would I know such a thing?”
“He said you told him to stop by.”
“I didn’t say when.” She sniffed. “He’s a very handsome man, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he’s very good looking.” If you didn’t mind that he stole Tony Robbins’s outsized smile.
“And he’s got a very successful practice. You two would make such a cute couple. Did he tell you about his girls?”
“Yes, he did. Mom, I told you. I’m not looking to be part of a couple. I don’t have time for that.”
“And I told you, you’ll make time when you find the right man.”
I sighed and glanced at the ceiling. There was no winning with my mother. She was absolutely certain she knew what was best for me, and she was not going to give up.
“If you’re going to send guys my way, could you please make certain I don’t have plans for the evening?”
“You had plans?” She latched onto that idea too quickly. “Is he nice? How long have you been seeing him? Will you introduce us to him when we come up for the Fourth?”
“It’s not like that.” I had to slow her roll. “I have guitar lessons on Friday nights now. I had dinner planned with my guitar instructor, and then I was going to turn in early. Yesterday was hard. I was worried about this cat named Stripes.”
“I’m sorry the timing was bad.” She really sounded sorry.
“I just wish you wouldn’t try to spring things on me. My life is busy. I have routines that I really like. I don’t want surprises.”
“But, darling, sometimes surprises are wonderful.” She never listened. “And besides, I honestly had no idea he’d just present himself like that. It does seem rather desperate, doesn’t it? Of course, he said he had a little crush back in the day.”
“It was excruciating. Please don’t do that to me again.”
She hesitated. I could hear her gears whirring. “In future, I’ll only give out your number, not your address or any other identifying information. I promise.”
“That’s gonna have to do, I guess.”
“I love you, sweetheart. You’re my favorite.”
“You too, Mom.”
“I heard that.” In the background, Dad said, “You told me I was your favorite.”
“I’m sorry, but today it’s Lindy.”
“You’ll be my favorite parent if you keep Mom’s matchmaking in check.”
“Will do.”
Mom said, “Oh, hush, Doug” before she hung up the phone.
I loved my parents. I missed them. But I wondered if my move to St. Nacho’s wasn’t the thing that kept us from killing one another.
A tap on the door made my belly clench. “Come in.”
Beck poked his head inside. “Travis said you wanted to see me?”
“Oh, yeah. Sit down.” I straightened papers on my desk unnecessarily. Beck took the chair opposite mine and slouched in it with an insouciance I worried was a front.
“I wanted to apologize for the way I handled last night.”
His eyebrows rose. “What about it?”
“Well, I promised you dinner.”
“No worries. I ate. We can catch the lesson some other time.”
“I guess what I mean to say is, we didn’t get much of a chance to talk about what happened between us, and then the very next night, there was a man on my porch—”
“That wasn’t your fault. What’d you tell your mom?”
“I told her to knock it off with the matchmaking. I guess she didn’t know he’d drive down like that.”
“Guess not.” He glanced around and saw the mini fridge. “Do you have a water in there? I’m parched.”
I said he could take whatever he liked. He tore the cap off a bottled water and drank half down. The slim column of his throat worked, and he thumbed stray drops off his lips before he took another breath.
“Thank you. Was that all?” he asked.
“Well, I guess we should talk about…things, don’t you think?”
Confusion showed in his lifted brows. “What things?”
“Um, I guess we should start with the fact that I had a really good time with you the other night.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “Me too.”
“And while it was amazing, it’s not really something I do. Or rather, I have these pretty strict rules about how I do them.”
“Like, bondage rules? Safe, sane, and consensual? Should you have given me a safeword?” His expression showed only polite interest as he took another sip of his water. “Maybe I should have said. I use red.”
“No. That’s—” I raked my hand through my hair. “I don’t want you to think I just blew you off for another guy.”
“Whatever,” he said. “You didn’t know he was coming, and your mom sent him, so you couldn’t