Page 67 of Inked Temptation
“Not everything. That wasn’t my story to tell.”
His shoulders relaxed, and I was doubly grateful that I hadn’t betrayed his trust by telling them anything more than I already had.
We got out of the car and made our way up front, where Annabelle opened the door quickly and rushed out.
“It’s my favorite brother,” Annabelle exclaimed as both Benjamin and Beckett cursed from behind her inside the house.
“My favorite twin,” I added as I swung Annabelle into my arms and twirled her.
“So happy to see you. It feels like it’s been ages.”
“It was yesterday,” I corrected. “At the office.”
“Oh, stop. Just let me have this.” She kissed me on the cheek. I set her down and she turned to Killian. “You must be Killian. It’s wonderful to meet you.” She held out her hand as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and Killian took it graciously.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Annabelle. The twin that I’ve been hearing so much about.”
“Only good things, I hope.” She beamed, and I could tell it wasn’t forced. She was truly happy for me. I tried not to stress out at that. “Come on in. We’re a loud and rambunctious group. But we don’t bite. That, I can promise you.”
“I don’t know if I can promise that,” I mumbled, and Killian choked into his fist as we walked inside.
Everybody was standing around, joking, and they waved at Leif, who stood next to Lee and Paige, blending into the family as if he’d been here all along.
“Okay, so here’s everybody,” I said, clearing my throat. “Everybody, this is Killian.”
“Hi, Killian,” everybody said at the same time, as if they were in a classroom meeting the new teacher.
I cringed. “You guys, be good.”
“Of course, we’ll be good,” Paige said as she bounced forward. “It’s so nice to meet you, Killian.” She held out her hand too, and Killian gave me a look.
“I told you, we’re huggers, but we give space first.”
“But not for long,” Lee warned. “They come at you quickly after you get used to them.”
“We do lull you into a false sense of security,” Leif added.
“So I’ve been warned,” Killian said as he shook Paige’s hand.
“Well, let me see him,” Mom said as she came forward, a smile on her face.
I held back a groan. “Mom.”
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me. I’m having a good day, and you can’t stop me,” she winked and held out her hands to Killian. “I will hug you next time, I’m just warning you. Unless you tell me you don’t like hugs, and then I will respect your wishes.”
“I think I can start getting used to hugs. Slowly,” Killian warned as he held out one of the bags. “For you.”
“For me?”
“And this is for you,” he said as he held it up to Annabelle. Annabelle clapped her hands and held the bag close. “I wasn’t sure what you both liked, so I figured one for the house and one for the matriarch. If I made a complete mistake, please let me know. I’m rusty at this.”
“We’ll just have to make sure you come over to our houses next,” Paige said as she looked at Eliza.
“Yes. We like gifts, but this way, you don’t have to go all out each time.”
As both Annabelle and Mom opened their gifts, they laughed, looking at the cheese baskets that he had given each of them.
“I figured you could share with everyone.”
