It was obvious from the delicious aroma in the air that her father was already hard at work on the barbecue grill. Beside her, she saw Brant’s nose twitch in appreciation. “Come on, you two, let’s get you settled in before dinner. Brant, please tell me you aren’t one of those people who don’t eat meat.”

Brant gave his most charming smile. “You don’t have to worry about that, Kat. I’m a loyal carnivore.”

“Honey, I knew there was more to you than a hard body.” As Emma started to choke, her mother continued. “We’ll eat in an hour. Robyn and Boston and the girls should be here by then.”

With a trickle of unease, Emma asked, “The girls?”

As they all started upstairs, her mother looked over her shoulder to say, “My book club friends. It was my turn to host tonight so I just invited them over for dinner as well.”

Shit! This was starting to sound like some kind of three-ring circus. “I thought this was just a family dinner. Maybe you should have your club meeting later. I’m sure they don’t want to be stuck with us.”

“Nah, they’re looking forward to meeting you. I told them you finally had a boyfriend.”

Zing-g-g. How many embarrassing comments in front of Brant does that make so far?

“God, Mom.”

As if she hadn’t spoken, her mother continued. “You two should sit in with us tonight. We finally read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and it was smoking hot. I highly recommend that you both read it. It will change your world. Brant, do you own a gray tie?”

No-o-o-o, she didn’t just ask my boss that. Emma knew well what her mother was talking about since she had read the series. Brant, however, looked adorably clueless. She almost laughed when he replied that he had several ties in that shade. The smile fell off her face, though, about thirty seconds later when Brant said: “I think we will sit in with you tonight, Kat. I really enjoy books that are informative and entertaining.”

He turned to give Emma a triumphant smile. So the little shit thought he was getting to her, did he? That was just priceless. He had no idea that he had just agreed to join her mother’s perverted book club while they discussed bondage, spankings and kinky sex. Had the man been living under a rock? How could he not have heard of that book? He looked a little uneasy when she gave him a big smile in return. “Baby, I think that’s a great idea. I’m always trying to get you to try new things. We need to break free of our chains and get tied up . . . er . . . caught up in something new.”

When they stopped in the doorway of her old room, her mother stood there beaming at both of them. “Oh, this is so exciting. It will be great to have some new blood.” Brant shot her a desperate look over her mother’s head. She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the room they would be sharing for the next few nights. Other than the ragged brown bear in the center of the bed, nothing else stood out as embarrassing. The bed was covered in white eyelet, giving the room a clean, beachy look. There was a bay window dominating one wall with a window seat running the length of it. She had spent many hours sitting there reading while listening to the waves crash against the shore. Her desk sat against the wall in the other corner with an outdated desktop on it. No doubt it was capable of only dial-up Internet. Luckily, she had brought her laptop along.

Her bedroom had its own attached bath complete with double sinks. The thought of having to use the bathroom for anything other than showering with Brant so close was something that she preferred not to dwell on.

Her mother announced, “All right, I’m going to head back downstairs and get everything ready. I’ll see you both soon.”

As soon as her mother left the room, Emma collapsed on the bed behind her. Just picturing Brant sitting with the book club tonight sent her off into peals of uncontrollable giggles. The more he frowned at her, the harder she laughed. “For God’s sake,” he grumbled, “what is wrong with you?”

“Nothing . . .” she managed to gasp. He shook his head at her and walked over to look out the window. When she noticed the way the material of his pants stretched across his tight ass, her laughter dried up and her body started to hum. What is wrong with me? He couldn’t have made it any clearer that this morning meant nothing to him. Stop staring at the enemy’s ass!

She really tried to listen to her own pep talk, but he was so gorgeous. She’d always thought he was gorgeous, but now that she knew him intimately, it was proving hard to go back to snarky business as usual. She wanted nothing more than for him to lower his body on top of hers and pound her into next Sunday. Okay, maybe that was the wrong thing to wish for in her parents’ home, but still . . .

Brant settled back on the edge of the window seat, thankfully moving said nice ass from her view and asked, “So tell me about the rest of your family.”

She gave a grimace thinking of her siblings. Like most brothers and sisters, they spent their early years fighting over toys and most of their later ones ratting one another out to their parents. “Well, I’m the oldest.” She held her hand up when he opened his mouth. “Please reserve your comments on that. Anyway, Robyn is the middle child, and she is twenty-three years old and a hairstylist. Boston is the baby of the family and he’s twenty. He’s attending the University of Florida for a degree in botany. I secretly think it’s so he can learn to grow his own marijuana, but that’s a whole other story.”

Looking confused, Brant said, “Wait a minute. I thought Boston was the family dog or something. Who names their kid that?”

Emma shuddered. “Please, under no circumstances are you to ask my mother about it unless you want some really graphic details. I’ll just say that my mother swears he was conceived there after a particularly great weekend. She felt like she needed a permanent reminder so . . . Boston. Thank God he was the only one who inspired that; otherwise, I would probably be named Tampa or Daytona.”

Brant started chuckling. “Man, I thought my family was nuts; yours is really something else. When she’s not scaring the hell out of me, I kind of like your mother. She’s a horrible driver, though. I’m afraid the indentations from the safety handles in the front seat are permanently etched in my hands.”

Smiling, she nodded in agreement. The tension in her body had slowly drained away during their conversation, and she felt better able to control the feelings that he aroused in her. She didn’t, however, think she should test that theory by staying in the room with him for extended periods of time other than to sleep. She reluctantly pulled herself from the bed, saying, “I’m going to shower and change before dinner.” Looking at the suit he still wore, she added, “You might want to find something a bit more . . . casual as well.” Did the man even have any casual clothing? He just gave her a nod in response, and she pulled her suitcase behind her into the bathroom. She could do this, right? It was only a few days. Yeah, you slept with your boss on the very first day; what else could possibly happen?