Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head back toward them, and lifted up farther on his elbows. “I’m good, Mrs. Beauregard. Uh, Mr. Beauregard,” he nodded at Dad who was staring in shock at the bed, a dark blush starting to travel up his neck.
“I knew when you said that Ellis had been joking about y’all being together that you were hiding something. Honestly, honey, why would you want to hide him?” she asked with a huge smile on her face.
Eyes flicking between her, Dad, and Raoul, I tried to think of a response, but all that I could get out was, “Uh…”
See, my dad had hated every last one of my boyfriends. He’d glared at them, refused to let them stay in his house, told me within thirty seconds of meeting them that they were assholes, and on the occasions where any of them had been brave enough to kiss me in front of them he’d threatened to break limbs. It wasn’t just threats, it was vivid descriptions of how he was going to do it, and that had made them run. So, right now with it looking like Raoul wasn’t wearing anything under the sheets as he lay on top of me, and the fact that we were lying in my bed having obviously slept in it together last night, welp I was bracing for the explosion.
The only one of us who was apparently capable of talking at that moment was the one person who’d said the most so far, my mom. “We’ll go make the coffee, won’t we, Hogie? Turn us around and head to the kitchen, Mr. Belvedere!”
And then a miracle occurred. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the shock or if he was working up to an explosion, but Dad did just that, leaving the two of us staring at where they’d been.
“Did that just happen?” I groaned, covering my face with my hands and almost screaming when I pressed down too hard on my sore eye.
Two large, warm hands lifted them back up, and Raoul filled my vision. I’d expected him to mirror the emotions and thoughts going through my head, but instead he was grinning at me, his eyes shining as he fought not to laugh. “Sweetheart, I knew she was nutty before, but that was a hilarious new level of nuttiness.”
“Why are you laughing?” I hissed. “Are you crazy? That was the most embarrassing thing ever.”
“It was,” he agreed, his body starting to shake slightly. “But I wish I’d recorded it so I could appreciate it on a whole new level without worrying that your dad was going to kick my ass.”
“He still might,” I pointed out, nibbling on my bottom lip worriedly.
Leaning down, he pulled my lip out from between my teeth with his own, before pressing a kiss on it. “It was worth every second, baby,” he whispered, giving me another peck.
“Swear to the good man above, Rissa,” Dad yelled in the kitchen. “If they don’t get their asses through here in the next ten seconds, not even you can stop me from kicking his… Ow, cut it out.”
That’s when any control he had over his laughter snapped, and Raoul tipped his head back and burst out laughing as he carefully made his way out from under the sheets. It took me a while longer to do the same, partly because I was delaying the inevitable, but mainly because I was too busy watching him get dressed. One of my favorite parts was when he bent over to put his pants on with his back facing me, and I got to see his ass with only a thin layer of cotton over it. It was solid, it was muscular, and when he bent over fully, I got the perfect shot of his package, too.
Just as he looked over his shoulder and saw me watching him, Dad bellowed, “Two seconds!” totally ruining the moment.Chapter SevenRaoulI’d met Rissa and Hogan on numerous occasions before now, but this one felt different. In fact, I hadn’t called them Mr. and Mrs. Beauregard since the first time I’d met them and they’d immediately insisted I call them by their first names. Right now, I didn’t know what to expect as I walked into the kitchen with Rose beside me, but I was ready to take on anything to keep her.
I needn’t have worried, because Rissa was ready and waiting. “Ah, there you are. Your father was just asking what was holding y’all back. Coffee?” She asked, pulling down cups and looking over her shoulder at us.
“Please,” I murmured, walking over to one of the chairs at the small table Rose had in her kitchen.
“Hey, you guys. You didn’t have to come all the way here,” Rose said, walking up and giving her dad a hug from behind. For a second, the glare he’d been giving me since I’d arrived softened, but then it returned full force when she moved away again.