Spontaneous - Brenda Jackson [25]
He shrugged. “For all intents and purposes, we have.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re role-playing for Mom and Aunt Gert, not necessarily for strangers.”
He chuckled. “Who’s to say she doesn’t know some one who might know you? You’d be surprised how small this world is sometimes. Besides, telling her we’re engaged gave me some practice time.”
“Practice for what?”
“Smiling whenever anyone congratulates us. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot of that over the next few days. Did I seem genuinely pleased?”
She momentarily clamped her mouth shut, not sure what to say or to question why she felt irked by what he’d said. Of course they were role-playing, but for some reason she was bothered by the thought.
When he continued to stare at her, waiting for her response, she pasted a smile on her face and said in a syrupy tone, “You were simply marvelous, darling.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Ready for an Oscar?”
She rolled her eyes. “Um, I wouldn’t go that far.”
He laughed as he reached out and took her hand in his, caressing the finger that wore his ring. “But you would say I was good, wouldn’t you?”
The smile that touched her lips that moment was genuine. “Yes, Duan, you were good.”
And then she gently pulled her hand away from his to eat her ice cream.
7
“DUAN, I’D LIKE YOU to meet my mother, Wynona Cannon-Longleaf-Higgins-Gunter. Mom, this is Duan Jeffries, my fiancé.”
Duan kept his mouth from dropping completely open. Kim’s mother was a very attractive woman. Kim had said she was fifty-five, but to his way of thinking, she looked a lot younger. He offered the older woman his hand. “How do you do, Mrs….” Already he’d forgotten her names.
She beamed happily. “Just call me Wynona. I don’t know why Kim insisted on saying all those names.”
Kim smiled. “Because they’re yours. All four of them.” She glanced around. “And where is the man who might be number five?”
Wynona gave her daughter a frown. “Edward will be here any minute. He’s probably stuck in traffic since he lives on the other side of town.”
She returned her attention to Duan. “Your last name is Jeffries?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And before you ask, Mom, the answer is yes,” Kim said. “He’s Terrence’s older brother.”
“Best friends marrying brothers. How nice.”
She studied his features for a moment and then asked, “And you’re willing to wait for Kim to finish med school before the two of you marry?”
Duan gave Kim a loving smile and slipped his arm around her waist to bring her closer. That was number one on the list of questions Kim had known her mother would ask. Wynona had asked her that same thing when she’d told her mother about her acceptance into medical school. Evidently she was hoping for a different answer.
“Whatever Kim wants, that’s what we’ll do,” he said, leaning over and placing a kiss on Kim’s lips. He could tell from the expression that appeared on Wynona’s face that she wasn’t pleased with his comment.
“But we’re talking about four, maybe five years,” the older woman pointed out. “Don’t you think that’s way too long to wait?”
He opened his mouth to respond but Kim beat him to it. “Maybe you ought to try it, Mom. You, of all people, should know that rushing into marriage serves no purpose other than a quick divorce. Which is why I think you and Mr. Villarosas should take more time to get to know each other before the two of you contemplate marriage.”
Instead of agreeing or disagreeing with Kim’s comment, Wynona smiled at him and said, “And what do you do for a living, Duan?”
“I used to be a cop but now I’m a private investigator. I own my own business.” Now he knew how it felt to be interrogated.
“And I take it that you love my daughter.”
Duan looked at Kim again, and something about being asked that question bothered him. Nonetheless, he plastered a smile on his face before saying, “Very much so. I wouldn’t be marrying her if I didn’t.”
Wynona opened her mouth, but at that moment there was a knock at the door. She smiled. “Excuse me. That’s probably Edward.