“Yeah.”
“Worked up an appetite?” my mom cuts in as she places a cup of coffee in front of Sadie.
“Okay, Ma, that’s enough. Glad you could meet Sadie, but we’ve got work to do, and you need to go.”
“Fine, fine,” she huffs as she goes up on her toes and I bend down to let her kiss my cheek. “But I want to see the both of you on Sunday for dinner. Tell your baby brother too because he’s not answering my calls.”
“He’s on a case,” I say, but truthfully, I have no idea.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Mom goes around the island, and before Sadie can say a word she’s pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek too. “I’ll see you Sunday.”
Sadie opens her mouth to say something, but per usual, Mom keeps on talking. She does this so we can’t tell her no and she gets what she wants. The woman is diabolical.
“You eat lamb, right? You’ll love mine. Come to my house on Sunday and we’ll talk.” She kisses her again, and then Mom is out the door. It was a whirlwind of love, but that’s what I love most about my mother.
“Oh god.” Sadie drops her face in her hands, and I rush to her side.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t know she was coming by.”
“Look at me!” she cries and then waves her hands to the shirt she’s wearing. “Look at you.”
I’m in lounge pants I grabbed out of the laundry room and shirtless. It’s not like I would go out in public like this, but I’m in my house, and it was just my mom. Sadie is in one of my college T-shirts, but it’s so big it’s like a dress on her.
“What’s wrong with how we look?” I’m genuinely confused as to why she’s so upset.
“She probably thinks we slept together.”
My jaw hardens, and I lean away from her. “Oh, I see. You don’t want her to think you’d be with me.”
“What?” She looks up at me, and now she’s the one confused. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. It’s not you?—”
“Yeah it’s fine, I get it. You wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Clearly you’re horrified she thought you were sleeping with me.”
“Ari, that’s not what I mean.”
Sadie reaches for me, and as much as I want to touch her, I stand up and take a step back. The longer I’m with her, the harder it is to not do the things I’m craving.
“I heard you last night when you said you weren’t attracted to me.” I hate saying the words out loud.
“I lied, okay?” she blurts out. “Of course I’m attracted to you! Have you looked in the mirror?” She waves her hand up and down my body. “What woman on the planet wouldn’t be attracted to you?”
“But my mom?—”
“I’ve never slept with anyone before. How the hell am I supposed to know what to do?” Her cheeks flush, and she looks away from me. “I just got embarrassed that she thought we had sex when I’ve never done that before.”
My heart thuds loudly in my chest, and I’m almost afraid to breathe.
“Then she invited me to meet your family, and you’re just using me to get information on my dad.” Her eyes meet mine, and I shake my head.
“What are you talking about? Your mother isn’t my client anymore. I gave your father information to help his case.”
“Why would you do that?” Her eyes narrow, but I see the muscles in her shoulders begin to relax.
“Because what your mother is doing isn’t right.” I step closer to Sadie and close the distance between us. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but I swear I’m not using you.”
“Then why did you bring me here? You could have sent me a file, but instead you brought me to your house, where I’m pretty sure I don’t have the ability to leave on my own.” Her full lips part as I stand between her legs and slide my hand up her neck.
“I brought you here because I can’t stand the thought of letting you go.” Bending down, I brush my lips gently against hers as I breathe in. “Because if you’re here then you can’t run.”
