There was a knock at the door.
He frowned. It was five minutes to eight, and Amber was never early.
Or maybe she was as excited to see him as he was to see her?
He walked to the door, trying to be all casual and not show his nerves, but when he turned the doorknob and saw who was standing on his porch, his mouth fell open.
It wasn’t Amber.
It was his parents.
Chapter 11
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
Fortunately, Sebastian managed not to say any of that out loud. He was thirty years old, but it still seemed wrong to swear in front of his parents.
“Sorry, I have plans,” he said to his mom and dad. “I told you to call before you visit.”
“What is the point of living so close if we cannot stop in and see you?” Mom said.
“I don’t live all that close to Ashton Corners. It’s nearly an hour’s drive.”
And part of the reason for that was to avoid these situations.
But apparently he still lived too close to avoid the unexpected drop-in.
“You don’t have plans tonight,” Mom insisted. “It’s Valentine’s Day and you don’t have a girlfriend. Only couples have plans tonight.”
“I have plans,” Sebastian repeated. “So you have to go before my visitor arrives.”
“Who is your visitor?”
“It’s a secret.”
Bad call. Now his mother was even more intrigued.
“It must be a girl, don’t you think?” she said to his father. “He was lying to us about not having a girlfriend.”
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was not lying to you.”
“Maybe you are having other single men over?” Mom suggested. “Like a Bro-entine’s Day? Let us see what you are preparing.”
She ducked under his arm and entered the house.
Sebastian sighed and followed her into the kitchen.
There was a bottle of white wine in an ice bucket. The table was set. There were even candles.
“Looks like a date to me,” Dad said. “Your date is a woman, yes?”
Sebastian nodded.
“Ha! You nodded. You agreed you have a date!”
“Yes, I have a date. She’s not technically my girlfriend, but we’ve been seeing each other for a little while. Now, can you please leave? Having my parents here when she arrives would spoil the mood.”
“We brought food.” Mom lifted up two plastic bags that Sebastian hadn’t noticed before. “I need to put it away.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Sebastian said.
“No, I can do it.” Mom was already opening up the fridge, and she noticed the box on the counter. “You bought donuts for her! You know, a good chocolate cake would be more romantic. Why donuts?”
Obviously Sebastian wasn’t going to mention his conversation with Amber.
He shrugged. “She really likes donuts.”
“Tell me more about her. What is her job? Where did she study? Where is she from?”
“She’ll be here any minute. Can you please leave?”
He’d been nervous before, and now he was very agitated.
Of course, if everything went well, he’d tell his parents about Amber eventually, but he wasn’t ready for that yet—not here, not like this—and without a doubt, she wasn’t, either. She’d made her thoughts on family interference clear.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Mom said as she put a bag of bok choy in the crisper. “I want to meet her. See if she is good enough for you.”
“Please, Mom. She’s shy. She won’t appreciate being ambushed like this. I’ll bring her over soon, okay?”
“Hmph.”
“Why do you have grapefruit?” Dad asked, holding up the two grapefruit from the fruit bowl on the counter. “I thought you hated grapefruit.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Or does she like grapefruit?” Mom asked. “Grapefruit is breakfast food. You are thinking she will stay overnight? She is not even your girlfriend.”
Once again, Sebastian hadn’t actually intended to use the grapefruit for any weird sex acts, just as a joke he shared with Amber, but his cheeks flamed.
“Mom.” He grasped her hand and started leading her to the front entrance.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Ah, I am going to meet her!” Mom pulled her hand out of Sebastian’s grasp and hurried to the door. She wrenched it open. “Amber, what are you doing here?”
* * *
Sebastian’s mother was here.
Oh, God, no.
“Hi, Auntie Cecilia. Uncle Randall,” Amber said, out of instinct. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
She was certain Sebastian hadn’t invited his parents over, since he looked as desperate to get out of this situation as she was. His mom and dad must have turned up unexpectedly.
Cecilia glanced between Sebastian and Amber, and then her gaze lingered on Amber. Amber’s long coat was undone, and underneath, she was wearing a little black dress and high black boots.
She looked like a woman who planned to have sex tonight.
“What are you wearing, Amber?” Cecilia asked. “That barely counts as a dress. It is a shirt!” She turned to Sebastian. “Amber is your mystery woman. Amber?”
“Yes, Mom,” Sebastian said, pulling Amber inside. “Now can you please leave?”
“She is the one you are making a romantic dinner for?”
Amber’s head snapped toward Sebastian. “What are you talking about?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” he muttered.
Well, this was certainly a big surprise for Valentine’s Day.
It was all wrong. A romantic dinner was the last thing she needed. She’d just wanted to order fast food and fuck one last time.
And now she had to deal with his parents. What terrible luck.
She wanted to sink into the floor.
“Mom, you’re making a mess of this,” Sebastian said. “Could you leave now so I can talk to Amber alone?”
Cecilia clucked her tongue. “I do not approve of you being with Amber.”
“Why not? You’re friends with her parents. I thought you’d be thrilled—a little too thrilled.”
“Look at her.” Cecilia gestured to Amber’s barely-there dress. “She is dressed like—”
“Don’t say it, Mom!”
It was the first time Amber had ever heard him raise his
