“So this changes things for you, baby girl?” Mum asked, smiling knowingly at me. So far, she had been quiet while Spring and I bickered back and forth, as was her way. We had very little we couldn’t say in front of our mother; actually, we were yet to find a subject that was off-limits.
“Well of course, Trish. It means we might be rocking more than just a few hot as hell kisses in the future.” With my hands on my hips, I gave my mother a look as if to say ‘duh’.
My head swirled with the truth that Luca reached out to find my number. This guy, what the hell was he doing to me. Luca wasn’t the type I usually went for physically. He overwhelmed me emotionally and was really over the top with his displays of affection. Still, for some reason, I liked all of that.
He had to explain why he dumped and ran, and it better be a good one, but I had a feeling I was going to give him a second chance to make it up to me. Luca stirred a fire inside my belly, a feeling I wanted to explore further. It surprised me that I got more upset when Luca left me hanging at the pub compared to when my boyfriend of nearly a year broke up with me to further his career.
He wanted to take me home with him, and I was going to let him. Luca’s inadvertently hurting me made me rethink my reaction to him. I wanted him just as badly as I did three nights ago, but maybe I should shelve that for a while and get to know him without the hot kisses, dirty talking and intense stares.
Our instant chemistry intrigued me enough to let the humiliation slide.
“I see you have come to a decision, Meadow,” Spring concluded, looking intently at me.
“I have. Thank you for setting the record straight, Spring. Although you could have shared that information with me three days ago and saved me grief, heartache and the loss of my creative mojo.” My scorn did not go unnoticed by my mother, who sat giggling on the couch looking back and forth at her two daughters like we were the most entertaining humans on the planet.
Crazy woman.
“Lord, Meadow. Get off the dramatic train and get back to working on that piece you should have had finished by now.” Spring waved me to start walking. “And maybe you can now focus on my problem of Ace and why he banged me then left without a word.”
“Because you gave it up on the first night, perhaps,” I mumbled, then yelped when I felt a hard tug at my hair.
“And you wouldn’t have jumped Luca’s bones if he didn’t have to cut and run.”
The cackling laughter of Trish cut off my retort. Getting up off the chaise, Mum walked up to us and wrapped an arm around each of us.
“Oh, you girls, who needs soap operas when you two are the best live show. Now, let’s get to work, and we can discuss Spring being a wanton hussy and Meadow, your tendency to be a drama queen.”
Groaning at the same time, Spring let out a huffy sigh, I allowed my mother to lead us to the workroom.
I might lean a little to the theatrics, and Spring had a problem with jumping into bed with a guy too quickly, but Trish Tessler had unique all to herself.
“How much longer will you be working from home, Stallion?”
I grimaced at the use of the idiotic nickname Ace had given me back in high school and still insisted on using it. For some insane reason, Ace decided that my Italian heritage equalled being called stallion. Ace was an idiot, but none the less, also my best friend.
Extending my middle finger at Ace on the computer screen, I growled in frustration.
“It’s Mum’s house I’m working from, not mine, and I don’t know. The doctor is swinging by later today, so I guess I will wait for what he has to say before making a decision.” Eying the clock on the wall, I calculated how long before my mother’s doctor was due to arrive and give Mum a check over. A week ago, she collapsed in the kitchen. Luckily for her, two of my sisters had been home and called an ambulance, then calling me to meet them at the hospital.
I admit panic and worry for my mum made me act like a total dick that night. Leaving Meadow without an explanation, getting her phone number or even her last name. All I thought of was getting to Mum. In hindsight, I didn’t handle it right. Getting to the hospital and finding Mum sitting on the edge of an examination table and not in a bed with machines hooked up to her like I’d imagined the whole drive there wasn’t what I expected. The doctors had no answers for her collapse, only that it could be exhaustion. Exhaustion from what? She had people at her beck and call, my sisters and me, we all made it, so Mum didn’t have to worry about a single thing. Don’t get me wrong, I was relieved that nothing serious was wrong, but I couldn’t help feeling frustrated and annoyed all the same.
My mind went back to how I’d sprinted out of the Western, leaving the sexiest woman alive on the dance floor, her eyes still hooded and dazed from our kisses.
Fuck it.
My plan to see that same look on her face while laying in my bed, with me deep inside her—thwarted by a family emergency.
I tried to get her contact info later that night, but Ace had been too busy with his dick and his girl to give me what I needed. Fucking arsehole.
“I need you back in the office tomorrow, Luca. We have
