Page 87 of Fierce-Baker

It was hard to look for the negative when so much positive was in front of her face.

Did he have flaws? Of course he did. Just the same as her.

“That’s good to know,” he said. “That I did a good enough job not waving them around.”

She laughed. “Oh. You did. I might have kept things in more if you hadn’t opened up first, so yeah, you did a good job on a lot of things.”

She stood up from the bed once her sandals were on, then went back into his arms for another hug.

“My sister is looking forward to this. She’ll go light on you.”

“It’s fine if she doesn’t. It just tells me she cares.”

That he had people in his life who did because it sounded like his parents weren’t there for him.

“Sometimes too much,” he said drily. “Emme is pretty funny, but I only spent a short time with them. They’ve got a pretty packed vacation. Brittany isn’t one to let moss grow on her. Vacations to her mean not sitting still and, honestly, I can’t keep up.”

“Nor do you want to run around here. I get it, but if you want to spend time with them tomorrow, go and have fun.”

“They’ve got a day planned. I forgot what it was. Something outside. Maybe going to the Biltmore Estate. That’s a few hours away to get there and then back.”

“I went once. It’s nice. The gardens are pretty and it’s neat to walk through somewhat of an American castle.”

“I thought Brittany was a little high maintenance, but Emme seems more frilly. Kind of right up her alley.”

“And nothing at all you’re interested in,” she said, laughing. “I’m ready if you are.”

They left the townhouse and climbed into his SUV, then drove the fifteen minutes to the restaurant Baker had picked out and parked.

Not even a minute later a silver sedan parked a few spaces over, a woman waving frantically at them with a wide grin.

“Did I warn you that my sister is a character?”

“No,” she said. “Looks like she’s just excited to see you again.”

“Nope, it’s meeting you.”

Exactly what she was afraid of.

She squared her shoulders and walked forward, then was pulled into a hug by Brittany, then Emme, both of them laughing.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Brittany said. “I can’t wait to see how you two are together.”

She turned and lifted her eyebrow at him. “What did you tell them?”

“The basics. You’re a teacher and you have a son. You’re putting up with me too.”

She laughed and nudged his arm. “Your brother is pretty laid back.”

“Oh and we know about Jolene Fierce,” Brittany said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that is making this easier for me. To me, it’s not like you’re some stranger.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Oddly, I understand that. Not that I’ve said this to Baker, but it almost feels as if you were going to hire someone and had to check their references. It was kind of done.”

“Ouch,” he said. “That’s cold.”

She put her head against his shoulder quickly, her arm around his waist. “I’m only picking on you. But you can’t say it hasn’t crossed your mind also.”

“It might have.”