When she finally left, with a reminder to look over the list of acceptable women she was going to send me, I sank down in my chair and rubbed my right eyebrow.
This was part of my job, and the pressure was on me to excel at it. Not just from board members and shareholders but from the greater Rossi family, most of whom made their living from the company.
There was nothing like knowing almost my entire extended family’s wealth depended on the job I did in a position I did not want.
Want it or not, it was mine.
An email came in from Clara. Her list. The idea of shopping for a wife in this manner turned my stomach. My sister was one of my closest friends, but we were vastly different people. There was absolutely no way any of the women she deemed acceptable would interest me.
I opened her email anyway.
Sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
Chapter Eight
Saoirse
Although I’d recently turned twenty-seven and had been living on my own since I’d left for college, my mother treated me like an incapable child. It was only bearable because she was states away and too busy to pry into my life on a daily basis.
But when she found the opportunity, whew, did she dig in.
She’d booked a phone call with me during my lunch hour. Being written into my mother’s calendar wasn’t unusual and had stopped bothering me a decade ago.
She was who she was, and I strove to be the polar opposite—which was why I was sitting on the patio of a café, picking at my sandwich, responding to her questions in the manner I knew would satisfy her. That was the easiest way to handle my mother.
“How is Elise?” she asked.
“Really great. She loves her job at Andes, and of course, I don’t know how I survived without her in Denver all these years.”
My mother huffed. I could practically hear her indignation through the phone. “It isn’t as if you’ve been in Denver all this time. You were traveling more than you were home.”
“You know me. If I’m in one place too long, I get antsy.”
“All fine and good, Saoirse, but you’re getting too old to play the part of a hostel-staying, broke backpacker. It isn’t cute anymore.”
I rolled my eyes. My mother had no idea where I stayed when I traveled or what I did. She had an image in her mind, and she couldn’t let go of it.
“I don’t have any travel plans right now,” I told her, which was strictly true. But I wasn’t much of a planner, so that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be traveling in the near future.
“Good. Then you should be looking for a permanent position. With your experience, there isn’t a reason to continue temping. It’s beneath you, but aside from that, you’re taking positions from people who truly need them. I know that isn’t something you would willingly do.”
Oof. That one actually got me good. I was overqualified for most of the positions I took, that was true, but my work history wasn’t exactly glowing to potential long-term employers. The longest I’d stuck to a job was six months, and I’d been crawling out of my skin by the end.
“I’m looking, Mom. But I won’t settle. Besides, I’m enjoying working at Rossi, and my contract has been extended another month.”
I wasn’t looking for another job, but as long as I told her I was, she normally laid off until the next phone call. And it wasn’t that she was stupid and actually believed me, but my promises assuaged her “mom worries” enough to drop the subject and not think about it until we spoke again.
“A motorcycle company, Saoirse? I don’t see you staying there long term. What about the marketing firm Peter told you about?”
“I’ll look into it.”
I wouldn’t, and we both knew it. We were dancing the dance we always did.
She sighed her tired, put-upon sigh I knew all too well. My poor mother had been blessed with two children who were nothing like her, and it would forever rankle her. Fortunately, she had Peter, her right-hand man and protégé, who allowed her to shape him like he was a lump of clay.
“Let’s talk about brighter subjects. Tell me what you’ve been up to in your downtime.”
This was code for, Who are you dating? I wasn’t really in the mood to disappoint her yet again.
“I’ve been helping a friend with her new business in Boulder. It’s consuming a lot of my time right now. Other than that, you know me, I’m a sun junkie. I’m outside whenever I’m not in the office. The farmers’ market—”
“And are you spending time outside with anyone special? If you’re not, Peter has a college friend who recently moved to Denver. He went to Yale, skis like you do…I know you’d get along, and he could use a tour guide for all the hidden local spots.”
I closed my eyes, cringing hard. I’d let her set me up on dates before and smiled my way through them to make her happy, but Peter was such a tool. Anyone he was friends with had to be equally awful.
“I’m seeing someone,” I blurted out.
“Oh.” She went so quiet I could hear a pin drop. “Is this new?”
“It’s—we’ve been friends for a while, but now, it’s more, and it’s serious.” Why were these words coming out of my mouth? What was I even saying? She was going to have questions, and I had no answers. I was the worst liar who’d ever lived.
“Is it…not Elliot Levy?”
“No, why would you think that?” I almost gagged at the idea. Elliot was sexless to me. He might as well have been a Ken doll. Sure, he was hot in his own buttoned-up way, but in my eyes, he had no dick.
“You mentioned you were friends, and I’m not really aware of you having other male friends. Unless—”
“No, I’m not a lesbian.”
“It would be fine if you were, Saoirse.”
“I know, but I’m not. The person I’m seeing is very much a guy.”
“Won’t you tell me who he is?”
I scrambled for an acceptable answer. If I made someone up out of thin air, she’d know because she’d sic Peter on the name the second we hung up. Probably before, if she could swing it.
Puffing up my cheeks, I slowly exhaled. “Luca. I’m seeing Elliot and Weston’s friend, Luca.”
She paused. “Rossi?”
“Yes,” I pushed out, hating myself for lying to my own mother.
“And it’s serious?”
“We’re committed. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Is he committed?”
“Yes, Mom. I wouldn’t be with him if he wasn’t.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re smarter than that.”
Was I? I was feeling pretty freaking stupid right now.
She peppered me with a few more questions that I shut down as well as I could, then, at exactly twelve thirty, she let me go. It must’ve been time for her next appointment.
With a groan, I let my head drop into my hands. I’d have to make up some spectacular breakup story before our next scheduled call. At least I could tell her I was too heartbroken to date and buy myself some leeway.
The chair across from me scraped on the stone patio. I looked up, shocked to find Luca Rossi settling across from me, a devious smirk playing on his lush lips.