He heaved a sigh. “I know. I’ve never seen my mother take to a woman the way she has with you. In fact, on the rare occasions I introduced her to anyone I was dating, she’d snarl at them and walk away.”
“What?” Daisy said, appalled. “You’re not helping!”
He cleared his throat. Now he was starting to feel really bad about it too. “Okay. You’re not lying to her. It’s true that we just met and we haven’t made any commitments. And she’s been a crazy, nosy momzilla for years. It’s not your fault.”
“I guess,” she said doubtfully.
“So should I offer you dinner?”
She patted her stomach. “Not unless you want to see me literally explode. It won’t be a pretty sight. Your mom sure can cook, I’ll give her that. It almost makes up for all the crazy.”
“Almost,” he said.
“So, which rom-com shall we watch first?” she said. “I’ve got an enormous collection. I think we could pull an all-nighter. Didn’t your dating profile say you loved rom-coms?”
“Um…uh…well…”
She let him stare at her in open-mouthed dismay for a good ten seconds.
“I’m kidding! I know your mother and your uncle made up your entire dating profile. Why are you staring at my face, by the way?” she asked.
“Well, you’re incredibly sexy and beautiful. And also you’ve got a smear of blueberry jam on your lip.”
Before she could say anything, before he could stop himself…he leaned forward and kissed it off her.
She tasted sweet, and she stifled a low moan as he tangled his fingers in her hair. The scent of her desire swirled in his nostrils, and he felt blood rushing to his groin. His cock swelled in his pants, rubbing against the fabric.
He probed the sweet, silken cave of her mouth with his tongue. All the while, little alarm bells were chiming in his head.
She was right. His family loved her. And he could feel himself falling for her, craving her presence. And she’d made it very clear – in a few weeks she’d leave and go back to her ivory tower, or wherever she lived, and he had a feeling that it wasn’t just his mother who’d be heartbroken.
He should stop kissing her. He should pull away.
But she tasted so good, and felt so right…
The door flew open with a bang, and two women raced in, shrieking like banshees.
“Unhand her, you monster!” a tall skinny brunette screamed at him, waving a baseball bat.
“Kidnapper!” a short, curvy blonde yelled, pointing a pink bedazzled canister of pepper spray at his face.
Ryker jerked away in astonishment. He must have been really, really distracted if he hadn’t even noticed two crazy women at his front door.
Daisy pulled back and leaped to her feet. Ryker snarled, and his fangs descended. Fur shot through his skin, and his ears went pointy and flattened back against his skull in anger.
“These are my roommates, Larissa and Cadence,” Daisy hastily said to Ryker. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving your life,” Larissa said indignantly. “You should be thanking us.”
“Larissa thought your message sounded forced,” Cadence said quickly. “Like you were being held hostage. It did seem pretty weird that you’d move in with someone you just met.”
“How did you get in?” Ryker demanded, his voice a little blurred because of the fangs.
“The door was unlocked,” Cadence said.
“So I was holding her hostage with the door unlocked?” Ryker said indignantly.
“Well…” Larissa muttered. She and Cadence glanced at each other uncertainly.
“Guys, I am going to walk you to the door now,” Daisy said firmly.
She grabbed them each by an arm and led them to the front door and out onto the porch. “I will see you guys later this week, but you need to leave now,” she said. “I am fine, I have not been kidnapped. Come on, if I’d been kidnapped, I wouldn’t be sitting there kissing the guy on the couch. I’d either chew his face off or die trying.”
“That’s true,” Cadence said, nodding. “You’re badass like that. So, what exactly is happening with this guy?”
“Uh, hard to say,” Daisy muttered. “It’s early days yet. But I am definitely staying with him for the next few weeks.”
“What about our Wednesday night dinner?” Larissa demanded petulantly.
The roommates met every Wednesday night for tacos at the Thirsty Iguana.
“I will be there,” Daisy said firmly. “Now go.”
Daisy went and sat back down on the couch, and turned to him with a look of expectation on her round, beautiful face.