Haunted Love

Chapter 9 Part 11

Chapter 9

"Dinner...at your parent's house?"

Thane shrugged and slipped his thumbs through his belt-loops. "I suffered through dinner with your parents. You can do the same for me."

She frowned up at him, "That was a business proposition. You helped me, so I would help you."

He bent his head and lightly rested his lips on hers for a second, but it was enough to have her eyes closing and her mouth trembling. "Come on! What do you have to be nervous about?" He rubbed his hands up and down her bare arms, loving the silky texture of her skin.

She bit her lip and toyed with her fingers as she thought it over. He could see her leaning toward meeting his parents, but something was holding her back. He narrowed his eyes and studied her body language. Her shoulders were stiff, her legs were braced, and her cheeks were rosy with indecision.

No one standing in the realtor's office would know that she was a nervous wreck over a simple dinner invitation. Her cream colored skirt and top looked expensive. The pearls around her neck were sophisticated. The gloves on her hands were eccentric. She dressed herself up every day as though she were going to battle, having to prove to everyone that she was normal. But Thane liked odd, always had, always would, and the small things that made Lindsey unique also made his heart beat fast and his skin tingle.

He tipped her chin up and gave her an easy smile, "I will not force you to do anything that you don't want to do. But I think my parents will adore you almost as much as I do."

She sighed deeply and ran a hand up the front of his red shirt. "Okay...I will go and meet them...as long as they know that we have only been seeing each other for a few weeks and that there is no pressure for them to like me."

Thane winked at her and kissed her luscious mouth once more before he walked away. He casually called over his shoulder, "Dinner is on Sunday night and we are bringing the salad." He winked at her before he closed the door, "But you should know that they think I am halfway in love with you already, so anything you say or do will be fine."

Her mouth dropped open and her face froze in shock. She watched him casually walk down the sidewalk as her world tipped on its side and threatened to keep her that way. Her heart jumped into her throat and her arms wrapped themselves around her middle. She could feel the eyes of the other realtors on her as she calmly walked back to her desk and sat down.

Her fingers shook as she tried to staple some pages together. Joy drowned her suddenly and she put he hands to her cheeks and took a deep, steadying breath before she floated away on cloud nine. Her eyes cut to the window that Thane had just passed and she pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips as she remembered his sweet kiss.

0ooo0ooo0

Thane's parents might think he is love...but Lindsey knew she was already head over heels in love and the love roller-coaster was about to crest a major hill...she just prayed that she wouldn't lose her heart in the process!

"So, you're saying we have to be nice to this girl, no matter what? Is she, you know," John Wilson circled his ear with his finger and made his eyes cross, "crazy or something? Maybe a little touched in the head?"

Thane rolled his eyes as he sat on the edge of his father's beaten up desk. The place smelled like paint stain and fresh cedar. Everything from the concrete floors to the walls and curtains were in the family of brown coloring. Family pictures hung on the walls right beside the first dollar they had ever made. Photo albums lined the floor to ceiling shelves, displaying the work they had performed for thousands of clients.