Letting Go (Thatch #1)(33)

Once I finished with my makeup, I looked at my reflection for a few seconds before grabbing my phone and taking off toward the stairs. I shook my head and tried not to laugh when I heard my mom talking. She wasn’t just being weird with me; she was being weird with Jagger as well. Questioning him like she was just meeting him for the first time, asking all about his life that she already knew just as well as his own mother.

“Mom, Jagger can’t tell you anything about himself that you don’t already know,” I said by way of announcing myself when I walked into the living room.

Jagger gave me a look that I was sure matched the expression on my own face when the robot posing as my mom had been in my room, and I just sent him a smile. When I glanced over at my mom, she gestured to her clothes before giving me a thumbs-up while mouthing, “Perfect.”

“Did your mom have a caffeine IV this morning?” Jagger whispered in my ear as he pulled me into his arms.

“You’d think so.”

“Well, what are the plans for today, kids?”

Jagger turned back to look at my mom, his arm wrapped securely around my waist. “Uh, not sure. Do you need Grey for anything today?”

“No, no. Of course not, keep her as long as you want.” I made a face and she quickly added, “Except for the night, of course! Bring her home tonight, you know, so she’s here. In her bed. Without you in it too.”

A husky laugh sounded next to me, and Jagger’s fingers flexed against me. “Of course, Mrs. LaRue.”

Mom blushed and waved him off. “You can call me Darcy, sweetie, you know that.”

Oh my God. My mom was flirting with my boyfriend. Man friend . . . person. “Mom!”

“I know, but why change thirteen years of tradition?” Jagger replied easily. “I’ll have Grey home tonight.”

“Okay! Bye, you two! Have so much fun today—I mean, not too much fun. You know, don’t get yourselves in any position you’ll regret.”

“Mom!”

“Not that kind of position . . . but, yes, that too! Protect yourselves.”

Jagger busted up laughing, and I felt my face heat. “Oh my God. We’re leaving. Now. We’re going.” Grabbing the hand on my waist, I towed a still-laughing Jagger to the door and outside. “What the hell?” I whispered as we walked down the driveway.

“I have never seen your mom like that.”

I shot him a look as I slid into the passenger seat of his car. “And you think I have? I called her a Stepford wife when she came to tell me you were here.”

“Did she act like that yesterday when you came over?”

“No, she was shuffling around in her robe still.” I glanced down at my phone when it buzzed twice, and my jaw dropped and eyes widened in horror when I read the texts from my mom.

U have condiments just in case, right?

CONDOMS. I meant condoms! Y did it change what I wrote?

“What?”

Dropping my head, I shook it back and forth as I started laughing uncontrollably at the ridiculousness of this morning so far, and held my phone up for Jagger to see.

“Oh Christ,” he mumbled, and nudged my leg into the car before shutting my door. Once he was in the driver’s seat, he turned on the car and threw it in reverse, his face covered in shock until we hit the road. “Did she, uh . . . was she like this with you and Ben?”

“No, not at all.” I looked ahead and tried to find an explanation for her behavior. “This is the first time she’s seen you since that morning I found out how you felt about me, and she’s been rooting for you all along, I think she’s just overly excited by it right now.”

Jagger glanced at me and tapped on my phone. “I think that’s an understatement.”

“So embarrassing,” I groaned. “New subject, please. What are we doing today? Just hanging out like yesterday?”

“No, I have a few things in mind.”

“Oh really?” I reached over to place my hand on his leg, my chest warming when he switched hands on the steering wheel so he could grip my hand. “And what exactly do you have in mind?”

“Making you pancakes.”

“You can’t even make pancakes, Jag.”

“No, but the cooks at Mama’s Café can.”

I groaned in appreciation. “My favorite.”

Looking over at me, he sent me a lopsided smile and squeezed my hand. “I know.”

“And what after?”

With a subtle shrug, he looked back at the road. “I guess you’ll just have to find out when the time comes.”

“All right, then.” Settling back in my seat, I smiled to myself and got ready for a day of nothing but Jagger.

AFTER EATING PANCAKES and driving into the town next to ours to watch a movie, we spent a couple hours at the dock and were now walking around the touristy part of our town.

“I need to start looking for a job,” I mumbled as we exited a store where Jagger got more charcoals.

“Why?”

“Why?” I laughed softly and sank into his side when he pulled me close. “Um, it could have something to do with me needing money.”

“I’ll pay for something if you need it.”

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. “I meant bills. I have to pay my student loan, and I want to get out of my parents’ house and get my own place.”