Page 121 of Finally Mine
“Second only to Ivan the Terrible,” he corrected.
“Of course,” Gloria scoffed. “But I don’t think Luke is going to go home and wreck the house and wake Harper up at four in the morning by jumping on her face.”
Aldo rubbed the faded scratch on his cheek. “I don’t know, they might be into that kind of stuff.”
Charlie was hugging Luke now as his wife and daughter cried happy tears next to them. Gloria nudged Aldo. Joni was standing, hands folded in front of her. She saw the flash of shock pass over Luke’s face when he spotted Joni waiting to greet him. His gaze flew to Harper’s face and back to Joni.
Gloria held her breath, and then Joni opened her arms to embrace Luke. Gloria could feel the riot of emotions crackling off of Luke. Then he was putting his arms carefully around Joni and Harper was tearing up.
“All good,” Aldo whispered to her. “They’ve got this.”
But Gloria wasn’t so sure. Harper’s love was written all over her pretty face. But when Gloria looked at Luke, his expression was unreadable.
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“Don’t be nervous,” Aldo coached Gloria.
“Nervous? What’s there to be nervous about?” She sounded like she was being strangled.
Gloria was gripping the door handle and Aldo’s hand with white knuckles. She wasn’t fooling him at all. Sara Parker had issued a summons to dinner—which included Aldo’s mother—and Gloria was freaking out.
It was adorable.
Sure, dinner with the parents was a big deal. It meant that Sara Parker was ready to take this relationship seriously. But Aldo was ready for the challenge. He planned to turn on the charm and win Sara over with his thoughtful hostess gift and his obvious feelings for her daughter.
Gloria, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to jump out of the truck window.
“What’s the thing that’s scaring you the most right now?” he asked, rubbing a thumb over hers.
“If I say it, you’re going to think I’m a big, dumb baby.”
“How about I promise to think of you as a petite, pretty baby?” he offered.
“I’m twenty-seven years old, and I still want my mom’s approval,” she confessed.
“I will get you your mother’s approval if I have to steam clean her carpets every month for the rest of her life,” Aldo promised.
Gloria graced him with a laugh. “It’s not you I’m worried about. Hello, war hero, business owner, all-around great guy. It’s me that needs the approving. I spent a lot of years letting her down. I’d really like to turn that around.”
“Need I point out that you chose the war hero, business owner, all-around great guy to bring to dinner. I think that says a lot about your taste, maturity, and good sense.”
“I don’t want her thinking I’m making a mistake or moving too fast,” Gloria said, and he felt the nerves in her words.
“Glo, look at what you’ve done with your life in the last seven months. You’re a miracle, and anybody would be proud of you.”
“Thank you. I’m sure it will be fine,” she lied.
Her thoughts were clearly a mile away, probably running through every possible negative scenario that could happen.
Aldo laughed and squeezed her hand, not buying her bravado for a minute. “How about I promise to keep my mother in line, and you handle yours? Divide and conquer.”
Gloria nodded. “Okay. We can do this. It probably won’t be terrible. I mean the food will be good at least, even if they hate each other and get into a screaming match over European soccer teams.”
“Does your mom watch soccer?” Aldo asked.
“No.”
Aldo laughed.
