Chapter 13
GAVIN
“Why do you have an app called Let’s Hookup on your phone?” Gavin’s jaw went slack as his mother—his supposed-to-be-innocent mother—swiped right or left or whatever in front of him.
Since they were in his office, he couldn’t exactly walk away. Mostly because she blocked his exit from around his desk, so to leave he’d have to re-live his high school football days to tackle her.
She was his mother, so he wouldn’t do that.
Mom held the phone in front of him again. A beautiful blonde woman filled the screen with a cheerful smile and a lot of cleavage. He appreciated the cleavage, but he didn’t
appreciate his mother forcing it on him.
“What about this one?” she said as though they were picking Honeycrisp apples at Safeway instead of someone for him to hookup with.
“Mom.” Gavin pushed the phone away with the eraser of his pencil. “No.”
He should really check with the HVAC guy for the building because…was it getting hot in there? Yes, definitely uncomfortably hot. And not the good kind; the bad kind that left sweat rings.
Mom ignored him, continuing to do whatever she was doing with the app. Her eyes lit right up. “She said yes to you. That’s a good sign. She likes you.”
“She likes a photo of me and whatever you’re saying to her.” Two things that did not a solid relationship make. Or a solid hookup, honestly.
Also, oh God, what was she saying to this woman?
Gavin tried to study the latest donation recommendations from his team—he managed the Puffle Yum Foundation and all the company’s philanthropy projects. Unfortunately, his time was up with his mother’s patience on his dating habits, which was really wrecking his ability to get work done.
“This lady owns her own business.” Mom slid the phone into his line of sight. A very nice-looking brunette smiled back at him.
“Does Dad know you’re on a hookup app?” He pushed the phone away with his thumb.
Mom scoffed. “That’s what you need to do, Gavin. You need to hookup.”
See, that’s where there was a disconnect. Uh-huh. Right here. He was pretty sure that her definition of a hookup and
the rest of the world’s definition were two different things. “Do you even know what hookup means?” he asked. “Having coffee or going to a show.” She was swiping
again. Dear God, make her stop swiping.
Or put his brother Dane on the app and start swiping. He could be okay with either option.
“I hooked up with Audrey last week when we had tea at the Brown Palace,” Mom said, cheerfully unaware of what the hell she was saying.
“Mom.” He gave a subtle headshake. “To hookup means to have sex without expectations or a relationship.”
This time it was his mother’s jaw that dropped. “I did not do that with Audrey. You can ask my cat.”
He believed her. Scones and tea were not allowed at most hookups—he was pretty sure. It was more of a beer and pretzel kind of deal. But he’d have to check the hookup manual, which was not a thing, so he didn’t have one.
“Google it,” he suggested instead as he stood, tapped the reports into a tidy pile, and seriously considered hiding out in his brother’s office until his mom was over whatever this was.
She didn’t google it. She did, however, slide the phone to him with the photo of yet another woman.
What Gavin wouldn’t give for a kid with a Skittle nose to distract his mother right about then. Instead, he dutifully took the phone from her and moved to the primary screen. And there…
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
There was a photo of Gavin when he had just graduated from high school. Still wet behind the ears. Over ten years younger.
“You used my high school picture?” He gaped at the phone and held it up.
“It’s your best photo.” Mom lifted a shoulder. “Best foot forward on these things.”
“There is so much wrong with this.” He swiped to her app manager to delete all dating apps from her cell.
“What are you doing?” She reached for the phone, but he was already mid-delete.
“No more dating apps.” He handed it back. “I’m serious.”
She huffed and said under her breath, “We’ll see.”
“You know you have another single son, right?” He shouldn’t have to point out that Dane was also single. Dane was also available. She didn’t have Dane on Let’s Hookup.
He stared vacantly through his window into the admin area for his division.
Unless she had a whole separate phone for him. She probably had a whole separate phone for him.
The elevator doors rolled open. Maybe he’d luck out and there’d be a toaster tart emergency.
A guy could hope.
Then he stalled. This was no emergency, but…what was Molly doing at his office?
She stepped out of the elevator and glanced tentatively around the lobby.
He headed toward the door, but he was still blocked by his mother. Molly stopped at the reception desk, but even with the door ajar he couldn’t hear what she said.
“Dane is already seeing someone,” Mom said, oblivious to Molly’s presence in his department. “He doesn’t need my help.”
All things Molly aside—for the moment—since when was his brother seeing anyone? Gavin frowned. Unless he was better at pulling off the not-dating thing and getting away with it.
That made more sense. That was probably it.
“We all need your help, Mom. Don’t let him fool you.” Gavin tracked Molly’s conversation with Patty, his receptionist. As far as he knew, Molly had never been to the Puffle Yum offices. Definitely not his division.
Mom turned to the window. Probably to see what continued to hold his attention.
“Oh hey, it’s Molly!” Mom said, eyes lit up like Molly had swiped the right direction on that ridiculous app.
Molly clearly heard her, glancing from Patty to Mom and then to Gavin. Her gaze lingered a hair too long on him. Then she pinched her lips down.
Nice. That made a guy feel good about himself.
This was the one place he was excellent at what he did. He knew this job in and out. Being uncomfortable in his own office was not a feeling he was accustomed to, and it was one he did not enjoy.
And yet…
“Molly?” He said her name like the question it presently was.
“Hi.” She did a half skip, half walk thing to his office door.
He had done nothing special with himself that day—standard office wear, slacks, white long-sleeved button down, and a red tie. Kellan bought him this necktie last year for Father’s Day.
Molly, however, had her hair pulled back in some kind
of impressive twist, and she’d gone with one of those yellow summer dresses he saw in the windows at the Cherry Creek Mall, with a jean jacket. This was, he knew, dressed up for Molly. She was very much a jeans and T-shirt kind of woman.
“What are you doing here, dear?” Mom asked, giving Molly a thorough once-over and clearly sniffing out what was going on.
“I needed to talk to Gavin.” Molly gave him a firm smile. Too firm. Forced.
“Everything okay?” he asked, because she was in his office and she’d never been there before, so it would make sense that the thing to bring her to his office would be something wrong. “Is Oliver okay?”
Aside from his stunt antics, Oliver was the good kid of the three boys. Not the one to shove chewy candy anywhere inappropriate in his body.
“Ollie’s fine.” She waved the thought away like a gnat.
“I just had something to discuss.” There it was, that odd smile again.
She held her small purse between her hands, and tilted back and forth on her ballet flats.
“But I can wait until you’re done, if you have time to talk.
Later.” She stilled. Took a breath. Pointed to herself. “To me. Talk to me.”
This was weird. Definitely odd.
Then again, his mother had his high school graduation photo on a hookup app, so weird was truly in the eye of the beholder on this one.
“Sure.” Gavin raised his eyebrows at the mother gaping at Molly like she was a brand-new pet project. “I can talk. To you.”
“By all means.” Mom flapped about between them,
removing herself as the barrier. “Talk away.”
Gavin toyed with a pencil, tapping the graphite against the edge of the desk, hoping his mom would take the hint.
She didn’t. Because she was his mom.
“I think she wants to talk to me alone,” he finally said. “That would be great, actually.” Molly rolled her lips
between her teeth, then gave his mom a not-at-all-forced grin. “But could I come see you after?”
That got her a full Evelyn Frank dazzle of acceptance. “Of course. We’ll do that tour I keep promising you.”
“Yay.” Molly tossed up jazz hands, but the feeling wasn’t quite there.
Thankfully, his mom went to do whatever it was she did when she wasn’t checking out hookups for him. She even closed the door behind her.
“Do you want to sit?” He gestured to the two chairs across from his desk and came around the edge to sit in one. The whole desk thing could be very intimidating. He understood this from all the meetings he’d had with egos who sat at their desk with Gavin positioned across.
Gavin hated the feeling that the big chunk of wooden desk was a barrier. And Molly seemed edgy anyway, with whatever it was she wanted to discuss. So he sat in the chair next to hers.
Unfortunately, when she sat, this meant his knees were closer to hers. Uncomfortably close. It would’ve definitely given the wrong impression if he scooted his chair away, so he didn’t. Though it all felt so…close.
But Molly sat. He sat. Everyone was sitting. No one spoke, though.
Molly ran her fingers along the strap of her purse. “I
have something to ask.” She cleared her throat. “Ask you.”
He’d sort of figured that when she showed up at his office. He nearly said so, but realized he probably shouldn’t poke her when she looked like she might throw up.
Instead, he balanced his pencil on the edge of the desk and gave her all of his attention. “Ask away.”
She shifted in her seat, like it wasn’t the top-of-the-line chair from the office furniture catalogue. But it was, which meant they were actually really comfortable chairs.
“It’s a little awkward,” she said.