@BigFatNips @willaful I write romance books that are nothing like this, partly because the main pair are gay.
But Nettie calls them on it several times. "He left me alone with a complete weirdo." "I'm not wearing a bathing suit in front of you!" "You didn't put anything weird in this [food], did you?"
She has her reasons for being suspicious just like her uncles have reasons for trusting one another.
@BigFatNips @willaful Probably the strongest character in all the books is Lee (Leandra): she has no interest in men and the MC has no interest in her, but they are exceptionally close because she's been his handler for over a decade. Both their partners have had doubts over this.
"Do you think it would be more believable if we f*ed and THEN denied it?"
"Trust you to come up with something that convoluted and stupid."