“Arik, so glad you came up so quickly. This is Rylie. Rylie, my son Arik.”
Anyone looking at the two of them might not think there was an eight-year age difference. Hell, they could think Rylie was younger than him.
“Hi,” he said. There was no reason to lie and say it was nice to meet the guy that wouldn’t be in his mother’s life for long.
“Come in,” his mother said. “Did you talk with Natalie?”
“I did. We can do dinner tonight. Not here. I’m sure you know she works here. That’s how you assumed I’d be here.”
“Yes,” his mother said. “I’ve got people who can find out what I need.”
“How did you find out what room I was in?”
His mother smirked. “Does it matter?”
“It does to the reputation of The Retreat. If someone did something they shouldn’t have they should be held responsible. How would you feel if the roles were reversed and you were discovered somewhere you didn’t want anyone to know?”
His mother waved her hand. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Tell me about this woman you’re seeing so I know more.”
“I’m not having a long conversation. We’ve got rules and you’re to adhere to them or we’ll leave.”
His mother lifted her chin. “I’m not your father. I’d never make a spectacle of myself in public.”
His eyes shifted to Rylie sitting on the couch again in his teenage attire. Could have fooled him.
“Natalie’s family is off limits in the conversation. Her last name is Bond, but she’s not from some of the wealthy sides like you think she might be.” The narrowing of his mother’s eyes told him she was ready to start in, but he held his hand up. “Don’t even think of it or you won’t see me for the time you’re here. I’ll go stay somewhere else. What she and I have is between us. We went to college together.”
“So your father said.”
“And we were friends. I wanted it to be more, she was focused on school, then I moved. We reconnected and here we are.”
“Did she make the first move once she found out aboutyourwealth?”
His mother turned to Rylie who was looking at his phone. He was positive that his mother’s boyfriends didn’t know nearly how many zeroes were in her account, let alone Arik’s. That’s where discretion came into play that his father lacked.
“No. She knew nothing about me until we reconnected, and I made the first move. End of story.”
“How do you know she isn’t interested in more?”
“Because I know and if we don’t drop this now, dinner and everything else is off.”
His mother knew when to hit, fold, or hold her cards close to her chest.
“Your father didn’t mention how long you’ve been dating.”
“Does it matter?” he asked. He could play the same word games as her.
“I suppose not. What other rules do you have?”
“No talking about Dad or anyone else in the family. No bringing up Natalie’s family or comments on my career.”
“Lack of it.”
“Do I need to work?” he asked. “Nope.”
“But you’re just sitting around doing nothing.”
“You don’t know that. You know little about my life because you pop in and out of it when it’s right for you.”
