“So, tell me about yourself,” Mary said with a huge smile as soon as Jodi had food in her mouth.

“You already know all about her,” Danny said, sighing heavily as he shifted the food around on his plate.

Eyes narrowed on Danny, their mother snapped, “I have waited years for one of my inconsiderate sons to bring a nice young woman home to meet me! You will not deny me this moment!”

Biting back a groan, Darrin shifted his attention to his plate, praying that no one decided to bring up his lack of “dating” again. He wished like hell that he could just tell them about him and Marybeth, but the stubborn woman was determined to drive him out of his goddamn mind. Speaking of Marybeth, he pulled his phone out and discreetly checked it beneath the table only to curse seconds later and-

“Why are you here?” Danny suddenly asked, dragging his attention away from his phone. He looked up and followed Danny’s curious glance down to the end of the table where their cousins sat.

“There was a party,” Jason said, taking a large sip of his ice tea.

“And we weren’t invited,” Trevor finished for him with a careless shrug.

“And Haley and Zoe?” Danny asked, still pushing his food around his plate.

“Were,” Jason answered, taking a bite of mashed potato.

“And the kids?” Jodi asked, frowning.

“Also invited,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.

“Then why weren’t you-” she started to ask, only to get cut off by the arrival of the woman who’d spent the entire day fucking him over and rubbing it in his face.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Uncle Jared needed a hand with some blueprints,” Marybeth explained as she walked into.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he glanced over his shoulder and watched as Marybeth walked over to the table, looking incredibly sexy in her Bradford Construction shirt and tight jeans that showed her generous ass off to perfection.

“Darrin Bradford!” his mother gasped, acting shocked. “What is wrong with you?”

“Many things,” Reese muttered under his breath, taking a bite of food as he shook his head in disgust.

“I’m glad you’re here, Marybeth. I wanted to see if you’re still planning on flying down with us for the trip,” his mother said with a warm smile that looked a bit hopeful to him. Ever since he’d dragged Marybeth over to her and told her that he was keeping her, his mother had been holding out hope that they’d get married one day.

“She’s not going,” Darrin bit out evenly, grabbing two biscuits off the large platter in front of him as his father and brothers all rolled their eyes and shook their heads as they sighed heavily.

“Yes, I am,” Marybeth said as she sat down in the empty chair next to him.

“No, you’re not,” Darrin said as he scooped some mashed potatoes on her plate and started to load it up with food.

“Yeah, I really am,” she said, taking a sip of his lemonade.

“No, you’re really not,” he said, throwing his arm over the back of her chair as he took the glass of lemonade from her and finished it off.

“You really need to get over it,” Marybeth said, stealing a bite of potato salad off his plate.

“You really think I’m going to be able to get over this kind of betrayal?” he demanded, as he reached up to play with a lock of her hair, loving the way that it felt sliding between his fingers.

“I had lunch at a buffet with Zoe without telling you. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time so get over it,” she said, stealing one of his rolls off his plate just as a loud gasp drew everyone’s attention to the other end of the table where Trevor stood, looking absolutely furious.

“She told me that she was running errands!”

Sighing, because it looked like it was going to be a long fucking night, he grabbed his glass of lemonade and refilled it as he watched his brother Danny, who rarely smiled, grin as leaned down and kissed his girlfriend. As he placed his glass on the table and reached over and stole Marybeth’s glass of lemonade so that he could fill it, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been going about this thing with Marybeth the wrong way.

Chapter 12
“Are you still mad at me?” she asked, her words ending on a moan as Darrin’s hand snaked beneath the back of her pants and cupped her bottom.

“I’m not mad at you,” Darrin promised as he brushed his lips across her throat.

“Are you sure?” she asked, licking her lips hungrily as she shifted on top of him and pressed down against the large bulge straining against his zipper.

“Mmmhmm,” he murmured as he kissed his way back up to her mouth while he used the hold he had on her ass to pull her down harder as she ground herself against him. “Very.”

“Then why don’t we go inside?” she suggested, not sure how much more of this she could take as she reached past him and grabbed onto the back of the bench seat of her truck.

“I have a better idea,” he said as he removed his hand from the back of her pants and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she leisurely ground herself against him.

“What’s that?” she asked, admittedly distracted as she kissed and nibbled her way down his jaw and neck.

“We could drive up to New Hampshire tonight and be married by morning,” he whispered hoarsely, making her roll her eyes, because she knew that he wasn’t serious.