“Mmm.” She closed her eyes. “This is good.”
I continued working the sole of her foot, moving from arch to heel. A contented smile lit her face as she relaxed deeper into the couch. Relaxed and happy. Perfect.
“So tell me more about your family. I know you’re an only child, but what about cousins, aunt and uncles, grandparents?” It was easy to keep my tone casual when I already knew the answers to my questions. Any family she did have, Tommy wouldn’t have told her about.
“Nope. I mean, I guess I could have relatives on my mom’s side, but you know. My dad was an only child, and his parents died when he was a teenager.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was just you and your dad. Must’ve been tough.” My fingers moved to her ankle. “I’m not sure what I would have done without my brother.”
“It was lonely sometimes, but honestly, we moved around so often I probably wouldn’t have been able to see extended family very much anyway. Sometimes, the fact that it was just him and I made things easier.”
“I can see that.” My hands had worked their way to her calf muscle, and my fingers moved under the hem of her cropped jeans. “Jimmy and I have gone on our share of road trips. It’s not the same as moving around a lot, but it’s nice when you spend so much time with someone on your own. You get to the point where you can just sort of read each other without doing much talking. It’s nice.” And it makes running cons much easier when you were leaving town the next day.
“Exactly,” she said. She might have said more, but my fingers brushed the back of her knee and the resulting shudder apparently drove away any other thought she’d had.
“They’re thinking of coming up for Christmas,” I said, switching to her other foot. “Maggie hasn’t seen snow since she left Ireland.”
Spencer finally opened her eyes again and smiled. “It’s so weird that you call your mom Maggie.”
“If you met her, you’d understand. It’s hard to think of her as anything else.”
“I’d love to meet her. And Jimmy, too. You know, if you’d be okay with it.”
I hoped the grin spreading across my face told her I was excited by her desire to meet my family and not that she’d just given me the opening I’d been waiting for. “I’d be more than okay with it,” I said. “They’ll love you.”
Color appeared in her cheeks, and she smiled shyly. “You think? I’d probably be really nervous and say something stupid.”
“I doubt it, but even if you did, that’d probably just make them like you even more.” I let go of her foot and took both her hands in mine to pull her closer. “I certainly like you better when you get a little flustered. At least then you’re not intimidating the shit out of me.”
She gasped in mock-horror and poked me in the ribs. Laughing, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her onto my lap. She squirmed against me, though there was nothing in her expression that suggested she wanted to be anywhere else. She’d given me the perfect opportunity to ask about meeting her dad, but instead we were kissing again, following what had become a familiar pattern of slow, deliberate movements that quickly progressed to a more intent—even frantic—need to be close to her. To taste her.
She fidgeted in my lap again and maneuvered one leg over mine so that she straddled me, her hands on my chest. I trailed my fingers down her spine and gathered a handful of her shirt, balling it in my fist so I could feel the exposed skin of her back against my other palm.
“You know, you could skip class tomorrow. You aced your French quiz, so you deserve some time off, don’t you think? Maybe stay in bed all day,” I said.
“As lovely as that sounds, I can’t. I’ve never ditched class in my entire life.” She kissed me, stopping to nibble on my bottom lip for just a second. “But my class isn’t that early. I can definitely stay up for a little while longer.”
She slipped her hand under my shirt, her fingers splayed against my stomach. My ab muscles tightened reflexively, and my pulse thumping in my ears almost drowned out the sound of the phone buzzing on the table beside us.
Spencer pulled her face back, leaning over the arm of the couch to look at the phone’s display. I immediately moved my lips to her throat, trailing kisses down to the hollow of her collarbone.
“Shit,” she said under her breath. “Sorry. Can you hold that thought for just one second?” She flattened her lips between her teeth, her brow pinched apologetically.
“One second,” I said and nipped at the skin of her neck to make myself clear.
“Promise.” She grinned and reached to answer the phone.
I moved my hands to her hips, ensuring she’d stay put during the conversation.
“Hey,” she said to the person on the other end of the line. “What’s up?” She paused, listening. “Yeah, you already told me about that, remember? Like, last week sometime.” Another pause.
She shifted slightly, and I sucked in a breath as her body moved against mine.
“Not much, just hanging out with Moira.”
Her eyes flickered to my face, but I pretended not to notice. Curiosity was getting the better of me, though. Who was she talking to, and why did she lie about who she was with? The thought that there might be another guy on the other side of the conversation sent a possessive twitch through my fingers, and they instinctively tightened on her hips. I wanted to believe that competing with another guy would slow down my plan, but the jealousy gnawing at my stomach told a different story. I tamped it down and forced my face into a neutral expression.
“Yeah. We’re about to watch Project Runway, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
Not if I could help it, pal. Even if it meant stealing her phone again.
“Okay.” Pause. “Love you, too, Dad.”
It took my mind a second to get past the word “love” to the word “dad” and still another to realize it had been Tommy she’d lied to about who she was with. Apparently, she was far more excited by the idea of meeting my family than introducing me to hers.
Spencer was silent as she laid the phone aside, and it took her several seconds to look at me again.
“My dad,” she said.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Sorry,” she said, dropping her eyes. “I don’t—”
“It’s okay, Spence. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
Her head snapped up, and there was real remorse in her soft brown eyes. “No, I want to. It’s just…my dad…he’s super protective. I haven’t really dated much, and whenever I have, I’ve never told him about it.”
“I get it,” I said with a shrug.
“I know it sounds pathetic, but I just feel like I need to protect him, you know?”
Her expression was so pained that whatever irritation I’d felt quickly melted away. “It’s okay, Spence.” She moved to look away again, but I caught her chin and forced her to face me. “Seriously. I’m more than happy to stick around and show you why I should be the first guy you introduce to your dad.”
A slow smile spread across her lips, and she laid her head against my shoulder. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Of course.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face in her hair. “I’m not in a hurry.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE HOT OIL gave a satisfying hiss as I spooned the last of the potato mixture into the pan.
“Wait, so what’s this again?” Spencer stood on tiptoes to peer over my shoulder. She slipped her hands around my waist, and I suddenly had the urge to abandon the cooking altogether and show her the attention she deserved. But I’d promised her dinner, and Maggie’s claim that a man could make any woman fall in love with him if he knew how to cook kept me focused on the task at hand.