“I’m sure you’ll do a fine job as a dance instructor,” she said.
“Assistant instructor,” he corrected. And he probably wouldn’t be doing much instructing, only helping Sunny as needed. Still, he liked to be prepared.
“And you’ll be the best assistant instructor she’s ever had,” Mom continued.
He rubbed his neck. He was helping Sunny, that’s all. But his mother’s expectation was clear. Being good wasn’t enough. He had to be the best.
“Why don’t you call Sunny and see if she can tutor you? You two made a lovely couple on the dance floor. She’s so lithe and graceful. I wonder if she’s single—”
“Mother—”
“I’m just wondering, that’s all. I didn’t say you should ask her out on a date. Unless you want to.”
He padded in bare feet to his kitchen and took a glass out of the cabinet. He didn’t want to ask Sunny out. She was pretty, but she wasn’t his type.
She’s not Olivia.He winced.
“I know—I’ll give Sunny a call,” his mother said. “I can let her know that you’re looking for a practice partner.”
Kingston gripped his phone. “Please don’t do that—”
“I needed to talk to her anyway and make sure we’re on the same page with our lessons.”
He didn’t miss the word “our,” and in Karen Bedford–speak that usually meant her taking over. “You’re an assistant, remember? Not the actual teacher.”
“I just want to run a few ideas past her. Then I’ll let her know you need some practice.”
“Mother—”
“Ta-ta for now!”Click.
Kingston almost slammed the glass down on the quartz countertop. Now what was he supposed to do? He was a grown man, and he didn’t need his mother making plans for him.
But hadn’t she done that most of his life? Except for the past few years, when he had filled his own schedule so full that there was no opportunity for her to add anything else in, she’d micromanaged his free time.
His only option was to call Sunny and head things off at the pass. He made a quick online search for the number of her studio and tapped the digits into his phone. When he got her voice mail, he left a quick message asking her to call him back and hung up.
He then filled the glass with water and gulped it down. He couldn’t spend the next two months asking his mother to stop interfering in his life only to have her ignore him. But he’d had conversations with her about respecting his boundaries before, and it never seemed to stick. He wondered if it ever would.
Then there was the troubling fact that she was almost always right. Everything she’d signed him up for or volunteered him for were things he was not only decently good at but most of the time excelled at. He also enjoyed the activities, almost without fail. But that didn’t mean she could continue to be so intrusive. He just didn’t know how to stop her.
His frustration rising, he went to his bedroom and changed into an old rock concert T-shirt from his collectionthat only he and Anita knew about, then put on some athletic shorts. He grabbed his phone and earbuds and headed outside for a run. Jogging always helped him clear his head.
When he returned home an hour later, sweaty and less disgruntled, he took a quick shower. During his jog he’d realized he needed to talk to Anita and ask her how she’d figured out how to handle Mom. He wasn’t the only one who had a challenging relationship with her or who had been held to high standards. After he got dressed, he left his condo and drove to the Sunshine Café.
As he walked into the café, the rich scent of coffee hit him head-on.Aah.He’d been here only a few times since Anita had opened the café, and zero times this past year. Guilt nagged at him. He loved coffee, and he should be patronizing her and Tanner’s businesses more often. Today was a good day to start.
He scanned the seating area. Business was slow this afternoon, and other than him and the unfamiliar barista behind the counter, only two other people were there—an older gentleman he didn’t recognize and...
Oh boy.
Olivia was tucked into the far corner of the café, near a short hallway that led to the restroom. A laptop sat open on the table before her, and her dark eyebrows furrowed into a flat line of concentration as she tapped on the touchpad. She looked cute today, her emerald-green short-sleeved shirt and black skirt highlighting her olive skin. Although a small silver barrette held back her thick black bangs, the sides of her blunt-cut hair rested against her cheeks, almost obscuring her face from his view. Yes,definitely cute. But he liked her better in that pink dress she’d worn at last night’s lesson.
Oh yes.
His palms grew damp. Thank goodness she hadn’t noticed him yet. He could grab a coffee and leave, since it didn’t look like Anita was there. Or he could spin on his heel and exit right now.
Coward.
