“What is with you, buddy?” Josh laughs and shakes his head at me. “You’re always smiling these days.”

“Oh, and that’s a bad thing, is it? You don’t want me to be happy? That’s a weird thing to say.”

“No, it isn’t that. You’re just extra happy, that’s all. You seem like you’re . . . I don’t know, in love.”

The L word makes my heart soar more than anything else in the world. I should be scared after the last time I threw myself into commitment and got my heart burned, but I’m not. It’s weird—I’m happy to put the playboy to bed and to start something new. For Jodi, I would give her anything in the world.

“Yeah, I suppose I might be. I don’t know, it’s weird. I kinda feel like I might be in love.”

“With who?” He screws his nose as we continue to walk around the casino, checking everything as we do every so often. “I didn’t even know you were dating someone. I can’t believe you’re in love.”

I give him a look. “You did know. I haven’t exactly been discreet about my feelings, have I?”

“You don’t mean . . . you can’t mean Jodi, can you?” All the color drains from his face.

“Yes, why? Why are you being really weird about it? I know it isn’t right, but—”

“Yeah, it isn’t right. You shouldn’t ever fuck someone you work with. That’s so wrong.”

“Maybe. You know I wouldn’t normally do anything like that, but she’s special. There’s something about her.”

“But I . . . I tried to warn her against you. I told her it would be a bad idea.”

“You did what?” I stop dead where I am and grab his arm. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because it’s a stupid idea, and because of her past history. I know she’s hot, but she’s trouble.”

“Trouble in a good way! Not in a bad way. You’re making a judgment based off nothing. And you definitely shouldn’t have said that to her. If you have a problem, you should’ve come to me about it.”

“But you’ve got stars in your eyes about her. I knew you wouldn’t listen.”

I shake my head, disappointment racking my whole body. “I dread to think how she reacted.”

“Oh, she didn’t take it well. But I thought I’d gotten through to her. I can’t believe it still happened.”

“You can’t believe we’ve slept together? Well, we have been for a while, and now I’m falling for her.”

“You do need to be careful though, Brock. I’m serious. I don’t think she’s right for you.”

A warmth absolutely fills me, from the bottom of my toes to the tip of my head. Thinking of Jodi always makes me grin. I can see where Josh is coming from. I know he’s only concerned for me, but he doesn’t need to be. I’m slowly but surely peeling away the layers of Jodi, and I think she’s amazing. She’s everything.

“I appreciate your concern, but I know what I’m doing. I’m not too concerned.”

“You’re really changing, Brock. I don’t know if I like it. It’s just weird. Next thing you’ll be telling me that you’ve been to see your mother. Like face to face seen her rather than talked on the phone.”

“Hmm, yeah, it has been a while. Maybe I should go and see her actually, catch up . . .”

“Well, I’m glad. I know she’ll love it. But that just proves it. Work isn’t at the forefront of your mind anymore.”

“It’s still important. You aren’t trying to say that I’m doing a shitty job here, are you?”

“No, of course not. Plus, you have me. I’m the best manager of all time.”

“Yeah, well maybe it’s time I start expanding my horizons a bit, don’t you think? Try something new.”

Josh is silent for a while. He has a thoughtful look on his face as the neon lights flicker across his skin. I wonder what’s going on inside his mind, but I’m too afraid to ask. I don’t want him to tell me something I might not like.

“You know, I’m sorry for what I said to Jodi. That was a dick move on my behalf.”

“It isn’t really me you need to apologize to, but next time, talk to me. I’d rather hear it myself.”

“Yeah, I know.” He hangs his head low. “I won’t do it again. I was just trying to protect you.”

“Well, there might be millions of things I need protection from, but Jodi isn’t one of them.”

Somehow, he still manages to not look quite convinced. “I hope you’re right about that one.”

“I’m not arguing with you about it anymore. I have to get back upstairs. I have lots of work to do.”

“Oh yeah, Jodi awaits. I suppose you can’t leave her waiting too long.”

I pat him on the arm and smirk. “That’s right, and I’m going to ask her to see my mother with me.”

“Your mom? You’re introducing her to your mom? There’s no way you’re that serious about her.”

“I am, actually. I really am. This is the right thing to do to take us forward.”

Josh yells after me as I walk off, but I simply flick my hand in the air to silence him. He can think I don’t know what I’m doing all he likes, but I’m certain. It’s been nearly three weeks since we first had sex, and I know enough to keep plowing forward. It’s something we haven’t discussed but I’m sure we both want.

“Hey,” I say smilingly as I hang around the door to my office. “What are your plans for tonight?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have any particular plans, why?”

I understand the confusion on her face. We don’t usually do anything date-like. It’s usually more of a fumble in the office, so this is going to be a giant leap forward, but I’m sure it’ll be awesome.

“Did you want to come to meet my mother with me tonight?”

“What?” she screeches, shocked. “Are you serious? Meet your mother? That’s insane.”

I wrap one arm around her waist and pull her in for a gentle kiss, no longer bothering to try to hide us. As far as I’m aware, everyone else knows about us anyway. No one can complain since I’m the damn boss.

“I know, but she’ll love you, and I think it’s the next step for us, isn’t it?”

“I actually think the next step would be taking me out on a normal date if we want to be a couple.”

“But nothing between us is normal, is it?” I laugh, and she joins in. “It’ll be fun. Mom’s going to adore you.”

“Fun?” She drawls out the word carefully. “Are you sure about that?”

“I am. Honestly. I’ll tell Mom it isn’t anything for her to get too excited about.”

“So she won’t start asking me when we’re going to get married and start popping out babies?”

“After my last marriage, she wouldn’t ever start putting on pressure. Trust me on that one.”

She pauses for a few moments then nods. “Right, okay. That sounds okay. Meeting your mother.”

“Yep. Trust me, it’ll be amazing. You’re going to love it. You’ll love her. She’s really great.”

It’s only when she darts me one last funny look that I wonder how it’ll go. I’m hoping it’ll be as fine as I promised.

“Hey, Mom!” I hold out my arms to embrace her as she invites us inside. “Thank you for having us for dinner.”

“Oh, well, I hardly ever get to see you these days, you’re so busy with work, so of course I jumped at the opportunity, and when I hear there’s a woman in the picture, well . . .” She looks at Jodi, and I can see the approval there already. “I have to meet the person making Brock smile. He sounded very happy on the phone.”

“Oh, right.” A pink tinges Jodi’s cheeks, and I can’t stop myself from grinning. God, she’s so adorable as well as being sexy. No wonder I’m falling head over heels for her. “Well, I’m glad. I want him to be happy.”

“My name is Laura.” Mom shakes Jodi’s hand. “And you’re Jodi? Brock’s personal assistant.”

“Yep, that’s right. I’m Jodi. I can’t believe Brock told you about my job.”

“Well, he knows I won’t judge. After what he’s been through, anyone who’s good for him . . .”

Mom leads us through the house, and Jodi gives me a worried look. I smile back as reassuringly as I can manage. I want to calm her down because I can already tell that my mom loves her.

“So I don’t need to ask you two how you met—I already know—but what did you do before?”

“I used to live in New York City, and I worked in the stock exchange before I came to Vegas.”

“Oh wow, that’s really something. That must have been some seriously hard work.”

“It was alright. Hard in some ways, yes. But there were parts of it that I really loved.”

“A pretty girl like you working among so many men? I can imagine that was trouble.”

Jodi stiffens, her spine completely freezes over, and I’m reminded of the stalking incident. I haven’t forgotten, but since she hasn’t wanted to talk about it, I’ve pushed it to one side. Now, though, it’s all I can think of.

“Mom, this isn’t the sixties, you know,” I shoot back sharply, covering her ass. “Men can’t behave like that.”

“You mean they shouldn’t. I have no doubt that they do. Unwanted advances are an unfortunate part of life.”

“That isn’t what happened between us, you know? I don’t know what you’re suggesting here.”

“You don’t have to be so defensive. I already know that. I’m just saying—”

“Well, don’t. Let’s talk about something else instead. Something more appropriate.”

Mom rolls her eyes and turns away from me. Luckily, she’s used to my sharp temper, so she doesn’t take anything from it. I’m nothing like I used to be, but I haven’t always reacted well to stress. I can be a bit of a hothead. Act first and think later. I would like to say that’s behind me, but it isn’t quite.

“Well, I’m cooking lasagna for dinner. Nothing fancy, but I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’s fine by me.” Jodi smiles thinly, the tension still evident in her face. “Sounds lovely.”

“Sounds great, Mom. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you take a seat in the dining room? I’ll get everything ready for you. It’s nearly cooked anyway. Then I can find out some more about the very lovely Jodi. Who’s much more pleasant than you, by the way.”

“Thanks, Mom. That’s totally awesome of you. Do you want help with the drinks?”

I don’t wait for her to answer. Instead, I set about helping her, grabbing glasses and preparing the drinks. Mom and Jodi do the whole small talk thing, questions that don’t teeter into the danger zone, which is good. It allows me to easily relax. I didn’t realize how troublesome this would be. I should have thought in advance since Mom is quite nosy. But I’m sure Jodi will handle it well from here on out.

She’s still the kick-ass girl from the interview, the woman who caught me in her web with her sass, but there’s a vulnerability there too, and it makes me want to protect her. I want to be her knight in shining armor.

I shoot her a look out the side of my eye, smiling as she relaxes into the conversation too. Despite what I promised Jodi, I don’t know if Mom will be able to resist bringing up marriage and babies. She’ll want to lock Jodi down, a bit like I do. She’ll definitely be bugging me about it later on.