Page 51 of Check Mate

Mom turns and walks back toward Isabella; she’s short enough to duck right under my arm. Damn it.

“Oh, Isabella! Why don’t you come with David to our family dinner on Sunday? We have dinner every Sunday as a family, or we try to!” Mom chuckles and pats Isabella’s shoulder. “It’s hard to round up all of my children these days.”

Isa nods and starts to stand up. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

I withhold a groan. “You can stay seated, Isa. My parents are leaving,” I say, staring my parents down with a glare.

“They might like to join us, David,” she says in a whisper that’s obviously loud enough for my parents to hear.

“Absolutely not.”

My mom giggles at Isa’s comment. “Oh, David, I like her!”

I point to the exit without saying a word.

“Okay, okay.” Mom throws her hands up in defeat like I’m being ridiculous.

She and my father wave at us before walking out the door and closing it behind them. I stand with one palm on the door to make sure they don’t come back in and use the other to massage my temples. Isabella bursts into laughter behind me and I turn around to look at her.

“I’m glad one of us is amused,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her. This only makes her laugh harder.

“The Find My Friends app?” She laughs. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to have overbearing parents… but allowing your parents to stalk you?”

Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I go straight to the app and press delete. “There. Fixed that.”

“So, what should I wear to family dinner?” She bats her eyelashes at me.

“You do not have to come to family dinner; don’t let my mother steamroll you into that.”

“I really don’t mind,” She tells me with a genuine smile. “And your family seems fun.”

I wrinkle my nose. “They can be fun.”

“But not as fun as you?” she asks, a twinkle in her eye telling me she’s teasing.

“Obviously. No one is as fun as me,” I say with a stoney expression, making her laugh.

The door opens again and I stand abruptly, almost knocking my bourbon over. Mark walks in and looks at me with a concerned expression. “Are you guys ready to order, or should I come back?”

I sigh and rest my hands on my hips. “Sorry, Mark. I thought it was my parents again. Could you guys keep them out of here… please?”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Windell. I’ll let everyone know not to let your parents in here. I don’t know how they snuck past us.”

“It’s fine.” I take my seat again. “Isa, are you ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll have the six ounce steak, cooked medium.” She glances at me over the top of her menu and whispers, “Can we get dessert too?”

The edge of my mouth pulls up into a smile. “Of course, order whatever you’d like.”

“And I’ll also have the molten lava cake… a la mode,” She tells Mark with a big smile.

He smiles back at her. Who wouldn’t?

“Make that two molten lava cakes. And I’ll have my usual as well. Thank you, Mark.”

He nods his head in my direction, takes the menu from Isa and leaves us.

“You know, he would’ve come back and offered dessert after we ate dinner,” I tell her before taking a sip of my drink.