“How could I trust it was done right if I didn’t do it myself?” he said.

I laughed and told him it was sweet. “My Boy Scout,” I jokingly said before handing him a glass of cold water filled with ice. But, really, my heart was filled to the brim.

The bedroom though, I haven’t seen since we bought the place.

“Just wait here,” he told me.

My parents met Slade a few months ago. He brought a beautiful bouquet of white peonies, ate three plates of Persian food my mom had cooked, and even spoke some words in Farsi that I’d taught him. Luckily, he didn’t show off the dirty words he knew. My mother was immediately smitten.

My dream wasn’t for my parents to simply like Slade. I wanted them to love him and welcome him. Not that I’d stop seeing Slade on account of my parents. But still, it would be so great if they were happy with him. Life would be so much better.

After a cigar with my father on the deck, they came back inside, smiling, while my father tapped him on the back like a friend would. Slade’s gaze devoured mine with that crazy sexy, quiet smirk, and I knew he was in the fold.

“Did you tell him about your bachelor’s degree?” I whisper as my parents step into the kitchen, leaving us alone in the living room.

“I told him everything.” He winks, lust in his eyes.

“What do you mean, everything?” I place a hand on my hip as my thoughts turn to what he did to me last night on my kitchen floor. I flush.

When he wags his brows at me, I smack him in the arm, eliciting a warm chuckle from him. He knows exactly what I’m thinking, and he’s teasing me over it.

Moving an errant hair behind my ear, he tells me, “I told him all about the college program I’m doing online to get my degree, just like I promised my mother I’d do. Told him about bringing fresh water onto the reservation, so the tribal members no longer have to drive hours back and forth for clean water. He’s a great guy, your dad. You didn’t tell me how well we’d get along.”

“I guess I wanted to surprise you.”

“Lauren, no one is as funny as you are.” He chuckles.

“I’ve got to keep you guessing, don’t I?”

His eyes turn to flames. “Since you like surprises so much”—he pauses, and I try not to laugh because we both know me and surprises don’t get along—“be ready for a surprise from me tonight.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of surprise?” I smile, draping my arms around his narrow waist and looking into his eyes. God, he’s hot. “I can’t wait.”

His eyes drift to the kitchen and then come back down to me. “Don’t want to ruin my good name by taking you right here on his living room couch. So, you’d better stop with those heated eyes.”