Shine Not Burn(43)

She put her hand on my shoulder and gently but firmly guided me down the hallway in the opposite direction of the living room. “You were all tuckered out. It’s perfectly fine for you to take a nap here, it’s not a problem at all. We were just sitting down to an early dinner and thought you’d like to join us. My name’s Maeve by the way.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Dinner? With your family?”

“Well, yes, sweetie. We eat as a family here, every night.” She smiled warmly. “It’s kind of a tradition. Our boys have always been the type to run out the door with friends and work and everything else, but one thing we always insisted on was dinner at home, all of us at the table with no television, no phones, and no radio. Just eating and talking and hopefully laughing but sometimes a little bit of yelling happens too.” She gave me wry grin. “Comes with the territory of having all men in the house.”

I smiled, despite my panic. “That’s nice. The eating together part, anyway.”

“We like it.” She pushed on me to make me move, but I stayed put.

“I’m sorry, is it your ankle or your foot?” She looked down at it in concern.

“No, it’s mostly fine now. But I don’t think I should eat dinner here, though. I appreciate you inviting me, but I think I’d prefer to just get a bite in town.”

“Oh, no, I insist,” she said, pushing me more firmly.

I moved because to do otherwise would have been rude. Besides, it was very possible that I’d need this woman to intervene on my behalf, so getting on her bad side would be seriously counterproductive. “I guess if it isn’t any trouble...”

“No trouble at all. I’ve never learned to cook for less than ten people.”

“Ten?” I squeaked out. The closer we got to the next room, the louder the voices became. Are there ten people in there?

“Sometimes we have that many. Tonight it’s just the four of us, Boog, and you. But since I cooked for ten again, we’ll have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. I hope you like ribs.”

My stomach chose that exact moment to growl like a bear. Ribs were one of the guilty pleasures I allowed myself about once a month from a local eatery that specialized in authentic pit barbecue.

She laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Come on. I’ve put you across from Gavin.”

We turned the corner together and my feet slowed as I took in the scene before me. Maeve and I were the only females in the room. The rest of the space was taken up by giant men. Not one of them could have weighed less than two hundred pounds, and Boog himself was almost twice that, with hair enough for a couple wookies.

It was easy to see where Ian and Mack got their good looks. They were a perfect combination of their parents, getting their large frames and square jaws from their father and their hair color and smiles from their mother.

As soon as they realized I was in the room, the smiles disappeared. The talking stopped and all eyes were on me.

Boog turned around to see what the silence was all about. He was the first to speak. “Well, there she is. Sleeping beauty rises from the dead.” He chuckled and went back to gnawing on the bone he held in his hand.

I walked over to the empty seat next to him and stood behind it. “No thanks to you. Appreciate you leaving me out there to die with the rattlesnakes.” I tried to sound mad, but the food looked and smelled so good I couldn’t concentrate on my anger enough to make it believable.

“You recall that I tried to offer you a lift…” He turned to face me and I worked at not feeling sick over the pieces of rib schmeg stuck in his beard. He looked like a complete and utter savage, making me wonder what Mack’s family could possibly be thinking by wanting him here at their table.

I looked across the table at Mack and then quickly shifted my gaze to the mashed potatoes when he caught my eye. Those damn blue eyes. Why do they affect me like this? I felt like I had a fever, my skin suddenly going sensitive and the heat rising up inside me. My master plan to use the girl in the photo to force his hand seemed flimsy. He definitely wasn’t coming across as a man who could be easily intimidated. Why did I remember him being so much more easygoing? Was it because I was so drunk or because he’d changed?

I turned my attention back to Boog. Looking down at him from behind my seat was like taking a visual cold shower, helping me get a grip on my emotions. “Yes, but you failed to mention when you offered that lift that the road was straight out of Baghdad and not suited to travel by a Smart Car.”

He snorted. “Foreigners.” Taking a bite of his rib, he continued to speak, not letting the fact that he had a mouthful of meat bother him in the least. “I got news for you … a Smart Car isn’t suited to travel anywhere around here, not even the highway. With all the four-wheel drive trucks around, you could get yourself hurt if you got in an accident. Better leave the Smart Cars on the golf course where they belong.”

Mack shifted in his seat and I looked up at him again. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as the muscle in his jaw pulsed out a few times. I was affecting him as much as he was affecting me, only I think my presence was making him angry whereas his was making me think stupid, stupid things that girls who are engaged to other men should not be thinking. I pulled the chair out and stood in front of it at the table.

Boog continued. “Next time a gentleman offers you a ride, you should take him up on it and not be so big city independent about it.”