Page 50 of Under Pressure

“Well . . . doggone blinking heck fish sticks.” Don frowned.

Rosa gasped. “Watch your mouth.”

He couldn’t. He had to keep one eye on the freaking Adonis that’d just walked through his door and the other on his grandson dog-crawling through balloons.

9

Chapter 9

Sean

One moment Sean had been enjoying the sparring match between Dad and Gramps, the next Blue walked through the door with a guy who was probably arealunderwear model. After that, things were a blur of flying popcorn, balloons, and his family all rushing around him and over to hug Blue.

Sean stayed on the floor behind the loveseat, hoping beyond all hope that the balloons would hide him and he’d be able to dog-crawl out of there. Then again, he’d seen the way the balloons had moved when Sweetie’d gone through them . . .

He was a Navy SEAL for crying out loud, he’d faced insurgents in half a dozen countries, he could do this—he could get out of here undetected. The plan:

A. Crawl under the piano.

B. Belly-slide through the kitchen, using the table as a shield.

C. Somersault out the back door.

D. Sprint to the beach and freedom.

If that didn’t work, he could face the firing squad; AKA Blue with another man. A Ken doll at that. That would be the manly thing to do. SEALs faced their worst nightmares every day! Bah.

What was she even doing here?

Belly down on the hardwood floor, beneath a layer of balloons, Sean scrubbed a hand down his face. Also, the floor smelled so lemony. He wondered what Grandpa had used on it. Delicious.

“You made it!” Kate cheered, and Sean glared. Kate was his soon-to-be sister-in-law. She should have warned him! “I’m so excited.”

“Hi,” Blue responded, and Sean could see his future sister-in-law embracing his ex in his mind’s eye. “Me too. Still so weird you’re marrying Axel.”

“Gee, thanks,” Axel said.

“Still so weird you used to date Sean,” Kate said.

The room went silent.

Some cleared their throat.

Sean wanted to die.

“Sorry,” Kate said. “This probably isn’t the place to mention that.”

“I think it’s the perfect place to mention it,” Johnny said, then came a smacking sound followed by a yelp. “Quit hitting me.”

Sean wished whoever had hit him this time would do it again.

Firm, determined steps headed his way, and when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt, he knew the decision had been made for him. Gramps yanked him to his feet.

He shrugged out of Grandpa’s hold. “Let go,” he muttered under his breath for only Gramps to hear.

“Man up,” Grandpa whispered back.

“What is she doing here?” Sean seethed under his breath.

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