Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
My voice sticks in my throat. Oh shit, oh shit. I never should have volunteered to come because this is going to be worse than I anticipated. This is going to be a fucking nightmare, to tell the truth.
“There she is,” Nella grumbles under her breath. “That’s my mom. Our party’s already here,” she says to the maitre’d. “We’ll just head over ourselves. Ready?” she asks me.
I slap a smile on my face.
“Yep,” I lie, shooting my girl a confident look. “Locked, loaded, and ready to go.” Then, Susan Thompson spots us from across the patio and waves before hurriedly crossing the outdoor space to embrace her daughter.
“Nella! Oh, I missed you, baby,” she cries out as she throws her arms around her unwilling daughter. Nella hugs back, but she’s noticeably unenthusiastic about the matter. While her mom squeezes her tight and rocks her from side to side, Nell’s arms hang limply around her mother’s back, and she grimaces at me over her shoulder.
“Mom, this is my boyfriend,” Nella says when the blonde woman finally lets her go. “Susan, Paul. Paul, Susan.”
I try to act normal and reach a hand out to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Thompson,” I drawl in a smooth tone. Susan steps back and really looks at me for the first time. A flicker of surprise crosses her features, but to my relief, she doesn’t blurt out our secret all at once. Good, because it’s a terrible one, and Nella needs to be primed to hear it.
“So this is the man you’ve been hiding from me!” she purrs, shooting me an crafty look. “Well, Nella, he’s certainly a fine specimen of man. And I should know.”
Oh shit, why did she say that?
“Why, do you know each other?” my girlfriend asks, looking from her mother to me, and then back again.
“Sort of,” I say in what I hope is a normal tone. “Just acquaintances, really.”
But Susan Thompson is practically licking her lips now.
“Acquaintances? Oh Paul, you’re so modest. But let’s order first,” she purrs again. “Then we’ll get into all the details.”
I grit my teeth because Nella was right: this is going to be the longest forty-five minutes of my life. But there’s no way to avoid the topic because it was bound to come up at some time. We seat ourselves, and manage to order drinks before Nella finally puts down her menu and fixes us with a look.
“So how do you know each other?” she asks, turning from her mother to me, and then back again. “Mom? Paul? I wouldn’t think your paths would cross, but then again, this is a small city in some ways.”
Susan pats her hair with a secret smile on her face.
“Well darling,” she starts carefully. “You know that you have a very eligible man here, right? Paul is incredibly handsome and a CEO too.”
My face flushes, to my dismay, but Nella doesn’t seem bothered by the insane flattery. I guess she’s used to her mom’s behavior.
“Yes, but how do you know each other?” she presses again. “Is it through work? Did you used to consult for NYC Repo? I know you have a lot of clients, and your business is very successful.”
The older blonde woman lets out a throaty laugh.
“Oh no, it wasn’t from business. It was from our personal lives. How old are you now, Paul?” she asks, tilting her chin at me.
“Thirty-seven,” I say in a short voice.
Susan appears to think for a moment.
“Well, I suppose it could work. After all, I had Nella when I was twenty, so we’re not that far apart in age.”
My hands fist beneath the table cloth, and my skin prickles. Oh shit, this is going to be worse than expected, and I physically brace myself for the hit. My shoulders tense and I stare fixedly at Susan’s face, watching her blood-red lips move.
“Well, you see, sweetheart, Paul and I used to go around together,” Susan announces airily. “That’s how we know each other. It was a really great time, if I do say so myself.”
Nella looks confused.
“Go around? But go where?” she asks. “What does that mean?”
Susan shoots me a devilish smile then.
“We used to date, Nella. Your boyfriend and I used to ‘go around’ in the traditional sense,” Susan finally clarifies, a sparkle in her eye from the trouble she’s about to cause. “Why, does that make you jealous?”
Nella is stunned. Her gaze widens and her mouth opens and closes a few times without sound.
“It was a long time ago,” I add in a low tone. “Ages, in fact.”
“Oh not that long,” says Susan airily. “Maybe a few years back? It was really fun, and Nella, I know from experience that your boyfriend is very endowed. How many mother-daughter pairs can know that first hand?” she titters.
Oh shit, oh shit. The shit just hit the fan and Nella literally jumps up from her chair, her expression one of sheer horror and rage.