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“It’s true.” I stroked her nape with my fingertips then cupped her neck. “I can guarantee you my mother came up to you knowing who you were. She’d probably heard about you through the gossip channels and came prepared to be a bitch if things didn’t go her way.”
She tilted her face toward me. “Will she take it out on you?”
“I don’t care.”
And for the first time, I meant it. Thinking about my mother crying pissed me off instead of sending me into a panic.
“She tried to hurt you to get her way. This is why Weston cut her off for good. He knew she’d try to go through Elise to affect him, and he wasn’t going to give her a chance. Now, she sees you’re important to me—”
“You’re pretending I’m important to you,” she corrected. She was wrong.
“No, Daisy. Even though the girlfriend-boyfriend thing is fake, you’re important to me. I’m not going to allow you to be caught in the crossfires of my toxic family.”
She raised her stubborn chin and met my gaze. “I’m sorry that’s the person who’s supposed to love you the most. You got the short end of the stick.”
I chuckled at her bluntness. “Appreciate it.”
She smacked my knee. “It’s amazing you came out as well as you did.”
“Only half fucked up?”
“Nah.” The corners of her eyes crinkled. “Just a quarter.”
“Shut up, Cupcake.” I loosened my grip on her neck and trailed my fingers down before letting my hand fall away. “I promised you lunch, and I’m going to make good on it. Sorry it’s not going to be the overcooked chicken and watery carrots you might’ve been expecting to be served in there.”
She snorted a laugh. “I think I’ll be able to get over it.”
I was still laughing when we pulled up to Daisy’s place. We’d stopped for Chinese on the way home. When the server had brought the food to my car, he’d been wearing gloves, reminding me what Daisy had said to my mother about coming to the event from an embalming.
“I can’t believe you said that.” I shook my head. “You have the most wondrous, creepy mind, and I fucking love it.”
She wiggled her fingers at me. “Do you love these creepy, dead people hands too?”
I spluttered, letting my head fall against the steering wheel. “I think I do.”
Her giggle was light and airy. “You know, I made that remark nearly an hour ago.”
I turned my head to look at her. “It didn’t get the proper attention then. I’m righting my mistake.”
“It wasn’t even that funny,” she muttered as she climbed out of the car, leaving me there, laughing by myself.
As she sauntered toward her stairs, I sobered, watching her soft curves sway with each step in her high, high heels. Her skirt swished around her legs, and when she got to the steps, she shot me a coquettish look over her shoulder that I felt all the way to my core.
I wasn’t going to be stupid and reckless when I walked into her place. No kissing the living hell out of her or falling to my knees to unbuckle her sexy shoes.
Actually…
Taking out my phone, I sent a text to Reed.
Me: Daisy and I got way too much Chinese takeout. Come next door and help us out with it.
A couple minutes later, Reed stalked out of his house. I jumped out of the car, the plastic bag loaded with food in hand, and met him at the steps.
There was something off about his appearance, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“Hey, man.”
“Hey,” he grunted. “Did you get eggrolls?”
