Chapter 23
Skye
“Hon, you don’t have to hover over me every minute you’re here,” Mom said.
I held my hands up in defense. “No hovering.”
Mom lifted a brow. She might have blurry eyesight, but that didn’t take away from her feistiness. Okay, so I might have been hovering. I’d arrived at the apartment about an hour ago and had so far brought her water twice, changed the bedsheets, arranged her towels, and fluffed her pillows.
“I hope I’m gonna be better by Saturday. I want to at least be able to entertain my guests properly.”
“Oh, that’s right.” I’d totally forgotten Josie’s brothers and sister were coming to visit. “If you want to cancel, let me know.”
“Nonsense. I’m getting stir-crazy already.”
I didn’t think her eyesight would necessarily be better by Saturday, since it was only two days away, but I knew for a fact that with the house full, she’d forget all about it.
I was just about to ask her if she wanted me to close the curtains when the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll go and see who it is.”
I opened the door to find a delivery guy there with a huge box from Dumont Foods. I hadn’t ordered it, but I was convinced Rob did. He’d called me while I was on my way here, asking if we needed anything, if we had any food.
“Just let me find my wallet,” I said.
“There’s nothing to pay, miss.”
I tipped him generously, carrying the box to the kitchen before heading to Mom’s room.
“We just got dinner delivered,” I announced.
“I heard. Something from Dumont’s, right?”
Well, well. Seemed like Mom’s hearing had gotten sharper lately.
“Yes. I know the owner?—”
“The hot man you’re dating.”
My jaw dropped. “How do you…? You haven’t even met him.”
“Well, no, but Tess described him in a lot of detail.”
Laughing, I shot Rob a message.
Skye: We just got the food. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Rob: Anytime. Want me to schedule daily deliveries for the next two weeks?
Oh, wow.
Skye: That would be a huge help. Thank you.
Rob: You’re welcome.
I laughed, pressing my palm on my belly, but there was no taming that giddy sensation coiling through me. And after all, why should I?
“So tell me about him,” Mom said.
Ha! That was all the encouragement I needed. I went on a five-minute monologue about Rob while helping Mom to the dining table.
“You sound so happy,” she said once we sat down.
“I know, right? I am happy.”
We ate salads with chicken, lettuce, feta cheese, and baked potatoes. The perfect blend of healthy and delicious comfort food.
“So, how serious are you two?”
“We’re just having a great time together,” I replied slowly, which didn’t exactly answer her question. The truth was, I had no idea. I was happy knowing we were exclusive, but I hoped with every fiber of my being that it might end up being more.
Usually, I didn’t even let myself think too far ahead in the future. Being here in Mom’s apartment, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know why: the fear of the man I loved just up and leaving me was lodged deep inside me.
This was the first time hope was stronger than fear. Rob had changed me.
After going to bed, I tossed and turned most of the night.
The couch in the reading room was a pullout designed for guests to sleep on, but it was very uncomfortable.
That wasn’t why I was awake at two o’clock though.
I had Rob on my mind. I squeezed one of the fluffy decorative pillows to my chest, sighing.
I’d never been one to harbor romantic ideas…
but now I was. There was no denying it. Just thinking about Rob made me fiddle my toes against one another and smile for no reason at all.
The next morning, I woke up with a surprising bout of energy despite only having slept a few hours. And still thinking about Rob, which was why I texted him first thing.
Skye: My neck is stiff.
Rob: I can help with that.
Skye: I know. That’s why I’m telling you. So you can prepare accordingly.
Rob: Duly noted.
Cole was spending the day with Mom, taking her to the doc for her checkup too, and Tess was staying with her this evening. At least, that was the original plan.
But Tess was caught in a meeting with our distribution partner until late. At six o’clock, she texted me.
Tess: Can you head over to Mom’s? One of the guys was an hour late to the meeting, so this will take forever. Cole has a dinner meeting he can’t cancel. I’ll come afterward.
Skye: Just go home and I’ll spend the night there.
Jane was closing the store, so we had that covered, but I had to cancel my dinner plans with Rob. I wasn’t upset with Tess, but I really wanted to see him, and I began to feel pouty.
Skye: I won’t be able to make it tonight. Tess is caught up in a meeting, so I’m heading to Mom’s.
Rob: See you tomorrow?
Skye: Not sure when. There is a gathering at Mom’s house—all my siblings will be here, and those of my cousin-in-law.
Rob: Oh, right! You told me that. I forgot.
My stomach rolled. We hadn’t made plans for tomorrow, because Josie’s family was in town and I wasn’t sure how long the gathering at Mom’s house was going to take.
God, I hoped he wasn’t going to get annoyed with all of this and decide I was too much trouble. I shook my head, chastising myself. That was no way to think, but I couldn’t help myself, not after my horrid experience with Dean.
He called as I was about to descend to the subway station, so I stopped next to a waffle shop instead to take the call. The smell was weakening my knees, and my resolve not to snack before dinner. Why, oh why did Soho have temptations at every corner?
I pressed the phone to my ear, turning my back to the waffles.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey. Here’s a thought. Would you like company? You and your mom?”
I nearly swallowed my tongue. “Wait, what?”
“I can have dinner with the two of you. If you think that’s going to be okay with her.”
For a second, I couldn’t answer. Giddiness bubbled up my throat, prompting a very large and silly grin on my face and an army of butterflies in my stomach.
“She’d like that.” I was trying to sound casual, but I was fairly certain he could tell I was grinning, because my voice changed a bit.
Holy shit! He wanted to meet Mom.
“When are you going to be there?” he asked.
“In about forty minutes. I was just about to hop on the subway.”
“Okay. I’ll need a bit longer.”
Holy shit, giddy didn’t even begin to describe my feelings. As the conversation finished, I smiled even as a passerby bumped into me. The appropriate response to that in New York was to snap back, or at least glare, but right now, I was in my own bubble.
Once I arrived at Mom’s place, I barely had time to tell her that Rob would be joining us when the doorbell rang.
“He’s here early,” Mom said.
“It seems so.”
“Don’t keep him waiting dear,” she urged.
“I’m going, I’m going.”
I was smiling from ear to ear as I opened the door. Rob was standing there with a bag of takeout.
I almost jumped him before remembering we were at Mom’s place.
“Come in,” I said, stepping back.
He gave me an amused glance but walked in.
I led him straight to the living room. Mom was sitting at the dining table. Her eyesight had cleared enough so she could eat on her own, but she did need guidance through the apartment or she risked bumping into things.
“Rob Dumont, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. I’m Amelia,” Mom said.
“I hope I wasn’t out of line, inviting myself over.”
“Nonsense. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Really?” He looked at me with a smile.
“From both of my daughters,” Mom clarified.
Rob chuckled. My cheeks heated up.
Having him at dinner had the unexpected effect of actually relaxing Mom. I hadn’t seen her in such a good mood since before the surgery.
Rob was telling her his grandfather’s credo about butter, which, of course, Mom immediately approved of.
“Your grandfather sounds like a very sensible man.”
“I’ll let him know you said that.”
“So how come you moved next to Skye?” Mom asked.
“Well, I was looking for a place close to my sister and niece. It was hard to see them traveling back and forth from the city; it takes a lot of scheduling. Now they just spontaneously drop by for breakfast or dinner whenever they feel like it.”
I hadn’t told Mom that, and I could tell by the slight jerk in her head, the way she gripped her glass tightly, that neither had Tess. She smiled warmly. Yeah, he’d just completely charmed her.
At eight o’clock, she said she’d rather I helped her back to her room.
“But it’s early, Mom,” I said.
“I’ve discovered audiobooks,” Mom explained, but I knew she also wanted to give Rob and me some privacy.
Once she was inside her room, I went back to the living room. Rob was standing next to the couch, watching me intently. The air between us just crackled with tension, intensifying with every step I took.
“Do you want some wine?” I asked when I was just a few inches away.
“Whatever you want. But first, this.” He slid a hand along the side of my head, wrapping his fingers in my hair. His mouth was desperate on mine, sucking my lower lip, biting my tongue lightly.
I wrapped both hands in his shirt, tugging at it.
No, I can’t undress him in Mom’s living room.
But instinct always won when I was with him. It went even beyond that, a need so deep, I couldn’t explain it.
Letting go of his shirt, I drew my hands up slowly over his chest. I only became aware that we were moving when we fell on the couch: Rob on his back, me on top of him.
This couch was even smaller than the one in the study.
I had no idea how we fit on it. A glance backward revealed that Rob’s ankles were hanging over the armrest.
Laughing, I hid my face in the crook of his neck. His hands wandered from the sides of my breasts down to my waist, and even farther down to my thighs. He stopped on my ass, fondling it. Big surprise.
“What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Dumont?”
“What does it feel like?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“You’re being inappropriate.”
“Skye, this isn’t inappropriate,” he warned. “And you know that.” He ran his fingers over the crack of my ass, then under one cheek, resting it on my thigh. Sliding his thumb between us, he skimmed the edge of the front of my panties.
Even through a layer of clothes, a heat so intense curled through me that my nipples instantly turned hard. Licking my lips, I slid to one side so I half straddled him, but he placed me back on top.
“That’s exactly where I want you,” he said.
I placed one hand on top of the other, and my chin on that, looking him straight in the eye.
“You’re extra demanding tonight,” I teased.
“Sweetness, I want to have my fill of you. Who knows when I’ll see you next time.”
I bit my lip, trying to ignore that irrational fear clawing up my throat again, but I didn’t know how.