Page 84 of Last Mile

“Hey, sweetheart, you didn’t show up for breakfast, and I was worried.”

Throwing an arm over my shoulder, I furiously scratched the back of my neck as I tried to come up with an excuse. Just as I opened my mouth, Samantha appeared in the living room wearing just my T-shirt. “Bishop, I’m getting cold without you,” she called.

Mama Liz stared past me to take in Samantha. At the sight of Mama Liz, Samantha gasped and turned red. She tugged at the bottom of the T-shirt to cover herself better. “Now I can see you were busy,” Mama Liz said.

“Yes, but I should’ve called you about breakfast. I know you always expect me.”

“That’s true, I do. And I’ll expect you to come up to the house to eat as soon as you’re finished cleaning up.” She gave Samantha a pointed look. “The invitation includes you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Malloy. That’s very kind of you,” Samantha said meekly. I almost laughed at the humble way she was acting around Mama Liz.

“I guess I better head back to the house and warm up the food.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’re perfectly capable of heating it up ourselves.”

“I know that. But I don’t mind.” Embarrassment flooded mewhen she patted my cheek as if I were five years old. I was pretty sure she did it not out of affection but to tease. “See you in a few minutes.”

“Bye, Mama.”

“Bye, Mrs. Malloy.”

When the door shut behind Mama Liz, Samantha groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God! I’m so mortified!”

I laughed as I closed the gap between us. “Babe, it’s no big deal.”

Jerking her hands away, she gave me an incredulous look. “Not only did your mother see me half- naked, but she heard me talking about sex. And let’s not forget she knows we were fucking, and that’s why you missed breakfast.”

“She doesn’t know we were fucking.” When Samantha cocked her head at me, I added, “We could have been sleeping after we were fucking,” I teased.

Samantha smacked my arm. “This isn’t funny. I’ve never cared about what my boyfriend’s parents thought about me, but for some reason, I care about your mother.”

My chest tightened with her words. Not only was I stoked that she gave a shit what Mama Liz thought, but I’d never had someone call me her boyfriend before. I didn’t expect it to mean as much to me as it did. “So I’m your boyfriend, huh?”

She swept her hands to her hips. “I thought we established that this morning. If you’re not on board with us, I can always call you my fuck buddy or friend with benefits.”

I grinned. “No, I like boyfriend better.” I slid my arms around her waist. “And yeah, I’m on board with what we’re doing. It was just nice hearing you call me that, since I’ve never really been some- one’s boyfriend before.”

“There’s a first time for everything, huh?”

“Yep.”

Samantha groaned again. “God. I don’t think I can face your mother.”

“It’ll be fine. She’s a very understanding woman, I promise.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “It means a lot that she invited you to breakfast. If she was really pissed, she would have ignored you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

With a smack on her luscious ass, I said, “Come on. We’re going to run out of hot water.”

“Normally, I would say that you could figure a way to heat it up, but I’m going to pass on that so we can get to your mom’s quicker.”

“You’re turning me down?”

“I’m not giving your mom one more reason not to like me. Now hurry up!”