Page 123 of Even Beneath the Stars

I roll my eyes at Xave and point to the right of the door. "Just throw your jacket on the chair there."

He tosses his lined plaid shirt on top of mine, then pushes his hands in his pockets. "Hey, man." He nods at Silas in the kitchen.

Silas nods back. "You want a soda or anything?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Anything's fine." He walks over and grabs a Coke from Silas across the counter, then comes to join me on the couch, while Mom takes her favorite chair. And just like I knew she would be, Mom's totally chill. She asks Xave about the whole band thing, even though she already got the lowdown from me pretty much in real time. He asks her about the boardgame café, and how she likes Sandy Haven. The conversation flows easily, and hopefully Xave is feeling a little more relaxed.

I notice him looking around while we're talking, like he's taking everything in, not just skimming over it. And I really wish I knew what he was thinking. He can be so hard to read sometimes.

Soon, the quesadillas are ready, and the four of us are sitting around the small table my mother painted bright blue last summer on a whim.

I know we've successfully moved past the introductory "get-to-know-the-boyfriend" part of the evening when Mom leans forward just as we're all tucking into our second helping. "Oh, I don't think I told you guys the horrible news about Dominic," she says, hands on either side of her plate as she inhales through her nose.

"The army captain?" I ask, because it's hard keeping up with the various heroes from my mother's regency romantic life, now that I'm not living at home.

"No… That was Julian. Dominic is a highwayman."

"Like a robber?"

"Only much classier."

"Got it."

"I should warn you," mom leans in. "It's not good."

"What?" Silas asks, spooning more guacamole onto his plate. "Did my man Dom get his britches caught on his flintlock pistol while he was putting the moves on the librarian chick."

"Worse," mom groans.

"What'd he do?" I pause with my cutlery resting against my plate. It must be bad—mom was smitten with dashing Dominic last week when I was home.

"He called ElspethLambkins…"

"Whaaaaat?" I screech.

"While they were doing the deed," mom adds, pointing her fork at me.

"No way." I purse my lips, head shaking. "There's no coming back from that."

"I know." mom sighs again. "It's unforgivable."

"Lambkins?" Silas makes a face. "What the fuck?"

"Language, Silas," mom admonishes, although her heart's even less into it than even her usual half-assed chiding over Silas' cussing. She's taking this whole Lambkins bombshell pretty hard.

"Uh, Sorry…" Xave leans forward in his chair, looking between the three of us. "Who's Dominic?"

"The hero in the regency romance mom's reading," I explain. "A highwayman who doesn't know yet that he's actually a duke."

Xave's eyes stretch wide for a second, then he quickly schools his reaction. "Oh." He nods, swallowing. "Got it."

I glance at my mother. "At least, I'm assuming he's a duke."

"They aren't all dukes, Maggie… That's really presumptuous of you."

I arch an eyebrow at her, and she sighs. "Okay. So maybe most of them are dukes. But Dominicdoesknow he's a duke and chose to abdicate his title." She takes a sip of water, then rolls her eyes. "I mean, not that it matters, since the Great Lambkins incident makes him utterly unappealing now, anyway."

"Totally called it." Silas drawls. "I told you yesterday the guy had no game. His moniker isThe Starlit Scoundrel… I mean, come on."

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