The Right Swipe (Modern Love, #1)(33)

Rhiannon leaned her head back against the cushioned pink window seat. “I’ll take a break soon,” she said. She would. She’d go off somewhere and enjoy a nice day or two off.

Or a half day. A couple hours?

“I worry about you, Rhi.”

Guilt crawled through her, that same vague sense of guilt she always felt around her mom. Objectively, there was no reason for that guilt. Her mother had never made her and Gabe feel bad about the fact that she’d worked so hard to support and raise them. Even if she had, Rhi had paid her back for that a million times over.

Still, that guilt remained, a guilt millions of dollars couldn’t wash away, and she wasn’t even sure she could ever pinpoint its exact cause.

Her mother liked the money, but Rhiannon bet she’d like having a daughter she understood better. “I’m fine. Is there a reason you called?”

“I wanted to make sure you’d booked your travel for Gabe and Eve’s engagement party.”

She made a face. Travel arrangements were not her strong suit. “It’s so far away, don’t worry.”

“It’s barely a month away. There are some excellent deals right now.”

Travel was something Sonya liked to do with her trust fund. Rhi didn’t begrudge her one mile, and urged her mom to travel first class to wherever in the world she wanted to go, but the older woman had become something of a budget flight hound. Every day she perused the airline deals. “Cool. I’ll book it. Later.”

“Rhiannon.”

Rhi sighed. “I’ll tell my assistant, Mom.” Lakshmi would be bewildered at her planning something more than a week out, but she’d get it on her calendar properly.

“Tell her now, before fares go up.”

“I will tell her as soon as I get off the phone, promise.”

“And tell her to buy you a nice dress for the party. She has such good taste.”

Rhiannon gritted her teeth. “I will definitely not do that.” She looked down at her worn cotton sweatpants and old sweatshirt. When she was younger, her mother had always tried to stuff her in dresses and sparkly shirts.

Rhiannon’s signature look wasn’t an affectation. It was a necessity, a thing that made her feel comforted and secure. “I wasn’t raised in a barn. I have acceptable clothes to wear.”

“I love you, Rhiannon.”

Another flood of guilt. “I love you, too, Ma.” She paused. “I’m sorry I don’t call you more.”

“I would tell you to remember to call me every day but I know you won’t do that. Call me at least once a week so I can stop talking to all your friends,” Sonya instructed her. “And that way, you know I’m still alive. I’m not getting any younger, you know. I could break a hip and lie on the floor for days and you wouldn’t even know.”

“I would know,” Rhiannon murmured. Her mom might have a network of well-meaning spies in Lakshmi and Katrina, but Rhiannon quietly kept tabs on her mother’s credit cards and bank accounts. If her paper trail ever varied or went silent for longer than a day, Rhiannon either checked up on her or had Gabe do it.

She and her mom were more alike than either of them wanted to admit. Wasn’t that a scary thought?

“What was that?” Sonya asked.

“Uh, nothing. Yeah, I will call you. Sorry to make you worry, Ma.” She hung up as Lakshmi appeared in her doorway. “If my mother tells you to dose me with vitamins, please don’t.”

Lakshmi cocked her head. “So does this mean I stop crushing vitamin D into your peanut butter sandwiches, or . . . ?” When Rhi narrowed her eyes, her assistant shook her head. “J/k. Hey, so, someone’s here to see you.”

“To see me?” They didn’t have the kind of business where she got visitors. Any meetings were usually scheduled well in advance. She rose from the window seat.

Lakshmi glanced over her shoulder, then slipped inside, shutting the door behind her. “Samson Lima? The football guy?”

Her heart stopped for a second, then started again. In that second, she made an aborted motion to tidy her hair, but stopped herself. “Oh. Uh.”

Lakshmi’s gaze lingered on her hand. When her eyes met Rhiannon’s again, there was a glimmer of understanding there.

One that Rhiannon did not want to see. “You know I asked him to get ahold of Annabelle for me,” Rhiannon said sharply. “He must have received some news.”

“Uh-huh.” Lakshmi crossed the soft pink carpet to stand in front of her. She grasped Rhiannon’s chin in her hand, tilted her face up, and eyed her critically. Then she reached into the purse she wore on her hip and pulled out two tubes.

“What are you doing? I don’t need any makeup.” Rhiannon didn’t jerk her face out of Lakshmi’s hand, even though it would have been easy enough to do so.

“You’re absolutely right, you don’t. You’re pretty stunning no matter what. But you went to fix your hair when I told you who was here, which tells me you’re not totally secure in how you look right this minute. Let me help you feel confident.”

Rhiannon didn’t protest anymore. In fact, she closed her eyes, letting Lakshmi put a coat of mascara on her lashes and quickly line and fill her lips in. Lakshmi took a step back and gave her a sweet smile. “Feel better?”