Crista McHugh - The Sweetest Seduction

The car pulled up to the curb in front of her airline. Her gaze flew from the phone to the ticket counter and back again. She closed her eyes and prayed for an answer. Instead, all she heard was Adam telling her she could move in with him and never have to worry about a thing. If she believed in signs, that would be the one alerting her that he didn’t really know who she was. She turned her phone off and tucked it into her purse.

“Bye, Ma.” She reached over to give her mom a quick hug and a kiss goodbye. “I’ll call you when I get to Carolina’s.”

Her mother sat in the driver’s seat, her arms crossed. “It’s your life, Lia.”

Which meant she thought Lia was making a huge mistake.

Lia got out of the car and tugged her suitcase from the backseat. “Yes, it is my life, and I’m making the best decision I can at the moment.” Her chest ached when she acknowledged that it meant giving up Adam in the process. “It’s what’s best for both of us,” she whispered before slamming the door shut.

“Good afternoon, dear.” His mother leaned over, surrounding him in a cloud of Chanel No. 5, and kissed his forehead. “So good to see you again. How’s Jasper been?”

“Moping all week.” Much like me. He waited until his mother sat down across the table from him at the tiny little French café she adored. “I’ll bring him by the house tonight.”

“Thank you so much for dog-sitting at the last minute. You know how I loathe putting him in a kennel.”

“You spoil that dog way more than you ever did any of us.”

“That’s because all my boys have grown up, left the house and haven’t given me any grandbabies to fill the void.”

Adam inwardly groaned. Not the guilt trip again. Instead, he pulled out the folder containing Lia’s lease. “I stumbled across something very interesting while you were away.”

His mother pulled out her Kate Spade reading glasses and skimmed the contract. “Oh, that. I was wondering when you’d make your mind up. Have you told Lia the news?”

“I will, if I can ever get hold of her.” He pulled out the prior contract and flipped to the last page bearing his mother’s signature. “I wanted to know about the original deal you struck with her.”

She removed her glasses and took a sip of the wine he’d ordered for her. “You know Emilia and I are dear friends. When she mentioned to me last year that her daughter wanted to open a restaurant but was having trouble finding a location, I thought I’d be nice and offer her that space.”

Little warning bells went off in the back of his mind. His mother rarely meddled in the family business unless she had ulterior motives. “At a quarter of its normal rent?”

“Now you’re just exaggerating.” She squinted at the amount on the original contract. “Yes, I agree it’s at a discount, but it was a sublet. I figured it was something she could afford just starting out, and it wasn’t doing us any good after that night club broke their original lease with us.”

“Why didn’t you run any of this by me?” He crossed his arms and zeroed his gaze in on her.

She smiled sweetly, not at all intimidated by his stance. “Adam, dear, you may have taken over running the business when your father passed away, but I’m still legally the owner.” She raised her glass to her lips, her grin widening.

His jaw tightened. He had no rebuttal for that argument. “So if I had terminated her lease for Schlittler?”

“I would have stepped in and vetoed your decision. After all, I am the owner, and you’re basically my property manager.”

His mother had spent so many years raising a family and playing the role of society wife that he’d forgotten she was a truly intelligent woman behind the polished veneer, a woman who’d gone to law school and was interning at one of the top law firms in Chicago when she’d met his father.

Maybe that’s why he could never win an argument with her.

The waiter interrupted their conversation to take their orders. His mother gave hers without even looking at the menu while he mumbled that he’d take the special—some sort of crepes with ham and cheese. He really didn’t care what he ate. None of it compared to Lia’s food.

Once the waiter left, his mother tapped on the folder. “I take it you’re going to renew her lease then. What changed your mind?”

Her question seemed innocent, but the tone of her voice in combination with the knowing light in her eyes hit him like a sucker punch. The last month had all been one big setup orchestrated by his mother. He sucked in a breath, held it until his temper simmered down, and slowly exhaled before he dared to ask, “Let me guess—you didn’t win a charity auction.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His mother checked her reflection in her spoon, patting her hair as though one of the meticulously styled strands had moved out of place.

“That dinner at the lake house—you arranged it.”

She said nothing, but the corner of her mouth rose ever so slightly.

His fingers curled into his palm. “And I suppose Lia was in on it, too?”

“No, no, no.” A look of panic flashed across his mother’s face. “Lia was as innocent as you were, dear. Emilia and I thought we could create a situation where her daughter could be introduced to several of my sons and see if there were any sparks.”

Sparks was putting it mildly. Try full-blown inferno. “And where does her lease fit into this?”

“Well, I was hoping once you met her and tasted her cooking, you’d think twice about shutting her down.” She set her spoon back down, nudging it until it was perfectly aligned with the rest of the silverware on the table. “But when I saw the chemistry between you two when you first met, well, I....”

“It’s kind of hard to have chemistry with someone while dragging a big hairy dog off of her.”

His mother hid her laugh behind her hand. “I knew that if Jasper loved her, one of my boys would, too.”

A pain formed in his chest, growing more intense with every beat of his heart until he was forced to close his eyes. And when he did, he saw Lia’s face after he’d made love to her that last night. Yes, his mother had been right. One of her boys had fallen in love with her.

She was watching him with her head tilted slightly to the side, one brow arched as though she were waiting for his confession as he opened his eyes.

“I hate to disappoint you, Mom, but don’t get your hopes up too high. Lia’s refusing to answer my calls now.”

Her lips parted, and her eyes widened. “What did you do?”

“Why do you think I did something?” The ache in his chest turned to fire. “She’s the one who disappeared the night of the fire and hasn’t spoken to me since, other than to send me an e-mail telling me to give the space to Schlittler. I have no idea where she is, what’s she doing, how she’s dealing with the loss, or what I might have done to make her act this way. I’ve gotten nothing but silence.”

“Well, that simply won’t do.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Emilia, how are you?” A pause, followed by nodding. “Funny you should mention that. I’m having lunch with Adam right now. He’s missing Lia something fierce.”

It rankled him that he had to go to his mother for the information he needed, but if it meant he could find Lia and get some answers, he’d suffer the brief moment of humiliation that poked at the edges of his mind.

The conversation continued for another minute with more sounds of agreement before his mother pulled a pen out of her purse. “Now, what is that address?” She scribbled something on the folder and handed it back to Adam, a triumphant smile on her face.

The words all appeared to be part of a foreign language except for the last one. Italy.

“Oh, did he now?” His mother gave him her accusatory glare, one he hadn’t seen since she’d gotten a call from his high school principal after he’d organized and carried out the senior prank. “No, I won’t say a thing about that. He’s a big enough boy to figure it out on his own.”

Shit. His mother knew something that would make his life infinitely easier, and she was holding out on him. Maybe he’d be able to weasel it out of her once she got off the phone.

Of course, she already knew what he was thinking and changed the conversation. “You know, I stumbled across a new strategy that we could use next time we play Judy and Karl.”

Oh, sure, talk about bridge when I’m sitting on the edge of my seat to find out what you know. Thanks, Mom.

She continued to talk about jump-reverses and trump leads until the waiter set a salad down in front of her. “We’ll have to get together later this week and try it out. Well, lunch is here. I’ve got to go for now.” She paused, listening to something Lia’s mother said, shaking her head. “No, don’t tell her. She’s equally as stubborn as Adam, and we’ve done more than enough.”

She turned her phone off and slipped it back into her purse. “This looks delicious.”

Hardly. The salad in front of him remained untouched. “What did you learn, Mom?”

“Exactly what I showed you.” She pointed her fork to the address on the folder. “If you want to find Lia, she’s there.”

“And did her mom give you any clue why Lia won’t return my calls and went to Italy?”

His mother stopped chewing. A brief glimpse at her inner struggle flickered across her features, from the twitch of her eyes to the harder-than-normal swallow. “I don’t want to interfere in your personal life.”

“It’s too late for that. You’re the one who thought it would be a great idea to play matchmaker.” He leaned forward, his elbows propped on the table in a way that would’ve earned him a scolding when he was growing up. “I want to make things right with her, and it would help to know what I’m up against before getting on the next plane to Italy.”