Page 54 of Housebroke

She liked where this was going. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Linc’s meetings, both with clients and with his staff—had all gone exceptionally well. And the team had managed to pick up a new client today, which had made the trip totally worthwhile. After client meetings he and his staff discussed managing the new client’s accounts, then he was done for the day.

What he hadn’t expected was a message from his mom on his phone.

He’d planned to take some time to meet up with her while he was in town, so maybe she wanted to make arrangements. He punched in her number.

“You must be done working,” she said.

He smiled. “Yeah, all wrapped up. How are you, Mom?”

“I’m fine. Come to dinner tonight.”

He grimaced. He hadn’t told his mom about Hazel, and he didn’t want to leave Hazel in the city by herself tonight. “Yeah, I don’t think I can do that.”

“Do you have dinner with a client?”

He rubbed his temple. He’d never lied to his mother, not once in his entire life. He wasn’t about to start now. “Not exactly. I brought a guest with me on this trip.”

“Oh. A girlfriend?”

“No. Sort of. I don’t know. It’s undefined at the moment.”

“Great. Bring her with you. Dinner’s at seven. Love you.”

She clicked off, leaving him staring at the phone.

He wasn’t sure Hazel would be up to meeting his mother—and, knowing his family, also his two brothers. She might be intimidated or upset about it. As he headed back to the condo, he thought about how he was going to handle this if she said no.

By the time he walked into the lobby, he still hadn’t formulated a plan. But he saw Hazel standing to the side of the lobby, typing something on her phone, so said plan had better come together, like, now.

“Hi, beautiful.”

She startled, then smiled. “I was just about to text you. For a second I thought you were some weirdo hitting on me.”

“I am some weirdo hitting on you.”

She laughed, then tucked her phone into her bag and looped her arm with his as they made their way to the elevators. “How was your day?”

“It was good. Got everything done I wanted to. How about yours?”

“Amazing. I feel like I went everywhere, though I know I didn’t because there’s just so much to see. But I went to Chinatown, CoitTower, the Exploratorium, Golden Gate Park. This is such an amazing city.”

“I’m glad you had fun.” They got out on their floor, and he slipped his key into the door and held it open for her.

“I had so much fun. I wish we had a week to spend here. There’s just so much to do and see.”

“There’s tomorrow, so we’ll do a few more things.”

“Awesome.” She flopped down on the bed. “I’m exhausted.”

He winced, knowing she’d rather have a quiet evening, just the two of them. He sat on the bed next to her. “So, my mom called.”

She rolled over to face him. “Yeah? Are you going to take some time to go see her while you’re here?”

“I had planned to. The thing is, she invited me to dinner at the house tonight.”

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