I turned to my other side. “Sam wants to take us out for dinner. Would you be okay with that?”
Mom had the same reaction. She wanted to be thrilled, buuut…
“I think I’ll be fine, as long as I order something soft like mashed potatoes. The tremors aren’t terrible today.”
I gauged the truth of her words. She often mentioned how frustrating her meals could be. Many of the foods she loved were too hard, too chewy, or too gooey for her to enjoy anymore. And with her tremors, soup was best sipped out of a cup.
Mom leaned in close. “Are you sure you two wouldn’t rather be alone?”
I couldn’t fight my grin. “He invited the two of us.”
“Well, okay. But you know what I always say.”
Don’t let him break your heart.
“Can’t forget.”
After the panel, we exited the convention center. I missed my jacket, but it wouldn’t have done much good with the bitter breeze blowing up my skirt.
“Where would you like to go?”
We sat in the idling car and I twisted around. “Where do you usually go?”
His expression froze. Tough question?
“I don’t get out much.”
I narrowed my gaze on him. Another girl might not question his behavior, but he was acting odd enough to set off my spidey sense.
Giving myself an invisible shake, I brushed it off. Not every male interested in me was deceitful.
Maybe that’s why I’d gotten along so well with Sam Robson. Not once had I gotten anything other than a friendly vibe from him.
“I’ll drive and Mom can shout out a place she’d like.”
Mom chuckled. “Sure, put the pressure on me.”
A simple family restaurant won out.
I didn’t miss the subtle lift of Sam’s forehead when he scanned the menu. He might not get out much, but I was confident that when he did, it wasn’t to places like this. With his nice car and sharp clothes, he likely ate at more expensive places.
He ordered seamlessly and as I relaxed to enjoy the meal, I couldn’t help but think of how little I knew about him.
Chapter 10
Wes
“And where were you all weekend?” Flynn stepped inside my office at Canon and shut the door. “I gotta wait until Monday night to see my boy. You left me hanging.”
I shuffled papers around on my desk and opened a file on my computer. Wrong one. I closed it. I couldn’t concentrate until my friend left. Flynn wasn’t going to quit until he pried out everything I was willing to share.
“I was kidding, but were you with her all weekend? The comic book store owner you’re ‘fooling’?” Flynn gave the last word air quotes.
I pushed back and crossed an ankle over my knee. “I am fooling her. I hung out with her and her mom.” Ignoring Flynn’s gaping mouth, I continued, “Guess what? She’s on such good terms with some of her customers that one is representing her pro bono to contest Sam’s contract.”
“I’m going to ignore the mother part because, dude, you don’t do family—yours or anyone else’s. But the lawsuit? A fool’s errand. Why bother?”
“To be a nuisance.”
“And you and her are doing what this whole time?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t appreciate being put on the spot and I wasn’t going to share my sex life with Flynn.
Flynn’s eyes narrowed and he huffed. “So you’re hooking up. Don’t like repeat performances, my ass.”
I didn’t like repeat performances, they just led to complications. Mara was a special exception. I tapped a pen while Flynn loomed on the other side of my desk. I thought of an answer that wouldn’t incriminate me with Flynn.
“I need to know why my dad was so into her.”
Flynn gave me the duh look. “Why are you so into her? Answer that and there’s your answer. Have you drawn up any contracts with her name on them lately?”
“Fuck, no.”
“Really? You met her mother. Prove she doesn’t have you brainwashed. Go out there and pick up that blond hot thing that goes by the name of Hailey but doesn’t mind what you call her when you’re balls deep.”
I winced at the…stunning accuracy of what being with Hailey was like. It reminded me of how little I liked Sam being screamed when I was buried in Mara.
“I have some work to do.”
“She’s got you, brother. Finish your work and get out here and show me that Mara Joy Budinski doesn’t have a hold on you.”
Mara Jade Baranski, asshole.
Flynn left and I scrubbed my face. Stared at my work. All of which would’ve been done over the weekend, when I usually dealt with club business. It taunted me after a long day in the office because I’d ignored messages over the weekend.
Flynn was right. She was getting to me. I pushed back from my chair and went out to the dance floor.
Mara
I blew a bubble and snapped it, the pop echoing through Arcadia. So satisfying.
No one was around. The sweet spot of a Wednesday afternoon, when I got very few customers until people started getting off work.
Since there was no one to impress, I sat behind the register “borrowing” a Justice League comic. Ordinarily, I didn’t sample the merchandise but with a little over three weeks left, I was cutting loose. Soon, affording comics would go back to being a luxury.
The door tinkled as a shockingly handsome man in a designer suit and perfectly coiffed hair strolled in. He glanced around with a bemused expression.
I closed the comic and hopped down from my stool. “What are you looking for today?”
I’d learned a long time ago not to ask What can I do for you today? when my clientele was predominantly male.
He zeroed in on me like a bird of prey. His gaze swept down my purple plaid flannel shirt to my black Star Wars leggings emblazoned with C-3PO on one leg and R2-D2 on the other.
An arrogant blond brow rose.
So it was like that.
“I just heard about this place. Wanted a
