Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

" I want to go home and go to bed," Joe said, knowing that she was whining, but she couldn't help it. After an eight-hour class and a two-hour drive, the only thing that she wanted was to go home and crawl into her own bed.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't the only reason she was tired. Since Eric gave her the shock of a lifetime on Friday, they'd been inseparable when she wasn't in class. They went for walks, talked, went out to eat, went dancing, and cuddled and whispered most of the night while Nathan snored a few feet away. They hadn't had a chance to make love since they'd decided to give this a chance and she fully planned on rectifying that just as soon as she found a way to get out of this.

"Can't," Eric said, reaching back and grabbed her hand when she tried to make her escape. "Mom called a family dinner."

"But I'm not hungry. I'm tired. Can't she call a family nap instead?" Joe asked, sounding hopeful.

Eric simply chuckled as he threw his arm around her and herded her towards the door. She waited for Nathan to open the front door before she tried to pull away again, but Eric simply tightened his hold around her and pulled her into the house.

She loved Alice, she really did, but she was so damn tired. She hadn't slept much in the past week and she was struggling to stay awake. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"This is too perfect," Nathan said, chuckling softly as he made his way into the kitchen.

Biting back a yawn, Joe followed him into the kitchen, wondering what was so funny when she saw it, or rather, her. Sitting at the table chatting with Alice was a twenty-something bleach-blond woman wearing an eye-catching blouse that sadly didn't have enough cleavage to fill it out and a calculating expression that was focused on Eric.

She should have known this was the real reason why Alice invited them for dinner. It looked like Alice was making another attempt to fix Eric up and Joe suddenly found herself very much awake and ready to be entertained. Was it wrong to start a relationship by screwing him over?

She really didn't think so.

Just because they were together, it shouldn't mean that they couldn't have a little fun and judging by the possessive look the other woman was sending Eric, Joe was about to have a lot of fun.

"Amber, this is my son Nathan and my Joe," Alice said, gesturing towards her and she didn't miss the look of dismissal the woman sent her before it shifted right back to Eric, "and my son Eric, who I was telling you about."

Joe didn't even bother hiding her grin as she ducked out from beneath Eric's arm and avoided his mad grab. "It's nice to meet you, Amber," she said even as she sent Eric an evil little grin and a wink.

"Very nice to meet you, Amber," Nathan seconded, shooting her a smile.

This really was going to be so much fun, Joe decided as she took a seat next to Alice and gave the older woman a kiss on the cheek. She wasn't surprised when Eric tried to yank Nathan out of the way so that he could sit down next to her, but Nathan was fast. He had his butt in the seat next to hers and his arm draped over the back of her chair in seconds.

Eric glared at Nathan as he reluctantly sat down in the only empty chair, the one right next to Amber. As soon as Eric sat down, Amber shifted her chair closer to him.

"What's for dinner, Mom?" Nathan asked.

"I thought we'd order in. What are you in the mood for?" Alice asked brightly as she watched Amber and Eric with a pleased smile.

"I could go for Chinese," Joe said, deciding that now that she got her second wind that she was hungry.

"Pizza," Nathan said, giving a strand of her hair a playful tug.

She noticed that Amber squished her face up in disgust. Alice must have noticed it as well. "What would you like, Amber? Chinese or pizza?"

"Neither, actually. That's too many carbs. But I know a great tofu place," Amber added with a smile that clearly stated that she always got her way and this time would be no different.

As much as she'd love to screw over the guys, Joe was not a tofu kind of girl. The one time she'd tried tofu, she'd ended up sick for a week. The matching grimaces on the guys' faces told her exactly what they thought about the suggestion. Even Alice had a hard time biting back a grimace.

"What about the Chinese buffet on Harrison Street? They have a tofu and sushi bar," Eric said, already getting to his feet. Nathan sighed with relief as he stood up as well.

"That sounds great," Alice said, latching onto the choice that would save them all from eating things that scared them.

The only one that didn't get up was Amber. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking put out as she explained, "But it's not organic."

"Hmmm," Alice said, looking thoughtful, which, of course, made Eric nervous and for good reason. The woman was up to something and they all knew it. The only question at the moment was how hard was this going to make Nathan and her laugh.

"Why don't you take Amber to the restaurant that she feels more comfortable with and Nathan, Joe, and I will grab something to eat and meet you at the movies," Alice suggested.

"Movies?" Joe said, unable to help but frown.

"Since when are we seeing a movie?" Eric demanded, shifting away from Amber as she sent a smug smile his way. Seriously, where did Alice find these women? Even though it entertained her, it was really starting to scare her a bit.

"I think it would be nice to spend some time together," Alice said in that motherly tone that none of them dared argue with. It didn't matter that they all saw each other at least twice a week, Alice wanted to go the movies, then they were going to the movies.

"That sounds like fun," Joe said brightly, sending Eric another evil smile that was met with a glare.

"Fine, but Nathan should bring Amber since he loves tofu," Eric explained as he reached over and grabbed Nathan by the arm and yanked him out of his way. In seconds, he was by her side with his arm around her. The glare Amber sent her way was a little concerning, but Joe shrugged it off mostly because the woman was providing her with free entertainment.

"No, I don't. I love Chinese," Nathan grumbled.

"Don't be silly, Eric. You take Amber out and we'll meet at Emerald Cinemas at nine," Alice said, grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter and headed towards the living room door as if everything was settled, but she knew Eric wasn't about to let this go. She knew he'd do anything and everything to get out of this.

"Mom, I have something I have to tell you," Eric said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Oh? What is it?" Alice asked, pausing by the door.

"I can't take your friend out because Joe and I are seeing each other. So, it would be a little awkward ditching my girlfriend so that I could take another woman out," Eric pointed out with a helpless shrug.

Amber's glare on her intensified as Alice narrowed her eyes on them.

"Joe?" was all Alice had to say.

She could confirm Eric's story and get the woman who looked close to clawing her eyes out a reason to leave or she could have a little more fun. In the end, Joe knew what she had to do.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," Joe said, shaking her head with a pitying sigh as she stepped away from him.

Nathan grinned hugely as he reached out and took her hand. Eric's shocked gasp, of course, pleased her.

"You betraying bitch!" Eric hissed, making a mad grab for her hand.

"Honestly, Eric. You'll say anything to get out of trying something new. It won't kill you to give tofu another try. I'm sure the rash you developed the last time was just a coincidence," Alice said as they headed for the door.

"This isn't over!"

"What are you doing here?" Nathan asked as he loaded his plate with chicken fingers.

"Contemplating manslaughter," Eric said, snatching the plate away from his brother and moving down the line to add beef teriyaki and pork fried rice. With a resigned sigh, Nathan grabbed another plate.

"Where's your date?" Nathan asked, chuckling.

"You mean your date? She's sitting at the table waiting for you," Eric said, nodding towards the woman who looked seconds away from throwing a tantrum.

Nathan frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Eric shrugged even as he watched the little traitor loading her plate up three tables down. "After I explained that I was unavailable but that you were looking for someone like her, she decided to give you a chance," Eric said, slapping his brother on the back before moving on to his next prey.

"You better be kidding," Nathan bit out. "You're kidding, right? Eric?" he said, sounding nervous. Good. The bastard should be nervous. That woman was a nightmare.

The second his brother pulled out of the driveway with their mother and Joe, she'd started in on him, telling him that she didn't appreciate his attitude. He'd just barely stopped himself from sending her packing when he decided to unload her on Nathan and let the bastard see how it felt to be set up with a psycho.

When she started in about Joe, he'd set her straight on that subject. He told her that he was in love with her and she was just nervous about letting his mother know since she didn't want to get Alice's hopes up. Not that she really could since she was his and that's all there was to it.

"He said what?" he heard his mother suddenly demand.

His eyes shot over to the table where he'd left Amber pouting and tried not to wince when his mother turned a glare on him. It was just so wrong that one look from his mother could still scare the shit out of him.

"Uh-oh, looks like someone's in trouble," Joe said in a mock whisper as she walked past him.

With a glare that admittedly dropped to her ass, Eric followed her, snatching the soda out of Nathan's hand along the way. He waited for Joe to sit down before sitting down right next to her and well away from the two women glaring in his direction.

He pointedly ignored them as he put his arm along the back of Joe's chair and ate. Occasionally, he looked up to send a smug smile in his brother's direction as the harpy his mother tried setting him up with chatted his ear off about fashion and diets. Every time the poor bastard went to eat something, Amber went into a lecture about animal cruelty that Eric easily ignored. When Nathan filled his plate up with vegetables, probably to get her to shut the hell up, she lectured him about oils and organic foods.

Joe happily ignored the woman's pointed comments in her direction and enjoyed her meal. When she finally shoved her plate away, a clear sign from Joe that she was done, he took her hand in his and was surprised when she didn't pull away. Then again, they'd always been close so this wouldn't be a big deal to his mother.

"Aren't you getting dessert?" Eric asked, reaching over to push a loose strand of her honey-blonde hair behind her ear.

"Now, why would I do that when you're going to buy me something at the movies?" Joe asked, making him chuckle.

Nathan snorted at that and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "gold digger," but he ignored it, mostly because he agreed with his brother. What was it with women these days? Any other woman and he would have laughed and wished her luck with that, but this was his Joe. So, he'd treat her to a soda, small, of course.

But he wanted a kiss first and he wanted it now. He stood up, giving her hand a small tug that had her joining him. "We'll meet you outside," he told his family as he dropped enough money on the table to cover everything and headed for the door before his mother could stop him.

"Why exactly are you in a rush to leave the restaurant?" Joe asked once they reached his car.

"For this," Eric said, pulling her into his arms so that he could kiss her.

Over the past few days, they'd snuck a few kisses, but it had been difficult kissing her the way that he'd wanted to with Nathan always under foot. He didn't have proof, but he was pretty sure the bastard had been doing it on purpose to screw with him. He'd thought he'd die if he didn't touch her and now that she was in his arms, he didn't want to let her go.

"Come home with me," Eric murmured softly against her lips.

"What about the movie?" Joe asked as she ran her fingertips along his jaw.

"We can watch a movie at my place," he suggested, loving the idea of living that particular fantasy out again.

"Do I get to pick the movie?" Joe asked as she teasingly brushed her lips against his.

"Yes," Eric said since he had absolutely no plans of actually watching the movie.

"He's just really shy," he heard Nathan explain. "But I know he's interested."

"Yes, he is- Eric Parish, what the hell are you doing ?" his mother demanded.

He pressed one last kiss against Joe's lips before pulling back, noting the beautiful blush that painted her cheeks.

"Kissing my girlfriend. What does it look like?" Eric asked, turning to face his mother while he took Joe's hand in his.

He couldn't help but be amused as he watched the play of emotions take over his mother's face. She went from shocked to horrified when her eyes landed on Amber and then turned pleased, very pleased when she glanced back at them.

His mother grinned hugely as she faced Amber. "Did I mention that Nathan is single?"