Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

“Ew.” I rubbed my mouth on the sleeve of my shirt—of Ace’s shirt—that I’d worn to bed last night.

I had slipped leggings on underneath the shirt so it wasn’t totally indecent.

I hadn’t, however, slipped on a bra.

So I was quite bare when he pressed up against me and ran his fingers up my arm teasingly, saying, “I’m not sure if I want to throw my jacket on you, or commend you for allowing me to see those tits bouncing as you rode up.”

I scrunched up my nose as I said, “You didn’t see me coming.”

“Yes, I did,” he countered. “I saw you the moment you topped the hill there.”

He pointed at said hill, and I turned back to him with a grin. “So you watched me like a perv?”

He shrugged, uncaring. “I watched my soon-to-be wife…”

“Soon-to-be wife?” Callum barked. “What?”

I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Well, shit,” Ace grumbled. “Y’all forget I said anything. I was going to talk to Codie’s parents first. That’s why we’ve been scarce the last few days.”

“I was thinking it was because you couldn’t get enough of her,” Banks teased.

“That, too,” Ace agreed.

***

Later that night, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that our little ‘secret’ was no longer a secret.

That was partly due to my best friend’s large and in charge mouth.

I’m not really sure how she knew. I hadn’t said a word. I wasn’t wearing the ring.

And my parents were set to be picked up at the airport in less than forty-eight hours.

After I’d called them to tell them a little about Ace, my mother had insisted that she meet my man. An hour later, I’d gotten notice that they would be arriving shortly and that I was to pick them up at the airport, or else.

Honestly, I was being smart.

But my best friend just had those smarts about her, I guessed.

“You’re getting married?”

Desi’s overly excited voice practically skittered across the gym we were standing in as everyone that was within the large space turned to see who was ‘getting married.’

I flushed. “Desi, shit!”

A cheer went up, and all of a sudden, the entire gym was surrounding us.

Ace was getting back slaps from his friends.

I was getting squeals and congrats from the women.

And my best friend was practically hopping in place as she clapped her hands excitedly.

“When are your parents coming into town? I can’t wait to see their faces!”

***

Two days later, Ace and I were waiting at the airport for my parents’ plane to disembark.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

I shrugged. “No. I just hope that they haven’t heard every gory detail about us. My grandfather said he wouldn’t tell them, but he’s still mad at me over losing to Scooby last weekend. He’s still not talking to me.”

Ace’s face shone with humor as he said, “He talked to me. He told me just this morning that if I didn’t treat you right, he would feed me into his woodchipper.”

My mouth fell open.

“He did not!” I cried out.

Ace looped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, his eyes on the departure gates.

“He did,” he confirmed. “He also told me he would fertilize his hay field with my remains if I made you cry.”

I couldn’t help it.

I nearly burst into tears right there in the airport.

My hand covered my face, and tears started to burn my eyes.

Which was right around the time that my dad popped out of nowhere like a ninja and slammed his cane into Ace’s shin.

“You, let her go!” my father ordered, wielding his cane like the weapon that it was.

At one point in time, my father had been pretty gung-ho about knife arts. He’d wanted to compete in competitions with his samurai sword.

However, then he had me, and I apparently ‘took up too much of his time.’

Ace let me go and stepped away, luckily not looking the worst for wear.

“Daddy!” I cried out, jumping in between Ace and him. “What the hell! Don’t hurt my fiancé like that!”

“Fiancé?” my mother’s voice called out from behind my dad. “What’s this about a fiancé?”

I would’ve slapped my hand over my mouth had I not been separating my father from Ace.

That was when my mother appeared from behind my father, not much taller than me, and looking like she’d seen the Holy Grail when she spied Ace over my head.

“You’re her fiancé?” my mother asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Ace said simply.

“Oh, thank God,” she breathed. “I thought she’d get knocked up and have to sell her body to pay for diapers one day. You look like you have your stuff together.”

Ace’s lips twitched, and this time I did cover my eyes with my hand.

“Really, Mother?” I asked.

“Well, you were an awful kid,” my mother muttered.

Ace’s arm looped around my belly and I was pulled back into his really hard body.

“Are y’all hungry?” Ace’s voice rumbled from behind me. “We’d love to go out to eat, talk about this. Maybe plan a day for us to do this while you’re here.”