He hadn’t mentioned his mother’s overzealous matchmaking to Caroline the other night. He figured he’d already overwhelmed her with a fake engagement. She’d find out about his mother soon enough. Another perk of bringing Caroline home was that his mother would have no need to throw women at him.
The crackle of paper emerged from the speaker on his phone, drowning out his mother’s voice. “…an itinerary so you’ll know what to pack.”
“An itinerary?” This was new.
His executive assistant entered his office and placed a sheet of paper before him. The huge grin on Georgia’s round face told him she’d heard the entire conversation. She found his mother’s penchant for matchmaking hysterically funny. The fiftysomething mother of three had worked for him since he’d opened his doors ten years ago. She’d stuck with him as he’d climbed from a single office in an old two-story building to this modern suite of offices high above downtown Atlanta. He couldn’t run the business without her, but if she didn’t wipe that smile off her face, he would fire her.
Behind Georgia trailed a slim package of nervous reluctance in the shape of Caroline Sampson. While his mother rattled on, describing the parties they’d been invited to and why she accepted some and turned down others, Simon waved Caroline into a chair. She obeyed him, perching primly on the edge of the seat and offering him a tight nod in greeting. She looked no happier today than two nights ago. After she’d left, he’d fully expected to have to chase her down and apply further pressure. Imagine his surprise when she’d called his office yesterday.
Looking like a child who’d been summoned to the principal’s office, she scoped out the various family photos that adorned the walls of his large corner office and smoothed her palms along her knee-length skirt in pale green. He’d insisted she meet him here this morning so they could make plans for Savannah, but that had merely been a ploy. In fact, he wanted to take her shopping for new clothes.
After she’d left the other night, it occurred to him that she needed the right wardrobe for his family to take their dating seriously. The unflattering skirt and matching sweater she wore made her look like someone’s poor relation. Granted, the color teased the green from her eyes, but the style didn’t flatter her and the material appeared worn.
“Simon, are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, Mother. Georgia just brought me something I needed to look over.”
His intense scrutiny brought a hint of color to Caroline’s pale cheeks. She’d scraped her hair into a tight ponytail, but several strands had escaped to frame her face. She scooped the wayward locks behind her ear in a self-conscious manner.
“I thought she was bringing you the itinerary.”
Charming. The word resounded through his mind. “That too.”
“Are you still staying through the third of January?” his mother continued, sounding like a busy CEO conducting a meeting.
“Unless something needs my attention here.” He scanned the fax and his good mood dissolved. “You cannot be serious about this. Who is Roberta Cummings, and why am I attending her company’s Christmas party?”
His mother was unperturbed by his cranky growl. “Oh, Bobbie Cummings is Elaine’s daughter. She’s just as cute as she can be and a top executive at her daddy’s company. You’ll have lots in common.”
Simon set his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to set me up on dates this year.”
“Oh, they’re not dates, dear. They’re just social appointments. You know I would never interfere in your personal life like that. I want you to have fun while you’re here.”
Simon leaned back in his chair and stared at Caroline. “You have to cancel some of this,” he said, wondering how long before she surrendered to the smile lurking at the corners of her lips.
“Simon, you can’t sit home during the holidays.” His mother’s voice resonated with alarm. “What would our friends think?”
“That I’m an inconsiderate ass?” he proposed and watched as surprise widened Caroline’s eyes and caused her lips to part in a wordless O.
“Simon!”
“Sorry, Mother.” How could he could run a multimillion dollar company and not be able to manage his mother? He considered the stack of reports awaiting his attention, wondering why he bothered locking horns with her. “My travel schedule this last quarter has been worse than usual, and I’ve been looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home.”
“As much as I sympathize with all the running around you do, I think you need to balance your time a little better and make some room for a social life.”
“I’m very social.” He raised an eyebrow at Caroline when she started checking out the ceiling.
“Yes, Francine mentioned meeting a woman at your condo.”
From his mother’s tone, he could imagine how that conversation had gone.
“She promised she’d let me break the news that I’m seeing someone.” He paused, waiting to see just how much his mother knew. When she didn’t speak, he added, “I think you’ll like her. I’m bringing her to Savannah for Christmas.”
The silence on the other end of the phone left Simon wondering if his mother had stopped breathing. He could imagine the way the wheels must be spinning in her mind.
“How long have you been dating?”
The hope rising in his mother’s voice made Simon wince. For a second he considered that Caroline may have been right about lying to his family. “A while.”