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*** Karis' POV***

"No." That is my final decision. I get a choice. I have a fucking choice.

"This wasn't up for debate." Vance looks at his watch. He returns his eyes to me with an incredulous look. My own eyes roll on repeat as I try to figure out a way to disobey him respectfully.

"Don't do that, please." Vance softens his vibrato before standing in front of me to softly stroke my jaw with his forefinger and thumb.

"I'm not comfortable, Vance. Please don't make me do this." My plead is genuine. I am expressing how I feel. I can't do this with even an ounce of confidence.

"You have to meet them eventually. They are badgering me about the beauty that has put a permanent smile upon my face. Babygirl, please reconsider." Vance pleads with me with all the charisma of a playful child asking to be pushed on a swing set. It's exceedingly annoying that he is so confident in getting his way.

"How many?" I roll my eyes as I feel my mind preparing to purge my will. Fucking persuasive giant. If he wasn't so beautiful. If his tongue didn't lick away my fears. If those hands weren't such magicians. I'm almost positive I could resist his manipulation.

"Just four. My brother and his wife. My sister with her husband. My parents are out of town. We can do this slowly. I know you are nervous. However, there is really no need to be." Vance continues to bore fucking holes into my soul with those dark honey eyes. I swear he has some type of hypnotic trance shit going on with me.

"We aren't even in a relationship. This is just weird." I try my best to give my flimsy excuse with any form of authority. I know it is futile, at least I can say I tried.

"That is because I am a patient man, with you. If I had my way, you would be moved in here with me." Vance smirks as if his reasoning is completely sane. It is not. I stand beside that.

"You're talking non-sense." I roll my eyes before breaking our eye contact. If I give him an inch, he will have my bags packed before I finish getting ready. I am in no way ready for that.

"That is a matter of opinion. Yours just happens to be incorrect." Vance slides behind me as I make my way towards the bathroom. At this rate, we won't make it out of the house, let alone to meet his family. I wouldn't say it is a bad plan.

"Keep pressing that body against mine, I will have us tangled in the bed together. The only thing I will be meeting is your cock." I smirk this time knowing that I have won this round. I don't often win. Although, I wouldn't say I lose either. We just come to mutual agreements that end in chanted prayers of lust.

"Sounds riveting." His words don't match his body language. Vance pushes off of me to get ready for our day.

After applying my make-up and curling my hair, I get dressed. Seeing that I have stalled as long as humanly possible, I present myself so we can get on with whatever it is we are actually supposed to be doing.

"You look like the cure to my ailment." Vance meets my location head on. His lips descend as I accept his praise on my flesh.

"What ailment would that be?" I sigh when he worships my neck with his kisses. The rough scrape of his beard is a welcomed texture against my chilling skin.

"Addiction to one Karis Vardell." His teeth nip seductively at my neck. My fingers play in the short tendrils above his hairline.

"Glad I could be of service." I pant the words out before absolutely attacking his lips with my hungry kisses. I am really on board with the idea of saying fuck everything in lieu of just straight fucking.

Apparently, Vance sees my tactics long before they manifest into pleasure unimaginable. His hands grip my cheeks as he pulls away. The heave of his breaths tells me that he spent immense energy to halt my persuasion. He smiles wickedly before walking away.

"You're a tease, Vance Teagan." I hurry along after the sexy beast. We make it out to the vehicle before he has me pinned against his truck.

"No. I'm just laying the foundation of promises. Have no question, I will have you boneless by the end of the night." His fingers press into my hip as he makes my center ache. His thigh rubs slowly against my clit through my pants.

"Please. Be. Have." I let my words stumble from my lips. I have never wanted anyone so physically. This man can turn me into a nympho maniac with a simple touch.

"No can do, sweet doll. Keep looking so damn delectable and I will need a quickie in a bathroom." Vance shifts so his boner pokes at my hood. It takes everything inside of me not to rock against it. I need him like fresh air. I don't know how he manipulates my control in such incredible ways.

I push softly against Vance's chest to let him know that we need to get moving. I could play the chase game with him all day however, I am mostly assured that we actually have something pressing that needs to get accomplished today. With a grin, Vance takes my hint.

After opening and closing my door for me, Vance finally buckled into the driver's seat. We start down the street to somewhere I am now the wiser to. It isn't until we stop, that I remember that we do have a slew of errands we are responsible for.

"Come sweetheart." Vance chivalrously helps me exit the truck.

"I almost forgot we needed to stop by here." I confess my temporary forgetfulness. I am the owner, yet I find myself doing less as I spend so much time doing Vance. I have to remember that it is my company. I can't afford to skirt my responsibilities.

"No fear, love. I remembered." Vance leads me through the door of my catering company. Dillon waves us over as we make our way towards him.

"How is everything?" I look over the inventory list while Vance starts a full blown chat fest with my delivery guy.

"Everything is under control. Lisa is coming by to help. There is nothing wrong with you delegating responsibility. You just have a controlling nature." Dillon pushes my hands away from the inventory list. I allow it. I already saw that he has it perfectly filled in.

"You are doing an amazing job, Dilly. I will compensate you fairly." My promise is my word. He has more than earned a raise. It's probably well over due.

"Good timing Boss Lady. Lisa just found out we are expecting." The smile on Dillon's face could light a dark room. I smile back before congratulating them. They aren't married but, that doesn't make a baby any less of a blessing. It truly doesn't matter the structure of your family as long as you have a strong support channel.

"I'm so happy for you. You are going to be a great dad." I kiss the boy on his cheek because he is just a very good guy. Lisa is a phenomenal girl. They are going to be such a lovely family.

"I kinda need your help though." Dillon grabs my attention with his request. He doesn't usually reach out. I'm excited to help him.

"Anything." I answer blindly.

"Can you make me a proposal cake? I really wanna knock Lisa's socks off." Dillon pulls a ring box from his pocket. When he opens it, I'm surprised it is empty.

"Did you forget something?" Vance looks softly at Dillon.

"Um, well." Dillon blushes as his hand comes up to massage the back of his neck. "I'm saving up, but it's slower than I thought. I was hoping I could propose with a promise to get her one down the road."

"Here." Vance hands Dillon a card that I recognize the name of. The jeweler who created my collar gave me a card just like it. "Tell them Vance Teagan sent you. It's my baby shower gift."

I smile at Vance. His kind heart is in rare form today. That jeweler makes quality. Anything Dillon picks will be sure to knock it out of the park.

"I didn't expect this." Dillon's eyes water as he looks to me for confirmation. A nod of my head lights his smile to shine with his glistening eyes.

"Pick whatever you like. No limit." Vance moves in to the kitchen as if he didn't just make all of Dillon's dream come true.

I pay Dillon on the back as I follow Vance.

"That was amazing." I can't help but beam over Vance's generosity.

"Lisa deserves the best. I can share that with Dillon. It's the right thing to do." Vance grabs a fork off of the counter before taking a slice of lemon meringue pie from the cooler.

"I made that last night." I admit. I know it is incredible because Lisa ate two pieces last night before demanding a third. In light of the recent news I see the signs of the announcement. That packed away a large meal and then polished off the pie. Yeah, I know those days.

Vance places the fork to my mouth. I slowly lick my lips after he pulls it away. The low hum from Vance tells me my seduction worked perfectly. It's only a second before Vance pulls me forward to lick away the remnants of my pie.

"Twice as good from your sweet kiss." Vance pulls back with a delighted smile.

"You're bias." I playfully chide.

"Honest." Vance runs his finger over the seam of my lips gently. I swear he is absolutely perfect.

"What's next on the list?" I break our moment knowing that we could get lost in each other all too quickly.

"The bank, the pharmacy and the club. Then, dinner with my siblings." The reminder from him is enough to make me nervous all over again.

"You tricked me into that." I accuse with fiend annoyance.

"Persuasion is not sorcery." Vance leads me out of the back door as we head back to his truck.

"Tomatoe, tomato." I roll my eyes as I get into the truck.

"Just these two. I promise we can take it slow. I appreciate your effort love." His adoration soothes the nerves before they cause panic.

The day drones on with us running errands. I am especially happy when we finally make it to the club. Rex is a flaming ball of sunshine as he regales me with small snippets of last nights show. I rather enjoy the scenes as they play out in front of us nightly. Some nights I just can't make it to the club. I am easily tired over my anemia. Vance always stays with me when I can't handle going out.

Like I said, the man is pure perfection.

"This weekend, we are hosting a drag review. You have to be there. Do you think you will be up to it? We will have so much fun?" Rex sets a glass of juice in front of me. I smile while nodding my head. The pharmacy will provide my B-12 shot and I will most certainly be feeling up to a good weekend.

"Good honey, I hate when you are down. It's hard watching a strong woman below her best." Rex kisses Finn on the lips as Finn comes to stand beside his husband.

"Just make sure that you are feeling better. The last week has been rough. I don't think I can watch you pass out again. You scared the fucking shit out of me Karis." Finn is recalling the episode that had me ready for a blood transfusion. Hemorrhaging is tough. It's not my fault nature is a fucking cunt.

"I will try not to scare you. Sorry." I feel bad about the whole thing.

"Nope, we do not apologize unless we did something that is our fault." Rex places two fingers under my chin before placing a kiss on my cheek. His love for me is always a gift that I appreciate.

"We are making sure Karis takes her iron, trying to eat correctly and the shots help. Don't worry. Karis won't be taking another plunge anytime soon if I can help it." Vance slides his hands around my waist. I lean into him like the support that he is.

"I'm glad you two found one another." Rex's obvious admiration causes me to smile wider.

"Me too." Vance looks at me with those eyes that make me so glad that his persuasion is like my personal drug. I'm glad we found one another as well.