she didn’t remember that. Maybe she hadn’t been as in tune with Braedon as she’d assumed.
A few minutes later they tucked into their hot dogs and chili cheese fries, eating in companionable silence.
Ryan set his Coke on the table and leaned back, his face to the sun. “Damn, that was good. I can’t remember the last time I ate junk food.”
She took another napkin from the pile and wiped the sticky cheese from her mouth. “You can’t? What’s the matter, getting short-term memory loss?” she teased. “Brae, you know you always eat this stuff. It’s irritating how you can eat it and never gain an ounce.” She took a sip from her Diet Coke, then ran her fingers over the condensation on the plastic cup to clean the remaining goop off them. At his silence, she paused from drying her hands on another napkin. “What’s wrong? You look weird.”
Damn, why hadn’t he remembered his brother’s affinity for fat laden food? He tossed his cup in the trash, buying time. “Ha. I’m kidding. Of course, I remember.” He stretched out along the picnic bench. “Do you mind if we stay here a little while longer? I’m almost dry.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll just get a refill on my soda. Be right back.” She made her way to the bank of fountain drinks and refilled her cup, grinning. Braedon had really changed. Until recently, he never asked her opinion about anything. Maybe there was hope for them yet.
“So,” she said, settling back on the bench by his feet. Did she dare broach the subject? “I thought of something the other day.”
He squinted against the sun, raising his head to look at her. “Oh, yeah? Anything in particular?”
It took a moment to reply, since her attention was distracted by his rippling abs. How had she never noticed how defined her fiancé was? “Hmm? Oh, I just realized I don’t know anything about your family. Funny, huh? We’re engaged, and yet you’ve never talked about them.”
He regarded her for a second, then lowered his head, eyes shutting again. “What do you want to know?”
Could it really be that easy? All this time, she’d agonized over possibly getting into a fight, and all she’d had to do was ask. Go figure. “Um, do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“A brother.”
“Older?”
Just when she thought he was not going to answer, he muttered, “Younger.”
“Are you close?”
He snickered. Rising to his elbows, he smiled at her. “You have no idea.” He heaved a sigh and sat up, causing his stomach muscles to contract and show off again. “That wasn’t really an answer. My brother is, well, hard to be close to. But yeah, I guess you could say we’re close. Closer sometimes than others.”
He reached out to twirl a strand of her hair around his index finger. “What about you?”
“What about me?” She knew she should be paying closer attention to their conversation, but lately when he touched her, it seemed to short circuit her thought processes. Maybe she was ovulating.
“Any brothers or sisters?”
Was he kidding? She heaved an inward sigh. No, typically Braedon, he obviously hadn’t listened to much of what she told him. “I’m an only child, remember?”
He dropped her hair. “Oh, yeah. Guess I forgot.” He picked up her soda and took a sip, surprising her further since he’d always maintained he had a thing about sharing straws. “So your parents live around here?”
Had he never heard a word she said? She did a quick mental ten-count. “My mother died when I was a little girl. My dad still lives in their house on Ocean Drive. The place where you go to fish off the dock. Any of this ringing any bells?”
He closed his eyes briefly, then pulled her to him for a kiss. “I’m sorry, babe. I guess I’m just more tired than I thought.”
From doing what? “It’s okay,” she said, leaning into his loose embrace. “We should probably be going. I told Gram we’d be there by five.”
“For what?” He helped her up from the picnic bench.
“Ah, dinner? At my grandparents’ house? You said it was okay when they called last week.” She raised on tiptoe to place her palm on his forehead. “Are you feeling all right?”
His warm hand circled her wrist and brought her hand to his lips, where he kissed the tips of her fingers. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. In fact, why don’t you drive to your grandparents’ house?”
“Are you kidding?”
No doubt his brother always refused to allow Penny to drive his sexy car. Well, that was about to change. He drew the tip of his finger across the seam of her lips while he shook his head.
“Braedon,” she said in an exasperated voice, “they live next door.”
9
R yan took a last look in the mirror before opening the door for Penny. He couldn’t afford any more slipups. Of course, it would have been good if his brother had remembered to tell him about all the stuff he’d been blundering through.
Damn, she looked hot tonight. Decked out in a red dress with a neckline designed to torment. It was going to be difficult to keep his mind on dinner and conversation with her sitting in the same room. But he’d do it, or die trying. His jackass brother had let her down enough—she didn’t need him adding to it.
“Precious baby!” the short, frail looking, white-haired woman exclaimed upon opening the door to their knock. She grabbed Penny, pulling her into a hug, then nodded politely at him. “Braedon.”
“Where’s Gramps?” Penny looked around a living room that resembled theirs only in the terms of having an identical floor plan. Every surface was covered in doilies and knickknacks.
Her grandmother shook her head and chuckled. “Still doing his hair, I assume.” She gave a wink. “We’re having adventures in hairstyling today. Keith!” she yelled in the direction of the hallway. “Get out here! Your favorite granddaughter is here.”
“I’m his only granddaughter.”
“Yeah, I know, but I like to mess with him sometimes.” She made a shooing motion. “Sit. Sit. Dinner is almost ready.”
At that moment, a scrawny gentleman toddled into the room. He wore mismatched socks with his brown corduroy slippers, gray dress pants hiked up to his nipples by a pair of bright red suspenders, and what looked suspiciously like a pajama top. Behind his trifocals, blue eyes twinkled. A big smile creased his weathered half-shaven cheeks. Steel gray hair, parted somewhat crookedly in the middle, was gelled to within an inch of its life, sticking straight up.
He stopped and glared at Ryan. “Who are you?”
“Gramps!” Penny stepped forward and looped her arm through Ryan’s. “You remember Braedon. We’re engaged, remember?”
“I’ve never seen this fella before
