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“Are you up?”
His mind clicked into overdrive. The smooth, powerful voice out in the hallway was his mother’s. The last thing she would want was to find him naked in bed, especially considering that he wasn’t alone. Reluctantly, he rolled out from under the sheets and threw on the first set of clean clothes he could find. He didn’t bother picking up the garments that he and Rose had left strewn across the floor the previous night—he couldn’t let his mother come in with her still asleep anyway, so the mess could be dealt with later. With a deep breath, he opened the door, shutting it behind him again as soon as he’d stepped out into the hallway.
His mother stood a few paces away, her light brown hair pulled back elegantly behind her head. She wore a white pencil skirt and a matching jacket, and Luke sighed inwardly as he realized how slim the chances were that she was here for anything other than business.
“Morning, Mom.”
She closed the distance between them and pulled him into a hug, and he let himself relax a bit.
“Morning, honey. Late night? You look tired.”
Luke laughed under his breath as he pulled back. “I was just about to go make coffee. Want some?”
“I’d love some, thank you.”
He led her to the kitchen, and she sat at the bar while he made a pot of coffee and prepared hers the way he’d always watched her do it while he’d grown up in this house—more cream and sugar than actual coffee. He knew Rose liked it that way, too, and he’d teased her often about why she would bother drinking it if she couldn’t even taste the flavor it was supposed to have.
Luke sat next to his mother and took a sip from his mug. “How’s Washington been treating you?” he asked.
“Oh, you know, the usual. Trying to get any actual change in policy passed is like trying to move a mountain with your bare hands. All anyone can think about is the election coming up next year.”
Luke knew more than his fair share about the political process. His mother had been involved in it for as long as he could remember, and if this had taught him anything, it was that he had absolutely no desire to go into the field himself. November hadn’t even rolled around yet this year, and the politicians were already getting ready for the next one, when they would have to fight to keep their spots. It was enough to give him second thoughts about running for state’s attorney someday, though he told himself that race couldn’t be as awful as what his mother dealt with.
“Where does that leave you?” he asked, raising his mug to his lips again.
“In need of your help, actually.”
Luke returned his mug to the countertop slowly. “In what way?”
“The fundraiser I’ve been telling you about is tonight. Downtown. It would mean the world to me if you’d be there.”
Luke sighed. For the past few years, since his name had become tabloid fodder after the fight at the bar, he’d done his best to stay out of the spotlight where his mother’s political career was concerned. She’d requested as much from him for a little while, but even after she’d returned to asking him to attend her parties and balls and all other kinds of fundraisers and elbow-rubbing events, he’d seldom been able to bring himself to do it. It had taken him long enough to rebuild his reputation and persuade the state’s attorney that he was worth taking a chance on. He didn’t want to risk having the past dredged up again by some reporter looking to smear his mother’s name and having his own career put into jeopardy. How could he be taken seriously as a prosecutor when the media painted him as a criminal? He’d held out on giving her an answer about this particular event for several weeks now. He didn’t want to disappoint her, but he didn’t really want to go, either.
“I don’t know, Mom,” he said quietly.
“I’ve made arrangements for you to sit with your father and me at our table, so in theory, we’d be able to intercept anyone who tries to bother you.”
“In theory,” he repeated.
Luke’s mother reached out to take his hand in both of hers. “Please. We need the whole family to be together. Lenny’s going to be there. You could bring someone, if you like. Have you been seeing anybody lately?”
His cheeks hot, Luke attempted to work out the best way to respond. If the reporters had been willing to pull a scandal out of one fight gone wrong, he couldn’t imagine what they would do if word got out about what was happening between Rose and himself. He could see the headline in his mind: “Senator’s Son Sleeping with Pregnant Ex-Fiancée.”
“You are, aren’t you?” A smile crept onto his mother’s mauve-painted lips, and Luke fought the urge to lie. He couldn’t imagine Rose would want the world to know about their… What would we even call it? Luke asked himself. Were they together again? Each of them had admitted to loving the other, but did that mean they were on the path toward what they had once been? If he wasn’t even sure what to call their relationship, he certainly didn’t want to try to put a label on it for anyone else.
But he also wasn’t about to deny that everything he’d longed for since Rose had left was beginning to come true. She was here in his house, asleep in his bed, and she didn’t seem to want to leave anytime soon. Denying the progress between them seemed like a bad omen, like doing so might make him lose it all. Again.
“It’s complicated,” he said.
“Do you think she’d want to go?” his mother asked, sipping her coffee.
“I don’t know. It’s very short notice. And she’s not really eager to be in the spotlight, Mom. That’s why I hadn’t told you about her yet.”
“Well, I still think it’s fantastic.” His mother’s smile widened. “You really should bring her. I’d love to meet the woman who managed to get you out of your shell again.”
With a bit of effort, Luke managed not to laugh. He wasn’t sure how his mother would react if she knew the woman in question was the same one he’d spent so long trying to get over. His mother and Rose had always gotten along well when he’d been with her before, and he hoped that everything that had happened wouldn’t ruin that.
“How about this—I’ll talk with her about it and get back to you as soon as I know?” he offered.
