And that wasn’t even touching my sexual orientation.
But she was still my mother, and I wanted her and Dad to be proud, especially after everything they’d gone through when Nora and I were together—and then when we weren’t.
I wasn’t exactly sure why I was suddenly so irritated by her snobbery. I was pretty desensitized to the way she casually judged my choices—I’d been putting up with that for years. But something about seeing it directed at Tru—a man she didn’t know at all, and a man that, for all she knew, I was invested in—made me want to prove her wrong about him.
“He’s a good man,” I said. “And he’s my plus-one for the wedding, Mom. I want him there.”
Mom huffed. “You’re being difficult.”
“No,” I said with a little shake of my head, “you’re being difficult. No one’s going to care about what I’m doing. Like you said, it’s Anna’s day. Everyone’s going to be looking at her, not me.”
“It’s Anna’s day,” Mom agreed. “But it’s the family’s day, too. People are going to talk.”
“I’m fine with that,” I said. Mom sighed, but I could tell she was thawing, if only slightly. “Just give him a chance, Mom. I’m not going to let anything ruin Anna’s day, you know that.”
“Fine,” she said with a put-out exhale. “I’ll let Theresa’s parents know. She’ll be disappointed.”
“Send her my regards,” I said drily.
Mom hitched her purse onto her shoulder. “So,” she said brightly, like this conversation hadn’t happened at all, “Lunch?”
“I’m on shift, Mom, I can’t just leave.”
“You’re the chief, I’m certain you could.”
I rolled my eyes and walked her out to her white BMW, which was parked in the center of the driveway; she’d managed to block both rigs. Lucky we hadn’t gotten a call. After Mom left, I hurried back into my office before Nora could catch me.
Fuck. The reality of what I’d agreed to was beginning to set in: Not only would I have to attend Anna’s wedding and deal with my extended family, I’d have to do it with Tru in tow. Who’d more than proven himself to be a wildcard. And I’d pushed back against Mom more than I’d done in years.
Should I warn Anna? I’d told Mom that Tru would behave, but could I really be sure of that? What if he was just looking for more opportunities to make me squirm? What if Mom chose to hold a grudge?
A knock on my door caught my attention. It opened just a few inches, and I expected to see Nora, but Tru stuck his nose in the room instead. A tentative little smirk played at the corners of his lips, like he was unsure if he could tease me or not. I appreciated the hesitation, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what I expected him to say. I kind of wanted to punch him for putting me in this position.
But at the same time, I kind of wanted to kiss him, too.
5
Tru
Beau didn’t immediately kick me out of his office, so I slunk inside and closed the door behind me. Then I leaned against the door and hooked my thumbs into my belt loop, meeting Beau’s steely gray gaze.
I didn’t know what had possessed me to jump in like that. It had just annoyed me to see Beau’s mother so clearly not listening to him, and Beau so clearly trying to get her to drop the subject without having a solution that would appease her. And the words had been out of my mouth before I could change my mind.
My lack of brain-to-mouth filter had gotten me in trouble plenty of times before, but I’d never tried to pull something like this. Sure, I was a flirt, and I’d definitely enjoyed flustering Beau over the last few weeks, but this was pushing it even for me. I liked to poke at people’s boundaries, but never make them truly uncomfortable. I was respectful, at the end of the day. And if Beau really wanted to put the kibosh on all this, I’d call his fancy-looking mother myself and say it was all a big joke.
“Jesus,” Beau said, scrubbing his hand roughly through his hair. “I can’t fucking believe this. She actually bought it. God, and the audacity you had to just butt in like that—how am I even going to explain this to my sister? Mom’s probably already called her!”
I half-listened to Beau as he ranted mostly to himself, carding his hands through his hair and pacing back and forth across the short distance of his office. He wasn’t really talking to me, more like talking at me—and I was admittedly distracted by his easy, controlled movements. God, he was sexy; the motion of his hands drew my eye to the corded muscle in his forearms and the curve of his biceps. Even when he was angry, he radiated competence; he was already figuring out how he was going to navigate this situation with his apparently difficult family.
Wait.
Navigating the situation?
He didn’t tell his mom it was a lie?
“What were you thinking?” Beau asked in a sharp tone, his attention suddenly fully on me. “Why did you do that?”
I blinked. “It just kind of… happened.”
“How does something like that just happen?” Beau asked incredulously.
“You looked like you needed someone to help you get out of that situation,” I said with a helpless shrug. “Before I could think, I just sort of blurted it out.”
It was a weak explanation, even to my own ears.
“When I need help, I ask for it,” Beau said shortly. “I’ve got family, friends, and of course, the department. I go to my teammates before anyone else. I don’t need you to butt into my business.”
“Doesn’t sound too dissimilar from the Liberty Crew,” I said.
“Well, it isn’t,” Beau said with a snort. “We’re nothing like a motorcycle club.”
That sent a little zing of hurt through me. What was so wrong with being similar to a motorcycle club? We were a family—same as the fire department. What did he think we were? Just a rowdy bunch of hooligans? Criminals? I shook it off, though—he was just lashing out because he was frustrated, and most of that was technically my fault right now.
“I’m sorry. It was impulsive. Are… things cool with your mom?” A sudden thought sprang to mind, and I rushed on in a panic, “Oh, shit, you’re out, right?”
Beau sighed and sat on the edge of his desk with his arms crossed over his chest, looking exhausted. “Yeah, I’m out. But my folks choose to ignore that detail—Mom thinks if just meet the right woman, I’ll be able to put this whole ‘gay’ thing behind me.”
I snorted. “How’s that working out for her?”
Some of the frustration drained from Beau’s expression. “I can’t even count the number of women she’s tried to set me up with over the years.”
“And she’s still trying? Honestly, good for her—that kind of dedication is hard to come by, even if it’s not for the right thing.”
“More like delusion,” Beau said with a roll of his eyes. “I haven’t been too quick to introduce her to guys for that reason.”
“She must be horrified,” I said. “Did she chew you out?”