Page 70 of Love Off Course

“You’re different,”Mona says, her blue eyes twinkling. Marriage looks good on her. On them both. She and Daddy seem younger since tying the knot. I’m happy for them.

“So are you,” I challenge.

She smirks and sips her wine. “Love will do that to you. What about you? You have that look in your eye.”

I scoff and sip my Hennessy jalapiña. The spice of the jalapeno is offset by the tang of the pineapple juice. It reminds me of Camilo. Everything reminds me of Camilo. “I don’t have a look.”

“Honey, I may be old, but I wasn’t born yesterday.” She arches a brow and leans forward. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

At this, I frown. It should be obvious it’s David. I’m pretty sure everyone up at the office—even Daddy—knows I have been following David around like a lost puppy since puberty.

“David?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t lie, Sheridan, you always make a sour face when you do.”

“I’m not lying,” I say in a shrill tone. “I’m not.”

Her gaze softens as she reaches over to pat my hand. “You are. I know I’m not your mother, but I’ve been with your father a long time. I know you.”

I try not to bristle at the mention of Momma. “Who else could I possibly be in love with?”

“You tell me,” she says with a grin.

“It’s David.” I cross my arms over my chest, daring her to argue.

“David’s an old fuddy duddy. You’re in love with the idea of David.” She narrows her eyes. “No, you fell in love this week. I want to know all about him.”

I gape at her. Am I that transparent? I’d been pretty sure I covered the hickeys. “Who?”

“The one who has you smiling when no one is looking. The one who has the strongest girl I know frazzled and showing us that she’s human under her rock-hard façade. The one who you can’t stop thinking about.”

“Mona…”

“Sheridan.”

“Ugh,” I grumble, darting my attention to the balcony where Daddy and David are smoking a cigar. “Fine. His name is Camilo.”

Mona grins. “Sounds handsome. Tell me more.”

“He’s a pilot…”

“I love him already.”

“He’s such an asshole.”

“But he’s good in bed?”

“Mona!”

“Honey, you don’t get those kind of hearts in your eyes for nothing. The man made an impact on my girl and I can’t wait to hear every detail about him.”

For the next fifteen minutes, we whisper about all the sordid details of my rendezvous with a handsome yet infuriating pilot. It feels good to talk to someone I care about from my real life about what happened. By the end, she’s Team Handsome Pilot. David never stood a chance.

“Sheridan,” David says, making me nearly jump out of my skin and spill my drink. “Want to take a walk with me?”

Mona’s cheeks turn pink, clearly shocked at having been caught gossiping about a guy. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to have heard anything.

“How’d you get the black eye, David?” I ignore his outstretched hand and choose to stand on my own.

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