Page 91 of Stolen Kisses

Knox looked over the woman’s shoulder. "There she is, the woman of the hour. Hannah, come here and join us."

"Hi," I said, looking at them curiously. Up close, they seemed vaguely familiar. Maybe I had seen them before after all.

"This is my mom and dad," Knox said. “Susan and Bruce.”

"Hi-i!”Did I just stutter on a one-syllable word?

"Nice to meet you, Hannah. We heard you helped Chase obtain the store," their mom said.

"Oh, well, I’d say that’s an overstatement. I just made some good arguments.”

Knox winked at me. “Our brother confided in us that he was playing the bad cop. Although I don't even think it was a 'good cop, bad cop' situation, more of a..." He paused, and I figured he was searching for the right words, but it turned out it was just for dramatic effect. "Grumpy versus sunshine situation," Knox finished.

"Oh, that would describe Chase, of course. We also heard about you from our grandson," his mom said.

"How is Jeremy?" I asked, wondering why they really wanted to meet me. I felt like I was missing something.

"He's great. Spending this weekend at my place. I can't wait to show him the store," she said.

"But tell us more about yourself, Hannah. Chase kept you quite a secret," their dad told me.

I couldn't hide my surprise this time. His parents knew about me and Chase? I glanced at Knox, who seemed to be fighting laughter.

"What the hell?" Chase’s voice boomed behind us. He must have seen my text.

I glanced over my shoulder as he came up to us. "What is this?" He stared straight at Knox and then at his mom.

Knox narrowed his eyes at me.

I held up my hands. "Don’t look at me. I only asked if he knew what this was about," I said.

"Now, don't make a big thing out of it," his mom said. "I was just very curious to meet Hannah."

"So you decided to go behind my back?" Chase asked, standing next to me.

I felt like I was watching a series and had missed a few episodes.What on earth is going on?Then Chase put an arm around my waist, resting his fingers on my ribs. The gesture was so intimate that anyone watching would have no doubt the two of us were far more than boss and employee.

"Hannah, I need to get you up to speed," he said.

"That would be good," I murmured.

"Mom and Dad came in this morning, I gave them the key to the store, and I told them you helped with the negotiations.”

"I had to meet you," his mom explained.

Chase exhaled sharply, looking at his dad, who was suspiciously silent.

"And you couldn't stop this?" Chase asked his father, who just laughed.

"Son, I didn't even try."

"Chase, don't be like this," his mom said.

"Did it occur to you that I wanted to introduce Hannah to you myself?"

He did? Oh, be still, my heart.

His mom glanced up at him with a soft smile. "Well, that did cross my mind, but I was too curious."

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