The Ultimate Romance Bundle

“Hey, Mom,” Adrian said in response. 

He moved to stand by my side and took me completely by surprise by sliding his hand around my waist, luring me in close.

Fireworks erupted through my entire frame. I peered at him, but he kept his smile directed toward his mother.

Something was going on here—I got the feeling he was trying to prove something by claiming me the way he just did. Unless he thought by me accepting his offer of a date that meant he thought we were now date-ing?

The catnip of his scent had its usual effect on me, and it took extraordinary effort not to turn my head, lean over, and breathe him in. Instead, I remained rigid at his side and chose not to pry myself from his possessive grasp.

“Mom, this is the woman I told you about. Goldie, honey, this is Sylvia Bear, my mom.”

My stomach cinched. He’d told his mother about me? Why?

And—honey? 

Sudden paranoia struck. Oh my goodness, had he told her that I’d barged into their cabin? That I’d shattered her vase?

Logic won out. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have reeled me to his side and dominated my nervous system. But why had he called me honey?

As far as pet names went, there were better ones out there. Still, it was odd, considering how we were not anywhere near close enough to call one another by pet names.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Sylvia said, though the words were nicer than her delivery of them.

 She and Adrian exchanged a few more words, but I couldn’t focus on any of them, not with the way his mother continued to glare at me with all the pleasantness of a threatened raccoon.

Maybe Aunt Bethany was home by now. If only she’d given me her number. I was ten seconds away from withdrawing when Mrs. Bear bid her goodbyes and left Adrian and me alone on the porch.

“What was that?” I asked, pulling away.

Adrian didn’t have a concept of personal space because he guided me away from the door and kept his arms around my waist. Though I wanted to take his full-fledged permission to rest my hands on his shoulders and soak in every stunning sensation, I retreated again.  

“My mom is under the impression I should marry this certain girl I used to date. She kept hounding me to call and ask Danica to the fundraiser tonight. I told her I was going with you.”

“Before you asked me?”

“Since my mom can’t believe I’m picking an outsider over Danica, I…” He angled his head. “I may have given her the impression that you and I didn’t just barely meet.”

“You what?”

Forget his attractive muscles. I needed a clear head for this conversation.

“I wanted to talk to you about it first, though. I was going to call you the minute I got here, but I ran into my friends and—”

“Seems a little late for that. You called me honey.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. ‘I know, I should have said something sooner. I just didn’t get the chance to when I talked to her earlier. I couldn’t tell her I caught you sleeping in our fishing cabin, and in the moment, I wasn’t sure what else to do. I didn’t really think things through.”

I ducked my head. He had a point there. He’d been gracious enough not to press charges, and he’d helped me find my way into town. If it hadn’t been for me, he wouldn’t have been put in the situation in the first place.

“How about it?” he asked, resting a hand on the porch railing and looking like a walking daydream. “Want to be my fake girlfriend while you’re in town? At least until either you or I go back home?”