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She took my hand and pulled me to the bed. Since she was now wearing my shirt, I had to imagine she wasn't planning a seduction. Little did she know the sight of her in that shirt did more to me than the fancy dress. I sat, leaning against the headboard and she climbed in beside me, sitting cross legged.

She waited.

"I'm sorry I hurt you tonight," I said reaching out to take her hand. Her skin was soft and running my thumb across it soothed me.

She continued to wait.

"I don't know what to say," I admitted softly.

"Try."

I took a moment. I wanted to tell her what I was feeling, but I was having trouble getting a handle on what that even was.

"Babe, you threw me for a loop yesterday. I wasn't expecting it. I was amazed by it, don't get me wrong, but I'm thrown," I said.

I watched her take a deep breath and as she let it out she seemed to relax a little.

"I know,' she said.

I needed to find a way to explain it to her. I couldn't handle that look in her eyes, the questions and doubt that stared back at me. They put my heart in a vice grip and it made it hard to breathe.

"When I'm with you everything feels right, it feels easy," I said. She gave me a little smile.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"It scares me," I admitted. I hated how vulnerable I sounded. How vulnerable I felt. I wasn't used to feeling this out of control, especially over something like my feelings.

"What is it that scares you exactly?"

I found her eyes, needing her to feel the truth and understand how deeply I cared for her.

"That it will get hard. That we will lose this. That I won't know how to do hard," I finished. Her face softened and she moved closer, straddling me. She took my face into her hands, brushing her thumbs across my cheeks. I wanted to close my eyes and sigh into her touch, but I held her gaze.

"We're going to have hard days," she admitted. "But we can get through them. I know that we can. Just don't shut me out. I can't handle it when you shut me out."

I swallowed hard and nodded. She was right. Sometimes it still surprised me just how well she understood me. I couldn't hide from her and while part of me loved the comfort of that transparency, it was terrifying. "I'm sorry about tonight. I'm sorry about a lot of things," I said.

"We're fine. Just talk to me. Before you get like this. I know I dropped a bomb on you. I didn't plan on it, but I'm not sorry that I did. I meant it. But that's all me, there is no pressure here. I just want to be with you, just like this," she said. She ran her hands down my bare chest, her touch like tiny electrodes zapping me with electricity and lust.

I smiled and shifted my hips beneath her, "Just like this?" She bit her lip as I teased her.

“You’re impossible,” she said.

“Let me make it up to you?” I asked. She pretended to think about it for a minute before a smile touched her lips and I knew I was forgiven.

“Okay.”

TALK ABOUT BEING
nervous. It was one thing to meet the parents, it was another thing to be there for a big Harris family get together. I told myself not to worry. Keaton was right here by my side and Miles would be there so that made two people that I already knew. Besides, maybe it would be easier just to jump into the deep end and meet everyone at once.

I wasn't the only one who seemed nervous. Keaton had been fidgety all day. It amused me, my strong confident guy nervous about bringing a girl home. Then it occurred to me that he probably didn't bring many, if any, girls home. That took my nerves to a whole new level.

Maybe I was putting too much pressure on him. I mean, I'd already dropped the L-bomb on him. I was starting to worry that I was pushing him too fast. Normally I would have already spent ample time analyzing all of the pieces and parts of the situation, but I realized I hadn't stopped to give it a second thought. That's what Keaton did to me. He made me act first, think later.

"So, this is going to be a pretty big shindig?" I asked, trying to pull off casual.

He shrugged, "My family loves big get-togethers. Any excuse for mom to get the entire family together is fair game. Especially since Alycia has babies now. Everything revolves around the babies," he laughed. His eyes lit up when he talked about his nieces. He appeared to take his job as uncle very seriously. Favorite uncle as he called it. Evidently he and Miles volleyed back and forth for the title.

I fidgeted with the plate of brownies on my lap, smoothing the cellophane on the pan. He reached over and took my hand and placed a kiss on my nervous fingers. "It's going to be fine, Quinn. Don't be nervous. They will adore you, I know it."

I smiled, letting his words reassure me. I couldn't get rid of the nerves completely, but he settled them down and gave me better control of them.

We pulled up to the large yellow house and I could instantly tell it was full of life. Kids ran around in the large front yard, chasing one another and laughing in high squealed bursts whenever someone got too close. I took a deep breath. It was game time. I couldn't help but wonder how it was that Keaton had appeared so smooth and collected when he'd met my parents.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Okay," I said. My answer made him laugh and he leaned over to kiss me. He let his lips brush against my own before placing his hand behind my neck and pulling me to him so he could deepen the kiss. I melted into him, nerves gone, worries lost. He soothed them all. Maybe I could just stay here in this car with him all day and no one would notice.

He pulled back and kissed the tip of my nose. "I needed that too," he smiled. At least we were in this together.

He came around and opened my door, taking the tray of sweets and then offering me his hand. I took it and held on like it was my lifeline. As we walked towards the door, the kids spotted him and made a beeline for us. Just as they reached us, he leaned in to my ear and said, "You're beautiful. I should have told you before." My heart melted.

"Uncle Keaton!" said one of the girls who was currently grabbing onto his leg.

"Have you seen Lexi anywhere? I heard she was going to be here," he said as he shielded his eyes with one hand as if searching all around for Lexi. The little girl giggled.

"I'm Lexi," she protested as she turned her little face up to Keaton, staring in awe.

Keaton looked down, handed me the pan of brownies and then knelt to her level. He held her at arms length pretending to study her closely, turning her around and eying her skeptically. She laughed, the sound like music. "Uncle Keaton, it's me!"

"Can't be, Lexi was not this tall," he frowned.

"I am, I am," she said as her giggles spilled out in playful waves.

Keaton pretended to think about it, "There really is only one way I can know for sure," he said very seriously. Lexi waited to hear what it was, as did I.

"Tickle monster," he said matter-of-factly, and then he grabbed her up and tickled her sides as she shrieked delightedly. Then he hoisted her on his shoulders and threw me a wink. My vote for favorite uncle would totally go to him. There was no way he could lose.

We walked into the house and were greeted by a wave of voices and chatter.

"Uncle Keaton is here and he brought a pretty girl," Lexi shouted from his shoulders.

That was all it took for the voices to dim and the family to converge. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I gripped onto the pan.

"You made it," an excited voice called from the kitchen. A moment later a stunning woman with the same eyes I'd grown to love rushed out. Keaton put Lexi down and hugged the woman.

"Hey, Mom," Keaton kissed the top of her head as she was nearly a foot shorter than he was. Of course this was his mom. Her hair was long and dark and while I guessed her to be in her fifties, her skin was flawless. She turned to me and her eyes lit with excitement.

"You must be Quinn. It is so good to meet you. I can't wait to talk to you." She grabbed me up into a hug and I barely held onto the pan in my hand. Luckily Keaton grabbed it before it could tumble from my grasp.

"It's great to meet you, Mrs. Harris," I said. She released me but gave me a good once over as she stepped back.

"Nonsense. Call me Mia. Let's introduce you to everyone. Don't be overwhelmed. I know we have a big brood, but they are all harmless. I see that you met our granddaughter, Lexi. She just turned five.” She rattled off the names of everyone who had filed into the room, and even though I tried to remember there was no way that I would. There were three aunts, six cousins, Miles, and a handful of kids that were running in circles the whole time. I smiled brightly and greeted them all, but honestly, I felt like I was in a tunnel and all of the noise was echoing around me to the point where I couldn't make out anything clearly.

A younger woman holding a baby in a pink frilly dress stepped up to me and smiled, "Don't worry, we won't quiz you. I bet you feel like you were just ambushed," she laughed.

I gave her a nervous laugh of confirmation. "I'm Alycia, Keaton's sister. I've heard a lot about you," she smiled. I threw a glance at Keaton who shook his head innocently. "Well, I have to supplement my information with Miles. This one never spills any of the good stuff," Alycia teased.

"Why should I reward you for your meddling, nosy behavior?" Keaton shot back.

"It's called curiosity," she pointed out.

"Sure it is," Keaton said. He kissed the baby in her arms and got a sweet smile in return.

"It is my sisterly duty to check up on you and make sure you stay out of trouble; or find some to get into whatever the case may be."

"The getting into part is my job," a voice said coming up behind us. Miles. It was good to see his friendly face. He wrapped me up in a hug. "Good to see you, Quinn. I can't believe you are braving the family though. They are all a bunch of crazies," he smiled. He took the baby from his sister and began making small cooing sounds.

I could barely get a word in with these three. They didn't seem to notice though. It was all par for the course with them. I imagined them as kids, running around, talking over each other and fighting for attention. That's how I always imagined big families. Growing up an only child I'd never had any of that. Most of the time I was left to talk to myself. It had definitely been quieter. Here in the Harris house there was a constant hum of noise and activity, occasionally escalating into a roar.

"Come on, let's go out back and I'll introduce you to Dad and the uncles. They are probably going to flirt with you relentlessly, but they are mostly harmless," Keaton laughed. I followed him outside to the giant deck. There was a massive grill and it was surrounded by a very large, very loud group of men. Their laughter and exuberance was contagious if not a bit overwhelming.

"Keaton!" I heard as we stepped into the mayhem.

"Hey, Dad. Guys," he greeted. He kept a grip on my hand and I was grateful. The curious smiles of the ladies inside had been one thing, but this deck was wall to wall testosterone.

The man at the grill handed off his spatula and made his way towards us. He looked so much like Keaton it was eerie. "Is this her? Quinn?" he asked.

"That's me," I squeaked. Before I could say another word he grabbed me into a hug and spun me around, Luckily, Keaton let go of my hand before the attack, or I might have lost a limb. He set me back down, a little unsteady on my feet and beamed a smile down at me.

"It's so great to meet you. You are a pretty thing," he said, then he turned to Keaton and asked, "How in the hell did you pull this one off?"

Keaton smiled over at me as he slid an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. "I keep asking myself the same question."

"It's very nice to meet you. Thanks for having me over," I smiled. This family was amazing; Over-the-top and so full of life. I loved it.

"We're happy to have you here, Quinn. I'm Joe. Did he tell you my name is Joe? Do you like steak? I'm making steak and chicken. Oh, and burgers for the kids, but you can have one of those too. Do you have a preference?" he asked. I laughed at the way his thoughts ran together, spilling out in rapid succession.

"It all sounds amazing," I said.

He leaned in and gave me a mischievous smile, one that I recognized all too well, "I am an amazing cook." He gave me a wink and then pressed a finger to his lips as if he were sharing a secret.

"Okay, Dad, rein it in," Keaton laughed.

Keaton introduced me to everyone else on the deck, adding to the list of names that I’d never remember. "How about we go and get a drink or something?" he asked. I nodded, I could use one.

I followed him back into the kitchen where he grabbed a glass and a pitcher of something pink and poured me a glass. "It's kind of crazy when everyone is here at once," he said, handing me the glass.

"I don't think we had this many people at our family reunion," I said. I took a deep breath and took a sip of my drink. It was both tart and sweet, with a kick. It was delicious.

"That's mom's favorite champagne punch. Go slow, it will knock you on your ass unexpectedly," he warned.