Page 12 of Matched By Mistake
“I knew it was,” he said. “But you can keep checking all you want.”
She shook her head. “Not until we get everything sorted.”
“Tomorrow, then?”
“Or the next day,” she said.
He left a few minutes later and sat in his sports car thinking about Maggie and wanting her. No matter what happened between the two of them, that kiss had reinforced what he’d felt when he first saw her. And he wasn’t going to let anything keep him from finding out if they were as hot in bed.
Four
Somehow when he’d been alone with Maggie he’d had a feeling that they might be able to actually date, but as he arrived at his parents’ house the next morning in time for the breakfast buffet his mom put out, he knew that wasn’t the case. He glanced at the familiar room with the painting of Eliza Boudreaux wearing the diamond, ruby and emerald necklace. She was the one who’d started the feud. She’d jilted Fernando Del Rio the first and married Jericho’s great-grandfather Teddy.
But that was past. He had today to get through. He went into the dining room and kissed his mom, who gave him one of those looks down her nose.
“You’re going to date a Del Rio girl?” his mom asked. Camille had dark brown eyes and long, naturally curly black hair and kept in shape. She worked at Winters Industries and was an integral part of their success.
“Maybe. Mom, it’s more complicated than that. Trey is heavily invested—”
“Save the arguments until after breakfast. I’m more interested in why my always-playing-the-field son is suddenly keen to date someone an app picked,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Camille was actually his stepmom. His dad had married her when Jericho was eight after his mom had died in complications after giving birth to his youngest sister, Tiffany. But from the moment Camille had married his dad, she’d been mom to him and his siblings. Camille had a way of cutting past all the other bullshit that most people just accepted from him. He leaned against the counter trying to find something between the truth and a lie as he often did when he spoke to her. Finally he just shrugged. “I don’t really know.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t say that to your father.”
“Oh, I’m not planning to,” he said. “I met with her last night just to see who she is, away from the business rivalries between our families.”
“And?”
He realized he sort of wanted his mom’s advice, which if he was honest, he hadn’t actively sought since he was fourteen. “I like her.”
His mom put her coffee cup on the counter and moved slightly closer to him. “Like her how? I’ve seen her around town. Is it just a fling thing?”
“Mom.”
“Hey, I love you and want you to be happy but this affects the entire family. If it’s just you wanting to hook up with a pretty girl, then you’re on your own. If it’s something more...”
She trailed off, but the look in her dark brown eyes just made him more aware of the stakes. His mom as usual had boiled it all down to the important stuff. Was he willing to put his family through a close encounter with the Del Rios, who had always been a thorn in their side? “I still don’t know. That’s why I waited so long to respond in the family group.”
“The fact that you don’t know might be the answer. I’d keep that to yourself until you know something more. But for now you are going to date the Del Rio girl?”
“I am. Her name is Maggie,” Jericho said.
“The Del Rio girl?” Alisha asked as she walked into the kitchen.
He hugged his sister, who was only a year younger than he was. She was technically his stepsister since she was Camille’s daughter from a previous marriage. But from the moment they met, they’d been close growing up and still were today. She hugged him back, then reached around him to get a mug and poured herself some coffee.
“Yes.”
“Are you really going through with this?” she asked.
“Yes. Trey’s invested heavily in k!smet,” he said, realizing he needed to stop sounding like he was letting circumstances dictate what he wanted. Maybe that was what his mom had meant.
“So you’re doing this for Trey?” Alisha asked skeptically.
“No. I like her. I saw her at the club a few weeks back.”
“Have you been dating her on the down-low?” Alisha asked.
