Page 102 of Blindly Yours

“Nothing like being snowed in together to spark a romance,” Henry mutters into his napkin with a smirk.

“That’s over an hour away, isn’t it?” Cynthia ignores him.

“Justunderan hour, actually,” I correct.

“That must be difficult for the two of you.” She gestures between Rose and me. “To live so far apart.”

“It hasn’t been an issue.” I take a bite of my meal. “I’m in the city most days for work.”

“What color was the Senna you mentioned you saw?” Desmond cuts in. His mind is clearly still ten minutes back in our conversation. So, maybe I’ve won him over, at least.

“I think it’s called…Victory Grey?” I rub my chin, pulling the name from deep in my memory bank.

“Yes!” He grins. “That was my cousin, then. It’s a beautiful car, isn’t it?

“Gorgeous,” I agree, catching a glimpse of Cynthia out of the corner of my eye. She purses her lips and leans back to assess me.

“What’s your five-year plan, Nate?” she asks with a raise of her brow.

She’s trying to get me to stumble, but I’m prepared for this one. I smile at her and easily dive into the goals I have for my future, carefully leaving Kara out.

Cynthia pesters me with passively judgmental questions for the rest of the meal, Desmond quizzes me on car knowledge—and I do quite well, thank you, Henry makes the occasional joke, George remains mostly quiet, and Helene beams at both Rose and me every time she enters the terrace.

We’re offered the opportunity to stay and chat in the “parlor” after dinner, but Rose is quick to decline and say she has to get home and finish some reports before work in the morning. So, the evening ends after barely more than an hour.

“Oh, by the way, Rose,” Cynthia says as we head for the door. “Malcolm told me he thinks he left his jacket in your office on Friday. Says he put it on the back of his chair while the two of you had lunch.”

I tense. She had lunch with her ex? Why didn’t she tell me?

Rose’s shoulders fall with a long sigh. “I didn’t see it today.”

“Well, check again tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll let him know he can stop by and—”

“NO. Mom.” Rose takes a deep, calculated breath. “I’ll check.” Then she tugs me further toward the door.

“It was lovely to meet you, Nate,” Cynthia smiles at me, but it doesn’t touch her eyes.

“Thank you for dinner.” I barely get a chance to say it because Rose is already pulling us into the hall and shutting the door.

She rushes to the elevator, but I stroll casually in her wake until I come to stand next to her silent figure and watch her push the button for the ground floor. The doors slide open and we both step in. Then we drop 1, 2…5…9 floors before I speak. “So—”

“I’msosorry,” she groans, shaking her head.

I press my lips together while I watch the floors continue to tick down. “Did you tell themanythingabout me before tonight?”

She drops her head to her hand. “I told my mom a little. I didn’t lie. I promise. I just…” she sighs, “left some things out.”

The doors open and I stare into the lobby, clenching and unclenching my jaw as I try to decide how I’m going to react to this. A part of me wants to lash out a little and tell her how disrespectful she was for putting me in this situation, but I hold my tongue. The way her mother treated her this evening has me realizing why she was so afraid to bring me into the picture, and we need to talk about that first.

“Let’s walk,” I say, finally stepping out of the elevator.

She follows me as I nod politely at the doorman who lets us out onto the street. Rose’s building is only a block away and we’re already halfway there before she speaks again.

“I shouldn’t have put you through this…” She looks at the ground as we walk. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“What did you think was going to happen?” I ask. “Did you really think they weren’t going to ask what I do for a living? That’s one of the first questions parents ask their daughter’s boyfriends.”

“No, I know.” She comes to a stop in front of the park next to her building. It’s the one we walked through on our first date. It seems so long ago. She peers carefully at me. “It’s almost nine. Do you need to get home to Kara?”

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