.

  Gavin must have felt her tense, because he turned her to face him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Not much.” She smiled between her teeth. “Just pretending to be pregnant for my boyfriend’s parents, whom I’ve never met.”

  “Oh, that.” He shrugged. “You’ll do fine.” He rang the doorbell. “Remember, act natural. Scared and pregnant, but infatuated with me.”

  “That’s a lot of acting.” She paused. “The infatuated part, I mean.”

  He scowled and rang the bell again. “Smile, damn it.”

  Hope answered it. She looked them over, then grinned. “Hi, Zoe. I’m Hope. Nice to finally meet you.” Then Hope winked at Gavin. “Hey, Big Brother. Welcome. All of you.”

  He nodded, and Zoe prayed the evening wouldn’t blow up in her face. What the hell had she been thinking? This would never work. She started to get cold feet.

  “No backing out now,” Gavin said, taking hold of her arm, leaving her no way to slip into the bathroom and out of that stupid belly shirt. “Remember, I’ll pay up both tonight and tomorrow. Swear.”

  She blew out a breath. “Fine. But if they hate me, it’s your fault.”

  Hope heard her. “Nah. You’re good. Trust me, my mother deserves this.”

  Into her ear, Gavin whispered, “Have I mentioned Hope has mother issues?”

  Family drama and lies. The perfect combination for a lovely dinner with strangers. “Awesome.”

  Once inside the expansive hallway, they turned into an even bigger living room and open kitchen. The house had a mountain-modern look, a combination of Craftsman and old-fashioned, unique decorations in muted blues and browns, accented with reds and oranges. Whoever had done the decorating deserved his or her own design show. Wow. Piper would love this place.

  An older man who had to be Gavin’s dad smiled at her.

  “Hello there.” He walked over, same black hair and gray eyes as Gavin. But this man wore khaki trousers and a button-down shirt, comfortable in his casual chic. He also looked excited to be alive, as if happy with himself and his lot in life. For all that Gavin liked to laugh, he sometimes seemed a little jittery, off keel.

  “Dad, this is my girlfriend, Zoe. Zoe, Van, my dad.”

  “Lovely to meet you.” Van smiled and accepted the hand she stuck out to him before he could hug her. At least, she assumed he’d hug. He seemed the type. “Linda, Gavin and Zoe are here.”

  From out of the kitchen bustled an older version of Hope. Still beautiful, but more mature. Theo joined her. It was like someone had copied Van and Linda and stamped their faces onto their children.

  “Man, you guys really do all look alike.”
She blinked.

  Theo and Hope shrugged. “What can you do?”

  Linda beamed. “Hello, Zoe. Lovely to meet you. Gavin hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend.”

  She watched in awe as he flushed and looked down. If she hadn’t known better, she’d swear he felt real embarrassment. “Sorry, Mom. Zoe and I are new. We’re keeping things under wraps for a while. Or we were. We felt it was time to meet each other’s families.”

  “Oh?” Linda gave Zoe a kiss on the cheek and a hug before Zoe could stop it. His mother pulled back, alarmed, and glanced at Zoe’s stomach, carefully hidden by the swath of shirt she wore. “Is your family here then?”

  “My aunt,” Zoe said with a straight face, trying to ignore Hope, who remained unnoticed behind her parents with unbridled amusement on her face. “She works in fashion so she’s always traveling though. My parents are in Portland. It’s just them and me.”

  Gavin wrapped an arm around Zoe’s shoulders and squeezed, supportive. Their gazes connected, and the compassion she saw there, for the loss of her sister, meant more than she could say.

  He kissed her temple. “Yeah, Zoe was ripe for the plucking when I found her.”

  She snorted. “More like stalked. He bugged me incessantly at the gym.”

  “Ha.” Theo laughed. “Figures. He nagged you into a date, am I right?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Van’s laugh sounded a lot like Theo’s. “That’s how I got Linda. Took me a while, but eventually she gave up and said yes.”

  “Yep.” Linda smiled, gave Van a kiss on the cheek, then asked if anyone wanted drinks.

  “Just water for us, Mom. Eating and drinking healthy, you know.” Gavin squeezed Zoe. “Nothing’s more important that clean living.”

  Van looked surprised. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I’ve been on him to try some terrific herbal tea to help with sleeping, Zoe. It’s infused with chamomile.”

  “My aunt loves the stuff. Personally, I’m more a fan of green tea.”

  “Oh?”

  While she and Van engaged in conversation about teas, she noticed Linda watching her and frowning every so often.

  Hope gave Zoe a subtle thumbs-up, while Theo and Gavin moved to distract their mother.

  When it came time to sit down, Linda gently guided her to a spot. Van sat at the head of the table with Linda to his right. Zoe sat next to her, with Gavin at the other end of the table, just on her left. Across from her sat Theo and Hope.

  “I hope pepper steak is okay,” Van said. “Gavin didn’t mention you being a vegetarian or anything.”

  “Actually he didn’t mention much of anything about you.” Linda smiled to take away the sting. “But then, our boy likes to keep things close to his chest, hmm?” Linda glanced down at the more noticeable bulge in Zoe’s shirt and stared. “What the…?”

  Zoe shifted and tried to hunch over to cover the bump, thinking she just might be able to get away with sneaking off to remove the fake pregnancy. That’s if the Donnigan siblings would keep their mouths shut. She could sacrifice a day of Gavin’s company and take care of tomorrow by herself. Who did he think he was he fooling? He’d give her orgasms without incentive. Just because. No reason to carry on this charade any longer. And no need to upset his parents.

  “Oh, uh, Gavin being quiet is my fault,” Zoe ad libbed.

  Linda’s attention once more fixed on Zoe’s face. At this point, Van was frowning at his wife’s odd behavior. “You?” he asked.

  Zoe nodded and drank more water while Linda passed around the first of the plates. Zoe piled on a small amount of rice and meat. Then a salad and some sautéed vegetable medley. “Yep, me. Oh wow. This looks terrific.”

  Van smiled. “Thank you.”

  “I heard you’re quite the cook. Gavin can’t—”

  “He’s not very good, no,” Linda interrupted. “So what’s this about you keeping him quiet?”

  Hope coughed. “Sorry. A little spicy, Dad.”

  “Really?” He glanced at his steak.

  Hope coughed again, no doubt trying to cover laughter.

  Theo continued to stare at his plate, shooting small glances at his parents.

  Gavin nodded, encouraging her. “Don’t worry, honey. Nothing you say will upset my parents.”

  “If you say so. Fine. Well, Linda, it’s just, I was embarrassed about my family. And I wanted Gavin to like me and not be scared off by my family. So we decided to keep our new relationship just to ourselves at first.”

  A glance at Gavin showed him frowning. Oh yeah, Zoe was going off script. She patted his hand, clenched around his fork. “It’s okay, Gavin, we should tell them.”

  “Right. What we talked about.” He glanced at her belly.

  “No, it’s okay.” She turned to his parents. Hope and Theo watched, waiting. “You see, my brother is our family’s black sheep. We don’t talk about him much. He’s in jail right now. Not his first time,” she said sadly.

  “Oh, well.” Linda paused in the act of putting veggies on her plate. “Every family has a black sheep, Zoe. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Yeah, Mom? Who’s ours?” Hope asked, her tone all innocence.

  Linda glanced at her daughter. “That’s a good question.”

  “It’s me.” Theo sounded bummed. “Because I can’t hold down a job.”

  “No, it’s me,” Hope argued. “Because I keep dating losers, and my mother thinks I’m an idiot.”

  Gavin groaned. “Not now, guys.”

  “Oh, Hope. Of course it’s not you,” Van tried to soothe her.

  “Sure thing. Take Hope’s side. Baby girl can do no wrong,” Theo complained. “It’s me, Zoe. I’m the screwup. I’m on my fifth job this year, though being back at the coffee shop shouldn’t count as something new, should it?”

  “Ah, I’m not sure…” Zoe trailed off. The family dynamics had started off harmonious and gone sideways fast. Were Theo and Hope acting? She couldn’t tell.

  “If Landon were here,” Linda began, forcing a smile, “he’d—”

  “Take charge and tell everyone to shut up and cool off,” Gavin said, sounding bitter. “Jesus, Mom. He’s with Ava tonight. Let’s pretend we can get along without the prodigal son for once.”

  Shocked at how angry he seemed, Zoe turned to note the surprise on his face, as well as that on the rest of the family’s.

  “Gavin, it’s okay,” she said, trying to calm him down. They had her all confused. Should she continue this farce or get him to leave with her right now?

  “It’s not. My head is all wrong. Theo can’t figure out what he wants to do in life, and Hope dates dickheads.”

  “Gavin…” Van started.

  “My father thinks tea and meditation will make it all better. And my mother just wants her kids to be better than Aunt Beth’s so she can win Mother of the Year again.”

  “Amen to that,” Hope said.

  “That’s enough, young man,” Linda snapped—clearly where Landon got his authoritative tendencies.

  “Really, Gavin.” Van looked disapproving.

  “And then I had to go and get you pregnant,” Gavin continued in a loud voice.

  Everyone stopped talking. Stopped moving.

  At the sudden silence, he sat back and covered his face. Man, was he good. For a minute there she’d totally believed he wasn’t acting. “Shit.”

  “That is a baby bump I felt earlier,” Linda exclaimed.

  “What?” Van looked baffled. “What is everyone talking about?”

  “You’re kidding.” Theo gaped. “So there really is a baby? Sorry, Gav. I overheard the truth a few nights ago, when you were talking to her on the phone.” Another skilled liar in the clan.

  Hope sighed. “Well, at least now I’m not the biggest moron in the family.”

&
nbsp; Zoe wanted in on the game. “No, I think I am. Because, well, Gavin…” She paused, every eye on her. “It’s not yours. It’s Mark’s.”

  He froze. She knew mention of Mark—who he saw as a potential rival—would startle him. She’d made his reaction more authentic. Nice.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Who’s Mark?” Theo asked, staring from Gavin’s cooling expression to Zoe’s fearful one.

  Casting her eyes down for a second, she said softly, “A man I shouldn’t have anything to do with.”

  “Are you fucking with me?” Gavin said, his voice rising. “’Cause that shit isn’t funny.”

  “Oh, Gavin. It’s not my fault. I didn’t want to tell you this. And not here. But…I tried not to, but I-I love him.”

  “Mark Swanson?” he asked in a voice a pitch higher than normal.

  Hope and Theo resembled onlookers at a Ping-Pong match.

  “No, you idiot,” Zoe shouted, totally in tune with Gavin’s shenanigans. “My brother, Mark!”

  Everyone sat in stupefied silence before Gavin put his head on the table. Theo burst into hysterical laughter. Hope didn’t seem to know what to think and stared at them.

  Van and Linda didn’t know where to look or how to act.

  “Did you know about this?” Linda sounded half strangled.

  “Hell no,” Van said, absurdly calm. “Let’s all take a minute and just—”

  “I’m not keeping it. My brother’s baby? I can’t!” Zoe yelled and raced off into the bathroom, slamming the door in her wake. Holy shit, I channeled Aubrey. She could almost feel her twin laughing like a loon, so at home at anything having to do with theatrics. The strange connection made Zoe smile, then laugh. Her goofiness soothing the nerves once again racing up and down her spine.

  Zoe lost the belly shirt, now dressed once again in the shirt over her flat tummy. Such a terribly dramatic exit. She took a well-deserved bow.

  And if the Donnigans didn’t hate her after her masterful audition, she’d ask for seconds on the pepper steak, because the one bite she’d taken had been delicious.