Daring Devlin (Lost Boys #1) - Jessica Lemmon Page 0,22

had vanished. Her boyfriend, the police officer, who I’d prefer never found out about my nefarious money-pickup at the behest of my boss.

“Sit. Honey, please.”

I sat and slumped in my chair.

“His name is Barney. I’m sure it’s a family name,” she added. “And he’s coming to dinner on Sunday evening. You already told me you weren’t working so don’t lie about it now.”

“That’s when I thought you were going to ask me to go shopping.”

She frowned at me while I pouted like a peeved twelve-year-old.

“It’s awkward, Mom,” I whined.

She didn’t miss a beat. “So is the fact that you’re almost twenty-three years old and haven’t had a boyfriend since Joshua.”

She never spoke his name. She only whispered or mouthed it. Like whispering his name quieter might erase the memory of learning that her only daughter had been trapped in a heap of metal with her no-longer-living boyfriend. I’d been pinned in the wreckage next to him for nearly an hour before help came. Which made the paramedics’ claim that I’d escaped the incident “unscathed” laughable.

“Are you seeing someone? Is that why you’re not interested in meeting Barney?”

“Mom.”

“Have you even kissed a boy since Joshua?”

“Mom!” Offended, and nervous because I’d kissed a boy less than twenty-four hours ago and hated her supersonic Batmom abilities, my jaw dropped open in horror.

Devlin hadn’t kissed like a “boy,” and my reaction was nowhere near as chaste as when Joshua had first placed his perfectly puckered lips onto mine. He had been so innocent. And good. So good.

I’d grown to resent being good.

“I’m sorry to interfere,” she said. “I just want you to be open to the possibility of—”

“Being set up by my mom? What if you and Roy get married?” She shushed me again and angled a glance at the stairs. I lowered my voice. “What if this Barney guy and I hit it off?” Not going to happen. “Then we’d be like… incestuous or something.”

My mother clucked her tongue in reprimand. “First off, Roy’s nephew is not related to me and therefore is not a blood relation to you, so your argument is invalid. Second, while Barney isn’t Roy’s son, he’s like a son to Roy. We want the two people we love most to meet. Is that so wrong?”

Sort of.

She held up her hands like she was finished. Much to my dismay, she was not. “It’s only dinner. If you two end up liking each other, and I mean like like”—the scone in my stomach rode a wave of nausea at her suggestive tone—“then you can continue whatever relationship you have with him whether or not Roy and I are married.” Her cheeks lifted and shaded a pretty color of rose.

My parents divorced right before Joshua died, outfitting my year from hell with an eighth circle. Unlike Mom, my dad had remarried within six months. I wanted to be happy for my mother’s future with Roy, but I couldn’t clear the idea of dating Roy’s kin long enough to celebrate.

“Sunday at four.” She lifted a plate holding two scones. It was a standoff I was going to lose. “The big one’s chocolate chip.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, taking the pastry. “I’ll go on a date with Barney.”

Devlin

A stakeout of Paul’s house would have been unreasonable before I was jumped by Flotsam and Jetsam, but after getting pummeled and dumped on the side of the road to freeze to death, I’d upped my level of suspicion.

Since I couldn’t risk Sonny finding out that Paul had been responsible for my ass-kicking, I couldn’t ask Nat for backup. I did a minor-league stakeout outside Paul’s house. Two hours later, after watching him take out the garbage, smoke a cigarette, and flip on several lights upstairs and down, I was ninety-five percent sure he was alone. If not, well, I’d put up as good a fight as I could, and ask them to go easy on the face this time.

I climbed out of my car, my hand in the pocket of my leather coat. I fingered the small knife I’d brought in case of emergency. If threatened, it might buy me some time. Those guys had been big, but they were slow.

At the front door, I pressed the door handle with my thumb and blew out a breath of relief at my good fortune. Unlocked. I stepped inside, quietly drying the soles of my boots on the front mat so I didn’t squeak down the foyer. After treading oh-so lightly, I heard whistling coming from the kitchen. I