Page 53 of Embraced in Ink

“I have a feeling Madison’s doing that for you.”

“I knew she was my favorite,” she said quickly, pushing all thoughts of what could potentially be a disaster from her mind. Because she was so afraid of what might happen when they looked beneath the surface of this new part of themselves and realized that it didn’t work.

What if it didn’t? And what if, with a single kiss, and a single promise, they had ruined everything they’d had forever?

Chapter 12

Now Marcus understood precisely what Bristol had been feeling a week prior when she had once again introduced him to the family.

Not quite an introduction since he literally had a stocking at their house for Christmas. But it had been the first time he had gone with Bristol as her fiancé. Though he hadn’t had to deal with the interrogations, he still felt as if the questions might have come at any moment if he hadn’t been aware. In fact, everybody had been extraordinarily cautious about how they treated his relationship with Bristol.

The whole event made him feel like the Montgomerys might have an inkling that things weren’t quite standard when it came to them.

He had somehow survived that whole ordeal unscathed because he had a feeling everybody was waiting to see what would happen between the two of them.

Maybe they were walking on eggshells as he and Bristol were.

Tonight, however, wasn’t about them. No, it was abouthisfamily.

He had no idea how bringing Bristol to dinner was going to work out, but he had to go into it with high hopes.

Not that he was too worried about the idea that his family would treat her poorly. They never had in the past. His parents loved her like she was already their daughter. Bristol had always gotten along with his sisters as if she had been part of their family from the beginning.

His siblings had bugged him relentlessly about his connection to Bristol over the years. They’d always wanted to know how the relationship had evolved over time, though Marcus couldn’t explain it himself. His sisters had never been cruel or rude towards Bristol. Just like the Montgomerys had never been so towards him. Aaron might have been an ass a little bit a couple of weeks before while they were figuring out exactly how the relationship had started, but Marcus didn’t blame him. Oh, he was still going to keep the details to himself, but he didn’t blame Aaron for wanting to know. Marcus himself had grilled his sisters’ husbands. Mostly for show because he liked the guys. He hoped this would be the same thing. The other Montgomerys had shielded him from that, and he was grateful.

Tonight, however, was all about the Stearn family.

“I’m going to throw up.”

Marcus looked over at Bristol as she fisted her hands on her knees in the passenger seat of his car. She had on gray slacks and a sweater cape thing that made him think of a flying squirrel. He had told her that once before, and she had glared at him and stalked out of the room. That had been a year ago, and she still wore the damn thing, so she must like it. He loved the way it looked on her, but he always thought about the squirrel.

“Why are you going to throw up?”

“First, I know that look. You’re thinking about the squirrel and my shirt. And that’s just rude. I look amazing in this top. It gives me an hourglass figure even while it’s a cape. Like it makes no sense, and yet I love it. And your sisters love this shirt. So, I figured I would wear it for good luck. Don’t talk about the squirrel.”

He snorted, shaking his head. “How the hell could you know what I was thinking about without even truly looking at me?” he asked, and she shrugged.

“You’re my best friend. I know things like that. Plus, you get that little smirk when you’re trying not to laugh at something you know annoys me. And since the only thing in this car that I know of that annoys you is my shirt, fuck you very much.”

“So, if I was thinking about something else that makes me laugh, you’d try to hit me?”

“No, mostly because you’re driving, and I want to make it to your parents’ home safe.” She paused, her lips quirking into a smile. “Thank you for trying to get my mind off the fact that I’m going to throw up.”

Marcus frowned. “You said you thought you were going to throw up. Are you actually going to throw up now?” he said, looking for a place to pull over.

“I’m not truly going to throw up. At least, I don’t think so.” She put her hand on her stomach over the squirrel top.

His lips quirked again.

“Stop fucking thinking about squirrels.”

He burst out laughing, and she joined him, both of them shaking their heads as he took the next turn.

“I’m just nervous. This is your family. Your parents. Your sisters and their men. It’s scary.”

“You’ve been over to my house as many times as I’ve been to yours.”

“It doesn’t always feel like that. Maybe that’s because I’m self-centered.”