“…is his mother, and the woman who trained a superstar. And now she has her sights set on you.”
26
GRACE: RED DELICIOUS
If there was such a thing as too much chemistry, Rory and I had it. My plan to “meet” him for the first time in the class my mother taught was a solid one—in my head—but in person was a different matter altogether. There were seven days between our reunion and his next class. And of those seven days, I’d snuck off to Camden Place and had sex with Rory on every one of those. It was safe to say we had a solid connection.
Hopefully no one in class noticed. The hour flew by. Our goodbye lingered. And as he walked off, my eyes dropped to his ass and followed it all the way out the door.
“Grace.” My mother startled me, her gaze alternating between me and Rory’s exiting frame. That expression on her face, like she was fighting back the stomach flu, gave me pause. Shit, did she know? In hindsight, maybe Rory and I had gone too fast during class—from “Nice to meet you” to me practically sitting on his lap. My bad. I couldn’t get enough of him. I couldn’t. I really had tried to keep it in check during our first official meet and greet, but my fluttering heart refused to obey. I’d been all giggles and teasing and touching.
And my mother was no dummy.
“Help me get everything packed,” she said in a clipped tone.
She and I worked in silence until the car was packed and the door was closed. Only then did she turn to me, eyes blazing.
“You know him.”
“No, I don’t. I just met him tonight.”
“How do you know Rory?” she repeated, only this time I knew the bank of trust had just gone under.
“I told you—I just met him tonight.”
“Grace Lucia McKallister, don’t you dare lie to me. I’m going to ask you one more time. How do you know, Rory?”
I held my ground. “I don’t.”
“Fine.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and began texting.
“What are you doing?”
My mother didn’t answer, furiously one-finger texting.
“Mom. Mom!” I screeched, reaching for her phone. “What are you doing?”
She switched the phone to her other hand, playing keep away. “I just texted Rory.”
“Mom! Oh my god.” I flung my body back onto the seat. “You’re ridiculous.”
“If you won’t tell me, then he will.”
“You’re going to freak him out if you summon him here.”
“How would you know?” she asked, the fury in her eyes burning a hole through me. “I thought you didn’t know him.”
“Text him back, Mom. Text him back and tell him not to come.”
“Too late,” she replied, gesturing with her eyes. I looked up to find Rory walking our way, his head down in solemn prayer. He’d obviously been hanging out near the parking lot because it had taken him less than a minute to arrive at the driver’s side window from the time he got the text.
My mother greeted him with a frosty stare. “Get in.”
* * *
We drovein silence to a Denny’s down the street. Without a word, Mom got out and slammed the door. Rory and I sat there, unsure what to do.
“Are we eating?” I asked.
