Meaning he’d make sure they didn’t get into trouble by sneakin
g out at night.
The rest of the thought went unsaid, but it was glaringly obvious. “I couldn’t impose like that,” Amy said. No matter how good a solution he provided. Nobody should be subjected to dealing with her family twenty-four/seven.
“We’d love to!” Rose and Darla said at the same time, ignoring Amy as usual. “That’s just so kind of you. We won’t be any trouble.”
“Are your fingers crossed behind your back?” Roper asked, laughing.
“You have a season to get ready for, remember? You can’t afford any distractions,” Amy said, her heart beating out a panicked rhythm.
Not only did Roper need to focus on his career, Amy didn’t want her family getting close to the man she was trying to avoid.
“My family is a distraction for me. Your family is not,” he assured her.
“You see? We’re not a distraction.”
Amy didn’t turn around to see which one of her relatives spoke. They sounded alike and she didn’t much care.
He leaned closer, never taking his eyes from the road. “It’s different when nobody’s pulling your emotional strings,” he said softly, so only she could hear. “I can handle them and still keep all my appointments.” Roper reached out and placed his hand on her thigh.
She knew he meant to reassure her but he aroused her instead. Talk about pushing emotional buttons, this man had hers down pat.
“It’s still an imposition.”
“Not when I offer freely. Besides, they want to stay with me.”
“We do,” the two chimed in from the backseat.
Amy groaned. “It looks as if I’m outnumbered.”
“Wait until I call home and tell everyone we’re staying with the famous John Roper. You know many of our residents are originally from New York. They still follow the Renegades and you’re big news,” Darla said.
“I didn’t think you knew who I was when Amy introduced me,” Roper said, glancing at them from the rearview mirror.
Rose laughed. “Well, we didn’t want to embarrass you. We do have some sense of decorum. We know how to behave around a celebrity. Besides, who knows if the room was bugged.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Amy said. They’d obviously been watching too much television without her there to set up activities.
“We’re almost at my apartment,” Roper said.
“Good! Thank you so much for your generosity,” Rose said. “We won’t tell a single soul about your engagement to my daughter until you’re ready to announce it publicly.”
“What engagement?” Amy practically shrieked.
“The one Roper promised the guard would be happening soon, of course,” her mother said, confident she had the whole situation figured out.
“Roper?” Amy asked, her head pounding hard.
He shook his head and grinned. “I promised to speak at his son’s graduation.”
Amy swirled around in her seat. “Did you hear that, Mom?” she asked, wanting to put an end to their inaccurate assumptions once and for all.
But both women suddenly had iPod earphones on and neither one was paying any attention.
“MAYBE IT’S TIME TO GET a job,” Ben said, flipping through the Help Wanted section of the paper.
“You’re giving up?” Dave, just home from work, pulled out a Vitamin Water and guzzled from the bottle. “What happened with your brother?”