The Ex (The Boss 4)

“No, those are from the bar.” I shook cake from my fingers. “Julia will get them in the morning.”

“I don’t mind.” Mom slid the tray onto the counter and flipped on the tap. I felt Neil tense behind me, and stood. I could have stayed in his lap all night, but obviously not with her right there.

“You don’t have to go on a cleaning spree,” I reminded her as I crossed the kitchen with the plate of mangled cake.

Neil got up and grabbed a paper towel to wipe frosting off his hands. “This sounds as though it may take a moment. I’m going to go to bed.”

“I’ll be right there,” I told him over my shoulder. Watching him walk to the door, I got a little shiver. The man had absolutely no intention of turning in; when I got to that bedroom, I had no idea what would be waiting. But I knew I would like it.

“You don’t have to stay up with me,” Mom said, checking her watch, a knock-off Pandora style with round charms. “It’s almost two-thirty.”

“It’s no problem.” It wasn’t like I was going to feel comfortable getting my ass-paddled with my mom still up and puttering around the house, anyway. “I haven’t completely forgotten how to wash a dish.”

“I didn’t think you had.” Mom didn’t sound defensive. She actually seemed like she was proud of me. “That was a great party tonight. I have to say, I’m impressed.”

“Oh, well, we’re very impressive.” I nudged her with my arm.

But she wasn’t playing around. She half-turned, her wet hands still safely confined in the boundary of the sink. “I’m talking about you, Sophie. Not about Neil, or his money.”

“Oh.” I could take praise from my friends, from Neil, from total strangers, even, without a second thought. But my mom’s approval was harder to accept. Maybe because I wanted it so bad. So, I shrugged it off, like it was nothing to me. “Well, you know me. I love to party.”

“No, you don’t. You’ve never been a party girl.” Mom still studied me, her brows drawn together though her mouth smiled. “But there you were, keeping an eye on the food and the drinks, chatting with people. You were so poised and sure of yourself.”

“Okay, Mom,” I started to protest, because laughing her off would have been easier than just taking the compliment.

“No, I’m serious. You’re suddenly this adult that I’ve never noticed before.” She rolled her eyes at herself and went back to washing the glasses. “I know I didn’t see her when she came home for Christmas.”

“Well, that’s kind of my fault.” If I was an adult, all of a sudden, I had to accept some responsibility. “I should have been real with you about Neil and me, and I wasn’t. It wasn’t fair to expect you to deal with your shock and not express any of it.”

“That’s true.” She went quiet for a moment. “I know I reacted…badly. To your engagement.”

“You’ve been reacting badly for a while, Mom,” I pointed out dryly.

She pursed her lips and pretended she hadn’t heard me. “I would still be happier if you were marrying someone…”

“Twenty years younger?”

“More like you,” she finished dryly. “The two of you have nothing in common, you’re from different generations, your backgrounds are…very different. But I don’t know. The more time I spend with the two of you, the more I see two adults in a relationship together. Before, I was seeing my little girl and a man who was inappropriately older, who was probably taking advantage of her.”

“And, now, how do you see him?” I took a glass from her and dried it.

She considered a little longer than I would have liked. “Now, I see him as an inappropriately older man who loves my daughter and wants to make her happy. I can’t find a lot of fault in that.”

“Well, he does make me happy.” I shrugged a little. “If I were in your position, maybe I would be the same way.”

“I doubt it. You’re way more liberal than anyone could have expected you’d turn out.” Mom’s lips twisted in a wry smirk. She nodded toward the door. “Go on, go to bed. It’s been a long night.”

It was going to be a lot longer, but I think she must have suspected that, from the way she looked like she’d swallowed something yucky.

I leaned against the counter with one hand. “You should go to bed, too. Seriously, can you just enjoy living in a place where people do stuff for you, for a change?”

“I don’t want to get used to it, because it will suck when I go home.” But she folded the dishrag and rinsed her hands with glasses still in the sink.

My heart tugged in my chest. Mom hadn’t been with us that long, but now that she was here, I liked it. Not the comments on my weight or my relationship, or the way I was forced into the role of peacekeeper whenever she and my fiancé were in the same room, but after nearly a decade of not-quite-annual visits and brief phone calls, I wanted my mom back.

“You don’t have to go, you know.” I hoped I didn’t sound desperate or anything for her to stay. “I mean, your daughter is a billionaire, now. You might want to consider taking advantage of that.”

“Oh, Sophie, I don’t know.” She shook her head. “What about your grandmother? What about the rest of the family?”