Force of Forever (All In #0.5)

But his touch was not enough. She needed more than an unspoken promise if she was going to insulate herself from further pain. But as her eyes raked over the golden-tinted stubble, smooth lips, and tousled hair that she had spent a night losing herself in, she realized it might be hard to find the bricks to build those walls.

“Wow,” Ami whispered. “I’d tone down that intensity in front of the family.”

Pia blinked and looked away. She chewed on her lips as Matt easily fell into a conversation, or interrogation, with her dad and Felix. He finished all the food on his plate, too. Her mom would like that. Pia glanced over and noticed that her mom still watched from the doorway. When Pia met her gaze, she offered a wide smile before disappearing inside. Aron, although older than Pia, seemed uninterested in playing the protective big brother card.

“You had no part in this?” Pia muttered to Ami.

Ami was busy picking apart a sweet roll and shoving the pieces in her mouth. “Absolutely not. This is like a movie, and he’s like a damn movie star. Good lord, girl.”

Pia silently agreed. The dress shirt and dark jeans look really worked on him.

She let him eat seconds and make small talk as long as she could stand it. Then she gripped his bicep and pulled him to standing. “Come on,honey. Let’s give you a tour of the house.”

Matt smiled at her family. “Nice meeting you all finally. Thanks for having me. I know these Sunday dinners are Pia’s favorite.”

She raised an eyebrow as she dragged him away. He was really selling this “together for three months” fabrication.

Carol grinned at her wickedly as they passed by. “We’ll be having words later,” Pia told her.

“Oh, I’m sure we will,” Carol replied in a singsong voice.

Traitor.

She led Matt through the compact kitchen, where, without stopping, he thanked her mother for the meal, then past the living room, where her younger cousins all lounged with phones in hand and video games on the TV.

When they hit the stairs, he attempted to slow her by tugging on her hand. “Bedroom already?” he teased.

Pia threw him an eyeroll over her shoulder. “You’re out of your mind.”

“I might be,” he agreed.

Pia turned to face him. From two steps above, they were the same height. “No, youareout of your mind. That’s one hundred percent. Showing up to family dinner without a warning? A million things could have gone wrong. I could have been at work, and you would have had no one to save you from my dad. You have a fancy phone, Matt. Why not use it?”

Matt captured her other hand in his. Staring into her eyes, he gave her a wistful smile. “I knew my apology had to be just as big as my mistake.”

She raised an eyebrow, silently ordering him to continue.

“Honestly, I hadn’t planned on coming here today. I just happened to be on Carol’s flight earlier, and she helped me move my plan up a few weeks.”

“What plan?”

“My ‘convince Pia to give me another chance’ plan.” He shuffled up one step, and Pia inhaled the spicy smell of him. “It’s a good one.”

She tipped her head up. “Shouldn’t I be the judge of that?”

Gentle fingers found her face. “Absolument. I wanted to apologize in person for the way I reacted to our news.”

Our news.Pia’s stomach swooped, taking in the small word that meant so much.

“And then I ran into Carol, who informed me she’d be seeing you after the flight today. I convinced her to take me along to surprise you, though it took alotof convincing. I’m assuming she knows about…”

“Say it,” Pia whispered.

His eyes closed for a long second, then opened again. “The baby. Our baby.”

The knot in her stomach unraveled a fraction. “She does. She also knows how you reacted.” She squinted at him. “Yet she told my family you’re my boyfriend.”

“That was just quick thinking on her part.” He squinted back. “Thank you for going along with the ruse.”