Chapter Nineteen
Never had Nick felt more fortunate to have the parents that he did. He’d always thought Beth and Suzy were kidding when they talked about how uptight their parents were. Hell, uptight was too good for them. They were downright obnoxious. He couldn’t remember one polite word that they had uttered the entire evening. Every word and every eye roll from them was critical. No wonder Beth was so damn terrified to put a bite in her mouth. He could only imagine the criticism that she had endured growing up. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if she had been thin; they would still have found something that didn’t measure up to their standards. What was surprising was how well she and Suzy had turned out. They could have ended up being cold, uptight clones of their parents instead of the warm, loving people they were. Sure, they both had some quirky personality traits, but that only made them more unique.
Beth hadn’t said a word since they had gotten in his car. He had let the silence linger, thinking that she probably needed time to come to terms with the evening. Truthfully, he was a little afraid of what her reaction was going to be. He had told off her parents without even realizing he was about to do it. There was that saying: I can talk about my family, but no one else can. He may well have pissed her off and caused a bigger rift between her and her parents. When he had felt Beth shrinking into herself as her mother and father told the entire table about her weight battles, he had just snapped. This beautiful woman was carrying his children and he would not allow anyone to humiliate her in any way, even her own parents.
He could tell that his own parents were appalled as well. When he had hugged his mother, she had whispered in his ear, “My mixing bowls will be waiting for you when you are ready.” Almost every decision or heartache he’d had when he was growing up had been talked over in the kitchen. His mother had taught Nick and Gray to cook at an early age, and they both continued to go home when their problems were overwhelming. They both knew that the baking pans, and their mother’s and father’s listening ears, were always there waiting for them. Damn, he was blessed.
As wonderful and understanding as they were, he knew that his parents had been blindsided with the pregnancy announcement. There would be more questions and more explanations to make there. He didn’t really know why he hadn’t told them he was practically living with Beth. Maybe because he knew his father would give him “the talk” if he knew that Nick was dating Suzy’s baby sister.
Everything had happened so fast between them. It still felt like there had been a whirlwind around him since he first met Beth. They had amazing sex—a lot of it—and then, in the blink of an eye, he was practically living with her. On the rare occasions that he had stopped to ponder it, he had been helpless to pull back. Her vulnerability and insecurities were so at odds with her wild, uninhibited abandon in the bedroom. The women he had dated were usually overconfident and had seduction down to an art form. Beth, on the other hand, would lose herself completely in their lovemaking, giving and taking with equal measure. She would purr with pleasure in his arms as he praised her body. Then, the next morning, when their clothes were on, she turned back into reserved Beth. It was like living with two different women. Maybe that was why the usual boredom had never come. He never knew what to expect from her next and he loved it. He walked around with a near constant hard-on at home, wondering when she would turn back into insatiable Beth.
They arrived at Beth’s apartment without either of them saying a word to the other. Nick jogged around and opened the door for her, helping her out of the low-slung car. He entwined his fingers with hers as they made their way up the stairs and into the apartment.
She gave him a tired smile, saying, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night.”
“Beth, I’m sorry if I upset you.”
Suddenly, she started laughing. “Are you kidding? You were great! I have never seen my parents puckered up that tight before. Thank you for interrupting because their fat talks usually go on for much longer.”
Nick felt his relief flow. “So, you’re not mad?”
With another snicker, she said, “No way. It was worth all the misery that it will eventually bring. The good news is that they probably won’t be inviting us to dinner anytime soon.”
With a laugh, he said, “I can live with that. I’m just glad you’re okay with it.”