She rode me like there was no tomorrow, and I’d never seen her give herself up so completely. I’d never seen her so unafraid. Before now, we’d always been unsure about where the other one stood, but today we laid it all on the table, and the outcome was mind-blowing sex like I’d never had.

  If this was what being in a relationship with Dani was going to be like, she would never get rid of me.

  “Wow,” she exhaled through heavy pants, clinging to my shoulders long after we’d both finished.

  “You can say that again,” I told her, running my hand down her spine.

  “Was it just me, or did that feel more…”

  “Real?” I prompted.

  She nodded, her face pressed against my shoulder.

  “I think that’s because it was, sweetheart. I told you I’m falling for you, after all. Though I don’t think that’s quite right…”

  She stiffened in my arms, not looking up at me. “No?” she asked, voice measured.

  “No,” I confirmed. “The appropriate phrase would be ‘have fallen for you,’ because I’m crazy about you, Danielle.”

  She leaned back to look at me, a hesitant smile coming out. “I’m crazy about you, too, Seth. Sir,” she added, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

  “Guess there’s only one thing left for me to do,” I said in my most businesslike tone.

  “Oh?” she asked, still apprehensive. Maybe one day she’d get used to my sense of humor. For now, it was fun to watch her squirm when she wasn’t sure how serious I was.

  “Yep. Danielle Morris, will you be my girlfriend? Officially?”

  She snorted, leaning in to kiss me. “Before I say yes, is this going to cause problems with HR?”

  “Leave HR to me,” I said, dragging her closer, sealing the promise with a kiss.

  “Then yes,” she agreed, kissing me back. “Definitely yes, sir.”

  That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

  7

  Dani

  I wasn’t sure life could get any better than this. Somehow, against all the odds, I had everything a girl could want, and while I was laying in Seth’s arms, it felt like nothing could ever go wrong.

  Until I heard the front door open.

  I froze, praying it was a hallucination.

  “Did you hear—”

  “Was that the door?” Seth asked.

  Crap.

  “Do you want me to go check—”

  “No!” I whisper-yelled, grabbing his arm before he could get out of bed. Bless him, he was worried about home invaders, trying to protect me.

  But it was much worse than burglars.

  So much worse.

  “Uh…Stay here,” I said, grabbing my bathrobe off the dresser. I slipped into it as I stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I barely got three steps before I was face-to-face with—

  “Mom, I thought you weren’t coming home until Sunday night.”

  She hadn’t turned any of the lights on yet—the ambient glow from the light above the stove was enough to see by—and I hoped she wouldn’t notice all the evidence that Davon and I had company stay over.

  I had the sudden compulsion to start cleaning it up before she could notice, but I knew if I started cleaning, she would immediately notice.

  “Well, you know we always kick the whole thing off with a potluck? Some folks got real sick a few hours after—well, most folks, to tell the truth. I’m not making any accusations, but I feel fine and I didn’t eat any of Evelyn’s tuna rice balls. You know how I feel about reheated fish.”

  “I thought that was a universal thing, honestly. I’m surprised everyone else ate them,” I muttered, feeling queasy just thinking about it.

  “Well, Evelyn makes a big fuss if someone turns down what she’s offered, but she and I have an understanding,” Mom said with enough emphasis on the word for me to imagine the comments my mother must’ve made to arrive at that ‘understanding’. Hell hath no fury like a passive aggressive southern lady’s compliment.

  “You must be tired, though, coming all the way back from Gainesville?” I hoped. If I could convince Mom to go to bed, once her CPAP machine started up, I could get Seth out of here without anyone knowing any better. Then I’d just have to get up early enough to tell Davon that Grandma didn’t need to know about Mr. Seth and—

  “Not really,” Mom answered. “I had a cup of coffee about an hour ago. You know I’ll never get to sleep now. You’re in bed awfully early for a Saturday night.”

  “Uh huh.” I really hoped Seth would just stay put. I didn’t know how long I could expect him to wait. “We had a long day. I had to go into work unexpectedly—”

  “You what? What did you do with Davon?”

  “I took him with me. My boss suggested it—”

  “That man is working you too much,” she said, hands on her hips.

  “It’s fine. We’ve got everything finalized for this launch. No more late nights at the office.”

  Hopefully there would still be late nights with the boss, but that was something altogether different.

  Then Mom picked up on something. Maybe I seemed a little too happy. Maybe she spotted the three ice cream bowls on the coffee table, or Seth’s shoes by the door with everyone else’s. Whatever it was she spotted, she narrowed her eyes at me, arched her brow, and just stared until I started to squirm.

  “Okay, well, I’m sorry about your trip,” I said, backing down the hall toward the bedroom. I didn’t know how I was going to get Seth out of here or cover my bases so my kid didn’t spill the beans but…

  What was I doing?

  I was going to twist myself into a pretzel to try to hide Seth from my mom? For what? He was a great guy. He didn’t deserve to be kept secret.

  “Danielle?” Mom asked, using that tone that made me feel like a kid in trouble again.

  I sighed.

  “The late nights at work haven’t just been about working. Seth and I are…dating,” I said. It was official now, after all. It felt a little strange to say, but I could get used to it.

  “Dating?” Mom asked, incredulous.

  “Yeah. Even Davon likes him, so…Maybe give him a chance before you judge him too harshly?”

  She pursed her lips with a little ‘hmph’. After a moment of consideration, she looked past me, to the bedroom.

  “He’s in there, isn’t he?”

  My face was suddenly boiling hot. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

  But somehow, I managed to nod, compelled by the unwavering Mom-glare.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Why is he in there hiding?” she asked, tone getting sharper.

  “Because I told him to,” I answered, shame sinking in.

  She said nothing, but the stare was enough.

  After a long, long pause, she pushed past me and knocked on the bedroom door.

  “Mom!”

  She whirled around, and my mouth snapped shut. I knew better than to keep going when she had that ‘try me’ expression.

  “I’ll get him, let me just—”

  But it was too late. The door was opening, and there stood Seth in his boxers and a t-shirt, more rumpled than I’d ever seen him in the office. I wanted to be at his side so we could face my mom as a united front—I definitely didn’t want him to have to face her alone—but she’d managed to strategically wedge between us. He was on his own.

  “Um…Hello, Mrs. Morris?”

  “Dorothea,” Mom corrected quickly, giving him a long look.

  Too long.

  “This is your boss?” she asked me, glancing back at Seth. What did she imagine? Male-patterned baldness and a potbelly? Not on my Seth. He was a certified hunk.

  “I am,” Seth said, holding out his hand. “I would’ve liked for us to meet on better terms—”

  “Good, then you won’t mind if I want to get to know you a little better,” Mom interrupted. “I’m protective of my family, you know.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Seth asked.

  “You don’t have to—” I tried, but Mom talked over me.

  “Spades, Friday night,” she said, shocking me. Spades was serious business with Mom and her friends. I couldn’t believe she’d invite a white boy to play with them.

  She really wanted to put him through the wringer.

  “That’s cards, right?” Seth asked, all innocence and enthusiasm. He had no clue he was going to have his ass handed to him.

  “Sure is. Dani will give you all the details,” Mom said, sweet as key lime pie. “I’ll clean up the living room,” she added to me, “you two go back to bed.”

  It felt wrong to go back into my bedroom with Seth after a confrontation with my mother. Not a chance in hell would there be any more hanky-panky going on. I smiled to myself. That is how Seth would put it.

  “I’m sorry about that, she shouldn’t have been—” Seth stopped me with a kiss.

  “It’s okay. It was bound to happen sooner or later and I’m glad to have it out in the open.”

  I bit my lip, trying to squash the nerves bubbling in my gut.

  “I guess you’re right. But I’m not sure you know what you’re getting into. You don’t have to go to Spades night with the old gals. I won’t hold it against you.”

  “Your mom will,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. “I want to win her over as much as I do Davon. I know how important family is to you.”

  Did he know how important he was to me?

  I kissed him, hoping that would say what I needed him to know.

  “Just so you know, they play for money, and they’re not going to pull any punches because you’re new.”

  “I’ll hit the ATM,” he chuckled.

  He thought it was only about money. He was in so much trouble.

  No matter how much I tried to talk him out of it all week, Seth wouldn’t be discouraged from attending Mom’s Spades night. I couldn’t send him to the lions’ den alone. I convinced my sister, Janelle, to babysit for me, using some blackmail material I’d been holding onto for a rainy day. Even as adults, there were some things we didn’t want our mom to find out, and I knew the right buttons to push with Janelle.

  With Davon at his auntie’s and a pineapple cake in my lap, we headed to Evelyn’s.

  I hadn’t been to Evelyn’s place in years, but it was all exactly as I remembered it—dried flower arrangements, gold-framed mirrors, and a strong perfumed scent in the air even though all the candles were dusty.

  “I’m glad Dorothea found a fourth,” Evelyn said as she put out a pitcher of sweet tea on the counter. “We were going to have to cancel without Latrice.”

  “Happy to jump in,” Seth said with a big smile. “But couldn’t Dani have jumped in?”

  “Oh no,” I said. “No, no. Not me.”

  Seth’s brow furrowed. “How come? You’re not playing tonight?”

  “Nope, I’m just here for moral support. I know better than to stick my hand in this viper’s nest.”

  “Do you have any coffee?” Cheryl asked, eyeing my pineapple cake, practically licking her lips.

  “I’ll put a pot on,” Evelyn said.

  Seth looked over to me, smirking. I knew in his mind, he was thinking I’d been overreacting about the ruthlessness of these sweet little old ladies.

  “Did anyone tell the new kid to bring his wallet?” Cheryl asked, cutting herself a slice of cake.

  “Go easy on him, he doesn’t even know how to play,” I said, putting my hand on his thigh under the table.

  “I’m a fast learner,” Seth protested. “And I’m pretty good at cards,” he added, with a devilish gleam in his eyes. Seth was probably the smartest man I’d ever met. Even though he’d made himself a billionaire with PayEaz, he still studied hard to earn multiple degrees in business, computer science, and math.

  He was probably good at counting cards, now that I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure that would help him any. All good Spades players could count cards.

  “Well then, how interesting should we make this?” Evelyn asked, hobbling over to the table, ice clinking in her glass.

  Seth shrugged. “Try me.”

  Mom chuckled. “Normally it’s five per overbid book, fifty if you get shut out, winners split the pot.”

  “He doesn’t even know—”

  Seth stopped me, then turned back to the rest of the table. “Don’t change the rules on my account. I can afford it.”

  Famous last words.

  At least Spades was a team effort. Seth couldn’t get too wiped out without his partner taking a hit too, but because he wasn’t part of the normal rotation, they all took a turn being his partner.

  I was pretty sure everyone else came out ahead, but Seth was a good sport about it. He was a good sport about everything, from their rushed tutorial that left out a lot of the game’s nuances to the grilling my mom and her friends gave him about every aspect of his life.

  “You’ve never been married?” Mom asked, after they finished a gauntlet of questions about his career and finances—he’d done his best to stay modest, but there was no hiding his wealth with the watch he was wearing. These ladies clocked him the moment he walked in.

  “Never found the right one,” he answered, unashamed.

  “No kids either?” Cheryl asked, curling her lip a little. “Unusual for a man your age.”

  I wanted to bury my face in the table and never come up for air.

  Seth simply shrugged. “I’ve been careful. I’ve always wanted a family, but I understand the value of being patient. Waiting for something that’s really worth it.”

  “She’s already slept with you, ease up boy,” Evelyn said, making the other women cackle.

  Now I really was going to bury myself under the table.

  Seth nudged me with his shoulder, then leaned forward, clearly asking for a kiss.

  Here? Now?

  What the hell. It was too late to be discreet. I tilted my head into the kiss, instantly smiling.

  I couldn’t stay annoyed at all the meddling when I had his lips on mine, more perfect than anything.

  “You know what we need?” Evelyn asked. “Eggnog.”

  “Eggnog?” Seth asked.

  “My specialty,” Evelyn answered cheerfully. “I’ll whip some up for you.”

  Mom and Cheryl were both grim and silent, but Seth didn’t get the hint, and he didn’t see the gestures I was trying to make.

  “Sounds great,” he replied, sealing his fate.

  “You’re gonna regret that,” I muttered, too low for Evelyn to hear in the kitchen.

  “I’m sure I’ve had worse,” he insisted.

  I probably should’ve warned him about the tuna balls fiasco, but it was too late now.

  “Do you always drink eggnog year-round, or is this special for me?” Seth called into the other room.

  “Oh, I’ll make it anytime someone asks for it,” Evelyn answered.

  “No one every does,” Mom muttered, making Cheryl snicker.

  “Does anyone else want a—”

  “No!” We all answered at once. Everyone else knew better than to accept Evelyn’s eggnog, but this was a lesson Seth would have to learn on his own.

  And it was an initiation of sorts too. This was a test, and if he passed, he might actually get their stamp of approval.

  Not that it made a bit of difference to me whether they approved or not, but I knew Seth cared.

  “Here you are, sweetie. Drink up. It’s good for the heart,” Evelyn said.

  “Raw eggs and cream are good for the heart?” I asked, I couldn’t help myself. At least Mom laughed instead of scolding me.

  Seth went in without a care in the world, taking big gulps of the foul concoction before the scent really hit him.

  Evelyn had a ‘secret blend’ of spices that no one ever wanted the recipe for.

  His eyes registered the moment the signal from his tastebuds got to his brain. For a split second, I thought he was going to gag.

  He didn’t, though. He choked it down with a smile and thanked Evelyn in a tight, hoarse voice.

  I shared my sweet tea with him while she left for the kitchen again.

  “Have you ladies ever considered playing for real money?” Seth asked while he counted what little money they left him with. “You could probably clean up in Vegas. They have tournaments for major pots.”

  “And major buy-ins,” Cheryl said.

  Seth nodded, looking thoughtful. “I could possibly be persuaded to donate half the entry fee for the same cut of the winnings,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Ten percent,” Mom countered. “And you pay for airfare and hotels. First class—”

  “Mom—”

  “Deal,” Seth answered, reaching past me to shake her hand before I knew the bargain had been struck.

  He was positively giddy as we left Evelyn’s.

  “You didn’t have to agree to all that,” I told him, just the two of us in the car, parked under a streetlamp.

  “It was my suggestion,” he pointed out.

  “Yeah, the tournament, but the hotel and stuff? Don’t let my mom strong arm you just because you want to make a good impression.”

  He smiled, then leaned in to kiss me.

  “It’s cute that you want to look out for me. I have a few friends who own resorts in Vegas. I’ll get the rooms comped, and I have more airline miles than I know what to do with. Your mom’s deal saves me a lot, actually.” He grabbed my hand and pulled it up to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “Don’t worry. I won’t let your mom and her friends scam me.” He chuckled, and it was contagious, making me laugh along with him.

  “I was thinking Vegas could be a fun family vacation, though. I’m sure your mom would like to have you and Davon in the cheering section,” he said.

  “More airline miles and comped rooms?”

  He grinned. “You’d be surprised how many people give out free things to rich people.”

  “The irony,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. It was hard to even be annoyed about that, though. His grin was infectious and being with Seth made me so happy I felt like I could explode. I wanted this to last forever.

 

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