Delicate Promises (Southern Bride 2)

I walked out and dropped the towel as I said, “I missed you.”

Miles’s eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed someone behind him, turning them away from me.

His mother.

“Oh my God!” I cried out, dropping down to the floor and onto the towel. In my mind my plan to salvage this situation had made perfect sense. Fall to the floor butt-ass naked, and blend in. No way his mother would see me.

That didn’t happen, though, and I quickly realized it. I took the towel in my hand and rolled over, bringing the towel with me. Now I was simply a naked person rolled up in a towel. Lying on the floor. Like a human burrito.

Miles cleared his throat. “Okay, well, you see something new every day.”

I shot him a dirty look. By now Jen had retreated out the front door, quietly closing it behind her.

“A warning would have been nice, Miles.”

He busted out laughing. I hopped up and quickly looked for something to wear back in the bedroom.

“Here. I got your bag from your car when I left to get breakfast.”

I looked back at him and smiled. “You remembered I keep a change of clothes in there?”

He nodded. “We sort of forgot to put your clothes in the dryer last night, so they’re drying now.”

My heart melted at how well he knew me. I quickly started to get dressed.

“Sorry. The moment my mother found out you were still here, she insisted on coming down. I texted a warning that she was coming back with me.”

That’s when I realized I didn’t have my phone. “My phone! I left it in my car.”

There was a knock on the cabin door, and I froze. “Knock-knock, we’re coming in! Come on y’all.”

“We’re?” I whispered.

Then I heard the voices. Oh. No. My parents.

Miles looked like he was ready to jump out the window headfirst.

“Steve, Ally, you got my text that I found her!”

My eyes widened in what I was positive was a look of horror while Miles wore a look of utter fear.

“It’s your parents!” he said while I yelled, “My parents!”

“What do we do?” Miles asked.

“Run! We need to sneak out of the window, go around back, and hide in the trees. Once we know it’s safe, we make a run for my car. I’ve got money stashed under my seat that will get us by for a week, maybe two if we budget.”

Miles stared at me for the longest time before he shook his head. “Who hides money in their car?”

“What? Me! I do! You never know when you’re going to be stranded, and need a little bit of extra cash.”

“In your car, Kyns?”

“Miles, now is not the time to talk about all my hiding places for money.”

“You have more than one hiding place? You do own a debit card, right?”

I went to say something when a knock on the bedroom door froze us both in place.

“No one’s here!” I cried out before slapping my hand over my mouth. Miles rolled his eyes. Dropping my hands, I let my head fall.

In a whispered voice, I said, “That’s it. Sex with you has made me stupid.”

He laughed and then walked to the bedroom door and opened it. My father, mother, and Jen all stood there, smiles on their faces like the cat that ate the canary.

I lifted my hand. “Hey there, y’all.”

“Is everything okay?” my mother asked, eyes bouncing from me to Miles, and back to me.

“Yep. All is fine. I got stuck in the storm last night, and Miles was nice enough to let me stay here while my clothes dried. Well, I mean, I had to take my clothes off because they got wet in the rain, not for any other reason.”

Miles looked at me with pity. He knew I was digging myself into a hole I wouldn’t be able to crawl out of.

Everyone looked at my clothes.

“Looks like they’re dry now,” Jen said, a blush on her cheeks. I wanted to die of embarrassment.

“Oh!” I said with a laugh. “Well, we forgot to move them into the dryer last night. Not that we were doing anything last night. I mean, we, um, were playing games.”

Miles lifted a brow, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door jamb. He was leaving me on my own with this one.

“Games?” our parents all asked at once.

“Board games. Clue! Y’all remember how good I am at Clue. I kept winning and Miles was insistent that we keep playing until he finally won.”

“Ah-huh,” Jen sounded skeptical, glancing at her son. “Let me guess, it was strip Clue?”

Kill. Me. Now.

“Strip Clue?” my father asked.

My cheeks heated, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Oh. My. God. What if that had been my parents who had seen me naked? I felt faint.

“Kyns? Are you okay?” Miles asked, rushing over to my side.