Page 35 of King of Hearts

“Surprise! Dad, Dylan and I are in the lobby. We were in the city for some shopping and decided to pop in with dinner.” She sounded so bloody excited and now she knew I was home there was no way I could get rid of them. She never would have expected I would have a guest, as other than the monthly poker nights, my apartment was my sanctuary – but of course of all times…

“Oh, great. I’ll tell Graham to let you up.” I stammered disingenuously. Hanging up I turned to Arna, her hand still firmly in mine, deciding it would be easier to see where this went rather than focus on the shock of her meeting my family so soon.

“So, um slight change of plans. How do you feel about meeting my parents and brother?” Removing her hand from mine, she stepped away, her face indecipherable as she narrowed her eyes. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, they decided to surprise me. It’s okay if you want to leave.” I rambled.

“Talk about a cock block.” She huffed exaggeratedly and my relieved laugh was sudden and loud. “I mean, it’s not ideal, but I’m happy to stay if you’re okay with that.” She added.

“You are the most interesting person I’ve ever met, Arna Frost. And now my family gets to meet you too.” I placed a quick kiss on her lips, and she smiled, clearly relieved with my response.

I sent a quick message to Graham to let my family up to the apartment as Arna walked to the front door collecting her purse from the floor.

“Probably shouldn’t leave this there.” She giggled, before moving to place it on the bench. “So, your parents and your brother? This is going to be insightful.”

She had no idea how right she was, because my family were going to lose their mind when they saw I had a date here. As the only people in this world who truly saw me, they knew I did not have women at my apartment. They also knew that more than anything, I despised the media. I could only imagine their reactions when they first saw Arna and then discovered what she did for a living and honestly, I was apprehensive. How would Mum react given how nervous she was when anywhere near journalists – especially with no time to mentally prepare herself.

A double knock was followed by the front door opening.

Arna and I were still standing in the living area when we both turned to see Mum waltzing into my apartment and I caught the exact moment she realised I wasn’t alone.

“Hi, Hon - ohhhh, hi.” Mum’s voice went up an octave clearly intrigued by what she was seeing. “We didn’t mean to interrupt, but I brought dinner and Dylan couldn’t decide so there is plenty.” She held up some bags and shrugged apologetically before heading to the bench to put them down. Dad and Dylan followed and other than their conversation ceasing upon seeing Arna, Dad showed no visible reaction, however, Dylan’s eyes widened and then the little fucker laughed.

“S’up, old man.” He said, before slapping my hand and hugging me.

“Hopefully when you turn twenty-one your balls will drop.” I retorted, ruffling his hair.

“Oh, I amallman.” He assured, stepping closer to Arna as he spoke. “I’m Dylan, Andy’s much cuter, younger brother.”

She grinned and held out her hand towards him. “I’m Arna, it’s nice to meet you.” Instead of shaking, he took her hand and held it before kissing her on the cheek. When he stepped back, he winked at me and I narrowed my eyes.

“Piss off, you little grub.” I shoved him playfully and he walked backwards with his palms up in the air, the picture of innocence.

I greeted Dad with a handshake. “Arna, this is my dad, Rob. Dad, this is Arna.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rob.” She exuded confidence as she smiled but I noted the slight tremor in her hands.

“Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” Dad’s attention flicked to my own briefly and I almost rolled my eyes. Despite maintaining a straight face, I knew he was bloody loving the fact they were here right now as if he sensed they interrupted something interesting.

“I can see the resemblance. You are very alike.” Dad laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. He was almost as tall as I was and I’d been told plenty of times over the years that he and I were very similar, especially now his hair was cut short, the mullet of his youth long gone.

“Yep, gets those rugged good looks from his old man, for sure.” Dad said and Arna giggled lightly in response as Dylan and Mum returned. As expected, she headed straight for Arna.

“Hi, I’m Vicky and who might you be?” She looped her arm through Dad’s, and I took a small side-step moving closer to Arna. Mum was the kindest person I knew and if she could, she would have already wrapped her in a hug and peppered her with questions, but judging by her restraint she was shell-shocked. Would she be as warm once she knew she worked for Urban?

I wanted to pull Arna into me and squeeze; surely this was overwhelming for her. Shit, if it were reversed, I would be freaking the fuck out, but she was either the world’s greatest actress or she was much less uneasy than anticipated.

“Hi Vicky, I’m Arnabelle. It’s lovely to meet you.” Arna leaned forward giving Mum a kiss on her cheek.

“Very, very lovely.” Mum replied, intentionally ignoring me. “Let’s eat dinner before it gets cold. We have a lot to catch up on, it seems.” Mum added as she quickly gave me a giddy double thumbs-up and herded everyone into the kitchen. I looked wistfully at Arna, walking ahead in that dress which was begging for me to take it off. Of course, it was when I finally had her to myself and acted on everything I was feeling, that my family would arrive unannounced. I didn’t even need to contemplate my choice of drink as I reached for the beers – desperately in need of cooling off.

Chapter Twenty-One

Arna

Well, there’s nothing quite like the parents of your client - interviewee - potential fuck buddy - sexiest man alive - possible friend, arriving to kill the mood. I mean, if they didn’t show up would I have introduced him to Barbara?

I had been jittery on the way over and arrived with no expectations other than realising a line in the sand had been drawn and tonight was not about work or the interview. Although, I did not foresee having barely made it through the door before we were all over each other.

When he grazed his mouth across my lips, the teasing and temptation of those subtle touches hadn’t been enough, and I’d thrown myself at him with no remorse. I mean a woman in his presence could only maintain her composure for so long and he clearly had no idea how long it’d been since I’d been touched by a man, and one who smelt as divine as he did. Thinking about it, I wasn’t sure I ever had.

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