Free Sleeping Arrangements (Silhouette Desire) by Amy Jo Cousins Page B

answer. She could see him trying to hold back the smile now. His mouth stayed solemn but his eyes were a dead giveaway. “Your hair sure does fly all over the place.” He reached out a hand and tucked a riotous curl behind her ear.
    She slapped him away. “Stop touching me. Why were you calling my mother?”
    “I know it’s old-fashioned, but I still believe in asking the girl’s parents for permission before you marry her.”
    “Are you crazy?” All thoughts of keeping quiet went rightout the window as she bellowed at him. “You told my mother we’re getting married?”
    “Keep your cool, Addy.”
    She could have punched him right in the face for leaning there, calm and poised, arms crossed loosely on his chest.
    “Screw my cool!” She stamped her foot and knew she was acting like a five-year-old. It was beyond her control. Spencer stood up straight and took a step toward her. “Who do you think you are?” She felt crowded and pushed him back, hard. Liked it, and pushed him again. “My knight in goddamn shining armor?”
    Her breath was heaving in her chest. She was appalled by her lack of control but couldn’t seem to rein in her fury.
    “It’s a simple solution to a difficult problem.”
    He was not helping.
    And he was so damn cute in those glasses.
    “Adeline Tyler.” Ignoring her mother twice was not an option. She turned to face the stern glance. “Spencer is our guest. We do not yell at our guests. And the rest of your family is ready to eat.”
    Addy nodded. Plastering a smile on her face, she gestured for Spencer to proceed before her. Safely hidden behind his suit-coated back, she dropped the fake enthusiasm.
    “We’ll finish this later, you conniving weasel.”
    He turned and grabbed her by the elbows, yanking her up against his body before she could react. His eyes glittered and there wasn’t a hint of cuteness about him as he ground a hard, brief kiss against her stunned mouth.
    “We certainly will, you stubborn witch.”
     
    Dinner was hell.
    Only her mother’s stern edict that any and all interrogations under hot lights be postponed until after the meal kept her siblings in check. Addy, stuck sitting across from the archfiend himself, kept her eyes away from him and her mouth shut.
    After dinner, she made a move to corner Spencer, only towatch him get spirited away by her two sisters on a tour of the house, her brother following two steps behind them with a dark look. Addy was stuck clearing the table with her mother.
    In the kitchen, loading the dishwasher, she had only one sentence for the woman she loved more than life itself.
    “I’m not marrying him and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
    “Whatever you say, sweetie.” Her mother scraped plates before handing them along. “Just take it outside before you start yelling at him again.”
    Minutes later, she kissed her mom on the cheek, got a hug in return and went to hunt down her man.
    She found them all in the living room.
    “Everyone out.” She speared one set of eyes with a cold look.
    “Except me?”
    “Except you.”
    Her siblings left obediently, but not before she caught a wordless exchange between the two men in the room that boded more conversation between them later.
    Remain calm. She chanted the words in her head like a silent mantra.
    “I understand what you’re trying to do here, Reed,” she began calmly, “but, frankly, I’d rather marry Spike.”
    “Spike? Maybe your great-aunt was right to worry about you.” His brow wrinkled and he ran a hand through his hair, loosening blond waves. “Is that your boyfriend?”
    “Hardly.” As she stood there, a dozen questions and confusions battled for first place in her mind. “It’s a long story.”
    He sank gracefully onto the faded couch, looking more comfortable than a man in what was undoubtedly a two-thousand-dollar suit had a right to look. “I’m not going anywhere. And you’re better off if I can vouch for your mental stability.