Playing It Safe(73)

“I don’t know about that.” My eyes stay focused on the list in front of me. “Last time I talked to her she was busting at the seams.”

“What time is she supposed to be here?”

“I told Vanessa to bring her over at noon, and no sooner, because the guests will start arriving about a half hour after that. By then everything will be set up, and I want to be able to give her a private tour of everything.”

My head pops up like a dog hearing a faraway whistle at the sound of the first truck pulling into Alex’s driveway. I tilt my head to the side and give him a quick peck on the lips. “Trucks are starting to pull up. I’ve gotta go.”

“I’ll be in my office if you need anything. Something tells me you won’t, but it makes me feel better saying it anyway.” He drops his arms and spins around to grab a mug of coffee for himself. “Go ahead, I’ll bring you a cup once it’s done.”

With my iPad in one hand and phone in the other, and smiling like an idiot because he’s right—I may very well be just as excited as Josie and want to get on with decorating the shit out of his house—I lean forward and kiss his cheek again before saying thank you and heading toward the door.

While I’m overseeing the delivery trucks, I’m thinking how much my life has changed in the last month. How this relationship with Alex has grown into something more than I thought it could ever be. I smile thinking about how much I’ve grown to care about him and how much I miss him when we’re not together. Sometimes it feels like we can’t get enough of each other.

And I love that.

I never thought I’d feel that way about someone ever again, but miracles do happen.

I feel it in his touch, his eyes, his words, and most importantly his actions. Because a guy can say just about anything, but it’s what he actually does that proves he means those words. Trust me on this one, I’ve heard and seen it all before.

“Here you go,” he says, sneaking up on me and handing me my cup of coffee. Just like he promised he would.

I say a quick thanks, and he kisses my forehead before retreating into the house.

A huge grin on my face, my eyes stay focused on the closed door long after he’s gone.

Yeah, Alex definitely isn’t just some guy.

Not by a long shot.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I’ve spent the last six hours knee-deep in Muggles, Squibs, wizards, and witches. But it paid off because Alex’s house and backyard looks like Harry Potter took a dump all over it and then some. In other words, it looks so freaking awesome that it might even give Universal in Orlando a run for its money.

From the makeshift brick wall in his foyer emulating platform nine and three-quarters and the broomstick parking spot affixed to it—since the children invited were told to bring a broom of their own for a Quidditch match later in the day—to the Sorting Hat area and a replica of Professor Trelawney's and Professor Snape’s classrooms just to name a few, everything looks amazing, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

All of this might have propelled me to super-duper geekdom status, but I’ll gladly wear the moniker because when Josie arrives in a few minutes she is going to flip her lid.

I leave Lisette running around outside directing the caterers while I duck inside to take another shower and get dressed again. This time though I put on something a little nicer in the form of a strapless black maxi dress with embellished sandals, and I work a French braid into the front of my hair that ends in a side ponytail. I am racing around Alex’s bedroom looking for my earrings when he steps inside and leans against one of the bedposts, watching me run around like a chicken with its head cut off.

“My parents just called me and said they’ll be here any minute,” he says casually.

Um, yeah, I kind of completely blanked out on his parents being here too and that I would be meeting them for the first time today.

I freeze in mid-step and throw him an oh shit look because now I’m all kinds of nervous. Granted, I’ve met his sister and obviously his niece, but this is pretty huge. Especially for me, since I never get far enough with a guy I’m seeing to meet his parents, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named doesn’t count. In fact, let’s just forget about him, shall we? Sounds like a plan.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asks, concerned and coming over to where I’m standing.

I mumble something unintelligible under my breath, trying to play it off like everything is cool when it’s totally not.

He rubs my arms up and down as a small smile plays on his lips. “Are you nervous that you’re going to meet my parents?”

“Maybe a little,” I admit.

Truth be told, I’m scared shitless.

“Julia Boyd, the toughest woman I know, is afraid of my parents. Well, this just got all kinds of interesting.”

I roll my eyes and smack him lightly on the arm. “Alex, it’s not funny. This is kind of a big deal, and I’d like to make a good impression.”

With his thumb and index finger, he lifts my chin and brushes his lips against mine while still smiling. “You have nothing to be nervous about. I promise you that they’re going to love you.”

“That’s easy for you to say.”

He cocks his eyebrow in response. It takes me a second, but I realize that I somewhat intimated that he loves me with my answer, and yeah, that would be a little presumptuous seeing as how we haven’t gone there with each other yet.