Once he got the coffee brewing, John edged closer to her and kept his head low. “All you need to do is act normal and pleasant, my love. Let me handle the rest.”

Her head snapped up. “What did you call me?”

John pursed his lips. Right. “I didn’t mean...”

“Honey, bring me one of those cookies while you’re at it,” Margaret called.

“Will do,” he shouted.

“I can’t do this right now,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Don’t panic,” he whispered, glancing at the coffee pot. It was only a third of the way full. “I didn’t mean to call you that, I just—It slipped. Like a pet name.”

Victoria didn’t reply. Instead, she went through his cabinets for a plate and set it on the counter before moving around him to the refrigerator. She dug through the bowl of cookies and set two fistfuls on the plate. She tore off several paper towels and began folding them into neat squares. John was losing her to the spiral in her own head.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said. “For now, you don’t have to worry about my moms. They’re not judgmental at all. They love liberated professional women.”

“Stop talking, John,” she said, folding her last napkin. “It’s making me more nervous.”

He stopped talking. When the coffee pot was halfway full, he pulled it out and filled two mugs before shoving it back under the drip.

“I’ll carry the cookies and cream if you get the coffee,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

She caught him staring at her. “I’m really sorry, John, but I’m going to flounder in there. I just want you to know before it happens. I’m not good with my own mother and I would never be caught in this situation with her.”

“But you have nothing to worry about.” He tried to make her believe his words, but her expression remained stricken with anxiety. There wasn’t anything left to do but to push her into the lion’s den and hope his mothers could behave themselves until they left. Once alone, John would probably need to ease her anxiety again. He couldn’t believe he called her my love. In the quest to comfort her, the words had actually slipped from his lips. John had to convince her that he didn’t mean it. After he convinced himself.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five