Banking the Billionaire (Bad Boy Billionaires Book 2)(57)

Actually, that sounded kind of interesting. I should pitch that idea to someone.

“You’ve never been in an actual relationship, honey. You told me that yourself. So I just assumed you’d never brought anyone home before.”

“Oh.”

“Oh,” I mocked with a rise of my brows.

She slapped my dick.

“Fuck, Cass!” I said, pressing a hand to my crotch to stave off the burn.

Satisfaction turned her eyes downright mischievous. “Serves you right.”

Thankfully, since it’d been a fairly superficial blow, it only took me a few seconds to catch my breath. “So what do I need to know about…” I started to ask.

“About?”

“Insert your parents’ names here,” I explained.

“Oh. Diane and Greg.”

“Ah, Diane and Greg. And what do I need to know about them?”

“My mom is on the local news.”

“She commits that many crimes, huh?” I teased.

Her gaze turned out the window, and the corners of her lips turned up just slightly. She was close with her mom.

“She’s been with KTLJ for nineteen years. She has pretty middle-of-the-road political views, but she’s a lot more traditional than I am. Really into mission work. My dad is a doctor, but he’s retired now. He mostly just does volunteer work at the local shelters and kids’ group homes and stuff.”

“Wow, your parents sound very—”

“Philanthropic?” she offered, turning back to look right at me.

“Exactly. And like really f*cking great people.”

“They are. They’ve always supported me, and I haven’t exactly been the easiest person to support.” Her face was warm with genuine familial affection.

“I know exactly how that feels,” I admitted honestly. I’d put my own parents through some serious bullshit in my lifetime.

Moments before I could ask what else I needed to know, Cassie’s smiling eyes turned from me to the window. “We’re here!” she declared, and for the first time since I’d decided to come along, I got a little nervous.

She shoved open the door and then turned back to me to put a hand on my arm. “Oh, one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t curse in front of my parents at all. They f*cking hate that.” She turned and scooted out the door and left me sputtering in the back seat.

My immobility didn’t last long, though, and I scrambled after her. “What?”

She booked it toward the door, but I chased her down in two long strides and turned her toward me. “What do you mean don’t curse?”

“I mean don’t curse,” she repeated, scrunching up her face in a fantastic display of you’re an idiot.

“Do you even know me at all?” I asked, and she laughed before patting me on the ass.

“I know you well, honey. Pull up your panties and be an adult.”

The door opened, and a well-dressed woman with perfectly placed chocolate hair, creamy skin, and familiar fiery blue eyes stepped out onto the stoop. Cassie dropped her bag and rushed forward into her arms.

I turned back to the waiting cab and paid the fare before scooping her bag up off the ground and walking in their direction.

Cassie’s mom took Cass’s face into her hands and looked her over the way only a mother could. Studying the changes since she’d last seen her daughter and logging every single one into the memory on her heart.

It was a biological impossibility, but it existed nonetheless. Every woman I’d ever known had two sets of memories: the ones they wanted to remember and the ones their heart wouldn’t let them forget. The first kind were chosen, mostly positive and personality building, but the second would live on forever, despite age and fatigue and life-stealing diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Coded on the heart like a hard drive, the feelings never vanished.

“Greg, Sean!” Diane called back into the house. “Cassie’s here!”

I arrived at Cassie’s back just as Diane turned back around. Her next words were mumbled. “And she brought a giant of a friend.” She glanced at Cassie. “No heads-up?”

“There was no heads-up to give. This strange man just followed me home.” Cassie shrugged. “He seemed pretty nice, though, and I doubt he could’ve gotten an ax through TSA, so I’m pretty sure we should all be safe this weekend.”

Diane scrutinized her daughter’s neutral expression for a beat until her mouth turned up at the corners. “You’re ridiculous.”

Cassie grinned. “Okay, so maybe I do know him, but I didn’t know he was going to make the trek to Portlandia until the last minute.”

I smiled and gently pulled Cassie out of the way so I could wrap her mom in a friendly hug. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Phillips,” I said into the top of her head before stepping back. “I’m Thatch.”

“Thatch?”

“Short for Thatcher, Mom,” Cassie explained.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too, Thatcher.”

Like mother, like daughter, I thought.

“Come in, come in,” she buzzed after breaking out of her stupor.

All the feelings of home surrounded me as we stepped inside. The house was exactly like my parents’. Homey and comfortable for everyone except me. The doorways were a little too small, the ceilings a little too low, and every single aspect of it made me smile.