Page 25 of Reluctantly Yours

One more.

I needed my fix.

A sudden tapping against the back door made us both jump.My heart was in my throat as I turned and found a complete stranger standing on the back patio, peering into the kitchen.She was tall, regal-looking, beautiful in a chic, belted dress that showed off a slim figure.

And the sight of her made Travis back away from me like I had a contagious disease.“Motherfucker,” he whispered, raking his hands through his tousled hair.

“Who is that?”I asked, my heart pounding at his reaction.

With a soft, almost miserable sigh, he muttered, “My mom.”

11

TRAVIS

“Then, we went to the Empire State Building,” Sofia pronounced the words crisply, clearly, giving them the importance they deserved.“And Daddy held me up so I could see everything.”

Mom hadn’t stopped smiling since Sofia came downstairs for dinner.She wiped her mouth with her napkin before gracefully draping it across her lap.“That sounds like so much fun.You are such a lucky girl.”

“And today, I had a playdate with my friend, Ava, and?—”

I cleared my throat to get her attention.“Maybe you should give Nana the chance to get a word in edgewise,” I suggested.“She might have things she wants to tell you about too.”

“I love to hear all about everything you do,” Mom insisted, tapping one manicured nail against the tip of Sofia’s nose.She offered a radiant smile that did strange, painful things with my heart.Out of everything I lost three years ago, being able to see her more frequently was one that left me aching worst of all.Sofia had only been one when it all unraveled, and that fact made the ache even sharper.Not only for my sake but for Sofia’s.For Mom, too, since she obviously craved being able to see her granddaughter.

But given that I’d rather light myself on fire than walk into the family home again, it made things tricky.

The elephant in the room had not been addressed.Every time I glanced Penny’s way, she looked a little more distressed.She was obviously humiliated, being found the way we were when Mom pulled her surprise attack from the patio door.“I knocked at the front door,” she’d explained after the requisite hug and kiss on my cheek.“Nobody answered.I didn’t want to ring the bell since I was hoping to surprise Sofia.”

Well, Sofia wasn’t the only one surprised.Aside from a few meaningful looks my way when Sofia wasn’t paying attention, Mom played off the entire situation with her typical grace and good manners.

And once again, as I sipped from a glass of rich merlot, I asked myself how the hell she had spent so many years with the cold-hearted son of a bitch she had yet to divorce.It couldn’t be love keeping her with him—the man was about as lovable as a cactus and would inflict more pain on anyone who made the mistake of getting too close.Her quiet gentleness was in direct contrast with his arrogance, the way he strutted around.The self-important prick.The thought of him tightened my chest and left me clenching my fist in my lap.

“Clearly, Sofia loves you.”Mom turned her smile toward Penny, who, at the moment, looked like she might have swallowed her tongue.She had no reason to be so nervous, but then that was easy for me to say.I wasn’t the younger employee in this situation—all the more reason why I had no business acting like a horny teenager as soon as the coast was clear.I had spent most of the day lost in fantasy, and by the time I’d pulled up in the driveway, my dick might as well have been leading the way.

“She’s the best,” Penny insisted with the closest thing to a genuine smile she had worn since Mom showed up.They were on common ground now, speaking the same language.“I’m lucky to be here.”

“And we’re lucky to have her,” I added before realizing exactly what I said.“As a nanny,”

I added because yes, that would help things.That cleared it all up.

Penny’s porcelain cheeks went red, and she suddenly became deeply interested in scraping a bit of cheese off her plate.Mom, in typical fashion, pretended not to notice anything awkward.

“I have a question for my granddaughter.”Mom turned to her, eyes twinkling.“How would you like to do something special for me for my birthday?”

“Yeah!”Sofia agreed.“Like what?Do you wanna have a party?”

“Something like that,” Mom said with a smile.“But nothing too fancy.Just a nice dinner at home.”

That’s what this was all about?I set my glass down, settling back in my chair.I loved her, I was sorry she got caught up in the ugliness between Dad and me, but I didn’t appreciate her tactics.“Wasn’t this something we could’ve discussed between the two of us?”I asked as evenly as I could for Sofia’s sake.

“You’re right.Because it is so easy to get a hold of you,” Mom said gently, with a grin, but she wasn’t joking.Yet another little trick she had picked up through years of living with that bastard.Finding inoffensive ways to express her true thoughts.

The fact that she would have to do that in front of me, that she even thought she had to handle me the way she handled him, made me wish I hadn’t eaten so much of Penny’s delicious lasagna.My stomach was churning by the time I replied, “If I knew it was something like this, I would’ve made it a point to speak to you directly and politely decline.”

“What does that mean?”Sofia asked Penny, who sat silent, watching all of this unfold.Why did she have to be here for this?We had never talked about it.I went out of my way to avoid the topic of Dad beyond the night I explained why it meant so much to bury him professionally.That was merely a sliver of the entire story.This was not how she needed to find out just why I was determined to keep my personal life off the internet.

“It means I don’t think we can go to dinner at Nana and Grandpa’s house.”I pointedly ignored the way Penny’s eyebrows shot up at my announcement.“I would be happy to take Nana out to dinner wherever she wants to go for her birthday.We can all go together and make a big deal out of it.But not at the house,” I concluded.No doubt Penny had a million questions and thought I was acting like an ass, but she didn’t know.

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