“You okay, baby?” he asked in his gravely sleepy voice.
“Perfect,” she answered, leaning up to kiss him.
He took advantage and deepened the kiss, just starting to turn it into a deep, wet kiss when Boo’s head moved between theirs, wanting attention.
“I had no idea cats were so demanding,” he grunted.
Laughing, she moved out of the bed and went to the closet to pull out her clothes. Shyly looking over, she said, “I made some room for you.” Pushing the door of the closet open wide, she showed him the space.
Shane looked in the tiny closet and could see where she made room for his belongings by pushing her things to the side. It did not escape his notice that the only clothes in the closet were clothes for work and the one evening dress that was still crumpled on the floor.
“You don’t have a lot of clothes for a woman,” he noted out loud.
Shrugging, she replied, “I don’t need them. I need clothes for work and clothes for running and a few things just for comfort. Other than that, my needs are simple.”
“Well, get dressed for comfortable ‘cause we’ve got to hit the road.”
“Shane, about that. I really think you should meet your family by yourself today. We’re so new and I just can’t imagine they would want me intruding.”
Stalking over to her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, leaned down, and held her eyes as he spoke. “Baby, we went over this. We may be new, but we’re not fuck-buddies. You mean somethin’ to me, that means you mean somethin’ to my family. I’m not spending the day without you. Annie, your sunshine got me out of my hell and my family knows that. I’ve already told them about you and they’re expecting you. So get your sweet ass dressed ‘cause if you keep standing there in your underwear, I’m gonna throw you back on the bed, fuck you silly, and then tell my mom why we were late.”
“You would not!” she exclaimed, eyes going wide.
“Well, I’d probably not tell mom, but everything else would happen.” Turning her to face the closet, he gave her a tiny push as he entered the bathroom.
Smiling to herself, she realized that the roller coaster had started.
* * *
The drive to the suburbs outside of Richland was relaxing. Leaving the city behind, it was nice to see trees and neatly maintained neighborhoods.
“I miss this,” she said wistfully.
Shane looked over to her. “Didn’t you grow up in Richland?”
“No,” she replied. “I grew up in Jefferstown. It’s between here and Fairfield, where you said you had some friends.”
“You never told me that,” Shane said, realizing how little he knew about her background.
“You never asked.”
She’s right. The only thing I was ever thinkin’ about was gettin’ that sunshine on me and then fuckin’.
“Sunshine, you’re right. I never did, but we can rectify that right now while driving.”
“Well, my dad works in construction. He loves to build with his hands. He started out just building houses, but then found that his passion was woodwork, so he has his own business where he designs and makes specialty wood finishes for houses. You know, things like the spindles on old porches, curved wooden window arches, things like that. He’s really good at it and travels around the state working on projects like reconstruction of old homes.”
Shane spared a glance over as she was talking. Her face was lit as she waved her hands around animatedly while talking. It was obvious that her family was important to her. Now I know where that sunshine comes from.
“My mom works as a secretary for an accountant. We’re really close, but she can be a bit of a nuisance.” Seeing his questioning face, she explained. “Mom loves me being a vet and is proud of me, but I know she’d like to see me in a relationship. She feels like I’m missing out when my evenings are spent with my cats.”
Smiling, Shane said, “Well, I’ve already told you that my mom will start wedding plannin’ when she meets you.” Then he quickly added, “Don’t let that throw you. I’ll keep her in check.”
“It’s okay. It sounds like she’s a lot like my mom.”
“So who else? Any siblings?”
“I have one sister, still in college. I am about eight years older so we weren’t very close growing up, but now we are.”
They drove into a neighborhood of unique, older but quaint homes, unlike the modern neighborhoods where all of the houses are cookie-cutter copies of each other. They pulled into a driveway of a white, two-story home framed by a huge front porch. Shane had just gotten out of the driver’s side when a scream pierced the air.