Making the First Move by Reese Ryan

Author:Reese Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

I do not acknowledge those three little words. Not when he said them last night. Not over breakfast this morning. Not as we trudged through the snow to The Q—Cleveland’s basketball arena.

There is no awkwardness between us. Just avoidance and pretending. I avoid acknowledging Raine said he loves me by pretending I didn’t hear it. He pretends my avoidance doesn’t bother him. Everything else remains the same. There’s the same lightness and affection between us. The same intense heat. We’ve been intimate since he uttered those words. Thankfully, he hasn’t said them again.

At the game we buy overpriced, but delicious, nachos, beer and Italian sausages. We enjoy the game.

Afterward we drive to Mom’s house and park at the edge of the driveway. My feet grow heavier with each step as we make our way to the front door. Raine’s mood is light and happy. He’s genuinely excited to meet the rest of the Gordon clan. I’m sweating bullets underneath my blue parka.

We climb the front steps. I stand there, my hand balled into a fist, frozen in midair, inches from the door. I turn to him.

“Listen, I appreciate you agreeing to meet my family,” I say. “But my mom totally pressured you into it. If you don’t feel like it, we can get right back in the car and go home. Just spend a nice, quiet evening together.”

“If you’re asking me if I’d like to have dinner with your family, the answer is yes, I do. If you’re not ready for—”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” I squeeze the bridge of my nose and sigh. “I haven’t brought anyone to family dinner in a really long time and—”

Raine silences me with a kiss. “It’ll be fine.” A smirk curls the corner of his mouth. “I’ve had all my shots and I’m completely housebroken. I swear.”

“Aha, I see. Guess who’s coming to dinner? It’s Mr. Smart-Ass.” I poke his chest with my index finger, trying to repress a grin. “Fine. Dinner with the Gordons it is. But when you leave here a bitter, broken, bleeding man, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Duly noted.”

Raine rings the doorbell. The front door swings open, and a gust of warm, delicious air rushes out to meet us. My mother has gone all out today. The smell of ham, greens, sweet potatoes, her famous scalloped potatoes and a fruit pie of some sort waft through the air.

“Raine, Melanie!” My mother looks gorgeous in a pair of casual black slacks and a cream-colored Liz Claiborne sweater twinset. Her hair is down in soft curls framing her face. She’s wearing full makeup and the perfume we bought her for Mother’s Day two years ago. If it weren’t for the soft, fluffy, pink house shoes, I’d think she was on her way to an office somewhere. “I’m glad you could make it!” She leans in and gives me a warm kiss on the cheek before giving Raine a hug. “Let me take your coats and shoes. Raine, you’ll find a couple of pair of slippers by the door.

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