Billionaire's Single Mom

I blinked. Had I not a made fool of myself?

“So, you’re not mad at me? At all?”

Mama looked at me like I’d gone insane. “Emily, now why on Earth would I be mad at you?”

I sipped more lemonade and shrugged. “I figured you’d be mad about what I did last night.”

“A few people talked about it, but it was mostly Amelia and a couple of others who saw. I made sure they didn’t go around talking too much.”

I winced. Okay, so I had done something. “And you’re not mad about having to tell them that?”

“No, no, no. I’m positively delighted.” She punctuated her thought with a nod. “Especially since it’s exactly what I wanted. Well, maybe not exactly, but it points in the right direction.”

I swallowed, and my palms grew sweaty. I suspected Mama was setting me up for some sort of emotional ambush. Even though I knew it was coming, I couldn’t figure out from what direction. I nibbled on my lip, trying to fight the building panic.

“Why are you so happy?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy?” She let out a happy sigh. I was officially creeped out. “You have to understand, dear, you didn’t call me on Thursday, so I worried your date with Logan had gone poorly, and you were only waiting because you were too afraid to tell me.”

That was exactly what had happened. Did she see through that? I didn’t understand what she meant and what this had to do with whatever had happened the night before.

“Um…” was my brilliant response, “and?”

An infectious grin spread across her face. “But you obviously had hit it off even more than I expected.” She winked and chuckled. “Or was that all just from last night?” She nodded. “I didn’t think of that. It was probably all too rushed on Thursday. You needed more time to relax.” She frowned. “It’s my fault for trying to rush things, but it doesn’t matter, I suppose, because of last night.”

“Last night?” My pulse pounded in my ears, each beat sending a jolt of pain through my head. “You’re happy about what happened last night?”

“I’m not going to lie, dear. I’d prefer if you maybe hadn’t had nearly as many glasses of champagne, but I’m not going to quibble with the results, especially since it got you Logan Hawkins.” She picked up an apple slice and took a bite, watching me.

My mind raced. Logan had come to the fundraiser? If he had, I didn’t remember it. The last Logan-related memory I could pull out of my throbbing head was us hugging and parting at the café.

I picked up an apple slice and put in my mouth, wanting a little food and an excuse not to talk for a few moments. I wondered if Logan had lied to his mother about how our date went.

That didn’t seem right. Mama was acting like we were together last night. I gobbled down a few more apple slices trying to buy more time and considered my options. Asking Mama directly would be beyond embarrassing, and I liked how happy she seemed.

“Are you feeling hungry, dear?” she said. “I can have Bella get something going.”

“I think I need to go get a little cleaned up before breakfast,” I said, rising. This was good. A shower would give me more time to sober up and figure out what the heck was going on.

“You do that, dear,” Mama said. “There are some dresses in the closet you can wear.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“No, thank you.” That frightening grin returned.

I made my way back to my room. Juniper still dozed on the bed. I decided to let her sleep. Chances were she’d been up way past her bedtime and needed the rest.

My purse sat on top of a dresser, along with my coat. I reached into my purse to pull out my phone, wondering if it held any answers to the mysteries of the previous night.

I had a single alert for a voice message. I swiped the phone open and listened to the message.

“Hello, Emily,” Logan’s recorded voice said over the phone. I could hear the slightest hint of slurred words. Mama was right. I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten drunk. “I had a great time last night, even if it was a bit wilder than I’m used to. After our date at the café, I didn’t think you were interested, but I’m glad we’ll be able to see each other again, and I think we proved we’re more than a little compatible.” He paused and sucked in a breath. “I’d really like to see you again. I think we can both agree we have great chemistry and a lot in common. How about Tuesday night? See you then.”

Wow. He was already setting up dates with me. Something spectacular must have happened the night before.

Great chemistry? I tossed my phone back into my purse and tried to figure out what that even meant. What had we done the night before? Maybe I hit on him, loudly and publicly. I didn’t want to ask Mama for more details. The last thing I needed was her thinking she needed to stick her nose even more into this business.

I sat down on the edge of the bed. Juniper stirred and rolled to her side but didn’t awaken.