Chapter Twenty-Two
“W ow,” Marissa says when she opens the door to her parents’ house and looks me over with a grin. It’s the day of her sister’s party which is at a venue downtown later tonight, but I’m formally meeting her parents now. “You look great,” she tells me as she looks at me in a way I wish she wouldn’t five minutes before I’m supposed to meet her father.
“Do not start,” I tell her, but she closes the front door behind her leaving us alone on her porch, and then she’s in my arms. It takes no more than a second for our lips to be pressed together, something we’ve done for the better part of the last three days.
Every time we have a moment alone, my hands are on her. We’ve gone from trying to keep things quiet at work, to me fucking her against the wall in my office or over my desk or against my window. It’s as if we’re making up for lost time after being apart for so long. “Baby, we should stop,” I whisper between kisses, very aware that there’s only a door between myself and her father and maybe even her brother and who knows who else.
“No, we shouldn’t,” she whispers in my ear as she presses her lips to my neck and bites down gently. Even though she’s pressed against me, I feel her hand between us and then she holds it flat against my dick through my pants.
“Fuck. Baby, not here.”
“Why? We do it everywhere else,” she says just before she squeezes me through my slacks.
I manage to pull away from her and grab her hands, pressing my lips to them. “Because I’m not afraid of HR, but I am a little afraid of your father.”
“It’ll be fine,” she says with an eye roll.
“Yes, but I’d rather his first impression not be with your hand holding my dick.” I rub my hands down her body slowly. “You look gorgeous, by the way.” She’s wearing a pale pink dress that stops just below her knees with a corseted top that highlights her breasts and accentuates her tiny waist. It hugged her curves so fucking deliciously and when she turned around to open the door, my dick hardens at how low the back goes and how it clings to her perfect ass.
“Fuck,” I whisper and she giggles. The second we’re inside I hear chatter from the kitchen followed by a bunch of shhh’s and I think he’s here!
“You guys are not quiet!” she calls out as she clasps our hands and leads me through the foyer towards a kitchen area where I see way more people than I expected all very well dressed with a drink in their hands.
“Okay, let’s do this quick and there aren’t going to be a bunch of questions,” Marissa says as she points her finger around the room.
“Everyone, this is Chris,” she starts slowly. “My Aunt Theresa and my Uncle Bill, my brother Shane, my sister-in-law Megan, you’ve met my mother, and this is my father.” Marissa turns to look at me. “You’ll meet Autumn later. She’s very excited to meet you.”
“It’s really nice to meet all of you,” I say as I shake all of their hands. “Marissa talks about all of you all the time.” Though they are all giving me somewhat of a smile, no one has said anything yet.
“It’s so nice to see you again. I think you somehow got even more handsome.” Marissa’s mother steps forward and wraps me in a hug. She’s much shorter than Marissa so I have to lean down to reach her but she gives me a hug that reminds me of the ones my mother gives. “Do you want something to drink? Honey, get him a drink,” her mother says, smacking Marissa’s arm. I want to tell Marissa that I’d rather not have a drink in favor of her not leaving my side but she disappears in an instant walking towards the bottles on the bar cart in the corner of the room. She picks up a bottle of scotch and points at it in question. I nod before turning back to her mother.
“It’s nice to see you again as well, Mrs. Collins.”
“Let’s not go so long next time? And Mrs. Collins is so formal! Please, call me Kim.” I manage to catch a glimpse of Marissa in the corner who’s shaking her head as if to say absolutely do not call her that.
“How old are you, hon?” Marissa’s aunt asks me from over her glass of wine. “We’ve had a pool going for quite some time and I’m ready to collect.”
“Are you kidding me?” Marissa asks as she hands me my drink.
“We’re just curious!” she says while she runs her finger around the rim of her glass.
“Well, how old do you think I am?” I ask.
“Too old for Marissa,” Marissa’s father interjects and Marissa rolls her eyes.
I tense at his comment when I feel Marissa’s hand on my back rubbing in circles. “He’s joking,” she says before she glowers at her father. “Dad…”
“What?”
“You said you’d be nice,” she says and her father gives her a look that seems like he probably did not say that.
“I’m thirty-five,” I say in response to their question. Very close to thirty-six but no need to get into specifics.
“Hmmm, and how old are you again?” her aunt asks Marissa.
“Old enough,” Marissa responds with a fake smile before she reaches for my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.
“For what!?” her uncle chimes in. A chuckle follows right after and I like to think that they’re all just giving us a hard time.
“Kimmy says you’re Marissa’s boss. True or false?” Her aunt asks and I can tell she’s going to have a lot more questions for me as the night goes on, especially if she continues to consume alcohol at the speed she is.
Marissa groans. “Aunt Theresa…didn’t I say no questions?”
“I didn’t agree to that.” She takes another long sip of her wine and picks up her purse.
“Neither did I,” her father says. “You mind if we have a little chat?” he asks me.
I shake my head.“Not at all.”
Marissa gives my hand one final squeeze before I follow her father towards the back patio. I look over my shoulder and notice she mouths to me, You’ll be fine! Relax! She taps her cheeks and gives me a smile that makes me chuckle.
He closes the door behind us leaving us alone on their back patio and despite being outside the air feels tense around us. There’s a table and quite a bit of patio furniture with standing lights illuminating the space, and he takes a seat at the table.
“Take a seat,” he says, gesturing towards one of the chairs. “So, naturally I have a few questions.”
“Of course. I would imagine so.” I just hope I’m able to answer them truthfully without giving any information that Marissa doesn’t want them to know.
“My wife met you two and a half years ago.”
“That’s right.”
He scratches his clean-shaven jaw and leans back in his chair. “Why am I just meeting you now?”
“Well, Marissa has only been home from Paris for a few days.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Don’t insult my intelligence.” Marissa always described her father as lighthearted so I’m a little surprised at his demeanor, but I understand his skepticism.
“We weren’t together while she was in Paris, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Hmmm.” He taps the side of his glass. “Your company doesn’t care that she works for you?”
“They…don’t know about us.”
He frowns. “I see. So, then what’s the endgame here? If you two continue down this road, she has to quit her job? What happens if people find out? I assume that would all blow back on her.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“You’re the CFO, are you not? I assume you won’t be the one getting fired.”
“I wouldn’t let her get fired.”
“Do you have that much of a say?”He raises an eyebrow and I can see his wariness to believe any answer I plan to give all over his face.
I want to tell him that I do, but I don’t know if he’d even buy that. “I’m just asking that you trust me.”
“I don’t know you.”
“Fair, but she does and she trusts me,” I counter.
“She’s twenty-three.”
I’m not sure how exactly to reply to that because it sounds like the go-to argument when parents want to underestimate their children. I go with the truth. “I love her.”
“Does she know that?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve told her?”
“I have, more than once.”
He narrows his eyes before he stands up. “Marissa seems to like you as does my wife, but I’m not that easy to win over.”
“Believe me, neither is your daughter,” I say and while I’m sure he can hear the humor in my voice, I hope he knows that I’m very serious about the fact that Marissa has made me work for her and I would do it all again for her.
“I don’t give more than one chance. Don’t hurt her,” he warns just as I hear the sound of the door opening and Marissa’s brother steps out. I was hoping it was Marissa and I’m wondering if now I’m about to get the same talk I just had from her brother. A wave of discomfort washes over me thinking about how my father and I never had the chance to interrogate my sister’s boyfriends in the same way.
“I was sent to make sure everything is good,” he says before putting his beer to his lips.
“Everything is fine,” Marissa’s father says as he gets up and heads back into the house without another word.
“Don’t worry about my dad. He’s kind of a hardass on everyone except Marissa,” Shane explains once the door closes.
“Marissa says you and your sister think she’s the favorite.”
“There’s no ‘think.’ She definitely is. She can do no wrong, which means you , my friend, have to work twice as hard to stay in our parents’ good graces.” Shane is taller and larger than their father, and I remember Marissa mentioning that he played football in college.
“I’d do anything for her,” I tell him and he smiles and nods but it fades just as fast as it appeared.
“Including leave your wife?” he asks and while I don’t hear the judgment, I am fucking anxious because now I’m wondering if her father knows too. Fuck. Panic takes over because I didn’t know anyone besides her sister knew about that and I’m wondering if this is all a test. Was her father expecting me to come clean and I failed?
“Look…” I let out a breath. “She didn’t want anyone to know about that.”
“My parents don’t, but Autumn told her fiancé and he told me. I don’t think Marissa knows that I know. I’m not trying to be in your business, but she’s my baby sister and there’s a very good chance my father will kill you and make it look like an accident if you hurt her, so I just want to make sure you don’t have any bullshit going on.”
“I don’t. I’m not married. We’re divorced.”
“But you were married when you met her,” he presses and I really wish I wasn’t getting into this right now.
“Yes.”
“Is that why she stayed away in Paris so long?”
I rub my forehead. “I think it was part of the reason, yes.”
“Does your ex-wife know about my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus.” He sighs. “Have they met?”
“Once.”
“Were you there?”
“No. She flew to Paris and confronted her. Listen, my ex-wife and I weren’t happy when I met Marissa, and I didn’t tell her I was married when we met. It was a mess for a while and I take responsibility for that. But it’s over and I just want to be with Marissa.”
“I don’t love that you made my sister the other woman, but I suppose she’s just as much to blame for her involvement.”
The door slides open again and Marissa finally walks out looking painfully gorgeous and immediately I want my hands on her. “Okay, enough of the inquisition please. We need to get going soon anyway.” She wraps her arms around me. “Shane, go away,” she says as she looks up at me like I hung the moon.
“Alright, well. Good talking to you,” Shane says as he makes his way back into the house.
“Hi,” she whispers as she wraps her arms around me. “Was it awful?” She runs her hand through my hair and then down my face. “My dad is in a mood for some reason. He’s not usually like that. He’s normally lively and more like my mom.” She frowns. “What did he say to you?”
“Not to hurt you mostly and he asked about how it will be at work. He also brought up the fact that I met your mom over two years ago and I suppose he’s curious about the time jump and why we weren’t together while you were in Paris.”
“What did you say?”
“We kind of glossed over it, but I don’t think that line of questioning is over.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was going to be like that.” She nuzzles her nose against my neck and presses her soft lips against the skin. I suddenly wish we were going back to my penthouse or somewhere we could be alone.
“It’s okay,” I tell her before I press a kiss to her temple. “I will tell you though, and I don’t want you to panic, but…” I look towards the door and then down at her with a weak smile. “Your brother knows I was married.”
She gasps and pulls out of my arms. “How?!” She pauses before she smacks her forehead. “Oh my god, I’m going to kill Autumn.” She stomps her foot. “I told her not to tell him.”
“Well, to be fair, she told your future brother-in-law and he told your brother,” I explain.
“Still! She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone!”
“Baby, you wouldn’t tell me something like that? They’re about to be married and I’m sure she told him more out of worry than anything.”
“No, she told him to be a gossip!”She says and the fury all over her face is more cute than anything.
“Either way.” I pull her back into my arms and run my hand gently down her back. “You’re not going to share gossip with me?”
“Not if you’re going to go blabbing to other people!”
“He said your parents don’t know.”
“Oh, I would know if my parents knew, trust me.” She groans. “I can’t believe Shane knows and didn’t say something to me first. I’m annoyed now. I don’t even want to go.” She huffs and I can see the irritation all over her face.
“Oh, we are going, but I have something we can do before that will take the edge off.”