I laugh. “Always the ladies man—you never change.”
Gabe grins down at me. “Can’t say the same thing about you, sis.” His eyes flit over my shoulder in Zach’s direction. “Who’s this?”
I smile and then turn towards my boyfriend who’s’ watching us with mild curiosity while leaning against his rental car. “Gabe, this is my boyfriend, Zach. Zach, this is my brother, Gabe.”
Zach pushes his sculpted body away from the car and extends his hand. “Hey, man. Nice to meet you.”
Their hands make a small audible clap when they meet. “You, too. Say, you look familiar. Have we met before?”
My brother’s eyes scan my man’s tatted-up arms as he mentally tries to place his familiarity. While I know why Gabe thinks he’s seen Zach, I won’t burst in and ruin Zach’s cover if he isn’t ready to share that part of himself with my family, yet. I’ll leave that secret for him to reveal.
Zach shrugs and grins wickedly. “Maybe at the country club?”
My bother pauses for a moment before he chuckles, catching the hint of amusement in Zach’s voice. “I think I would remember you at the club. Hell, you’d be my biggest competition for the ladies. I know how they go gah-gah over men with tattoos.”
I hook my arm through Zach’s and peer up at his face. “I can vouch for most women when I say tattoos are sexy.”
My brother shakes his head. “Let’s hope you’re right about that, sis, because he’s about to meet a woman who I’m pretty sure has a snooty-stick shoved so far up her ass she doesn’t find anything appealing, let alone sexy.”
I smack my brother’s arm. “Gross! Don’t ever say Mom and sexy in the same sentence ever again. Those two words are now forbidden for use together.”
Gabe laughs. “You know I never did like rules. We always had that in common, remember?”
I give Zach’s arm a gentle squeeze, thinking of how I’m breaking the rules right now by bringing this man home. “I do. Are Mom and The Judge home?”
“Yeah, they’re in there. They don’t know you’re coming do they? I mentioned you coming home this weekend and neither of them had no clue what I was talking about, so I left it alone. I figured you had your reasons.”
I shake my head. “No. I didn’t want to explain my unscheduled visit with them.”
Gabe’s eyes widen and instantly drop down to my stomach. “Holy shit! Are you pregnant?”
My hand flies to cover my belly. “God, no! “
“You’re getting married then, or you’ve already gotten married?” My brother grins while his eyes bounce back and forth between Zach and me. “I’m glad I decided to come home from school this weekend. This should be a damn good show.”
“You’re an idiot.” I sigh. “It’s neither of those things…” My eyes flick to Zach’s for a split second before I turn my attention back to my semi-annoying sibling. “At least not yet, anyway. But, there is something pressing I need to speak with them about.”
Gabe waves us towards the house. “Well, come on. Let’s get this show started. I have a court reserved in a bit with a hot, little blonde from the club. I’m hoping to crush her on and off the court, if you know what I mean.”
I roll my eyes. “What is it with you men and sex? Is that all you ever think about?”
Both men in my presence answer “yes” in unison, and then immediately laugh.
“I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Zach. Watch out for my old man, though. In this case the apple falls very far away from the tree.”
“Thanks for the tip, bro. I’ve heard some stories about The Judge,” Zach says.
“Most are probably true. Tread softly, man. The tattoos won’t help your case much, I’m afraid. He’s old school and correlates them with criminal activity.”
Zach shakes his head. “That’s so judgmental. Talk about stereotypical.”
My brother shrugs. “He is a judge. It’s his job to be judgmental.”
“Touché,” Zach laughs. “Let me grab our bags from the trunk.”
“I’ll help you,” Gabe says.
My heart warms instantly at the sight of the man I’m deeply in love with talking and laughing with my one and only sibling. More than anything in the world, I want Zach and my family to get along well. I know if they can see the way he loves me they’ll understand why I love him so much and why he’s the perfect man for me. Gabe’s right though. The tattoos won’t make the best first impression—neither will his occupation once they all find out who he is, but I hope they can get past that. I need them to get past that, because no matter if they approve or not, this is the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.
My brother takes my bag from the trunk and Zach closes the lid. “Anna nearly has dinner finished. You’re just in time to sit down to a traditional Sunday lunch with the family, Zach.”
Zach arches his pierced eyebrow. “Anna?”
“Our housekeeper,” I answer after retrieving my purse from the car. “My mother hasn’t cooked a meal herself since Dad’s career took off.”
“And that’s a blessing if you ask me. Anna is a much better cook than Mom.” Gabe states as we head towards the front door. “I prefer a little Latin flavor.”