Page 24 of Teach Me Your Ways

“Positive. No sparks. No kindling. No flint or steel. Just two professionals working together. No feelings.”

Lie. Dirty, sweaty, anxiety-inducing lie. Looking at that photo on her laptop was enough to make my thighs clench and my stomach flutter. And that had been nothing compared to being alone with him earlier. The way he had looked at me when he caught me trying to put that ugly pair of coveralls on?

But I wasn’t going to tell Mom any of that.

Thankfully, she seemed to be ready to drop the subject and save the lecture about fucking my boss.

“Sophie asked about her father again today,” Mom said, splashing cold water all over my heated feelings.

My chest went tight. “Yeah, she’s getting old enough to wonder why the other kids have two parents and she doesn’t.”

“I told her he’s somewhere far away. That she has everything she needs right here.”

I nodded. “That’s true enough.”

Sophie didn’t need to know her daddy ran out the door the second that pregnancy test produced two pink lines. He’d packed up and left without a word, just a text saying he wasn’t ready to be a dad. I cried for two days and then pulled myself together because I didn’t have the luxury of falling apart.

“She doesn’t need to know he turned tail and ran,” Mom said softly. “Let her have her innocence for a little longer.”

“She’s better off without him,” I said. “So are we. I had to delay grad school, but life’s back on track now. She’s healthy and happy. She’s got you. She’s got me. We’re a good team.”

“She’s got a mother who loves her more than anything,” Mom added.

“Damn right. Everything I do is for her.”

“Make sure no one derails you again, Cece. No matter how hot they look on top of a pyramid.”

I laughed. “That’s oddly specific.”

“You’re oddly specific. Just be careful. I know how hard you’ve worked to get here. You’ve sacrificed more than most kids your age ever have to. And I know an attraction when I see it. Before you made me a grandma at the ripe old age of forty-eight, I was a very active woman.”

“Please don’t tell me about your sex life with Dad.” I said it with a disgusted groan, but it was playful. My mother never denied how much she loved my father and how attracted they’d been to one another.

I reached for another cracker. “It’s not like I’m going to lose my mind over a good-looking professor. I’m not willing to risk everything over hot sex and good hair.”

“Hot sex, huh?”

“Mom.”

“I’m just asking questions.”

“You’re meddling.”

“I’m your mother. It’s literally in my job description.”

God, I was lucky to have her. Most single moms my age were scrambling, but I had backup. Support. Sophie was loved.

“I’m going to bed before you start asking about birth control,” I said, standing and stretching.

“Already covered. I put a box of condoms in your nightstand.”

“You did what?”

“Better safe than sorry. And honey, if you’re going to break your own rules, at least be smart about it.”

“I’m not going to—” I started, then caught the knowing look in her eyes. “Goodnight, Mom.”

Her laughter followed me inside. If only she knew how close we had come to needing a condom that first night.