Page 27

She looked at me again, and I could see a million questions in her eyes.

Over the years, with all we’d been through, Mom had begun to look at me more like a teammate than a daughter.

Her respect for me and the way we helped each other had created a special bond that went beyond mother and daughter.

Regardless of the mistakes she’d made in her love life, she’d still fought and scraped to give Gael and me everything she could. I’d done the same for her.

That mutual respect seemed to come into play here.

Rather than pestering me, she sighed. “All right, then. I just wish you’d told me earlier.

” She glared at me and gestured down the hall toward the bathroom.

“It would have been nice to have a little warning that some strange man is going to be sleeping in my home.”

“Sorry,” I said as relief coursed through me. “I should have called, but it all happened really fast.”

Nudging her, I led Mom back to the living room. Gael begrudgingly returned to the kitchen table and his homework.

“Why are you home this early, anyway?” I asked as we stepped into the kitchen.

Mom let out a derisive snort. “For the first time in months, the hospital was overstaffed. So of course, they sent me home early.” She scowled as she began to dig groceries from the bag on the counter.

“That asshole department head is always looking at me when he needs to cut hours. Send the Hispanic lady home ,” she mimicked in a bitter tone.

“She probably can’t even count how many hours she’s worked . I’ve got his number. Puta Madre .”

“Language,” I hissed under my breath, glancing at Gael. He snickered.

“Sorry,” she grumbled. “Anyway, I stopped at the market to grab a few things for dinner. I’m making paella .”

She turned, holding up a fresh bag of rice to show me. Before she even finished turning, she let out a yelp of surprise and dropped the bag. It hit the floor and exploded, sending grains of rice flying.

“Mom, shit, what are you doing?” I demanded.

She didn’t answer, so I looked at her. She was staring behind me, her mouth open in shock. Turning, I discovered what had startled her. Nate stood at the end of the hall. All he wore were his jeans. His chest and arms were still bare, muscles rippling as he dried his hair with a towel.

Nate flashed my mother an apologetic smile. “Sorry for scaring you, Mrs. Torres. Por favor, perdoname. ”

Mom blinked in surprise, as did I. It hadn’t occurred to me that Nate might know Spanish.

The sound of Spanish words coming from the mouth of a gorgeous man in her kitchen somehow put Mom at ease.

“ Habla Espanol? ” she asked with a smile.

Nate grinned and held up his finger and thumb about an inch apart. “ Un poco . I’m sure you can tell by my atrocious accent that I’m not fluent.” He shrugged and slung the towel over his shoulder. “I travel a lot and picked up a few things here and there.”

Mom’s face broke into a real smile, and I spotted the wonder in her eyes. “A traveler? Oh, goodness. That sounds exciting. Where have you been? I love traveling.”

Nate walked over and leaned on the counter. “Lots of places. I spent some time in Durango, Reynosa, and even Acapulco in Mexico.”

“Acapulco,” Mom said with longing, holding both hands to her chest. “So beautiful. I always wanted to take a holiday there.”

“It’s lovely. Especially the beaches.”

I stared at the two of them as they began discussing Nate’s travels.

Mom had already fallen under this man’s sway.

Not surprising. He was the exact type she’d have gone after in her younger years—beautiful in a rugged way, sexy, and exuding confidence.

A typical bad boy she would never have been able to say no to.

That realization irritated me even more as I remembered the electric moments in the bathroom a few minutes prior.

Was I more like my mother than I wanted to admit?

Even though I’d broken up with Rick, it still annoyed me that she was so welcoming to a complete stranger when she’d never been anything but cold to him.

Rick had taken me and my mother out to dinner at least a dozen times, and my mother still hadn’t warmed to him.

Her aloof attitude towards him had made Rick so uncomfortable that he’d tended to avoid any interaction with her.

Yet this man, half naked and cocky, had charmed her in less than five minutes.

“The Blue Ridge Mountains?” Mom gasped. “I’ve always wanted to see them.”

Nate nodded. “There’s nothing like it. It’s even better on a motorcycle. Just cruising through, the wind in your hair, and miles of mountains and road before you.”

At the mention of a motorcycle, I thought my mother might actually swoon. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Gael. He was listening to Nate in rapt silence.

My mother was one of the best nurses in her hospital.

An incredibly capable woman I was proud as hell of, even if she did tend to lose perspective when men were involved.

That being said, the only other thing that got her sappy was the thought of travel and excitement.

I could practically see her daydreaming of cruising through mountains on a motorcycle with a dark and mysterious stranger.

“I want to thank you for opening your home to me,” Nate said.

He looked over his shoulder at me and winked.

“Several of my friends on the police force have told me what a great reporter Cameron is. When they said she’d offered to let me stay here to do some surveillance on this case I’m working, it was a no-brainer.

I promise I won’t interfere or make your lives difficult in any way. It should only be for one night.”

Man, Nate must have fantastic hearing to have overheard my whispered conversation with my mother. Thank God for small favors.

“You’re fine,” Mom said, reaching out and swatting his arm playfully. “I’m just happy my daughter is helping the police. She’s a good girl. Trustworthy, honest, brilliant.”

Heat slowly spread up my chest. I had the distinct sense my mother was trying to show me off, to tempt this stranger.

I wasn’t a prize she could auction off. Besides that, she didn’t know I’d broken up with Rick, so what on earth was she playing at?

I’d normally have said something, but it would be mortifying to have that argument in front of Nate.

“Gael, grab a dustpan,” Mom said. “We need to clean this mess up.” She waved at the pile of rice on the floor.

“Okay,” Gael said, though he didn’t look happy about it.

“Oh!” Mom exclaimed, looking embarrassed. “Where are my manners? I’m Sophia. It seems you’ve met Gael already.” She extended her hand.

Nate shook it. “Nathan Zane, but I prefer Nate.”

“Well, Nate, what would you like for dinner?” She glanced at the rice on the floor. “It looks like paella is off the menu. I have a few dozen homemade tamales in the freezer. I could put them in the steamer if you like. With some beans?”

Nate smiled even wider. “That sounds amazing. Thank you.”

Mom hurried to the fridge and pulled the bag of frozen tamales out.

I hurried over to Nate and leaned in close, hissing in his ear. “Can you put a shirt on?”

“All my clean shirts are in the saddlebag on my bike downstairs,” he said.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” I huffed. “I’ll go get you one, then.”

Nate shot me a worried glance. “Not by yourself.”

“It’s fine,” I said, trying to ignore him as I rushed for the door.

Leaving him leaning on the kitchen counter, I hurried to the door. I unlocked the deadbolt and swung it open, nearly screaming in surprise at what awaited me in the hallway.

Outside, hand raised to knock, stood Rick.

“Cameron, are you all right?” he said, the words tumbling from his mouth in a rush. “I know you said we’re done, and I told you I wasn’t coming over, but I was so…”

He trailed off as his eyes slid from my face toward Nate. His nostrils flared, his eyes narrowing. Taking a step forward, he pushed past me, raising a shaking finger and pointing it at Nate.

“Who the fuck are you? And why are you half-naked in my girlfriend’s apartment?”