Page 118 of Reckless Harmony

“Uh, not much,” Stark hedged, glancing at Rayna. “Just usual boring weekend stuff. Running a few errands.”

“Boring weekend stuff,” his mother repeated. “That sounds delightful.”

Stark sighed. “You know I’m here.”

His mother laughed. “Darling, of course I know you’re here.”

“You need to stop texting with Amanda.”

“Never. You know I adore her. Now, I assume you’re still at the airport? Amanda said you’d just landed.”

“I am,” Stark said.

“Perfect. Dinner is in an hour, and with traffic, you’ll make it just in time.”

“Mom, I can’t stop in for a visit this trip,” Stark said with another glance at Rayna.

“Of course you can,” his mother said.

“I’m not alone,” Stark said. “But I’ll drive up next weekend and spend all of Sunday with you.”

“Doesn’t work for me, darling. Next weekend I’m going skiing. And I know you’re not alone. You have your neighbour, Rayna, with you.”

“I do, so -”

“Although Amanda seemed to be under the impression she was your girlfriend,” his mother carried on relentlessly. “She told me she saw you kissing her.”

“Oh my God,” Stark said as his cheeks went red. “Mom, gossiping with Amanda is not -”

“It’s not gossip if it’s true,” his mother said cheerfully.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Stark said.

“Well, I would love to meet the girl you’re currently kissing.”

“Mom,” Stark said.

“Did you or did you not kiss her on the plane, Isaac?”

Stark sighed in defeat. “Yes, I kissed her.”

“Then, until you introduce me to her, my nickname stands. If you don’t want me referring to her as ‘the girl my son is currently kissing’ to everyone at poker night, you’d better bring her for dinner.”

Rayna clapped her hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter. Any exhaustion or desire to be home had disappeared, and she was dying to meet Stark’s mother.

Rayna could almost see the flash of inspiration on Stark’s face when he said, “We really need to get home. Rayna has an elderly beagle who can’t be left alone for that long, and I have Molly and the babies, so -”

“Did you forget that Emma said she would check on both Bea and Molly and the babies? We have time for dinner,” Rayna said in an ‘I’m so sweet, sugar wouldn’t melt in my mouth’ voice.

Stark gave her a ‘what the fuck’ look that made her clap her hand over her mouth to muffle another laugh.

“Perfect,” his mother said triumphantly. “We’ll see you soon, Isaac.”

She ended the call before Stark could reply, and Rayna immediately burst into giggles. “Oh my God, the look on your face right now.”

He shook his head, a smile toying at his lips. “I didn’t expect this day to end with you and my mother teaming up on me.”

“Poor Isaac,” she said with a sarcastic pout.

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