That Thing You Do (Crystal Lake 2)

At least, not until she had to.

Chapter Twelve

Nate strolled into his parents’ place Wednesday morning just after eight, whistling some tune he had no name for, but one that had been stuck in his head since he woke up with Molly in his arms. His dad’s truck was gone and his mother was nowhere to be seen, so he made himself a coffee before checking his email. The steak house fiasco was still in full swing, and he scheduled a conference call for later in afternoon, hoping to somehow defuse the situation before it escalated. He called his client and advised him to delete all evidence of his newfound love of vegan food, which wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. Turned out the guy had been trying to impress a new lady friend who loved cows. Nate told him to stop thinking with his dick and use his head.

You really couldn’t make this stuff up.

Nate promised him he’d do what he could to fix things and, in the meantime, told the guy to stay off social media entirely and delete any and all incriminating posts. Not that it mattered much. Once that stuff was out there, there was no getting it back.

He rummaged through the fridge, his stomach growling with hunger. Aside from the fact he and Molly had gotten maybe two hours of sleep, there was no food in her house. Not the kind he liked, anyway. Who the hell existed on yogurt and berries? Nate needed a sixteen-ounce steak after the workout he’d put in.

He grinned to himself, a self-satisfied kind of thing, because he’d brought Molly to the edge more times than he could remember, and the best part was that he’d been right there with her. He’d known going in the sex would be good. Hell, he’d never had bad sex. But what they’d shared last night was next-level stuff. If he was being honest, it was the best sex he’d ever had—and he’d had some damn good partners. Less than an hour after he left her place, he already looked forward to seeing her tonight. And he had plans for the woman. The kind of plans that took all night.

“You look like the cat who ate the proverbial mouse.”

His mother walked into the kitchen and patted him on the shoulder as she grabbed a mug from the cupboard. She wore a simple blue dress with the gold chain and cross she never took off, and her silver-blonde hair was up in a loose bun. She’d taken the time to put on makeup and wore low heels instead of, say, her Birks.

“You volunteering at the hospital today?”

“I am. I’m excited because we have two new babies to cuddle.”

“Is that what you do there?” Surprised, Nate yanked his head around. “Cuddle babies?”

“It’s my most favorite thing in the world. We’ve got two sick babies who need all the extra love and care they can get, and I’m more than happy to give it.”

“That’s great, Mom. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Well, that’s because you know nothing about babies.” She sighed and leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee for a few seconds. “Sometimes I think I’ll never have my own grandbabies to hold. Beck seems to have no interest in dating or meeting anyone new. And you…you’re no closer to settling down than you were five years ago.” He saw the look in her eyes and gave her five seconds to ask the question that was burning inside her. In the end, she took three.

“So where did you get to last night? Beck said you didn’t stay at his place.”

Nate took his time to answer. On one hand, he’d promised to keep what happened between him and Molly on the down low. On the other, he hated lying to his mother. In fact, he sucked at it—she always knew. He decided the best thing to do was to try his best to outmaneuver a woman who was a pro at getting the information she wanted.

“The boys and I went to the Coach House after our tux fittings.”

“Oh, right. How did that go?” She asked the question lightly, but Nate knew she was biding her time. She was like a cat waiting to pounce.

“Mike and Cheetos were a problem, but other than that, everything’s ready for Saturday.”

“Was the Coach House busy? I think Tuesday’s are wing night.”

“That’s Monday night, but, yeah, it was busy.”

“Did you close the place?”

His mother wasn’t making this easy on him, and he was starting to get annoyed. The woman meant well, but she seemed to forget he wasn’t a seventeen-year-old kid sneaking in the back door after partying all night on the beach.

Nate shook his head, “Nope,” and got to his feet. Keep it simple, he thought.

“Where’d you go after? Zach’s?”

Maybe it was the hunger or maybe he’d been staying at his parents’ too long. Whatever it was, Nate’s short fuse exploded, and he threw his hands up in the air. “Jesus, Mom. Why don’t you just ask what it is that you want to ask?”

She gave him a look and then set her mug down. “All right. What woman did you spend the night with?”

“Well, first off, if I did spend the night with someone, how is that your business?

“Don’t get cheeky with me, Nathan James Jacobs. I’m merely asking a question. You can choose to answer it or not.”