Page 94 of Love In Hiding

“Can I tell your siblings?”

Her lips flapped when the air escaped. “Not yet. It’s not been that long. We are still navigating things. Maybe it will fizzle as fast as it started. We are bound to scrape the other raw at times.”

“You already do and got this far,” Paris said.

Her mother laughed. “Your sister has a point, but I understand what you’re saying. More like what you’re thinking. I’m sure you struggled with this. You won’t want anyone to think you can’t do your job or stay focused.”

“That’s it exactly.” She uncrossed her ankles, then switched feet. She didn’t know why this made her so anxious.

Or maybe she did.

She’d see Spencer soon and would have to admit this all to him. He might not like her family knowing.

Or worse yet. He might want to let Braylon know.

Just not there yet. Not one damn bit.

“I doubt anyone is going to think you can’t do your job because you’ve got a boyfriend.”

Paris slapped her hand in front of her mouth to stop thegiggle from escaping. She hated the word boyfriend at her age.

She was thirty-one.Boyfriendsounded like a term she should have retired a decade ago.

Partnersounded better. Steadier and grown-up. But that word carried weight. Commitment. A level she wasn’t sure they’d reached yet… or that she was brave enough to claim. Or wanted to claim. Which made her sound like a bitch she’d been accused of being more than once in her life.

Did Spencer make her pulse kick into a sprint the second he walked into a room?

Did he steady her when she was about to snap? Which seemed like most times around him.

Did he light her nerves on fire with one look, one touch, one muttered comment only she was meant to hear?

Hell to the yes!

He did all of that. And more.

With other men, she’d chased the physical. It was simple. It was manageable. She could keep it contained.

With Spencer she was fighting something deeper. An internal tug-of-war she couldn’t quite control. Her emotions, her thoughts, her reactions,her feelings. They were all sharper, louder, and harder to ignore.

Andthatterrified her more than she wanted to admit.

“I’m not sure what we are or where we are. No reason to slap labels on it just yet.”

“That’s you putting it all in a box with a neat bow.”

Paris burst out laughing and she was almost bent over holding her side it was rolling out so quickly. “Mom. That’s crazy. London is the last person who puts anything away neatly.”

She frowned and wanted to fight back over those words. Only they were true.

“I lock them up tight,” she said.

“And it’s not neat,” Paris argued.

“Your sister is right,” her mother said. “That was my mistake.”

“You never admit you’re wrong, Mom,” she said.

“I do all the time. You two are just never around to hear it. So back to you, London. What’s the next step with Spencer?”