Page 69 of Sex, Lies, and Margarita Mixes

I lean into him. “We did it. Thank you for coming and for helping… even if multiple women will use shower heads on themselves tonight to the thought of you… my husband.”

He chortles. “You don’t need a shower head. I’ll always go home with you.” He kisses my temple. “Proud of you, Rox.”

“Proud of us,” I murmur.

I am. We’re together. Doing this and I’m not running or pushing him away anymore.

He squeezes my waist. “Ready to go home?”

I shake my head. “Ready to go everywhere.”

He grins. “I’m starving. Some vixen stole my reserves behind a curtain earlier. Let’s start with tacos.”

I laugh out loud. “I could go for some tacos… and then, maybe I’ll let you have my taco.”

Chase growls, “My favorite meal.”

CHAPTER 13

FAMILY INVASION

ROXY

* * *

There’s a knock at the door that sounds too polite to be safe. Which, in my experience, means it’s either Jehovah’s Witnesses or my mother.

Chase glances up from the couch, where he’s shirtless, barefoot, and devouring leftover tamales like a Greek god confused about geography in a food coma. “Are we expecting someone?”

“Not unless Mari Lynn decided to teleport in on a luxury cloud of chaos and caffeine,” I say, wiping my hands on a dish towel. “But that knock? That knock is laced with disappointment and passive aggression. It’s her.”

I crack the door open an inch. And there she is… my mother.

She looks immaculate and judgey. She’s carrying a casserole dish like it’s a diplomatic peace offering—or a Trojan horse—with her it’s a coin toss.

“Hello, Roxanne.”

Ah, we’re using my full name.

Shit!

We’re doomed.

“Hi, Mother.” I force a smile and swing the door open. “To what do we owe the surprise drop-in?”

If she can do it, I can, too.

“I was in the neighborhood.”

I blink. “You live two hours away.”

“I had errands.”

“In Dallas?”

She glides past me like a high-end fragrance commercial, surveying the house with a critical eye. Her nose wrinkles. “It smells like cumin and irresponsibility in here.”

“Well, Chase was cooking.”

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