The Bachelor's Perfect Proposal (Bliss Series Book 2) (3 page)

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o say
Veronica was nervous would be an understatement. I reached over and grabbed her hands to stop her from wringing them. I was afraid that she would separate her joints in frustration. I’d had a hard enough time getting her into the car. She’d tried to come up with unbelievable excuses just so I would give up and tell her that we could stay.

Her last attempt had nearly worked. When she told me she hadn’t worn underwear, I’d been tempted, but once I devastatingly discovered that she’d fibbed, the plan was back on.

“Why are you so anxious? It’s just me. I love you no matter what happens tonight.” I glanced away from the road to give her a once-over.

Her shoulders slouched forward as she sighed. “I wish it was just that. It’s not you that’s the problem. And it’s not Maggie. You’ll take a liking to her for sure.” She paused and worked her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s my mother.”

I chuckled. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Her mother couldn’t be as intolerable as mine. “She sounded lovely over the phone.”

“Ha! Right. Because it wasn’t freaky enough that she managed to track you down and force you to come for Thanksgiving dinner.” I kept my eyes on the road, but I could feel the tension emanating from her as she spoke. “Don’t you find that a little bit odd? I asked her how she did it and she said ‘I have my ways, Nica’. I mean, come on!” Her hands detached from mine and flew in the air.

“I thought it was sweet. I would have met her eventually.” I placated her, taking one of her hands again and bringing it to my lips. “Veronica, I’m very serious about this relationship. I would have asked to meet your family sooner or later.”
Just as long as she didn’t ask to meet mine.

She huffed out a heavy breath. “Fine. But you can’t say that I didn’t warn you. And you can’t blame me for anything wrong that happens. Ever.”

“I promise.” I kissed her hand again and snickered against it. Looking over, I saw her pout and could not help but be a tad nervous myself. I was great with families and parents when I wasn’t too serious about the relationship. But with Veronica…I’d suffer if something happened to us.

This had to work. I had to impress her family, let them know I was the right man for Veronica, even though, through and through, I hated to admit I wasn’t worthy of her love.

As soon as we parked on the driveway of her childhood home, a portly woman dressed in a plum taffeta evening dress waved at us from the porch. I kept my laughter in check as I unfolded myself out of the car, walked to the back, and opened the trunk.

“Oh my freaking lord.” Veronica groaned beside me, gripping me like she had talons. Her face paled. “What is she wearing?”

“Hallooooo!” Her mother glided down the steps to us, patting her hair in place as she approached. She practically pushed her daughter aside to get to me, and when she did, she hugged me so tight I struggled to catch my breath.

Veronica’s eyes widened. She swung herself toward her mother and tried to peel her away from me. “Mom, you’re choking him!”

I straightened as soon as she let me breathe. God, for someone a head and a half shorter than me, the woman was strong.

She placed a hand over her chest. “Oops, sorry. I get a little bit excited sometimes.”

“Not to worry. I’m still in one piece.” Before I could retract that last statement, worried that I had offended her, she cackled.

She turned to her daughter. “Oh, I like this one, Nica, he’s funny. And so handsome too!” She pinched my left cheek.

“Oh my god,” I heard Veronica say again. Panic replaced her embarrassment. “Maggie! Help me out here!”

A tall girl with curly blonde hair came bounding down the steps and swung an arm over their mother. “Can’t you wait ‘til they get in the house at least? Hi, I’m Maggie, and you’re Levi.” She extended a hand.

“Pleasure.”

“Come bring your stuff inside.” Maggie nodded toward the house, a small yellow Cape Cod with an expansive and well-cared-for garden in the front.

“We don’t have stuff. We only brought Rice Krispie treats and wine. They’re in the car,” Veronica told them.

“Well…not exactly.” I was going to pay for this. I gave Veronica a crooked smile while I took a bag out of my trunk. “We’re staying for the weekend.”

Veronica gaped.

“Your Mum made me promise to keep it a secret.” The look Veronica gave me said enough. If I was the type to shake in my boots, I would have.

Maggie whistled. “Oh boy, you’re in deep shit now.” She clapped my shoulder and shook her head. “Bad move, Levi, bad move. And here I thought you looked smart. I guess pretty doesn’t always come with brains, even for guys.”

Veronica huffed and turned on her heels. She stomped all the way to the open light blue door.

“Oh, don’t you worry about her. She’s just upset it wasn’t her idea,” her mother assured me. “Come inside before the neighbors start snooping. Mrs. Claremont across the street is a nosy little bi--”

“Mother!” Maggie interjected. She rolled her eyes and walked back into the house. Her mother followed, defending herself and swinging her full skirt as she went.

I was left standing by the car with an overnight bag, wondering if Veronica had been right. A guy who looked about Maggie’s age came and introduced himself. “June, Maggie’s boyfriend. I hope you realize you’re in for one hell of a weekend.” He snickered. “Anything I can help you with?”

“There are Rice Krispie treats in the car, and a case of wine in the trunk.”

“Nice! I’ll grab the wine. Sweet ride,” June said, whistling at my black Mercedes-Benz CL65.

“Yeah, thanks. Veronica wouldn’t let me bring the convertible. She thought it was too flashy.” It wasn’t a complaint. The fact that Veronica was uncomfortable about my wealth just proved that she was indeed different from all the other women I’d dated.

She hadn’t asked about my money at all, but sooner or later, it was a conversation we’d be having.

When I stepped inside the house, I felt surprisingly at peace. The living room had a floral couch, matching armchair, and a distressed coffee table. There were family photos and vintage pieces on a sideboard and lace curtains on the windows. Clearly Veronica had had a hand in decorating. There were stark differences between the home I’d grown up in and theirs.

However, the smell emanating from somewhere inside was slightly off, fighting against the sweet aroma of lit vanilla candles. I coughed as I got a good dose of the scent. Veronica shrieked. June and I looked at each other and followed the sound to the source.

Inside the bright kitchen, gray smoke wafted out of the open oven door, and the smell was more putrid than it was from the living room. I dropped the bag on the floor, the tray of treats Veronica had made on the counter, and covered my mouth.

“I told you not to let her cook, Maggie.”

Mrs. Stewart sat on a nearby chair, fanning herself with the hem of her long skirt, and exposing things I didn’t need to see. I averted my eyes toward Maggie, who appeared ready to vomit as she yanked open a window.

“I tried, Nica! You know how she gets.” Maggie covered her mouth, eyes tearing up.

“I’m right here, you know. How was I supposed to know that the plastic has to be removed? It just said put it on a tray, heat up the oven and stick it in,” their mother reasoned.

When I was younger, I grew up away from my family when my brother and I attended boarding school. I’d never had to experience
this kind
of tension within a family. These days, there was barely any communication between my mother and me, if at all, and I preferred it that way. I pulled the collar of my cashmere sweater over my mouth to take a deep breath and grabbed a pair of oven mitts to help Veronica deal with the unidentifiable burnt blob.

Looking behind me, I saw June swipe at the tears flowing from his eyes. “Hey, can you get Maggie and Mrs. Stewart out of here? Open all the windows too.” He nodded and led the two women out of the kitchen.

“This is why I didn’t want her to cook.” Veronica continued to fan the smoke out of the oven with a floral apron. I didn’t know how she was able to stomach the fumes.

“Here, let me take care of that.” I reached over and grabbed the ends of the tray. Trying as hard as I could not to take a deep breath, the acrid smell of burnt plastic attacked my senses. If I didn’t get the blob out of here, I would soon lose my breakfast on the tiled kitchen floor. Although the taste of bile in my mouth would be an improvement.

“Where’s the bin?” Veronica had a blank look on her face. “The garbage, love. Where’s the garbage?”

“Oh! Through there.” She pointed behind me at a white door.

I went through it and found what I was looking for. After dumping the blob in it and sealing the plastic by tying the end in a tight knot, I returned to the kitchen, leaving the door wide open. There wasn’t anything we could do with the smell except let it air out.

With her forehead furrowed, she fumed, massaging her temples. “That was supposed to be dinner. Thank God we got here early. She could have burned the whole house down.”

I remained silent, keeping a hand over half of my face.

“Now do you see why I was so nervous?” She propped a hand on her hip.

I sauntered over to her, ditching the mitts on the counter. Snaking my hand around her waist, I planted a kiss on her firmly pressed lips. “I’m sure we can remedy this. All I need is a grocery store.”

“Tough luck. Nothing is open today.”

“Nothing?”

“Haven’t you been in America long enough to realize that?”

“Sorry, love, other people do the shopping for me.”

Veronica pursed her lips. “Well, for us regular people, the stores close during National Holidays.”

“Well then, I’ll have to check what we have in hand.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. Let’s hope Maggie remembered to do the shopping yesterday.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.” I gave her another quick kiss. If I could fix this, it would earn me some major brownie points.

I grinned when I opened the fridge door. Brownie points galore!

A
t this point
, I was ready to get in Levi’s car and drive back to San Francisco. If we were lucky, we could get there before night fell. Levi was adamant that he could save dinner, though. He was a fabulous cook, but I couldn’t see how even he could perform a big enough miracle to pull it off.

I was also shocked he had packed properly. I’d been worried he might have thrown in just whatever for the weekend. I suspected he did it when I was in the shower (and he didn’t join me). As I looked through the bag, I realized I should have known not to doubt him. Could he be any more perfect?

I had pajamas, matching undies, dresses, jeans, a sweater and a t-shirt, my face cream, toothbrush, and deodorant. I used whatever soap and shampoo were available, and Levi preferred me
au naturel
. No makeup needed.

His clothing was just as sparse. He did sleep in the nude, but he’d brought two pairs of pajama bottoms for the weekend. In the bag were his personal items, clothes for the weekend, his glasses, and an old French book. There was nothing sexier than a man who reads.

I was getting all our stuff out when Mom walked into my bedroom with Maggie and June in tow. “You can’t sleep in the same room.”

I sent a “you can’t be serious” look at Mom.

“Veronica, it’s not setting a good example for your sister.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.” I shot the couple a glance and found Maggie blushing. I shouldn’t assume things. “And besides, Levi’s working so damn hard downstairs making sure we’ll have dinner after your attempt at cooking a turkey. I am not making him sleep on that lumpy couch.”

“You can sleep on the couch then,” my mother suggested.

I was about to say something when Maggie butted in. “Nica can sleep with me in my room. We’ll have a sleepover just like old times, so Levi can have this bed.”

My mother couldn’t possibly think that was a horrible idea. She smiled brightly and took my and Maggie’s hands and pulled us in a tight hug. “It’s so good to have both of you girls in the house again.”

After unpacking and ensuring the bed had clean sheets for Levi, I asked Maggie to set up the patio table with me. The smell from my mother’s attempted dinner fought with the better-smelling food Levi was creating in the kitchen. It was going to be a bit chilly outdoors, so I brought blankets for everyone. I would brave the cold before choking on the gross smell that lurked in the whole house while we were eating.

I poked my head into the kitchen and found him bent over watching the oven door.
Mmm-hmmm
. It was hard not to stare at his sexy butt.

“Did you come in here to ogle me?” He stretched up slowly and glanced over his shoulder.

I sauntered over to him. “I came here to do this.” I gave his butt a squeeze. “And this.” And placed a kiss on his lips. Levi responded by holding me close to him, wrapping his strong arms around me, pressing his hips forward, and taking my breath away.

There was nothing sexier than a man who read and cooked and kissed like it was our last day on earth.

His hands roved over my hips when we heard the kitchen door slam.

“Oh my gawd!” a squeaky voice interrupted us.

Delaney was one of my sister’s friends. She was nothing like Maggie. She had her nails constantly painted, packed makeup on her face, showed a little too much skin, and last I’d heard, had dated half the guys in the football team—everything Maggie wasn’t. Delaney eyed Levi up and down like she was ready to lick him clean.

“What are you doing here, Delaney?” I refused to let go of Levi.

Delaney slowly trailed her eyes to me, like she’d just found out I existed. “Maggie said your mom cooked, so my mom told be to bring you this. Brussels sprouts. Yech!” She lifted a bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Levi stretched out a hand and took it from her. “These are perfect.” He lifted the cover and sniffed the bowl. “With bacon. Brussels sprouts are my favorite.”

“Really?” Delaney’s voice went up a bit higher. “Mine too!” She even batted her lashes.

“Thanks, Delaney, Maggie and June are out back.” I stared at her until she got the point, and finally, she traipsed out of the kitchen after sending Levi a flirty wink.

“Neighbor?” Levi asked, turning to do a quick check on whatever was in the oven.

“No, Maggie’s best friend.”

“Really?”

“See, you don’t even know her, and you find that odd. Maggie’s very friendly and she’s popular at school. But there’s something about Delaney that I can’t quite figure out.” I tapped my finger on my lips. Levi pushed it away and kissed me.

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. It’s not turkey, but I promise you it’s good.”

“Sounds great. After that smell, I don’t know if I will ever have turkey ever again.” I gave him another kiss (and squeeze) before heading back to the patio.