Resisting Mateo (Morelli Family 5)

Then I read it and see why. “Stop humping your sexy boyfriend and call me.”

Yeah, that deserved a snort.

But it was normal. I wasn’t sure what to expect after that dance, after she watched me the way she did, so I just wanted to avoid it. I hate confrontation. I’d rather ignore someone for the rest of my life than have to face them if they’re pissed at me. Which makes Vince my perfect match, obviously.

Obviously avoiding forever isn’t an option with Meg.

I hold the phone, debating which excuse I should send back. I don’t want to call her.

Vince speaks up now, smirking into his coffee cup. “She’s trying to remind you of your place.”

“What?”

Indicating himself, he says, “That you’re taken. You know, since you act like you’re not.”

“If I’m such a shitty girlfriend, you can leave me,” I tell him casually, dropping the phone on the counter, deciding not to even respond to it.

“You’d probably like that, wouldn’t you?” he asks mildly. “Then you get none of the blame and all of the freedom. Do you think it would take a whole hour before you were back at the mansion on Mateo’s dick, or a little less?”

“This is fun,” I tell him, looking back at him over my shoulder. “I’m so glad we’re having breakfast together, baby.”

Standing abruptly, he grabs his plate and brings it in to dump the rest in the garbage can. “Why don’t you call back your fucking friend,” he flings back.

“I’m busy,” I tell him, even though it’s obviously not true.

He nods and turns back to grab his coffee.

Then a moment later, he turns back and hands me the phone. He smiles at me, eyes dancing with pleasure. My eyes widen on the display and I see the seconds ticking down, indicating the call has been made. I hear Meg’s sing-song voice saying hello on the other end.

I glare at Vince, jerking the phone out of his hand.

I mouth “fuck you.” He winks and mouths back, “Maybe later.”

“Hey,” I say into the phone, my tone falsely cheerful.

“Hey, lady friend. What’s up?”

“Oh, you know, just… enjoying Vince’s company.”

Vince chuckles and heads off down the hall.

“I figured today would be a fun day for you,” she remarks. It goes unsaid whether she means because of Mateo or Mark, but that there are two options instead of one today really emphasizes the fun-factor.

“Yeah, we’re a real Eminem song over here. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I was thinking, why don’t we go out and grab lunch? I know we have dinner later, but just the two of us.”

“Vince and I just finished eating, actually. Big breakfast. Huge. There’s no way I’ll need to eat again before dinner. But thanks anyway.”

“Well… then what about shopping? Not too long, just a couple hours. I need to get a new maternity dress or two for these dinners. My stomach is starting to severely limit my dress choices. I’ll buy you shoes!”

Cracking a smile, I tell her, “I’m actually good on shoes right now. I’d also love to help you pick out some maternity dresses, but I have a really big exam this week that I haven’t studied for at all. I’ve been so busy with the wedding and everything. But we’ll go this week or something,” I throw out.

“I kind of feel like you’re blowing me off.”

My face burns. I didn’t expect her to call me on it.

Laughing uneasily, I say, “Why would I blow you off?”

“I don’t know,” she returns easily enough, but it sets me on edge. “Is there some reason you’d be avoiding me?”

There’s only a few seconds of silence, but each second is like a whole day. “No,” I finally answer. “Of course not.”

“Good,” she chirps.

“We’ll go this week,” I assure her, feeling the need to back up my lie. “We’ll get you lots of pretty dresses.”

“Mateo and I have a baby doctor appointment this week, but we’ll do it another day.”

I wince. God, the image of Mateo and Meg at the baby doctor together makes me legitimately ill. It’s impossible to imagine that’s not precisely why she said it.

I’m so fucked.

I need to get it together. Or talk to Mateo, but that’s an intimidating prospect. Probably better to just wait him out and fake it with Meg. More stressful, certainly, but….

“Yeah, definitely,” I say, a little brighter, feeling the need to overcompensate. “Well, Vince is in the shower so I have a few minutes of quiet. I should probably take advantage and get started on that studying.”

“Yeah, of course,” she says. “We’ll see you guys at dinner.”

We. That’s twice in a minute. She’s definitely trying to drive the point home. Or I’m being Mateo-levels of paranoid, but I don’t think it’s that. He put a target on me with that dance last night. I don’t know what the man was thinking.