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“I do love sports,” Bob said. I imagined he was a very loyal sort of person, that once he showed up for someone, he kept showing up. “And I do play tennis. It’s just that…”
“What?”
He shrugged those big shoulders. “I can get pretty competitive.”
“Just have fun.” I smiled up at him. “You can do that, right?”
Bob seemed to consider that. “I guess so.”
“Perfect!” I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I’ll get you some tennis whites.”
Bob smiled, flashing his dimple. “Okay, honey,” he said, clearly enjoying the opportunity to role play. “Thanks.”
I couldn’t help grinning as I hustled off, but then I promptly frowned as TSM leaned back toward Bob. Grr.
I was intercepted by my mother, who followed me from the table. “Madison, I’ve told you a million times, stop that frowning! It’s prematurely aging you.”
I turned my frown on her. “Can you even feel your face anymore, Mother?”
She smoothed her hair back. “Not really. I’d call it a vast improvement. I got stung by a bee last month, and I didn’t even know.”
“That’s… That’s great, Mom.” I stopped in my tracks. “What do you want?”
“Ah, yes.” She cleared her throat. “Pryce said he heard you and Mr. Palmieri having rather loud relations before lunch. Is that true?”
I felt my cheeks heat, which was ridiculous. I was thirty, and it was only pretend sex that I’d intended to be overheard. “Yes, it’s true.” I bit my lip, trying to look guilty while simultaneously trying not to laugh. I couldn’t wait to tell Josie about all this.
“So you’re actually serious about him?”
I shrugged. “It’s new. We’re just having fun. Don’t book a wedding venue just yet.” I also didn’t want her hiring a private investigator to follow Bob like she’d done with Tim.
My mother crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not like you to sleep around like this.”
“I’m not sleeping around. He’s my boyfriend. I’m not sure why you’re being so judgmental. What I do is really none of your business, and it hasn’t been for some time. I’m an adult, Mom. Let’s be reasonable for once!”
She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re in a relationship, that impacts my family. That is absolutely my business, young lady. You know that Sienna’s
only getting married this weekend because I approved Tim after I vetted him. And that was after knowing his family for years. The only reason your sister is getting married is because I gave her permission. Yes, she’s a grown woman. Yes, Tim’s fortune is greater than ours. But no, it wasn’t just her choice. It was my choice. And when it’s time for you to marry, it will be my choice as well.”
“That’s absofreakinglutely ridiculous.”
“It doesn’t matter if you think it’s ridiculous or not. It’s the truth. You and your sister are worth billions, and I won’t see you squander yourself on some stud that belongs as a side dish and not as a main course.”
“Mother, did you really just say ‘stud’?”
“I did, sweetheart. And I get it.” She nudged me playfully. “In fact, I’d like to get it. Pryce said it sounded very athletic.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “You cannot ‘get’ it. Bob is not a side dish. And you can’t tell me who to marry. I’ll marry whoever I want, and if you want to disinherit me and let Sienna spend your billions on ridiculous outfits she may or may not wear, you do you. But I’m doing me!” I tossed my hair over my shoulder and stalked away before she could say anything else that would drive me insane.
I stopped once I got around the corner and leaned against the wall for support. This is ridiculous. It was also nothing new. My mother had never forgiven me for breaking up with Dean Smith and his perfect house in Wellesley and his perfect pedigree and his boring nice-guy face. Dean Smith was approved.
That was the real reason I’d never dated anyone else again—because she was always watching. And I knew no one would ever be good enough unless she cherry-picked the poor bastard from her incestuously tight social circle.
No, thank you. When and if I ever got married, it would be to somebody nice, someone normal who I could trust to keep me rooted in the real world. Someone loyal. Someone, I realized, who was quite a lot like Bob.
Chapter Eleven
BOB
