She frowned but reached out, taking the jacket and slipping it on. “Thank you,” she said, her voice sounding hollow.
They drove to his parents’ house in silence, the only sounds coming from the baby sitting in the back seat. A sobering reminder of the evening that was about to unfold. He was going to present a surprise fiancée and a surprise baby to his parents, and suddenly, he didn’t look at this plan in quite the same way as he had before.
He was throwing Danielle into the deep end. Throwing Riley into the deep end.
Joshua gritted his teeth, tightening his hold on the steering wheel. Finally, the interminable drive through town was over. He turned left off a winding road and onto a dirt drive that led back to the familiar, humble farmhouse his parents still called home.
That some part of his heart still called home too.
He looked over at Danielle, who had gone pale. “It’s fine,” he said.
Danielle looked down at the ring on her finger, then back up at him. “I guess it’s showtime.”
* * *
Danielle felt warm all over, no longer in need of Joshua’s jacket, and conflicted down to the brand-new shoes Joshua had ordered for her.
But it wasn’t the dress, or the shoes, that had her feeling warm. It was the jacket. Well, obviously a jacket was supposed to make her warm, but this was different. Joshua had realized she was cold. And it had mattered to him.
He had given her his own jacket so she could keep warm.
It was too big, the sleeves went well past the edges of her fingertips, and it smelled like him. From the moment she had slipped it on, she had been fighting the urge to bury her nose in the fabric and lose herself in the sharp, masculine smell that reminded her of his skin. Skin she had tasted last night.
Standing on the front step of this modest farmhouse that she could hardly believe Joshua had ever lived in, wearing his coat, with him holding Riley’s car seat, it was too easy to believe this actually was some kind of “meet the parents” date.
In effect, she supposed it was. She was even wearing his jacket. His jacket that was still warm from his body and smelled—
Danielle was still ruminating about the scent of Joshua’s jacket when the door opened. A blonde woman with graying hair and blue eyes that looked remarkably like her son’s gave them a warm smile.
“Joshua,” she said, glancing sideways at Danielle and clearly doing her best not to look completely shocked, “I didn’t expect you so early. And I didn’t know you were bringing a guest.” Her eyes fell to the carrier in Joshua’s hand. “Two guests.”
“I thought it would be a good surprise.”
“What would be?”
A man who could only be Joshua’s father came to the door behind the woman. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He looked nice too. They both did. There was a warmth to them, a kindness, that didn’t seem to be present in their son.
But then Danielle felt the warmth of the jacket again, and she had to revise that thought. Joshua might not exude kindness, but it was definitely there, buried. And for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why he hid it.
She was prickly and difficult, but at least she had an excuse. Her family was the worst. As far as she could tell, his family was guilty of caring too much. And she just couldn’t feel that sorry for a rich dude whose parents loved him and were involved in his life more than he wanted them to be.
“Who is this?” Joshua’s father asked.
“Danielle, this is my mom and dad, Todd and Nancy Grayson. Mom, Dad, this is Danielle Kelly,” Joshua said smoothly. “And I have you to thank for meeting her, Dad.”
His father’s eyebrows shot upward. “Do you?”
“Yes,” Joshua said. “She responded to your ad. Mom, Dad, Danielle is my fiancée.”
They were ushered into the house quickly after that announcement, and there were a lot of exclamations. The house was already full. A young woman sat in the corner holding hands with a large, tattooed man who was built like a brick house and was clearly related to Joshua somehow. There was another man, as tall as Joshua, with slightly darker hair and the same blue eyes but who didn’t carry himself quite as stiffly. His build was somewhere in between Joshua and the tattooed man, muscular but not a beast.
“My brother Devlin,” Joshua said, indicating the tattooed man before putting his arm around Danielle’s waist as they moved deeper into the room, “and his wife, Mia. And this is my brother Isaiah. I’m surprised his capable assistant, Poppy, isn’t somewhere nearby.”
“Isaiah, did you want a beer or whiskey?” A petite woman appeared from the kitchen area, her curly, dark hair swept back into a bun, a few stray pieces bouncing around her pretty face. She was impeccable. From that elegant updo down to the soles of her tiny, high-heeled feet. She was wearing a high-waisted skirt that flared out at the hips and fell down past her knees, along with a plain, fitted top.
“Is that his...girlfriend?” Danielle asked.
Poppy laughed. “Absolutely not,” she said, her tone clipped. “I’m his assistant.”
Danielle thought it strange that an assistant would be at a family gathering but didn’t say anything.
“She’s more than an assistant,” Nancy Grayson said. “She’s part of the family. She’s been with them since they started the business.”
Danielle had not been filled in on the details of his family’s relationships because she only needed to know how to alienate them, not how to endear herself to them.
The front door opened again and this time it was a younger blonde woman whose eyes also matched Joshua’s who walked in. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, “I
