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“Ronan, you look so handsome,” she gushes as she hugs me.
“Thank you, Mrs. Abbott,” I say when she steps back. “You look beautiful. Thank you for coming tonight. I know my father is eager to meet both you and Mr. Abbott.”
Kate smiles as I compliment her mother, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her father nod his approval. My father joins us and shakes his hand, welcoming them to our house.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you. I have to tell you Kate is a lovely young lady. We love having her here whenever she comes to see Ronan.”
Her parents beam their happiness at hearing my father’s words about Kate. “Oh, she raves about everyone here too,” Mrs. Abbott gushes.
It’s the perfect meeting between our parents, and as Kate takes her place beside me, I see she’s happy. My father begins to guide them toward the bar on the other side of the room, so I take the chance to pull her aside into one of the alcoves where we can find a little privacy, even for a few moments.
She slides her hand down the length of my tie and smiles. “You look so handsome tonight, Ronan.”
I lean down and kiss her on the lips, tasting that peppermint lip gloss she received for Christmas. “Thanks. You look great in that dress. I wish we didn’t have to hang out here all night.”
Kate blushes before rolling her eyes. “You have a one-track mind, Ronan King. Do you know that?”
Twirling the end of her dark brown hair around my forefinger, I smile at her description of me. “I’m a red-blooded boy in love with a beautiful girl. I’m supposed to think about sex twenty-four hours a day.”
She slides her palm down my shirt and over the front of my pants, making me instantly hard. “Now you have to walk around this party with a hard-on,” she says with a giggle.
I nuzzle her neck and groan against her soft skin, “Thank God I’m wearing black pants then.”
The feel of her body next to mine and her hands stroking the back of my head makes my cock get even harder. If we keep it up, I’m not going to be able to stay at this party for long.
“I wish everyone would disappear so we could be alone,” I whisper in her ear.
She begins to say something, but I feel a tap on my shoulder by someone interrupting us. I turn around to see Marius giving me a look of irritation.
“Dad’s looking for you, so you and Katie better cut out whatever you two are doing and get back out there.”
“How is it possible in a house this big I can’t find anywhere to be alone?” I ask, knowing he won’t give me an answer I want.
He walks away without responding, and I turn back to face Kate. “I guess we better go find our parents.”
“Why is he always so surly? Or is it that he doesn’t like me?” she asks as we make sure we look okay to join the party again.
“Marius doesn’t like any women ever since that girlfriend of his broke up with him,” I explain. “He and Matthias are in some kind of contest to see who can hate women more. I think he’s winning, but never count my older brother out.”
Ready to be around people again, we sneak one last kiss before I take her hand in mine. “Time to go hang with the parents. I’m sure my father has bored your mother and father senseless with his talk of business.”
“Or my father has been droning on about the weird things he’s seen as a plastic surgeon. My mother made him promise not to bore people with those stories like he always does when they go to parties, but it’s like he can’t stop himself.”
Curious since I’ve never heard any of these stories, as we make our way toward where the three of them stand near the bar, I ask, “What kind of weird things?”
Kate rolls her eyes and laughs. “I try not to listen. It’s all so gross to me. Do you know people’s faces are actually nearly taken off in a facelift? Yuck. I’m never going to do that to myself.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, you know someone who will do it for you for nothing, I’m sure,” I joke.
“No, thanks,” she says, shaking her head as we stop next to our parents.
My father smiles when he sees us and asks, “Where have you two been hiding?”
Kate’s parents look over at us with expressions that say they aren’t anywhere as pleased about us disappearing, even for those few minutes. Hoping to smooth things over, I quickly answer, “We were helping Eleanor in the kitchen.”
Of course, my father knows that’s a lie. Eleanor has a staff of half a dozen people helping her with this party, so she doesn’t need our assistance. Kate’s parents buy the lie, though, and return to beaming smiles.
“You should be very proud of your son, Max,” Mr. Abbott says. “He’s a fine young man. He’s got a great future ahead of him.”