Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(88)

Her stilled silence says she’s not impressed with my answer.

So be it.

It’s the only one she’s gonna get today.

When we reach the restaurant connected to the hotel, and I park, I look her way while pulling the keys out of the ignition.

She smiles. “Ready?”

I’m relieved to see she’s gotten over the card from Angie. “Ready and willing. How ’bout you?”

She glances at the restaurant and nods. “It’s odd, but I’m excited to see my parents, knowing what I know now. So much makes sense now.” She grimaces slightly. “I don’t know that it should, but it feels good to know those things. It won’t make Mom and I best friends overnight, or even make me forget all the nasty, spiteful crap she’s done to me, but...it’s something. It’s history I can work with. It helps.”

“I’m sure it does.” I open the door and walk around the truck, helping her out and keeping my hand on the small of her back as we walk inside.

Her parents walk through a door connected to the hotel.

“We saw you pull in,” Gary says, hand out to shake mine.

“Annabelle, you look so nice,” her mother says, kissing the air next to Bella’s cheek.

“Thank you, Mom. You look nice too.”

Her mother shakes her head. “I had to order us clothes online of all things. The one time I under-pack.”

As the two of them walk into the dining area, Gary lays a hand on my arm, holding us back a few feet.

“Does Sheriff Wallace know it’s Avery’s son in his jail?” he asks as we slowly follow the women.

“Yeah. Wallace knows almost everything Jonah knew about Jupiter Oil.”

“Does he know everything you know?”

I try not to show how stiff my spine gets. “What do you mean?”

“Annabelle won’t be safe until Jupiter Oil gets shut down, or at least decapitated. Avery will keep on trying to buy her out. He’s adamant. And it won’t be shoddy deals or mismanagement, or anything else my father dug up on them that lands them in trouble. But those girls you talked about, the missing ones from the reservations...if Jupiter personnel really are connected, and you could prove it, it’d be the end of the company. The end of Avery Briar.”

There’s a weight in his voice that surprises me. He gets it. He really does.

Why had I ever underestimated him?

“Wallace can pull background checks on anyone in jail. Something might come up.”

“He already did,” I say. “Nothing on either of them. Alias names, too.”

“Shame. I’d hoped I was onto something.”

I’m saved from commenting by our arrival at the table. The glare Molly gives me as I hold Bella’s chair tells me I may have underestimated her, too.

If she ever hears the truth, it’s not going down one tenth as well as it did with Gary.

This woman will castrate me if she believes I’m responsible for getting her daughter into this mess.





15





Hottest Damn Thing (Bella)





I’m not entirely certain what has me feeling like I’m walking on cloud nine, but I do.

The evening has gone so well.

Mom hasn’t complained about anything for once, and Dad chatters away with Drake like they’re old friends. I should be waiting for the next shoe to drop instead of enjoying myself, but what could it be?

There’s not another shoe. Or a boot. Or a heel.

I hope.

I know Gramps’ reasoning for the marriage. I know Drake’s true purpose for helping, and I know what caused this horrific family infighting all those years ago.

There are no more surprises, I keep telling myself.

Buuut, actually...

A tiny twinge pulls at the corner of my eye.

There’s another surprise.

Drake doesn’t know I already called his sister. Angie Larkin didn’t answer, but I left her a voicemail. Letting her know Drake’s all right and where he’s at.

He got so grumpy when I asked about it, but that just proves he needs to talk to her and clear the air. Sooner rather than later.

He’ll feel better. I know I certainly do. My father’s visit today was like an epiphany. Though nothing has really changed, it’s too early, I don’t feel quite as oppressed by the weight of the world.

Not like this morning, when Drake wasn’t talking to me.

Then mother’s visit, and then...

My heart flutters as I glance at Drake. Our little romp in the hay was as filthy as it was delightful.

Alexa might die when she hears about it.

She knows the issues I’ve had with dating. She’s picked at my shameful virginity for years, telling me I just needed to break the ice. Once I thought I’d found the right man, of course.

That’s not how it went down.

He’d found me, taken me, and swept me away in a whirlwind of fiery bliss I can’t wait to repeat.

Maybe that’s what has me feeling extra giddy. But it also scares me.

The huge, inked, blue-eyed cowboy man at the table is hardly a stranger anymore. And it’s changed in the blink of an eye, only a few weeks.

What will six more months bring?

Six freaking months is more than enough time for two people to fall in love.