Page 40 of The Backup Bride Proposal

This was a date. Not a hookup, not meeting at a bar or someplace neutral. He knew the Bellinis weren’t Mae’s parents. Hell, he didn’t even know anything about her parents. There was so much more he wanted to know about her.

Like, everything.

The door opened and Mae stared at him.

“Are you planning to stand out here all night or were you going to knock?”

“Sorry. I was thinking.”

She arched a brow. “Change your mind?”

“About dinner? Hell no.”

“Great. Let’s go.” She grabbed her bag off the table and he stepped aside so she could walk out the door. She pulled it shut behind her.

“I was going to say hello to the Bellinis.”

“They’re not here.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He led her out to his rental and held the door for her. He programmed the restaurant’s address into the GPS and they headed out.

“Tell me about your family,” he said as he pulled out onto the main road.

“Oh. Well. Not much to tell. My father died when I was little and my mother and I are no longer close.”

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine. My mom was very close with my ex-fiancé. When I broke up with him, she was angry with me.”

He turned onto the highway, merging with traffic. “Why would she be mad about that? Isn’t that your decision to make?”

“I think it was more about the lifestyle he could afford me. He came from money and we don’t, so my mother thought I should overlook Isaac’s infidelity and move forward with the wedding. She knew how much he had hurt me, but for some reason she didn’t care.”

“The idea of the money and the lifestyle was more important to her than your heartbreak.”

She nodded. “That’s something I can’t ever forgive.”

“Don’t blame you for that.” He couldn’t imagine finding out your fiancé cheated, calling off a wedding and then having your mother against you as well. “That must have been devastating for you.”

“It wasn’t a fun time. Anyway, after I realized my mother would take the side of the man who cheated on me rather than see how much he hurt me, that she valued financial security over the feelings of her own daughter…well, that was the end of our relationship.”

Kane blew out a breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. Me, too. But I’m over it now.”

He didn’t think a person could ever get past a betrayal likethat. First by her fiancé, then by her mother. Two people who were supposed to love her. Damn.

He was sorry he’d brought up the subject of family. He was going to have to try to make this night fun for her, to hopefully take the sorrow away.

“Anyway,” she said. “Tell me about your family. You’ve talked about your grandpa and the ranch. How about your parents?”

“They’re fairly normal. Dad worked the ranch when he was a kid, then he went to college and now he works in financial services and Mom’s in tech.”

“Really.”

“Yeah. They’re both busy, dedicated people who love their jobs.”

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