He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right.”
“The guys are probably just going to roll their eyes and leave you alone.”
“If they don’t, I’ll hand them their asses.”
“Yeah, but that means you have to save me from the girls, okay?”
“I’ll do my best. Oh, and take two weeks off after the wedding.”
“Why?”
“We’ll have plenty of stuff to deal with,” he said.
“Okay...” I wasn’t really sure what he meant, but I trusted his gut feeling.
Hunter took my hand as we walked toward Amelia’s door. Sweat dotted my palms. He must have sensed my distress, because he squeezed it reassuringly. Neither of us said it out loud, but after tonight, there was no going back.
Amelia opened the door, kissing both our cheeks. Then she noticed our interlinked hands.
“Oh my God,” she said with a smile.
“Josie and I have news. Let’s join the others.” Hunter brought his hand around my shoulders as we headed to the living room.
Five minutes later, everyone present was pouncing on us.
Amelia pulled me into a heartfelt hug.
“I’ve always known you two would eventually see what was right in front of you. You’ll make my boy so happy.”
I felt so guilty that I nearly confessed everything on the spot. I looked around for Hunter, wondering if there was a way to talk to him alone. Surely, we could tell Amelia? She wouldn’t tell anyone. It wasn’t fair to lie to her. I couldn’t bear imagining the look of disappointment on her face when we’d “divorce” a few years down the road. She’d be crushed, especially since she went through a divorce herself. I couldn’t even imagine being a mom of four and my husband just announcing he was leaving me for another woman.
When I’d met the Winchester family, they were still dealing in their own way with their father leaving, but they’d had one thing in common: they were all very protective of Amelia. She always joked that she’d had a household full of rebels before the divorce, and afterward, they always took turns being up to no good, as if they’d known she was too overwhelmed by life to deal with all of them at the same time.
Amelia was one of the people I loved and respected most. I couldn’t lie to her. But I was almost certain the immigration services would question Amelia about Hunter if they even had the slightest suspicion. No, I had to soldier on with this. I wouldn’t put Amelia in danger just because I couldn’t deal with a guilty conscience.
“When is the wedding?” Ryker asked, sipping his whiskey.
“In three weeks,” I answered.
Ryker nearly choked on his drink.
“What?” Tess exclaimed. “Are you pregnant?”
“No,” Hunter and I answered at the same time. He kissed my hand, adding, “I’ve loved Josie for most of my life. She’s the one. She’s always been the one. Why wait?”
Had we agreed to this? It wasn’t exactly what we’d rehearsed, was it? It sounded so real, and my heart felt about to explode. For the second time, I was too wrapped up in Hunter to realize his next move. My knees weakened the moment our lips touched. This kiss was even hotter than the first one, and the entire family was watching. What was he thinking?
“Ohoho. We get it, lovebirds,” Cole said. Ryker whistled when we broke apart.
Ryker and Cole had a similar build—both were over six foot two. Both had deep blue eyes, but Ryker had dark blond hair while Cole’s was jet-black. Somehow that gave him a (completely unearned) gentlemanly air, while Ryker often looked as if he belonged on a concert stage rather than on Wall Street. He did play the guitar in local bars after work sometimes, when he unleashed all that bad boy charm.
All of our plans to tackle the family one member at a time went down fast. Skye and Tess were cornering me. To my astonishment, the guys were cornering Hunter. At least, that’s what I thought they were doing. They were at the opposit
e end of the room, but Hunter looked pretty surrounded to me. I’d have felt sorry for him if I wasn’t so desperate myself.
Amelia and Mick were chatting, occasionally glancing at me or Hunter.
“We need to throw you an epic bachelorette party,” Tess said. She and Skye exchanged conspiratorial glances.