“If you don’t hurry up and finish that, I’m stealing it,” Ronan whispers, warm breath fanning across my cheek.

“Try it and I’ll stab you with my fork.” I slide another small bite between my lips and mmm my delight.

I can feel his eyes on me. He’s so close, if I turn my head there’s a good chance we’ll be brushing noses again. “You’ve got icing on your lip.”

I lick them self-consciously and lean away so I can turn my head and make eye contact—the kind that should signal him to back off. “All gone?”

“Nope. Still there.”

I raise my napkin with the intent of wiping my face, because there’s nothing more embarrassing than having icing on my face, but he covers my hand with his. “I’ll get it for you.”

“Really, I can do it myself.” Now I’m embarrassed because my entire family is watching and Ronan seems oblivious to all the attention. Or maybe this is on purpose.

“Really, I got it.” He’s right in my personal space, his grin full of villainous mirth. Which I finally understand when he licks the corner of my mouth.

A hot feeling shoots down my spine to settle between my legs. He freezes, his eyes wide, likely with the same shock I’m currently experiencing because Ronan just licked my face. I don’t understand why he looks so horrified since he’s the one who licked me and not the other way around.

“What the hell, Ronan?” I swat his chest and wipe his saliva from the corner of my mouth.

He recovers, expression returning to that same mirthful deviousness. “Hold on. I didn’t get it all.” He leans in again and I put my hands on his chest, trying to keep him at bay. I honestly have no idea what his plan is, or why he’s being so damn flirty.

He backs off as quickly as he tried to attack me, his grin ridiculously wide as he pops what’s left of my cupcake into his mouth.

“You jerk!”

“Oh my gosh, you two are so freaking cute. Aren’t they the cutest?” Maddy claps excitedly, reminding me that we are not alone. In fact, my entire family is watching this display with rapt interest.

Except Skylar. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s pouting. “You should probably get a room,” she says.

“Maybe you two need another bathroom quickie.” Maddy’s smirking. Of course she was just waiting for the opportunity to draw attention to our disappearance right before dinner.

Skylar looks scandalized. “Ew! You did not.”

Ronan wipes his mouth with his napkin and swallows the rest of my cupcake. “I prefer to take my time and savor the experience when it comes to anything that has to do with Blaire, apart from her cupcakes.” He takes my hand in his.

I try to yank mine free, but he tightens his grip and brings it to his lips, biting my knuckle with another one of his mischievous grins.

“Well, I think it’s great that these two lovebirds can’t keep their hands or tongue to themselves, even at the dinner table. That’s the kind of passion every couple should have.” Gran-Gran slaps the table. “I need a glass of brandy. Let’s retire to the sitting room.”

I take the out while I can. “We should probably think about heading home, actually.” This time Ronan lets me yank my hand free from his grasp. I push my chair back, looking to put some space between us.

“You’re not staying the night?” My father’s disappointment is obvious.

“We both have to be up early for work tomorrow.” It’s not a lie. Also, the charade with Ronan has gone on long enough. I’m not sleeping in the same room as him to keep up false pretenses. Besides, I don’t trust Skylar not to pick the lock and try to hump him in the middle of the night.

“That’s too bad. Next time you’ll have to plan to stay,” my mom says.

I doubt I’ll be able to do that anytime soon, but I don’t bother to argue. We spend another ten minutes debating whether we really need to leave. Ronan yawns. I can’t tell if it’s real or forced, but I use it to our advantage.

“Looks like someone is crashing from all the buttercream.”

The entire family walks Ronan and me to the door. Then it’s a round of awkward hugs and lots of people whispering in my ear about how they hope I bring him back at Christmas. Ronan uses me as a shield to avoid a hug from Skylar. Quite literally. He moves to stand behind me, his forearm coming to rest against my collarbones, fingers curling around my shoulder. The entire front of his body is pressed up against the back of mine. I find myself sort of melting into him as Skylar does some kind of weird dance move like she’s trying to find a way between us.

He rests his chin on my opposite shoulder and extends his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Skylawn.”

“Skylar.” She gives it a dead-fish shake, pouting the entire time.

“Right, my bad.” He brushes the shell of my ear with the tip of his nose. “Time to go home, Care Blaire. Dessert round two is calling my name.”

chapter twelve

The Revealing Ride Home

Ronan

Okay, so the whole sexual innuendo, “dessert round two” comment was a little over the top, but I felt it was completely justified considering Blaire’s cousin needs an ego check.

It isn’t until we’re in Blaire’s SUV and we’ve made it past the gates that I finally speak. “That was interesting.”

Blaire glances at me before she turns left out of the driveway. Her cheeks are tinged pink, likely from the embarrassing end to our visit in which I insinuated, in front of her entire family, that I was going to take her home and devour her like one of her cupcakes. “Sorry I didn’t adequately prepare you for the experience.”

“I don’t think anything could have adequately prepared me for that.”

“They’re well-meaning but crazy.” She tucks a few wayward strands of hair behind her ear.

“You can say that again. How the hell did your parents end up swapping partners?” I wonder how many people Blaire’s had to explain this to and whether it ever gets easier.

Blaire blows out a breath. “Uh, I don’t really know what precipitated it, but my whole family has always been really close, traveling together to get new restaurants up and running. Skylar, Maddy, and I were pretty much raised as sisters, and whoever wasn’t on the road looked after us. The parental roles were basically interchangeable.”