The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2)(82)

“What’s Honor’s favorite color?”

Shit. He had no bloody idea. Most of her clothes were... “Blue,” he said.

“Specifically?”

“Dark blue.”

“Navy. I’ll give it to you.” Bethany smiled at him with a little wink. “When is her birthday?”

“Oh, shit, this is where most husbands screw up, isn’t it?” He gave Honor a grin. She didn’t return it, her eyes open too wide. “January 4.” Thank you, Honor, for your anal-retentive dossier.

“Good job!” Bethany leaned across for a high five, her eyes dropping again to his Union Jack. “Where does she fall in birth order in her family?”

And another shit. Let’s see, there was the sex-addicted sister, who looked older but acted younger, the sister whose husband was the cop...younger, he thought, but what about the brother? “She acts like the oldest, don’t you, sweetheart? Everyone goes to her with their problems. And she’s quite bossy.” He smiled. She still looked ready to puke. “She’s in the middle.”

“Correct,” Bethany said, not noticing that he’d fudged the answer a bit. “Her favorite TV show?”

He grimaced. “Those dreadful medical dramas about tumors and the like. Horrible.”

Bethany smiled at him. “I have to agree. Okay, next question. What would Honor say is your biggest vice?”

He cocked an eyebrow. Honor closed her eyes. “Drinking. Wait till she meets some of my mates back home.”

“Drinking is correct, Tom.” Bethany gave him another high five. “And what contraception do you use?”

He choked on his water. “Right.” Took a second to answer. “We’re hoping to start a family very soon. So none.”

“That’s not what she said.”

He looked at his bride-to-be. “Darling? I thought we’d talked about this.”

“I, uh, yes. Just, you know.” She was sweating, her forehead shiny with it.

He took her hand and tugged her onto his lap, where she sat like a brick. “I thought you wanted babies right away, sweetheart,” he said, squeezing her knee to hopefully clue her in.

“Yeah, well, I don’t...um. Definitely. Soon. But maybe we could be married for a few months before we toss the, um, pills.”

“I can’t wait,” Tom said. He tried to pull her in for a kiss, but she was clenched. He leaned his head against her shoulder instead and smiled at Bethany. “Any other questions?”

“Nah,” Bethany said. “I think you guys are really cute. Where’s Spikey? Aren’t they cute? They’re cute!”

Thank the Christ child. In about five minutes, then, he was going to pour a very generous glass of whiskey. Just one, mind you, but generous.

He stood up, having to push Honor off his lap, then gripped her hand in his. “Well, this was lovely, meeting you. Thank you, Bethany.”

“Thanks for dinner!” she said, pulling on her coat. “This was really nice. Most people can’t wait for me to leave.”

“Really?” Tom said. “Can’t imagine why.”

“Good luck to you both.” Bethany shook their hands hard, smiling at them.

“Thanks,” Honor said, letting out a massive breath. He gave her a quick glare, then turned back to Bethany. Walked her to the door, dragging Honor behind him, and opened it.

Bugger.

A foot of snow had piled up.

“Oh, crud,” Bethany said. “I don’t know if I can drive home in this. My tires are completely bald, and it’s an hour and a half to my house in good weather.”

Tom closed his eyes for a second. “Not to worry,” he said. “You can stay here for the night. Right, darling?”

* * *

HONOR FELT LIKE her head was about to explode. She stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her face looked wind-burned, she’d been blushing so long.

That woman had been here for four hours. Four hours of Tom kissing her ass, playing Devoted Fiancé, four hours of Honor trying to lie when all she could hear was ten years in prison. Which, yes, she already knew, but it had a different ring to it when said by a federal agent!

Finally, Bethany had yawned (hugely) and said a fond good-night to Tom, who looked like he was going to hug her.

“See you kids in the morning,” she said. “Don’t make too much noise, okay?” A gruesome wink that made Honor die a little inside.

And now she had to sleep with Tom.

Got to sleep with Tom.

Under normal circumstances—normal for them—the idea would have made her nervous enough, if rather thrilled. With a federal agent across the hall, she was close to losing control of her bowels.

How had Tom known her favorite color was navy blue? And that thing about how she acted like the oldest...was he right?

“Is the bathroom free?” Bethany asked.

“Um, just a sec,” Honor said. Too bad she didn’t have sleeping pills. She could drug all three of them.

She opened the door, smiled at Bethany and went into Tom’s room and closed the door.

“Do you think you could possibly act a little less like a piece of wood?” he whispered.

“What?”

“You sat there like a lump, Honor.”