Page 21 of Hidden Rocco
Her son sucked his bottle and calm enveloped her.
This moment was pretty perfect and she honestly never had this sense in her fast-paced life. She cut into her meatloaf and asked, “What about you?”
Rocco finished his bite, raised his eyebrow and asked, “As a student?"
Rocco relaxed her when she knew absolutely nothing about him. Rationally she should go slowly. She nodded. “Yeah. How were you in school?”
He scratched his chin like that five o’clock shadow of his itched. “Well, my older brothers just made all my teachers put me in the troubled section. School was pretty boring.”
She ate a few bites. In school she’d always been pressured for the perfect grades, the perfect life, never mind the unhappiness that went under the cracks of never living up to perfect. “You weren’t challenged?”
He finished more of his food then set his silverware aside. “Look, your brother sounds like a stand-up guy. Mine… well mine weren’t. They were both… small-minded, and that eventually killed them. I joined the Marines to escape being like them.”
Not everyone had her life and her means. She tasted his meatloaf which caught her off guard. It melted in her mouth with an explosion of flavors. Wow. She hadn’t expected this as most of the time meatloaf was… boring but then she’d only had it at conferences and never ordered it off the menu. “Well, the service is honorable.”
She savored the last of her meat dish, never expecting it to be so tasty. He said, “They do well with troubled kids like me. Unfortunately I…”
“You what?” She ignored how her heart was on pins and needles, wanting to know more about everything with Rocco.
He stared at his empty plate. “I ended up a disappointment to them too.”
Rocco took a swig of the beer but put it down fast.
She sipped her own and stared at his lips. He was very handsome, kind, sweet, and considerate which was the opposite of disappointing. “Why? You seem like you learned…”
He sat back and his face tightened like he didn't want to talk about this as he said, “I tried to help my brothers but they set me up, which is why I need to ensure my mother is okay now.”
“Your mom is lucky she has you.” She reached out and tapped his hands, ignoring the zaps inside her.
He lowered his shoulders, clearly upset as he shook his head. “Doubtful.”
Rocco was absolutely nothing like the prep school men she always met. He genuinely cared for his mother. “My parents love all things about New York. My brothers both disappeared during high school and left me running the family business after my father’s heart attack where he was ordered to give up stress.”
He gathered the dishes. “So you were the good daughter, as I’d expect.”
She helped with the silverware, but he took it from her as she said, “Not really. My mother still thought I should marry well, despite the fact I was running my father’s business—she introduced me to Ali.”
He carried the dishes to the kitchen. “Jacob’s… sperm donor?”
“Yes,” she called out but she lost sight of him behind the kitchen door.
In another life she’d have trailed after him to continue the conversation, but Jacob was eating, and she wasn’t ready to leave her baby boy with those big brown eyes of his.
Rocco returned balancing two small plates with a vanilla and strawberry cupcake on each of them. He'd baked too? Her eyes widened as he placed a dish in front of her and asked, “What made you fall for the guy? He was rich?”
“My mother loved him.” She accepted the fork he offered.
He sat down with his own dessert and scooted closer to the table. “So you fell for a guy your mother picked out for you?”
She bit into the creamy and soft cupcake and once again had heaven in her mouth. Rocco was amazing. She swallowed the bite that reminded her of his sweet kiss. “Did your mother ever try to set you up with a woman?”
His face froze like he’d just been doused with cold water but then he said, “No. She’d know that I would say no.”
Must be nice. She’d always lived on wishing for parental approval. Perhaps that was bad but it was something she was changing. She finished her cupcake. “I was busy running my dad’s business, so I said fine to the date. And when we went out, Ali made me think I was the only woman in the world for him.”
“But?” Rocco arched his brow.
She sipped her beer and for once her heart didn’t feel hollow. Again Rocco made her feel calm, even as she admitted, “Apparently Ali had the routine down pat, and I fell for it like an idiot.”
