Page 55 of Boyfriend of the Hour

“I’m sorry about this,” I muttered. “I told you, they’re like jackals.”

Nathan shrugged and offered me a shy sort of half-smile. “I think it’s nice that they care so much. But are you all right?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He shrugged again. He did that a lot. “I don’t know. You’re typically very outspoken, but not usually as sharp as you were in the bedroom. Now, you’re so quiet. This is the first time I’ve seen you stay out of a conversation.”

I looked back at my sisters and Mike and thought about that for a second. Kate was telling the others about the composition of the painting, giving them a short lecture that I knew I wouldn’t understand very well anyway. She would mention the painting at the next family dinner, and I’d feel like an idiot for forgetting everything she had said. It was better to act like I didn’t care in the first place.

“It’s hard to add to conversations like this when I barely know what they are talking about in the first place,” I said. “Sometimes it’s easier just to wait until they’re done.”

Nathan looked at me for a long time, like he was waiting for me to add something more. Then he crossed his arms. “I know what you mean. I often feel that way too.”

I opened my mouth to ask how. And why. But before I could say anything, we were interrupted by Lea’s obnoxious voice.

“This only brings me back to my original question. If he doesn’t need the money, what exactlydoeshe need in exchange for your new digs? What kind of ‘payment’ is he expecting, huh?”

Both Lea and Kate turned with their arms crossed to face Nathan and me. Next to them, Michael rubbed his forehead and muttered something like, “Come on, Tess.” I recognized it as the nickname he’d used for years. Some derivative of Contessa when she was being particularly imperious.

“Did you ask my sister to move in with you because you want to sleep with her?” Lea demanded.

“Did you?” Kate prodded with her.

“Annnd, there it is,” Mike muttered, though he seemed to watch me carefully for a response.

Nathan stared at Lea’s finger, now outstretched toward him, until it dropped. Then he swallowed. “No, I did not.”

“Doyou want to sleep with her?” asked Kate, though she didn’t seem as upset by the idea.

My eyes practically bugged out of my face. Just behind Nathan, I mouthedSHUT UP.

Kate just grinned.

Nathan looked between me and my three extremely nosy family members. To his credit, he didn’t look the slightest bit disturbed other than the reddening in his cheeks. “That feels like a trick question. If I say no, I’d be lying since your sister is a very beautiful woman. But if I say yes, then it seems like I did invite her to live here with the intention of seducing her. Which, I assure you, I did not.”

My hand twitched like it wanted to reach out for his. And IthoughtNathan’s twitched toward mine as well. I didn’t know why.

Beautiful, he’d called me.

Also, he didn’t deny that he wanted to sleep with me either.

Both ideas did something funny to my stomach.

Nathan glanced at me, and his brown eyes asked the obvious question:Should I tell them?

I shook my head in the tiniest possible way.Absolutely not.

He turned back to my siblings. “Joni is my friend. She needed help. And I’m in a position to offer it.”

“Yeah, but—” Lea started.

“Oh, for God’ssake,” I spoke at last, stepping in between Nathan and my family. “Stop it right freaking now. Stop the picking and the intimidating and the speculating about Nathan like he’s not even here, and just be nice. I mean it, Lea. Cut it out and act like a decent fucking human.”

Lea opened her mouth, clearly ready to argue back, until her husband placed his hands on her shoulders and whisperedsomething into her ear. Immediately, she softened against him, though she still had fire in her eyes.

“I still want to know why,” she said, though not quite as loudly as before.

“I know you do,” I said. “But this isn’t your choice, it’s mine. Now, for your information, Nathan is awesome. He’s my friend; I’ve known him for months because he’s a regular at Opal, and he has never been anything but kind and respectful to me.”