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For reasons I don’t even want to dissect, I don’t want her thinking poorly of him. I’m an adult and capable of making my own decisions. As is he. But my mom’s old school when it comes to romance, and I know she’d find my actions in the club to be very scandalous.
“It all worked out,” I say, bypassing her question. “I landed some huge wins for the company.”
Thankfully, she doesn’t call me on it.
I continue to work through the details of the meeting, filling them in on every last piece, except for who we were bringing on as the talent.
They both begged, but I remained silent. I explained what we were up against without calling out Bauer and that I was under strict secrecy. When they heard the penalty would be losing my job, if not worse, they both said they understood.
I could tell they were disappointed. I am, too. I’m so excited about Holly Morgan potentially working on this campaign, but it’s not something I can share, especially before the ink’s dry.
“My baby girl, moving up in the world.” Mom smiles brightly, motherly pride beaming from her. I return the smile.
Lily engages my mom in a conversation about her area of town, and I zone out.
Thoughts of Charles are invading my peace and setting me on edge. The man has taken up too much of my energy this past week, but I can’t say I hate it.
He’s an enigma, carrying around secrets that I’m desperate to uncover.
I swipe my tongue across the rim of my glass, gathering the salt on my tongue before tipping back the lime margarita, eager to think about anything other than Charles.
It’s our weekly taco Tuesday, complete with a pitcher of regular and peach margaritas. We’ve been doing this for the past few years, and I refuse to stop the tradition now due to my job, even if I had to cancel the last few weeks.
“Tell me about your boss,” Mom says, and I take another sip, sighing around the strong bite of lime.
“What’s there to say?”
Lily snorts. “A lot,” she says under her breath, and I fix her with a look of warning.
Her eyes half-roll, but she doesn’t say anymore. But my mom hears everything, and she didn’t miss Lily’s remark.
“Spill,” she demands, and I wince.
“I’ve only seen him once, but he’s not easily forgotten,” Lily says with a giggle, leading me to believe Lily is already feeling very good from the margaritas. “He’s one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen.”
My mom looks at me with a raised brow. “He’s attractive?”
That’s an understatement, I think to myself.
“I guess. If you like grumpy ass British men,” I say, hoping that’ll be the end of the conversation.
“British grump, eh?” Her teasing tone tells me she sees right through my false indifference.
“Ya, today the asshole told me if I can’t walk in adult shoes, I need to wear ‘trainers.’ Ugh. So embarrassing.”
Mom laughs because she knows me too well. And based on the way she’s staring at me with that knowing look, I can tell that I’m going to get the third degree once Lily is gone.
Great.
Lily left shortly after eleven, taking an Uber across town. Mom stuck around, which wasn’t unusual on a Tuesday.
Since Dad died, sleepovers have been a normal thing for us.
We were lying on my bed, watching an old episode ofFrasier, when Mom decided to catch me off guard.
“You gonna tell me about this crush you have on your boss?”
I roll over to face her. “I don’t have a crush on him. Why would you say that?”
