She watched as he inhaled slowly, his face morphing into a more serious expression. “Have any more roses come, Libby?”
She shook her head. “Not since the fourth one.”
He nodded, but his frustration was palpable. She’d done as he’d asked and gotten the florist’s information, and Jason had gone into the shop to speak to the manager. Unfortunately, all the roses were purchased over the phone using a prepaid Visa card. It had been difficult to pull that much information out of the manager, but Libby didn’t figure many people turned Jason down when he got in their space.
“Maybe whoever it is has given up,” she suggested, though she only half-believed those words herself. It was mind-boggling. She found herself frequently wracking her brain once again, trying to imagine who might be essentially stalking her.
The bummer was that she’d dated several men of her mother’s choosing lately, and though she’d felt no connection to any of them, she found it unlikely one of them was so into her that he was sending roses.
She closed her eyes against the shudder that shook her body. If one of her recent dates wanted to see her again, why didn’t he just text or call? How was it helpful to send anonymous roses?
“Libby…”
She smiled at the warning tone in Jason’s voice.
“Stop thinking about the roses, baby girl. I’m sorry I brought it up. Let it go from your mind now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Sleep well, little one. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Sir.” She ended the call and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Shaking all thoughts of her anonymous suitor from her mind, she focused on Jason instead. She was really falling hard for this guy. What the hell am I going to do about my parents?
Chapter 15
Libby was exhausted when she arrived at her parents’ house. After working all day, the last thing she wanted to do was make nice with her mother. She’d much rather be at Jason’s house. Preferably naked and on her knees. Or handcuffed to his bed… Or over his knee…
She would find a way to get this dinner over with fast and get to his house.
She opened the front door warily, entered, and made her way through the front room toward the voices coming from the kitchen at the back of the house.
When she stepped inside, she froze. Her mother was at the stove stirring something. Her father was leaning against the island with a beer in his hand. And holy mother of God, Eddie was sitting on one of the bar stools.
Eddie was the first to spot her, and he beamed as he rose from the stool and came across the room toward her. “Hey there.” He leaned in close and kissed her cheek. “How was work?”
She blinked at him. What the hell was he doing at her parents’ house and why was he acting like they were a couple and she’d known he would be here?
“Hey, honey,” her mother tossed over her shoulder as she continued to stir. “Fun surprise, huh? I knew you’d been working a lot of hours lately, and I hated imposing on a night you could have been on a date, so I invited Eduardo.” She turned around, smiling wide as if she’d just pulled off the best surprise party ever. “This way, your father and I get to spend some time with you, and you’re not even missing out on a date night.” She clapped her hands together with incredible satisfaction.
Eddie looked quite pleased also. “I was so glad your mother called. I told her our schedules haven’t meshed lately. I assume you’ve gotten my roses though?” Was he smirking?
Surely she was imagining things. She stared at him, unable to imagine what she might say next.
Her father came to her side and kissed her forehead. “Good to see you, Libby.”
Her mom turned back to stirring, speaking again over her shoulder. “Libby, would you mind taking the bread to the dining room? The stew is almost ready. I’ll bring it in soon.”
Has the entire world gone mad? Did anyone in the room realize she had yet to speak?
Libby’s father handed her a basket filled with steaming bread and waved her toward the dining room with a wink. As if he was conspiring to give her time alone with Eddie.
Yep. The world’s gone mad.
Libby felt like she was out of her body as she shuffled to the dining room, breadbasket in one hand, Eddie right behind her. She was also furious, both with her mother and with Eddie. How dare he think this would be appropriate.
He set his palm on her lower back, making her shudder as she dropped the bread on the table. “Sorry I haven’t called. I was out of town for several days, and I knew you were working a busy schedule.”
She spun around fast and took a step back to get his hand off her. “I didn’t expect you to call at all. I thought we agreed we didn’t really have chemistry.” They had discussed this. Using those words. She’d learned to be careful with the men she dated. If it wasn’t going to work, she made that clear the moment they dropped her off. She didn’t like to lead people on. It was one thing to date a string of men her mother set her up with, but there was no way she was going to go out with someone twice if she wasn’t feeling it.
Eddie waved a hand through the air, dismissing her comment. “We only went on the one date. I thought it went well. We hardly got the chance to get to know each other in the noisy bar.”
It hadn’t been just noisy. Eddie had brought her to a birthday party for one of his friends. She hadn’t known a single person there. It was kind of rude for a first date. And she’d found him to be presumptuous and cocky as fuck.
He’d also touched her too
