Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Mum wrinkled up her nose. “Are you two fighting again? This close to the wedding?”
Thomas nodded slowly. “That’s why I’m here. It was to make sure Sylvie didn’t go on a murderous rampage last night.”
“Is that what you kids call sex these days?” she asked dryly, depositing me in the chair next to Thomas at the kitchen table and ignoring my coughing at her words. “Forgive me, Thomas, but I’d have pegged you for being the victim of one of Sylvie’s murderous rampages, not the person who’d stop one.”
“That’s fair,” I replied. “So would I.”
“And the rest of the village,” Dad added, then slowly peered up at us both. “The last I knew, you two couldn’t stand the sight of one another.”
“Well.” I scratched the side of my neck, turning away. “This and that happened, and—”
“You have a hickey on your neck, darling,” Mum said.
I clapped my hand over the side of my neck and glared at Thomas.
Gramps cleared his throat. “This and that indeed.”
Oh, my God. This was the worst day of my life.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said, pinching Thomas’ arm and twisting it until he winced. “It’s six days until the wedding!”
To his credit, he at least had the balls to look ashamed of himself. “It was an accident.”
“Accident? I’ll show you an accident, you bloody vampire!”
“Here.” Mum handed me a silicone ice pack from the freezer. “I think your grandmother uses this for her arthritis, but it’ll work for a hickey, too.”
“You are far too blasé about this, Mother,” I said, pressing the cold pack against my neck.
She shrugged. “You’re an adult. You can make your own choices.” She looked at Thomas. “But if she’s pregnant, you’re marrying her.”
“I’m not pregnant and I won’t be.”
Thomas smiled as he sipped his tea. “Does that mean I have permission to keep seeing your daughter, Mrs Harding?”
“Hey.” I pinched him again. “I just told Gramps it’s not the seventeen hundreds. What do you mean, permission? You’ve never cared about my permission every time you popped up in front of me, so why are you asking for hers?”
And who said we were seeing each other?
“Shh, I’m trying to make my future mother-in-law love me,” he said, leaning in. “Everyone knows you charm the mother-in-law first.”
“It’s true,” Dad said. “That’s how I was able to marry your mother.”
Gramps nodded. “He charmed your grandmother to the point I thought she’d leave me for a younger man.”
I didn’t need to know that.
“Future mother-in-law my arse,” I said to Thomas, my cheeks flushing. “Who said I’d marry you even if you asked?”
Thomas propped his chin up on his hand and grinned at me. “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you have anything better you should be doing today? Like, oh, managing your massive-arse estate or your tree farm one week before Christmas?”
“I’m spending my time well right now. I’m having morning tea with you, your parents, and your grandfather. What could be better than that?”
“You’re a suck-up,” I shot back.
He shrugged. “Call it what you want.”
“What are you even sucking up for?”
“I told you. I’m charming my future in-laws.”
“Don’t you need to charm me first for there to be any chance of them being your in-laws?”
He grinned. “Is that an invitation?”
I blinked at him. “It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?”
“Please stop flirting this early in the morning,” Dad said, turning the page of his newspaper. “You’re putting me off my tea.”
Thomas laughed and got up. “Yes, sir. Thank you for the tea, but I must be off. As Sylvie so kindly put it, I am a busy man.”
“I’ll see him out,” I said, getting up and dragging him off the chair. “Come on. Let’s go. That’s enough happy family roleplay this morning.”
Gramps snorted. “Goodbye, grandson-in-law.”
“Bye, Gramps!” Thomas called back.
“Stop it!” I said, ushering him closer to the front door.
He chuckled as he put on his shoes and coat. “You’re breaking my heart kicking me out like this, do you know that?”
“I didn’t intend to kick you out, but I didn’t think they’d be back so early, either.”
“Or you’d have made me leave last night?” He raised his eyebrows.
“It sounds bad when you put it like that,” I mumbled, opening the front door. I stepped out onto the doorstep and closed the door behind us. “I just… didn’t exactly want them to find you here, that’s all.”
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in close. “I know.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry if staying has made it awkward for you, especially since it’s been a while since you’ve seen your parents.”
“It’s fine,” I said, leaning into him as I gripped his coat. “They’ll be more concerned that Hazel and I are fighting again anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, the fate of not being the golden child.”