AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d buttoned her shirt higher and tucked a table napkin in at her neck, creating a waterfall of gray fabric that obscured the view of her breasts beneath the see-through material. So damn adorable. And smart.
Probably should have respected her wishes on this one. Too late now. All he could do was help her out of the awkward situation he’d created.
“Babe, don’t get up. I know your foot hurts from twisting it at the gym. Leigh, this is my mom, Marie. Mom, this is Leigh.”
“Please, stay where you are.” His mom flapped her hands toward Leigh. “No formalities required with me, I’m not one of those uptight, judgmental type mothers. And since Sam has never introduced me to a girlfriend before, I’m happy just to meet you, period.”
Standing behind his mom, he shrugged his shoulders and shot Leigh a wink. He might catch hell for all of this later. If so, he knew plenty of ways to make it up to her.
Her smile grew, changing from necessity to the real deal. Beautiful. She shifted her attention from him to his mom. “Thank you, Marie. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“It sounds as if you’re a fitness person, like Sam. Did you meet at the gym?”
“Yes, at Sam’s old gym.”
“Really? He hasn’t been there in quite a while.”
“Yeah, so good thing it wasn’t my neighbor at the door,” he said, before his mom could jump to the next question and ask how long they’d been dating. And she would. He was a chip off the old block when it came to being direct.
“Is that why you didn’t answer when I knocked, because you thought I was your neighbor?” Facing him now, his mom narrowed her eyes. “You must be talking about the annoying little troll who had your sister’s children barred from the building.”
“That’s the one.”
Leigh’s jaw dropped. “Mrs. Fewster did that?”
“You’ve met her?” his mom asked, turning toward Leigh.
“Just once.”
“Once is enough with that woman. All Sam wanted to do was give his sister a night off from the twins to enjoy a much-needed date with her husband. The babies cried a bit, as babies do. And for that, his menace of a neighbor complained to the condo board. Now Sam’s niece and nephew aren’t allowed in the building. Not even for a little visit.”
“What a nasty thing to do. Though I’m not sure a condo board can ban family members from visiting a privately owned unit, based on their age.”
“The letter looked pretty official to me.”
“I’m sure you could appeal it.” Leigh leaned forward and crossed her arms on the table. Her elbow caught and pinned the edge of the table napkin, pulling the rightmost portion of fabric from the neckline of her shirt. One wrong move and the curtain would drop completely.
Taking advantage of his position out of his mom’s sightline, he tapped his collarbone, then pointed at Leigh.
The warning backfired. Instead of being extra careful, she shifted in an attempt to look down at herself, causing more of the napkin to come untucked. Anybody inclined to look would see she was braless under that see-through shirt. Another inch and her entire right nipple would be visible.
Her wide-eyed gaze flew to his face. She may not have understood his initial communication, but she was on point now.
Gently taking his mom’s arm, he turned her toward him. “Can we raincheck our visit to another time? This was my first opportunity to cook for Leigh and I don’t want everything to get cold.”
“Of course, of course. See me out?” At his nod, she glanced over her shoulder and waved at Leigh. “I hope we’ll have a chance to get to know each other better very soon.”
“Subtle, Mom.”
“Subtlety is a waste of precious time,” she said, as he ushered her off the balcony.
Leigh’s laughter followed them inside.
He couldn’t wait to get back out there, see the smile that went along with her laugh. But his mom had requested an escort to the door. That could only mean one thing. “What’s on your mind?”
Stopping near the door, she pointed toward the balcony.
“What about her?” He kept the defensiveness out of his voice, but it was right there, ready to become an offense if she mentioned Leigh’s age.
