Nerds on Fire (33 page)

Their lips met and one of them
groaned. It was amazing and incredible to kiss this man. In this
case, not any man would do. Only this one. His lips were
surprisingly tasty.

She nipped his bottom lip with her
teeth and he rumbled again, but for an entirely different reason.
With a gentle caress of her tongue, she soothed it and then
explored his top lip. Tracing it with her tongue, Trixi settled in
to enjoy herself.

Forgetting where she was until he
suddenly rolled. In a heartbeat she was flattened under him. “Hey,”
she protested, sort of.

He laughed, and then set about
exploring her lips. It was as thorough as the man himself. Soon
their tongues were dueling and she enjoyed this as well. They slid
sensually across each other, in a dance of discovery.

Never before had she kissed this
intensely. Never had a kiss been so intimate. Never had a man felt
so good and so much like he was a part of her life.

A loud pounding on her door split them
apart. Both of them turned to glare at the door as Katy and Leo
sailed in.

“
I told you they were
kissing and didn’t want to be disturbed.” Katy indicated the bed
with her chin.

“
Oh yeah, I forgot they
were kissing now.” Leo scratched his jaw, not in the least
concerned.

“
Can we make him go home?”
Mark asked hopefully.

Laughing, Trixi shook her head. “I
don’t think so. Lauren might need his help.”

They glanced at the clock.
Trixi gasped. “We slept for
two
hours?”

“
You were both tired.” Leo
glanced around the room.

“
What did you two do while
we napped?” She couldn’t believe how long they slept. You’d think
they didn’t sleep at night. Then she thought of the still ominous
goings on, so none of them did sleep well right now. Even with Mark
here.

“
We also napped, and then I
had a few errands to run, so Leo and I left to do those. We took
Gran with us because she had some things to do too.”

“
She’s an awesome lady,”
Leo remarked.

“
Yes, she is. We adore
her.” Trixi sat up so she could refold the blanket. Mark sat up
with her and cracked his jaw.

“
I haven’t slept so well in
ages.”

“
You both needed it. Now,
let’s go help Lauren.” Katy pointed out the window.

“
She’s here?”

“
She just pulled up and it
looks like she has a full load.”

Leo grinned. “In her car, it’ll only
take one person to empty.”

“
That’s not her car she’s
driving. It’s a truck.” Katy and Leo hurried out of the room to
help.

Trixi and Mark rolled off the bed and
stretched. Mark backed her against the armoire. “Thank you for the
best nap of my life,” he murmured against her lips.

Happiness infused her. “You’re welcome
and thank you for the same.”

Their lips met in another mind-blowing
kiss before they reluctantly followed Leo and Katy outside to help
Lauren.

“
You’re still feeling
guilty,” Mark accused behind her as she gazed after Lauren who had
just driven off for her next truckload.

“
Not so much now. She’s
excited about the apartment and it is nice. The rent is reasonable
for the area, and she can catch a ride with us if the weather is
bad since we all work at the same hospital.”

“
Who pointed this out to
her?”

“
Leo.” She pointed to the
culprit who was busy checking out the tractor and firing questions
at Katy.

He laughed. “I think she’s going to
enjoy living here. It’s safe and close to work, not to mention
nice.”

“
I’m fine now. It was just
getting over the initial hurdle.”

“
This means you’re
independent.”

“
Yes, and financial
independence is good. Dad can finally concentrate on his own home
instead of worrying about mine.”

“
Is his place bigger than
this?”

“
He owns the old Wintermyer
estate.”

Mark whistled. “You’re a
Wintermyer?”

“
Yes. On Dad’s side. Like
my house, it ended up going through the female side of the family,
Dad’s great-something grandmother, after the males were killed in a
war. I can’t remember which one. His house doesn’t have to pass
through a female, though, like mine.”

“
Your Gran lived there all
her married life?”

“
Yes. She and Granddad put
a lot of time and energy into it. My Gran inherited some money so
they used her funds to spruce the place up. One of the first things
she and Granddad did when she inherited was wisely invest the
money. They did fix up the house, but over a period of
time.”

“
So she still has all those
investments?”

“
I imagine so. Gran has
money, but it’s mostly invested. She lives on the
interest.”

Mark nodded, looking like he was deep
in thought.

“
I’ll be happy to help her
with them if she wants a non-family opinion.” He eventually glanced
at his phone screen. “If we’re going tonight, we better think about
getting ready.”

Trixi’s heart fell. Oh no. What if
Mark’s family didn’t like her? What if they wondered why he was
with her? What if... and too many doubts assailed her.

Dread washed over her in a powerful
wave.

“
She’s scared
to death,” Leo murmured as they watched the women climb the stairs
to change.

“
Katy?”

“
Yes. She’s scared, but not
as much as Trixi.”

Mark paused in the act of pouring
another glass of tea. “What does Trixi have to be afraid
of?”

Leo’s eyebrow climbed nearly into his
hairline. “Hmm, maybe that she’s meeting her new boyfriend’s family
for the first time.”

Okay, so maybe her fears made sense.
He set the glass on the island. “She’s met you.”

“
Right. Has she met Mom and
Dad?”

Good point. “No.”

“
Meeting the folks is hard
enough. But she’s meeting a huge number of family tonight, people
she’s never met before.”

“
But our relatives are
great.” He picked up the glass and took a long swallow.

Across Trixi’s island, Leo
rolled his eyes as he poured tea into his glass. “Yes,
we
know that. How would
you feel if you were invited to a huge family gathering of
Trixi’s?”

His stomach twisted in an
uncomfortable way. “Uh, no thanks.”

“
Yeah, and yet
she’s
doing this for
you.”

A new appreciation for Trixi claimed
him. There were so many things to admire about her, but he hadn’t
thought of this. “She’s an amazing woman.”

“
Yes. She’s also willingly
dating you. Trixi is a
very
special woman.” Leo swallowed some tea then
saluted him with the glass.

“
She seems happy
enough.”

Leo snorted. “We have to tug her off
the ceiling she’s so happy.”

He had noticed that. “She’s
wonderful.”

“
I’m glad you appreciate
her.”

“
I can’t imagine being with
any other woman,” he admitted and then wondered why he was telling
Leo this rather than Trixi.

“
You’re a scared
chicken,” Katy announced once they entered Trixi’s room and shut
the door.

Trixi turned from the perusal of her
wardrobe to stare at her friend. “Of course I’m scared.”

“
Why? The Morrisons are
supposed to be a nice family.”

“
What if they hate me on
sight?”

Katy made a funny noise in the back of
her throat. “No one has ever hated you on sight.”

“
Chrissy did.”

“
Yeah, well Chrissy’s an
idiot. She doesn’t count.”

“
What if they don’t think
I’m good enough for Mark?”

When her real fear erupted, Katy’s
eyes widened. “What? Not good enough? Trixi, are you on
drugs?”

“
He’s amazing and handsome
and smart and funny and sweet...”

Katy held up a hand to stop Trixi’s
recital. “Yeah, I know him. He seems pretty into you,
too.”

“
I hope he’s into me.”
Trixi dropped onto the end of her bed. “He could annihilate my
heart.”

Katy nodded as she dropped onto the
other end. “I think he’s aware of this.”

“
I hope he is.”

“
The fact you’re both so in
awe of being in a relationship together is amazing for us to
see.”

“
Us?”

“
Me and Leo. We keep saying
how well suited the two of you are and he mentioned today about how
amazed and happy both of you seem.”

“
Really? Mark is
amazed
and
happy?”

“
Of course he is. He’s
hiding it better, but I’d say he’s as in awe of the relationship as
you are.”

Why did I need this
reassurance so badly?
Yet her tummy
churning dissipated and the encroaching headache faded. “I’m so
afraid I’ll fall totally in love and he’ll fall out of
love.”

“
That is always a danger,”
Katy said bluntly. “For any couple. But Mark is as into you as you
are to him.”

“
I doubt that’s possible.”
Trixi wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m
really
into him.”

“
Yeah, I picked up on your
feelings.” Katy slid her arms around Trixi’s. “But remember, Leo
knows Mark pretty well and he’s been enjoying the show with
me.”

“
Leo thinks Mark is as into
me as I’m into him?”

“
Oh yeah. Without a
doubt.”

A few of the darker dread clouds
hovering overhead disintegrated. There were still plenty more
forming, because no matter how much he was into her, if his family
didn’t approve, then their relationship would die. It was only the
question of whether the death would be quick and sharp or long and
drawn out.

Just the thought of not being with
Mark sent tremors of pain and fear through her. “I don’t want this
to end.” Her whisper was tight and pained.

Katy’s arms tightened. “No, but then
it’s only just begun. Give yourselves time to form and grow. Your
relationship is brand new. Take the time to enjoy it and the
man.”

Her best friend’s advice made sense.
Trixi nodded. “I will.”

“
As for tonight, be
yourself. You’re an amazing, lovely, sweet woman and unless the
Morrisons are idiots, they’re going to figure this out.”

“
Okay,” she agreed, but in
the back of her mind she wondered if they would actually notice
those traits about her or see something entirely
different.

Please let them like me,
and more importantly, accept that I’m in a relationship with
Mark.

Chapter 32

When they
arrived at his aunt’s house, Trixi’s moist palms and the tremors
racking her small person told him more about her mental state than
anything she might say. He slid an arm around her and drew her
tight against him. She came with a flattering eagerness. Dropping a
kiss on top her head seemed to settle her a fraction.

He hoped his obvious display of
affection told her how happy he was to have her at his side. The
tremors didn’t completely cease, but they did decrease. She was
still nervous and it charmed him.

Trixi cared.

“
Relax,” he murmured
against her temple. Actually, he meant to say more, but the curls
there distracted him. They led to the delicate shell of her ear and
in turn led to her earlobe, which then enticed him over to her
cheek and from her cheek... well there were her lips and he
couldn’t pass those up.

They curled up as he made his way
closer and closer. “Are you laughing at me?”

“
No.”

Their lips connected.

“
It looks like you
are.”

“
I was just thinking about
how distracting you are,” she admitted. “One minute I’m scared
silly and then you start kissing me and the next minute I couldn’t
care less about anything other than you.”

Her lips clung to his. Her eyes
sparkled.

The fey blend of blue and silver
captivated him all over again. “Those eyes.”

“
Hello Mark.” A laughing
feminine voice murmured close by. “Is this Trixi?”

It propelled him back into reality and
by the time he had identified the voice, he was back to himself.
Although the arm around Trixi tightened since he didn’t want her
escaping.

“
Tia.” He wasn’t sorry to
be caught by this cousin. After all, he’d witnessed Tia’s craziness
with her significant other.
[
Bad Nerd Rising
- The Morrison Family Series - Book 7]
“Trixi, this is my cousin Tia Morrison. She returned to
Hershey with me from Rurikstan to settle things here before she
marries Prince Aleksi of Rurikstan.”