Page 40 of Ask for Moore

I cast a baleful look at my mom. “What, the town grapevine didn’t tell you her shoe size?”

“Oh, stop. It’s natural for a mother to be curious.”

Waverly murmured, “I’m a fourth-year associate at Arnoult, Bamford, and Ford.”

“Oh, my. I’m no expert, but I've even heard of them. That's a bigger law firm than where Ryland worked when he lived in Indianapolis. Your parents must be so proud.”

Waverly’s already pale complexion turned chalk white, and her fingers flexed in mine. “Umm…”

I squeezed her hand and answered my mom’s question while she regained her composure. “Waverly’s parents died when she was young. She was raised in foster care.”

“Oh, my goodness.” My mom sniffled, reaching out to pat Waverly’s other hand. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“There’s no way you could have,” Waverly reassured her with a watery smile. “And although I don’t really have many memories of them, I like to think they would be proud of how I turned out.”

“Sweetheart, as a mother of three, I can guarantee that your mom would be tickled pink over the amazing woman you’ve become.”

Waverly's blue eyes had a sheen of moisture as she ducked her head, her long blond hair partially covering her face as she whispered, “I really hope so.”

I loved that Waverly hadn’t put up the wall she used around other people. That she was letting my parents see the warm, sweet woman I’d come to know and appreciate.

“One thing I’ve learned in the almost forty years I’ve been married to Sally is that she’s always right.” Waverly giggled at my dad’s joke, but then she teared up when he added, “And in this case, she’s definitely on the money because my boy is lucky to have found you.”

Waverly leaned into my side with a soft smile. “I’m pretty sure that I’m the lucky one.”

“Don’t let my son hear you say that,” my mom mock whispered. “You know how men are. It’ll go to his head.”

“All right, guys. Now that you’ve somehow managed to embarrass both Waverly and me, how about you tell me why you stopped by in the first place?”

“Can’t a parent come over to see their son just because they miss them?” I quirked a brow, not buying my mom’s story for a second. She heaved a deep sigh. “Okay, fine. I wanted to ask you about Waverly, but now that I’ve met her and see you two together, I don’t need to anymore.”

“Does that mean that you’re ready to gulp down your coffee and head out?”

My dad shot me a knowing look over the rim of his mug. “I’m just about done with mine, and you did say you wanted to stop by the fabric store today.”

“Oh, yes. I forgot about that.” My mom looked inside her still half-full mug. “I’m not sure I can chug this down like you suggested, but I don’t want to waste my precious peppermint creamer. Do you have a travel mug that I could borrow?”

“Absolutely.” I grabbed one from the cabinet, dumped her coffee into it, and twisted the cap on. “Here you go.”

“All right, I got the message. We’ll let you two get back to…whatever it was we interrupted when we got here.”

I sincerely hoped that was exactly what happened after they left. But in my bedroom, with the door locked. And the deadbolt turned on my front door.

20

Waverly

As soon as the door closed behind Ryland’s parents, he wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me close. “I am so sorry.”

It felt as though we’d just gone through a gale force whirlwind and come out the other side. But not in a bad way since they’d both been so sweet…even though they’d almost caught us naked on his couch, having sex.

His mom was just a lot friendlier than I had expected. And very curious. “It’s okay. I suppose I had to go through the meet-the-parents experience at some point.”

“Yeah, but not while I was literally balls deep inside your pussy.” His hold tightened on me while he groaned. “What in the hell do you see in me? I’m a grown-ass man who just got busted having sex by his parents in his own damn home.”

If it was possible, he seemed more freaked out by what had happened than I was. Which was so cute. Leaning back, I grinned up at him. “When are those groceries you mentioned due to arrive?”

“Not for two more hours.”

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