"Oh yeah?" Lucian said idly, a smile teasing his lips and a dangerous light in his eyes. "And do you have a regular partner there?"
"And what if I did?" I said archly. I did, of course, because that was what Franklin's specialized in—providing partners for those who didn't have them, or for those who wanted nothing more than unemotional, mind-blowing sex. And Zane had certainly provided that. Although right now, he was off visiting his pack. Hence my frustrated state pre-Lucian.
"Meaning you do," Lucian said. "I'll have to size up the competition."
I laughed. "Franklin's is a service club. No one employed there is going to get emotionally involved with customers. It's against the rules." I glanced at my watch and saw it was nearly twelve. I really needed to get moving. "Shall we say two, then, out front?"
"Done. Eat well at lunch, dear Risa. You're going to need the energy."
I laughed again and hung up, my body humming with expectation as I jogged back to my bike. I sped through the traffic and quickly reached Brunswick Street, but by the time I found parking, I was still twenty minutes late.
"About time," Mom said, her expression critical as I walked through the tables to one they'd marked as their own. She was, as always, dressed simply but elegantly, and her dark blue suit made the blue of her eyes seem even brighter. Her silvery white hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and it oddly gave her face a sharpness that I hadn't noticed before. "Where have you been?"
"I got delayed by a hot man with an even hotter body," I said with a grin, and gave her a hug and quick kiss.
"About time," Riley said. "I was beginning to think I'd have to drag you down to one of the clubs myself."
I laughed as I perched beside her. She smelled of soap and sunshine, and the vivid orange nail polish had been replaced by a more subtle red. "I always have other options. I just don't always take them," I said.
"Franklin's isn't really an option when it comes to a relationship." Mom crossed her arms on the table—a none-too-subtle warning I was about to get interrogated. "So, is this hot man the Aedh I warned you about?"
"Yes." I reached past Riley, swiped my credit card, ordered a Coke, a burger, and a piece of banana cake, then glanced at Mom again. There were shadows under her bright eyes, and concern slithered through me. She obviously wasn't getting much sleep, but I bit back the need to ask why. She'd just wave away my concern, like she had the other few times I'd asked what was worrying her. "What did you see about Lucian?"
"Nothing. He may exist, but the universe is giving me very little about him."
I couldn't help feeling a little more secure about the fledgling relationship. Although Mom wasn't infallible. She'd never seen the havoc Jak could cause, although she had warned me that the relationship wouldn't last. "Maybe you're getting zip simply because there's nothing much to tell. Maybe he is what he says he is, nothing more."
"Maybe." She shrugged and gave me a rueful smile. "I'm too used to grabbing bits of information about people from the cosmos. It always disturbs me when nothing is forthcoming."