Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Yes.” She was trying not to glare at a smiling Kenzie and not doing very well at it. “He’s had nothing but wonderful things to say about you, and everyone in town has as well.”
Oh, was that the problem?
Was this a she wanted to know things first issue?
The way Kenzie’s father’s lips twitched made me think I might be right, but before I could figure out how to respond, Kenzie jumped in. “Yeah, everyone is really nosy and doesn’t leave Daddy alone. They were even lined up outside his office the other day after they found out he’d seen my dragon. It was so rude. He’s got to think we’re insane, but he was really glad you guys were giving him time to figure everything out. He said you guys had much better manners.”
Kenzie lied like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth and had me wondering if he thought we’d already had that conversation.
It was impressive and confusing, and we were going to talk about that at some point when we had privacy. But to play along, I leaned over and kissed his head. “They’re excited and I’m glad to have everyone’s support, but yes, it was nice to have some time to get used to the idea.”
And to try to smooth things over with his mother a bit more, I turned to her and smiled. “With Kenzie having your eyes, does that mean he gets his dragon’s coloring from you as well? You must be a beautiful dragon. If it’s polite for me to say so, of course.”
Bingo.
His father’s lips twitched, but his mother gave me a beaming smile that was definitely Kenzie’s as well. “Thank you. You’re so sweet. Yes, he gets his height and his passion for woodworking from his father, but his coloring is from my side.”
“Well, he’s beautiful and it was an amazing experience getting to see that side of him.” I didn’t think I was downplaying my nervousness too much, so I was glad to see his mother’s smile get even wider.
“I have to admit, we were a bit worried when we’d heard how quickly you moved with that part of your relationship.” She was back to aiming frustrated daggers at her son, who was just smiling sweetly.
My adorable brat was having a wonderful time.
“I didn’t pick it.” Kenzie shrugged, not willing to be thrown under the bus for that one. “The council did.”
And his friends helped too.
Her face scrunched up, but she didn’t call out the council. “Yes, well, I’m glad to see it all worked out.”
Me too.
As she opened her mouth again, Kenzie’s father stepped in. “We should be letting you get on with your date. We know how important those are because we were heading out ourselves. We’ve got some errands to run over by the interstate and we’re gonna grab dinner.”
She deflated slightly but seemed to realize arguing was fruitless. “Yes, we have to get going, but we’ll figure out that dinner date, and Kenzie, I expect you to call more often. You’ve been ignoring my texts.”
“I forgot my phone at home.” Kenzie didn’t seem to have any desire to promise to call her more because he just ignored that part completely. “Have fun.”
Turning to me, he kept up that ear-to-ear grin, giving me the thought that it might actually be real. “You ready, Daddy?”
His willingness to show everyone who I was to him still amazed me, but I nodded and took his hand. “Yes, I’m starving and I haven’t gotten to ask about your day yet.”
Mostly because we’d started kissing as soon as I’d walked in the door.
Kenzie remembered that because he started giggling. “Yes, we were distracted.”
That was a very good description of it.
“You are very distractible.” As we waved to his parents, I was glad the truck’s engine covered our words as they pulled away. We hadn’t technically done much, but our conversation made it sound like we’d been one deep breath from doing stuff we shouldn’t mention in front of his parents.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Kenzie kissed my cheek, looking adorable. “And thank you for being nice to my mother even though she was kind of feisty tonight. Sometimes she’s just like that and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
So he hadn’t been fucking with her?
No, he had to have been messing with her.
But there’d been no tell.
He hadn’t even done the pause thing like he did before he lied about something.
“You’re welcome, cutie.” Returning his kiss, I almost laughed when I thought about his description of his mother. “I like her and I can see why she was just a bit worked up, so it’s fine.”
“Really?” Confusion flashed across his face. “She’s always very dramatic and most of the time I want to tell her to take a deep breath. But my father says that would make things worse, so I just try to show her that she should be happier. It doesn’t really work, though.”