Heart & Seoul by Victoria Smith Page B

goodies by covering myself with my skirt. If he saw that there
would be no stopping him. “If I let you do what you wanted with
them, you’d be shredding and taking them whenever you wished.”
    His lips lifted. Slinging an arm around my
waist, he pushed me up against him. “Damn right,” he said, before
pressing his lips onto mine.
     

Chapter Two

    After waving off Sam, the Drake family’s
gate attendant, Drake pulled his Jaguar through the iron gates and
up the long drive of his family’s split-level ranch home. When we
got to the top, there was a black Rolls Royce parked outside of the
four-door garage where we usually parked. Standing near the
passenger door was an older looking gentleman dressed in all black.
Gloves, billed hat, and all.
    Drake groaned next to me, tossing his head
back to the seat. “Crap. We almost missed her if Emerson is outside
waiting for her.”
    I turned, my hair bouncing on my shoulders.
“Almost missed who?”
    Drake waved at the old man through the car
window with a small smile. Like he wasn’t upset about whoever the
driver was waiting for.
    “ My grandmother,” he said,
creeping the words through his tight smile.
    The man waved back in response, unaware of
Drake’s distaste.
    After giving the man my own smile, I
subtlety grabbed Drake’s arm. “Your grandmother is here?”
    “ Mmmhmm. My dad’s mother.”
He stopped waving when Emerson went around to the passenger side of
the car… and then stopped smiling. “My mom called to see if we were
still coming before you asked if I was ready to go. She said she
was finishing up with her.”
    Crap. So he was stalling. I
swallowed hard, fearing the reason why. “What’s wrong with her?
Will she not approve of us?”
    He turned my way. Realization dawned on his
face, and I knew he understood what I meant. His expression
surprisingly settled into a smile. He grabbed my hand. “Oh, no,
Lace. My grandmother will love you. I know it. My grandfather might
have been a little harder to bring around, but he died from
dementia several years ago. He was a lot like my dad. My
grandmother couldn’t be more opposite, though. I suppose that’s why
she was his first wife of three.”
    My eyes widened. “Three?”
    “ Yep.” He got out of the
car and came to my side to help me out. Once I was on his arm with
my cookies in hand, he continued. “My grandmother is something
else. Fiery, I guess you could say. I could only guess they were
together in the first place because they were completely opposite.
Complemented each other. She definitely gave my grandfather a run
for his money.”
    It made me smile to hear that, but confused
me at the same time. I didn’t understand why Drake wanted to avoid
her.
    He didn’t explain and led me into the house
where the Drake’s housekeeper, Manuela, greeted us. She took my
cookies from me and told me she’d get them prepared on a platter
for afternoon tea.
    After she left, I decided to push Drake
about his grandmother. “If your grandmother wouldn’t have a problem
with our engagement why were you trying to avoid her today?”
    He took me through the house. “Well, I was
the first grandchild. One of only two for her, and I guess you can
say she can be a bit—”
    “ Tru Tru?” came a raspy,
but excited voice. “Is that my little wrinkle bottom, I
hear?”
    Drake cringed. “Clingy,” he finished.
    A tiny woman with long white hair at the
root that flowed into gray at the bottom charged in from the
direction of the Drake family’s parlor. She had an alarming speed
backing her feet considering her age. She looked to be pushing at
least eighty. She met us in the living room. Her arms out in front
of her, she passed right by me with a goal-oriented gaze. With her
focus set on Drake, I could see why. He was in her arms within a
minute; his face scrunched up as she smacked kisses all over his
cheeks. He was so much taller than her that he had to bend at the
waist to get to her level.
    “ Tru Tru,