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Her parents were going to love Mercer, she was sure of it. She sent him a quick text about dinner with her folks, which he replied to with a few happy emojis and thumbs-up.
The phone on the desk rang, and she set her cell aside and got to work. Hopefully the day would go by fast, and maybe during the hours between now and then, she’d figure out what to ask Mercer to find out if he was keeping things from her.
She couldn’t just come out and ask him, right?
* * *
Okay, so Rhomi was in love with Mercer. Maybe notI’ll follow you to the ends of the earthin love, but she was definitely head over heels for him by the time Friday rolled around and they were on the way to see her parents. She’d felt like she was falling in love with him the first time they had sex, and he’d told her the same thing. But now the feelings were more intense and she knew she was fully in love with him. She wasn’t falling, she’d already fallen.
She hadn’t yet figured out a way to ask him if he was keeping something from her, so she just kept pushing the thought aside every time it surfaced.
At some point, either the feeling would fade because it wasn’t based on anything real, or he’d tell her whatever it was that she sensed he was holding close to the vest.
They walked up to her parents’ house, then she knocked twice and opened the door.
“Mom?”
“In the kitchen, honey. Dad’s in the garage; let me get him.”
She and Mercer hung up their jackets in the hall closet. When they got to the kitchen, her parents were walking in from the garage. Rhomi hugged them both, then introduced them to Mercer.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” her mom said.
“Thanks for inviting me to your home,” he said, shaking her hand.
“Welcome,” her dad said.
“Thank you,” he said, shaking his hand.
“Dinner’s on the table. Let’s eat and we can talk.”
“That sounds good to me,” Rhomi said. “The house smells amazing.”
“I made beef stroganoff and mashed potatoes because I know it’s your favorite.”
“Yum!”
She and Mercer sat at the butcher-block kitchen table. Her mom poured ice water for everyone, then set the pitcher on the counter and joined them with her dad.
After the food had been passed and plates filled, her dad said, “You work in security at the park, Mercer?”
“I do. It’s where I met Rhomi.”
“That’s really cute,” her mom said. “It’s like something out of a romance novel.”
“I was thinking that too,” Rhomi said. “Or a movie.”
Her dad rolled his eyes. “You two and your romantic movies and books. There aren’t enough explosions in those things.”
“Or fight scenes,” Mercer said.
She elbowed him. “Don’t you start.”
He snorted. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
“Just for that, we should watch a romance movie after dinner,” her mom said.
“Oh, hell,” her dad muttered.
