Page 14 of Married to the Beasts
“Very nice,” Mom says evenly.
My little sister Coral’s face pops up behind her. “Let me see! Hi, Hazel! Is your husband there?”
A moment later, the man in question appears in the bedroom doorway. “Want me to say hello?” he asks in a whisper. It’s brave of him to offer after the encounter with my sister and her men.
I’m about to wave him away, thinking we can do this some other time, but he starts toward me, and I’m mesmerized by the charming grin that curls his lips.
“Hello, ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.” He gives my mom a respectful nod as he joins me.
“Oh my god, Conal Curran!” my sister cries, obscuring whatever my mom says in response.
“I hope I can meet you both in person sometime very soon,” Conal says. “In the meantime, I want to assure you that I’ll take very good care of your daughter.”
Mom pauses, looking back at him as if she’s gauging his sincerity. “That’s good to hear. This has come as quite a shock, of course.”
“I understand completely.”
“I’m sure you lead a very busy life. How do you see Hazel fitting into it?”
Conal’s holding me close with an arm around my waist, but I twist to look at him, because that’s a really good question, and one that I hadn’t even thought about in much detail yet. My head must still be fuzzier than I realize. When we talked about me staying with him and his brothers, I hadn’t even asked where that would be.
He gives me a smile and looks at me as he starts to answer, before looking back at my mom. “If Hazel’s open to travel—and I hope she is—she’s very welcome to join us on tour?—”
Behind me, Bliss squeals with excitement.
“But luckily,” Conal continues, “we’re working on a new album and we’ll be stationed here in Las Vegas for a while. We have a house just outside the city.” As my mom nods at this, he adds, “You’re welcome to come and visit us. I could send a car for you.”
“We can talk about that later,” she says. “I just want to make sure Hazel’s okay.”
“Of course. It’s been really nice meeting you, and I hope we see you soon. I’ll leave you and Hazel to talk.” He excuses himself with another wave, and anextra grin over his shoulder just for me, before he disappears into the bathroom.
My mom must follow my eyes, because she seems to know when he’s gone. “Andareyou okay, Hazel?”
I nod quickly. “I’m good, Mom. It’s all still sinking in, of course, but I’m good.”
“Okay.” She’s silent for a long moment, searching my face even more deeply than she did Conal’s. “Be careful and be safe, Hazel. Listen to your heart, but also listen to your gut. You know you can call me anytime.”
“I know, Mom. Thank you.”
She’s obviously not thrilled about the quickie Vegas wedding, and probably even less thrilled that Conal’s a rock star, but she’s keeping her opinions to herself, and I appreciate it. I also appreciate the fact that for now, she thinks it’s just me and Conal in this relationship. It’s not that I want to keep things from her, but easing her into the whole situation seems like the right thing to do.
“Keep in touch, Hazel. I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
As soon as I end the call, Bliss says, “You have the best mom.”
“I know.”
“And the sexiest husband.” As soon as she says this, she claps her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. I swear to god, I’m trying to stop ogling your husband, but my god, he could charm the pants off of anyone.”
I just shake my head and smile. She’s not wrong. He apparently charmed me right down the aisle.
HAZEL
When Conal comes out of the bathroom, I get a reminder of why my friend can’t stop drooling over him. I’ve enjoyed a lot of sexy pictures of him over the past few years, but Conal in person, fresh from the shower, is probably the best thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.
His hair is still damp and hanging in dark waves that emphasize the gorgeous bone structure of his face. He’s put on a fresh, white shirt and dark jeans, though his feet are still bare, and the intimacy of that makes me blush.
