Page 19 of The Daddy’s Girl

“He was so handsome and so charming. But your father had a fit. He had to scoop me up and practically carry me out of there.”

“Are you done?”

She laughs, and a thought instantly crosses my mind.

Opening my eyes, I sit up quickly. “You didn’t…did you?”

“Amelia.”

“Mom, please tell me you didn’t!”

“That is none of your business.”

Oh, but it is. The one thing that might actually squash my crush on Matis forever is the knowledge that my mother has ever—full-body cringe—slept with him.

“I’m only teasing you,” she jokes. “Your father is the only man for me.”

Now that I believe. My parents have been disgustingly in love my entire life, regardless of their thirty-five-year age difference. They’re borderline obsessed with each other. And maybe that’s the problem with my dating life. My dad set the bar so freaking high, no one could ever attempt to reach it. He’s always treated my mom like a queen.

And I know that if he goes first, she’ll never look at another man again.

I want to know love like that so badly. There’s only ever been one person I could imagine myself committing to like that, and it just happens to be the one person I can never have.

“So what about you, sweetie?” she asks, and I glance up with raised brows and wide eyes. Is she really asking this? About me and Matis?

“Me? You mean have I ever slept with…”

“No!” she replies with alarm. “I meant how is your dating life going? Matis agreed to help you find the right guy too, didn’t he?”

“Oh.” I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the thought that my mom would so casually ask if I’ve slept with Matis, like he’s a ride at Disneyland. “Well…to be honest, not so good. That old grump made me swipe left on every single guy we looked at.”

A smile stretches across her face. “He’s protective of you.”

“Yeah, maybe a little too protective. If he wants me to date someone, he’ll have to let me actually talk to them.”

“He just has high standards for you. You always were his favorite.”

Those words make me melt a little. And maybe this is what I’ll have to settle for, being special to him. He loves me, just not in the way I want. I can accept that, can’t I?

Just then, my phone buzzes. Picking it up, I see a text from him on the screen.

Matis: Now what?

“Did you get a match?” my mom asks when she sees me smiling at my phone.

“No,” I reply, flipping it for her to see. “But he did. And now he needs my help in responding. I thought he was good at this part.” Standing up, I head over to hug my mom before going to bed. “I better go help him. Night, Mom.”

“Night, sweetie. Good luck.” There’s humor in her voice as I make my way to my room.

The nice thing about living with my parents in this big house is that I have almost half of it to myself. Julian and I had the entire second floor as kids. It includes three bedrooms and a den that has now turned into my own private suite.

As I head up the stairs, I type out my response to Matis.

Amelia: Now you message her.

Matis: Message her what?

With a laugh, I shake my head. It’s really not that hard.