Page 43 of Fallen Hearts

“Never mind.”

“Oh, Delaney Thorton. That’s right, I forgot you guys were friends. No, it’s not her. But speaking of her, did she tell you?—”

“That you guys dated in middle school? Yeah, she did. Said you were a terrible kisser.”

As expected, that gutted poor Beck. Hand to his heart as if I’d wounded him, he groaned. “That’s a low blow, Pia.”

I was so bad at keeping up a joke. “Fine. She didn’t say anything about kissing you.”

He smiled. “Knew it, because we never kissed.”

“You didn’t?”

“Nope. I was too scared to try. Was a late bloomer, if you can believe that.”

“I don’t believe it at all, actually.” I closed my laptop. “Did you say someone wanted to see me?”

“Oh yeah. Your mom and sister are here.”

My head snapped back up as I shoved my laptop in its case. “Excuse me?”

“You mom and sister are here.”

So much for pulling more info out of Beck. I stared at him, trying to make sense of his words, but he didn’t say anything more. How was that possible? I’d just talked to Mom, and she didn’t say anything about this at all.

“What the hell?” I grabbed my stuff and rushed from the office.

“How old is your sister?” Beck asked as we headed down the stairs. I stopped and glared at him. “What? She looks just like you.”

“So discriminatory. Twenty-four. Too young, so stay away.”

“I will,” he acknowledged as we made our way to the reception room. “But not because she’s too young.”

I can’t even with him right now.

“Mom?” I turned the corner and, sure enough, my mother and sister Sophia were standing there talking to Mason. “Soph? What the heck are you guys doing here?”

My mother opened her arms. “Surprise!”

Hugging them one at a time, I looked them up and down. Sure enough, they were real.

“You’ve met Mason?”

“Sure have. You never mentioned how handsome your boss is, Pia.”

This was just what I needed. “Really, Mom? Maybe because he’s myboss?”

“You can be seriously embarrassing,” Soph said, backing me up.

“Well, I certainly don’t mean to be. Did I embarrass you, Mason?”

He looked ready to crack up laughing. At least he didn’t take offense. Thankfully, Mason wasn’t offended easily. And also, he looked really good in navy. I wished I could tell him to stop wearing it.

“Not at all, ma’am.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I asked them.

“Duh,” Sophia said in her “my big sister is so clueless” tone. “Because it’s a surprise. Mom wanted to make sure you’re all settled in.”

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