Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
The Bankses’ housekeeper Linda waits just inside the door, accepting Avery’s Prada leather jacket and matching handbag as she hands them to her and waits patiently for mine. But I clutch my purse to my hip with a smile.
“That’s okay, Linda. I’m going to hold on to mine.”
“Very well.”
Avery heads straight for the kitchen and I follow dutifully, but after she crosses the threshold to the entrance, a hand shoots out from the hall and yanks me to the side. I almost scream, but Beau covers my mouth and drags me to the first open door.
He shuts it behind us, and I back up against the sink of the half bath, breathing hard.
“Sorry,” he apologizes quickly, his voice a rushed whisper. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but I wanted to kiss you hello.”
My body melts as he presses himself to me, forging our lips in a delicate battle for supremacy. He tastes delicious as usual, and already, he’s got me feeling better.
The holidays always hit hard with absent parents, and my mood hasn’t been the best. But there’s a reason I love the Bankses as a whole, and there’s a reason I’ve loved Beau for as long as I have—they’re the best kind of people and all the family I never had but always wanted.
“Meet you out there,” Beau whispers against my lips, pulling me to him and giving my ass one final squeeze before hurrying out the door. He closes it behind himself, and I take a moment to get myself together, washing the smudged lipstick off my face and fluffing at my hair.
When I’m satisfied my appearance passes for normal, I exit the bathroom and head down to the kitchen.
Diane and Neil stand by the fridge filling cups with their special Thanksgiving punch, and a catering staff works to finalize the touches on the spread of the meal. Beau and Avery are both sitting on the living room couch with their feet up, bickering about what to put on the TV.
I opt for stopping to see my pseudo-parents first. Neil smiles as soon as he sees me approaching, putting down the pitcher of punch and opening his arms for me to walk inside. I savor the feel of his warm hug, and I imagine, just for a moment, what it must be like to be born with parents like them.
“Happy Thanksgiving, sweetie,” he says, kissing the top of my head right in the center of my hair.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” I reply, squeezing him extra tight before pulling away. Diane is waiting for her turn too, and I scoot into her arms as she wraps them around me. She smells of Gardenia by Chanel, but not the one you can purchase in stores. It’s their Parfum Grand Extrait version, a highly coveted scent I know goes for almost twenty thousand dollars.
My parents got me my first bottle of it when I was five years old, and if I’d known I was going to associate it with the woman who’s been more of a mother to me than anyone else in my life, I probably would have kept it around. At the time, it was just more stuff.
“Dinner should be ready soon, Junebug. Are you hungry?” Diane asks as we pull away from our hug.
“Enough to consider cannibalism.”
Both she and Neil laugh, and Avery shouts from the living room, “Eat Beau first!”
I can barely keep myself from turning the color of a tomato when Beau replies, “Fine by me,” and tosses a look of pure debauchery toward me over his shoulder.
I hold my breath, waiting for anyone to question Beau’s devious words, but everyone just brushes it off as normal. Probably because there’re only two people in this house who are aware of the secret relationship Beau and I have been engaging in for the past month.
Everyone else is still clueless. But that’s not by their choice. It’s by yours.
Guilt and shame and a whole bunch of other emotions I don’t want to feel right now stab at my gut, but I swallow hard against them and force a smile to my lips when Diane starts laughing over the squabbling about what to watch on the television that comes from Beau and Avery in the living room.
“These kids, June,” she says with an amused shake of her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with them if they can’t stop bickering before we sit down to eat.”
“I’ll go sort them out.”
She leans forward and kisses me on the cheek. “Thanks, hun.”
I cross the open space to the living room and plop down on one of the chairs that’s perpendicular to the couch, avoiding Beau’s eyes. I know if I meet them, they’ll be filled with sex and scandal and all sorts of trouble.
“What the hell took you so long to get in here?” Avery asks, wrestling for the remote with one hand while Beau holds it with one of his.