“Where are you going?” They hadn’t taken a family trip in years.
“It’s a surprise,” her mother replied in a smug tone.
Oh, she’d heard that tone before. It always accompanied something terrible. A cold chill crept up her spine. “Mother, where are you?”
She rushed to the opposite window, the one that looked out over the front yard. She watched as a minivan pulled into the small driveway she shared with Darlene.
Her brother was behind the steering wheel, and there was a dark-haired woman next to him.
Yep, there was the nausea Lila had warned her about.
“We’re here,” her brother said in a cheerful voice. “All of us. Happy birthday, sis. I’m excited to meet this boyfriend of yours.”
The boyfriend she’d made up. Except she hadn’t really. It would have been far better if she’d completely made up a boyfriend. But no, her imagination sucked, so she went for something halfway real. When her mother had threatened to start trying to match her up to men in town, she’d casually tossed out that she was dating Armie LaVigne. Who was now married. Who probably wasn’t willing to give her some cover.
Panic threatened to well up inside her. They were here. If her mother found out she’d lied, she would never hear the end of it. Her mother would bring it up in every conversation, tell everyone she knew. Her psychologist cousin would be brought in to attempt to put them all in family counseling. And when she got over the lying part, her mother would be on her to find a partner. She would send man after man her way.
Her life would be a living hell.
And there was no stopping her mother unless she was willing to finally cut off the relationship.
Was she ready to do that? Did she honestly want to not see her family again? She’d spent the last few years pondering that very question.
There was a knock on the door, and she started to shout as she grabbed her robe. “Zep, don’t—”
“Hello,” her mother said, striding in. “You must be the reason my daughter is here in this town thousands of miles away from her home. I get it now. You’re gorgeous. You are a very good reason for her to stay here. And she never told me she had a dog. Oh, hello, puppy.”
“I’m sorry. Roxie is sleeping,” Zep started to say, clearly confused.
“I’m here.” She rushed down the stairs.
“Hey, baby, go slow.” Zep met her at the bottom, a concerned look on his face that rapidly turned into a wince. “I’m sorry . . .”
He was about to apologize for calling her baby, but she had way bigger problems than his use of affectionate nicknames. It was stupid. She should fess up, but looking at her perfect family currently snobbishly judging her living space and pretty much her whole life sent her right over the edge. She threw herself into the arms of the hottest man she’d ever met and planted a kiss on him.
Zep’s hands came up and steadied her, not pulling away from the kiss at all.
She drew back slightly and whispered, “Please follow my lead.”
“Uhm, sis, your dog seems to need to go out,” her brother said. “She peed right on my shoe.”
Zep groaned. “I’m so sorry. I just took her out.”
But Roxie decided to keep that dog right then and there.* * ** * *
Zep was beyond confused, but she’d kissed him. She’d planted those gorgeous lips right on his. Oh, it hadn’t been the world’s most passionate kiss, but it was a kiss and he was going to take it. It was the absolute closest he’d gotten to her in a solid year, and he’d wanted more.
And then the puppy had decided the guy in the collared shirt who looked a little like Roxie was a fire hydrant.
“Daisy, outside,” he said in a firm voice. He went and scooped the dog up. “Sorry, we’re training the puppy. Have to teach her to go outside. Excuse me for a moment.”
He hustled Daisy into the backyard and hoped Roxie took the opportunity to fill him in. He was a little sleep-deprived, and not everything was making sense. He set Daisy down as the door came open behind him.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a hushed voice. “I need you to follow my lead. That’s my family in there. I have no idea why they’re here, but I need you to help me. It’s nothing big. It was a little white lie to ease my mother’s mind and keep her off my back.”
Ah, now he was getting the picture. “Momma thinks you have a man in your life and you don’t want her to know you lied so she’ll stay off your back.”
“Precisely. Also, she thinks you’re Armie.”
“What?”
“Like I said, go with it. I’ll make sure they don’t even come close to the station house,” she said, talking as fast as she had the first day she’d gone on the job. She’d taken on slower tones as she’d gotten comfortable in Papillon, though the state of her apartment made him question if she’d gotten comfy at all. There was nothing of herself in the apartment. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d simply taken the whole thing as is and not altered it in any way. There were no pictures on the walls, no mementos. It wasn’t a home. It was a way station. “I’ll tell them you’re about to go to a conference and you won’t be back for a couple of days. Do this for me and I swear I’ll pay your next parking ticket.”