The Game Plan (Neighbor from Hell #5)(59)

He chuckled as he pulled out his wallet. “No.”

“Why not?”

He sighed as he reached down and took her hand in his and raised their hands so that he could press a kiss against the back of her hand. “Because we never would have gotten a moment of peace otherwise.”

“But it’s a family trip,” she said, nearly sighing with relief, because no matter how cute she thought his family’s overprotectiveness was, and it really was, it was also a bit much to deal with.

Like last Sunday when his brothers and cousins came over to watch the game. She hadn’t planned on joining them, but Danny had used puppy dog eyes and the promise of a backrub to convince her that spending some time with his brothers was a good idea. It hadn’t been. At least not for her.

Danny on the other hand had seemed completely oblivious to the looks that his brothers kept sending her. Whenever Danny kissed her, held her hand, touched her or pulled her onto his lap, they stared. They’d stop eating, talking and putting each other in headlocks just to stare…..

It was a little unnerving.

If that wasn’t bad enough, every time Danny left the room the questions would start. They wanted to know her dating history, about her family, her plans for the future and of course, how she felt about Danny. She tried her best to answer their questions. Well, most of them. But apparently her answers had not been what they were looking for, because about two hours into the game they’d decided to hand over their interrogation to the twins, who both just happened to be cops.

The trip here had been just as bad. During the entire ride to the airport his brothers had taken turns watching her every move. They kept it up at the airport until she’d finally had enough and made her escape to the bathroom, which in retrospect had been a mistake. His mother and sister had taken her escape as an opportunity to get to know her better…..

After deciding to block those fifty-two minutes from her memory, she gave up and returned to Danny’s side only to discover that there was a two-hour delay. For the next hour and a half she’d contemplated returning to the bathroom, but the incident that she’d blocked from her memory had kept her butt firmly planted in the hard plastic chair where she’d tried to ignore the stares and glares.

The only one who hadn’t seemed interested in her was Dr. Bradford. He’d sat off to the side, reading or watching the planes take off and land. His children and wife left him alone for the most part. The only time he’d acknowledged any of them was when his wife or one of his children spoke directly to him. He’d smile at his wife or chuckle at something that one of his children said, except if Danny spoke that is. Dr. Bradford seemed completely oblivious to his oldest son.

“We’ll see them at dinner and at the parks,” he explained as he leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers. “Besides,” he whispered softly against her lips, “if my mother was here we wouldn’t be able to get away with sharing a room.”

“And your mother was fine with us staying at a different hotel?” she asked, deciding that pretending that his mother wasn’t aware of all the naughty things they did was for the best.

“No,” he said, shooting her a wink as he stepped up to the front desk and handed over his ID and credit card.

“That would explain why she hasn’t stopped calling since we got in the taxi.”

“Or texting me,” he said, looking down at his phone with a rueful shake of his head.

“She’s going to make you pay for this later. You do realize that, don’t you?” she said, knowing his mother well enough by now to guess that the older woman wasn’t going to take this lying down.

*-*-*-*

“Are you tired?” he asked, running his fingers down her spine.

“No,” she mumbled with a sleepy little sigh that had him smiling.

“Liar,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her bare shoulder.

“Just give me five minutes and we can go,” she muttered into her pillow.

“How about this?” he suggested, pressing another kiss against her bare shoulder, savoring the fresh scent of her skin from her recent shower. “Why don’t we take a nap, then grab a late dinner and end the night with a midnight swim in the pool?”

“Sounds heavenly,” she mumbled with a sleepy little smile, “but what about your family? Aren’t we supposed to meet them for dinner?”

“Already taken care of,” he said, pressing another kiss against her bare shoulder as he moved to stand up. “I sent Aidan a text and told him that we weren’t going to make it tonight.”

“You should go,” she said, curling up on her side. “I’ll be okay.”

He let his gaze run over her naked form, taking in her beautiful back, the curve of her hip and bottom and her shapely legs and tugged his shirt off. “I’m staying,” he said, toeing off his shoes as he worked the fly of his pants.

“Your mother will be mad,” she mumbled, sounding seconds from falling asleep.

“Probably,” he said with a soft chuckle as he shoved his pants and boxers down. “But she’ll get over it. Besides,” he said, crawling on the bed behind her, “she’s going to have her hands full tonight with my brothers and father.”

“Probably,” she agreed with a soft chuckle that ended on a sigh as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Don’t let me oversleep.”