I let out a low whistle. “So much for the whole ‘I’m never getting married again for as long as I live’ bit that I’ve been listening to for the last two years. What made you change your mind?”
“Cal made me change my mind,” my mother said as she rubbed her forehead. “I know you’re probably sick of me saying this, but I think he is the one, Alexa. The one I was meant to be with forever.”
“Okay,” I said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “Yes, I’ve heard that a time or two as well. If I was in Vegas, I’d probably lay odds on that not being the case, given your past history and all.”
“Believe it or not, Alexa, I want what every woman wants in life. A companion who fills my life and enjoys the same things I do. Someone to fall asleep with every night and wake up to in the morning. It has been lonely clunking around that big house with no one around.”
“If this companion happens to be rich, that’s just an extra bonus, right?” I couldn’t keep the snide comment to myself as I spun back into the driveway of my mother’s house.
“Alexa! Really, I thought I raised you better than that. We all have flaws, and we all make mistakes. I am human.”
“Your flaws happen to be named Mitch, Daniel, Robert, and Steve,” I said. I saw my mother’s stricken expression and immediately regretted my tone. I slid the car back into the garage and put it into park. I left my hands on the wheel and gripped it tight before loosening my fingers with a long sigh. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me to say. I just thought you were really going to stick to the whole not getting married again thing, and I was proud of you for doing that. I don’t mean to be a total bitch. If this is what you want, then I’m happy for you.”
I got out of the car even as I tried to force myself to believe my words. At the end of the day, I was out of the house, and my mother’s love life wasn’t any of my business. I made my way around the car as she got out and then gave her a hug. “Thanks for the car. I’ll be at your wedding. I haven’t missed any of them so far, have I?” My mother had been pregnant with me when she married my father, so it was a true statement.
My mother sighed but gave a small chuckle. “I’d like you to be my maid-of-honor, of course.”
“Sure.” I slung my arm through hers as we walked back to the house.
“So, will you be bringing a date?” My mother wasn’t so subtle with her hints that she’d like it if I settled down.
Silver-blue eyes rose unbidden in my mind. I shook my head. I wasn’t planning on ever having a one-night stand again. Shayne had broken the mold with that experience. I wasn’t supposed to still be thinking about him. I knew there was no way he was still thinking about me. It had been almost a week, and I hadn’t heard a thing from him. Of course, I had refused to give him my phone number, so I shouldn’t be too surprised. “No, I’m not seeing anyone, so I doubt it.”
“You still have four months,” my mother said with a sly wink. “By the way, what are your plans for tomorrow night?”
It was a Friday night, so it wasn’t that unexpected that she’d think I might have plans. I had a few friends from school who were still in the area, and the city wasn’t that far away where a fair amount of them had settled after graduation. “I don’t have any plans,” I said. “I’m all yours.”
“Excellent,” she said as she opened the door for me to step inside. “We have a reservation at eight at O’Malley’s with Cal. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
I suddenly wished that I had told her I had plans after all. “Great,” I said spreading a fake smile on my face as I feigned enthusiasm for the idea. “I can’t wait either.”
Either my mother was ignoring my true feelings or she was willing to play along. Either way, she kept up her line of incessant chatter as she led me toward the kitchen.
CHAPTER NINE - ALEXA
After thirty minutes in Cal’s company, I had to admit that he wasn’t all that bad. He was a partner in a law firm that specialized in entertainment law, and he had already regaled us with several tales of his more well-known clients. Of course, he couldn’t tell us exactly who they were, but it was fun trying to guess.
“That totally sounds like Lindsay Lohan,” I said as the ma?tre’d led us to our table. It had been a short wait after we arrived, but a drink in the bar had been sufficient in loosening up my mind on the topic of Cal.
“No, but it’s a good guess,” Cal said. He pulled out the chair for my mother and then for me. I saw my mother raise her eyebrows at me, and I wanted to roll my eyes. She wanted me to like Cal so bad it was painfully obvious. “It’s true, though, that most of the time when we’re working with our clients, it’s because they have something bad happening in their businesses.”