Gray expertly popped the cork and poured two full glasses. “Baby, if I didn’t love you so much, I would be running for my life right now. If they start in on sex next, that’s probably it for us. I don’t think I would ever be able to get it up again.”

Suzy leaned back against his muscular chest and chuckled. “God, you have no idea. This is actually good behavior for them. I have seen far worse.”

With a look of disbelief, Gray said, “You’re kidding. This is good behavior. I haven’t had a lecture like that since I put a garden snake in my sixth-grade teacher’s purse.”

Rubbing her bottom against his crotch suggestively, Suzy laughed. “I knew you were a bad boy.”

Gray swatted her bottom playfully. “Behave yourself. I’d prefer not to make out on the counter that your sister and my brother christened before us, and I sure can’t risk your parents walking in on us. I don’t think either one of us would survive that lecture or, God help me, instructions on what we’re doing wrong.”

“Ugh, please don’t say that. I agree on the counter, though. Of course, if Nick and Beth told us everywhere they’ve made out in this house since they met, we would probably have to burn the place down.”

With obvious reluctance, Gray murmured, “We should probably get back in there. Nick and Beth may be in desperate need of our help by now.”

Suzy gave him her best pleading look while running the tip of her tongue around her lower lip suggestively. “Aw, do we have to?”

Gray leaned down to capture her mouth in a kiss that curled her toes and sent liquid heat straight to her core. In a husky whisper, Gray said, “I don’t think a few more minutes will matter either way.” With those words, he wrapped his body around Suzy’s and tried to steal a moment of calm in the storm.

* * *

At the dining table, John finally spoke to break the silence. “So, congratulations, you two. I had no idea that things were so . . . serious between you.”

Vicky jumped up from her chair and came around the table to hug her. “I didn’t think I would be a grandmother for quite some time, but I’m so happy for you. How exciting that my boys have fallen in love with sisters.” Beth saw the quick look that she shot at Nick as she said the L word. Vicky hugged Nick next and then John walked over and hugged her as well.

John then clasped Nick on the shoulder and said, “I think we may have missed a talk or two lately.”

Nick smiled up at his father and said, “Maybe one or two. I’m sure you’ll make up for them, though.”

John laughed. “You’ve got that right, son.”

Beth noticed her parents sat as still as statues on the other side of the table. Clearing her throat, she said, “So, Mom, Dad, big surprise, right?”

Her mother looked at her with disapproval in her eyes. “Yes, Beth, it is a surprise and not something we would have expected from you.”

Suzy and Gray entered the dining room just in time to hear her mother’s remark. Beth could tell by the slight stiffening of Suzy’s shoulders that she knew their mother was actually saying that she would have expected it from Suzy. Gray pulled out a chair for her and then deposited the bottle of champagne on the table. He went back to the kitchen and returned with the strawberry cheesecake he had made.

Beth took the reprieve that the interruption had created and smiled at John and Vicky as they returned to their seats across the table. Suzy asked brightly from the head of the table, “Is everyone ready for dessert?”

Gray cut them all pieces of the cheesecake and Suzy walked around the table delivering the dessert and offering a glass of champagne, a refill of tea, or a cup of coffee. John, Vicky, Gray, and Suzy all opted for the champagne. Suzy and Beth’s parents took coffee and, even though Beth knew that Nick wanted the champagne, he took a refill of iced tea just as she did. He was probably afraid that her parents would launch into a lecture on the hazards of alcohol if he indulged.

Beth took a big bite of her cheesecake and closed her eyes in bliss. When she opened them, her mother was staring at her. With a sinking feeling, Beth prepared for what was coming next.

“You do realize that the weight gain from this pregnancy, especially with twins, will be difficult for someone such as yourself?”

Beth could feel the bite that she had taken threaten to come back up as she dropped her head in embarrassment. Yep, they are all looking at you. Your own mother just pinned the fat cow sign to your forehead for everyone to see. Would it be bad to wish for one of those hurricanes that Dad was harping on earlier? Now would be a good time to be washed away and never have to look at anyone at this table again.

Beside her, Nick set his fork down with a clatter. He looked her mother squarely in the eyes and softly asked, “What do you mean, by ‘someone such as yourself’?”

Beth wanted to crawl under the table and hide. She appreciated his concern, but wanted him to just let it go, rather than make the situation worse. Now my mother will go into detail about my weight and I’ll be humiliated in front of your parents.

Her father spoke up, obviously missing the edge that had entered Nick’s voice. “Beth spent most of her life clinically obese. Instead of taking control of the situation, as we encouraged her to do when she was young, she let it continue into her adult life, increasing her risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease, just to name a few things. As Linda was trying to indicate, a pregnancy for someone with little willpower such as Beth could well cause her relapse into obesity.”

Nick shoved his chair back from the table at the same time Suzy slammed her glass down. Beth looked at the usually cool Nick in surprise as he stood up and leaned over the table, looking at both of her parents. “Do you even hear yourselves?” he asked in a deathly quiet voice. Without giving her parents time to reply, he continued. “I am constantly in awe of your daughters. They are smart, funny, intelligent, compassionate, and beautiful. Everyone who knows them loves them. I’m starting to think they must be adopted. I can’t imagine you two even having children, much less having two as outstanding as Beth and Suzy.”

Beth’s father sputtered, “Now, listen here, young man.”

“No, you listen here,” Nick hissed. “I have always wondered why someone as beautiful and special as Beth would have so many self-esteem issues, and now I know. Have you ever just once praised her or Suzy for anything? Did you actually try to help her eat healthier, or did you just ridicule her for being overweight? Didn’t it ever occur to either of you that she might be using food to escape from her life? As my mother will tell you, Gray and I were both heavier when we were young. Not once did our mother insult or criticize us. Instead, we learned to cook our own healthy meals and we took up a lot of hobbies as a family such as biking and swimming. Never did she say we were doing it because we were obese.”

Beth wrapped her hand around Nick’s arm, trying to calm him down. She had never seen him this upset before. “Nick, it’s okay. Really I’m fine.”

Nick looked down at her and cupped her face lightly with his hand. His gaze locked on hers and in a softer voice he said, “No, princess, it’s not okay.” Then, closing his eyes briefly, he murmured, “I can’t sit here and let them treat you like this. Are you ready to go?”

She slid her hand into his outstretched palm and let him pull her to her feet. Her mother and father sat across the table staring daggers at both of them. Gray and Suzy stood at the same time. Gray looked around the table and settled his gaze on Beth and Suzy’s parents. “Linda, Harris, I completely agree with my brother. Your daughters are two of the most amazing women I have ever had the good fortune to meet, and I ask that you not upset either one of them in my home again.”

“Now, see here, Grayson—” Harris began.

“No, sir,” Grayson said firmly. “I’m not interested in continuing this conversation. Out of respect for your daughter, my fiancée, I’m going to let this go without further comment, and I expect you to do the same. There will never be any other remarks in my home that involve any type of negativity concerning Suzy or Beth.”

Beth looked over to see that Suzy was suspiciously close to tears. She knew exactly what her sister was feeling. When had they ever had anyone stand up for them? To have the Merimon family defending them now was something that she would never forget. She and Suzy had learned to let their parents vent long ago. Suzy would rebel in some way later, but during a lecture, they just wanted it to be over. Vicky and John had remained quiet through the confrontation and she was surprised and relieved to see the smile of support that they bestowed on her.

Nick clasped Beth’s hand and they walked to the head of the table to give Suzy and Gray a hug good-bye. Suzy whispered in her ear, “Same old shit, different day.”

Beth hugged her tighter and whispered back, “I didn’t think I would make it through a meal without a fat comment.”

Nick’s mother walked over to embrace Beth, and said, “You take care of those babies. John and I are here for you if you need anything.” Vicky hugged Nick next and Beth couldn’t hear what she said to him, but she saw his lips curve into a smile. Nick’s father hugged them both next and invited them to Charleston for the weekend.

Beth then turned to her parents and gave them a tight smile. “Mom, Dad, it was good to see you again. I hope you have a safe trip home.” Her parents gave a polite nod in return and Nick and Beth were soon out the door and walking to Nick’s car. Even after the altercation with Nick, she knew her parents would stay until the official end of the evening. They might not say another word, but they would never disregard polite social rules and leave early. She felt sorry for Suzy, Gray, and Nick’s parents, who could possibly have to endure another few hours of her parents’ company.

Chapter Nineteen

Never had Nick felt more fortunate to have the parents that he did. He’d always thought Beth and Suzy were kidding when they talked about how uptight their parents were. Hell, uptight was too good for them. They were downright obnoxious. He couldn’t remember one polite word that they had uttered the entire evening. Every word and every eye roll from them was critical. No wonder Beth was so damn terrified to put a bite in her mouth. He could only imagine the criticism that she had endured growing up. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if she had been thin; they would still have found something that didn’t measure up to their standards. What was surprising was how well she and Suzy had turned out. They could have ended up being cold, uptight clones of their parents instead of the warm, loving people they were. Sure, they both had some quirky personality traits, but that only made them more unique.

Beth hadn’t said a word since they had gotten in his car. He had let the silence linger, thinking that she probably needed time to come to terms with the evening. Truthfully, he was a little afraid of what her reaction was going to be. He had told off her parents without even realizing he was about to do it. There was that saying: I can talk about my family, but no one else can. He may well have pissed her off and caused a bigger rift between her and her parents. When he had felt Beth shrinking into herself as her mother and father told the entire table about her weight battles, he had just snapped. This beautiful woman was carrying his children and he would not allow anyone to humiliate her in any way, even her own parents.

He could tell that his own parents were appalled as well. When he had hugged his mother, she had whispered in his ear, “My mixing bowls will be waiting for you when you are ready.” Almost every decision or heartache he’d had when he was growing up had been talked over in the kitchen. His mother had taught Nick and Gray to cook at an early age, and they both continued to go home when their problems were overwhelming. They both knew that the baking pans, and their mother’s and father’s listening ears, were always there waiting for them. Damn, he was blessed.

As wonderful and understanding as they were, he knew that his parents had been blindsided with the pregnancy announcement. There would be more questions and more explanations to make there. He didn’t really know why he hadn’t told them he was practically living with Beth. Maybe because he knew his father would give him “the talk” if he knew that Nick was dating Suzy’s baby sister.

Everything had happened so fast between them. It still felt like there had been a whirlwind around him since he first met Beth. They had amazing sex—a lot of it—and then, in the blink of an eye, he was practically living with her. On the rare occasions that he had stopped to ponder it, he had been helpless to pull back. Her vulnerability and insecurities were so at odds with her wild, uninhibited abandon in the bedroom. The women he had dated were usually overconfident and had seduction down to an art form. Beth, on the other hand, would lose herself completely in their lovemaking, giving and taking with equal measure. She would purr with pleasure in his arms as he praised her body. Then, the next morning, when their clothes were on, she turned back into reserved Beth. It was like living with two different women. Maybe that was why the usual boredom had never come. He never knew what to expect from her next and he loved it. He walked around with a near constant hard-on at home, wondering when she would turn back into insatiable Beth.