I came awake to pale golden light, the lingering pulse of music echoing in my ears, my mind still clinging to the remnants of a dream where I’d held Suria in my arms as we danced again.

First, it had been a rather sedate dance.

But then…piece by piece, our clothing had fallen away, and what had been almost innocent became a lot more.

I kissed her, and she tasted every bit a sweet in my dreams as I’d thought she would.

But when I would have pulled her up against me and deepened the kiss, she pulled away and open her lips. With a kittenish smile, she said, “The time is ten a.m.”

The alarm sounded again as I lay there.

“The time is ten oh one a.m.”

I silenced it and craned my head to the left, staring out the window into the bright sunlight.

It felt far too early.

But I had to get up and moving…and I had to stop thinking about the sexy girl I’d danced with last night.

After all, I had a date this morning.

“It smells great.” I bent to kiss my mother on the cheek before stepping inside her small, pin-neat condo.

Tamara Robson was forty-eight, but she could have passed for late thirties. She wore her curly brown hair swept back into a loose topknot and her blue eyes, just a shade darker than mine, met my gaze with more than a few shadows.

I wasn’t surprised.

She’d been dreading this particular day for the past month.

I was here to distract her as much as I could.

“You look beautiful,” I told her. I meant it. Bending down, I pressed a kiss to her cheek and gave her the flowers I brought over for our weekly brunches. She accepted them with a smile, but it was tinged with wry humor. “I look like a fright. I was up half the night thinking…”

Her words trailed off, and I reached up to brush my fingers down her arm.

She took my hand in hers and squeezed. “Come. I should put these in water.”

I followed her into the kitchen where brunch was spread out for the two of us.

Scrambled eggs, muffins, bacon, potatoes…I breathed in deep and shot Mom a grin. “You went overboard.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said softly. Her eyes drifted away, and she laughed self-consciously. “You know how I am. When I’m feeling down, I cook. I also made an apple pie for you to take with you.”

I went to her and wrapped my arms around her.

She leaned against me for a minute, but then pulled away. “Come on. I don’t want to get maudlin right now.”

If ever anybody had a reason to get maudlin, it was my mother.

Today would have been my uncle’s forty-first birthday. He disappeared years ago when he was a child.

Mom had never gotten over it.

But if she didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t going to drag it out of her.

“How about we sit down so I can start eating?” I suggested. “I’m starving.”

“You always are.”

Nearly an hour later, the remains of brunch lay between us, demolished mostly by me, but I’d coaxed Mom into eating a little bit of almost everything. Her only child, I’d like to think I had a special way with her.

But then again, I was arrogant in some ways.

I liked to think I had a special way with a lot of women.

I thought of the dark-eyed brunette I danced with last night. Suria. Would she be there tonight–

“Your mind is wandering, Kian,” Mom said.

“Is it?” I slanted a smile at her and leaned back in the seat. “Nah, I think it’s just a food coma. I stuffed myself silly.” I patted my belly as she gave me an indulgent look.

“I’d like to think you were thinking about a girl,” she said, eerily echoing my thoughts. “Have you met anybody recently?”

Again, Suria’s face flashed through my mind, but I shook my head. “I rarely have time. Work, you know.”

“Life can’t be all work, baby.” Mom reached over and brushed her fingers down my hand before covering it and squeezing light. “There’s got to be something more if you want it to mean anything.”

“I’ve got more than work in my life,” I assured her.

She worried about me, I knew that. But I was only twenty-seven. It wasn’t like I was pushing fifty or sixty, about to be put up on a shelf. Briefly, I wondered what that meant, before shoving the thought aside.

“Stop worrying so much,” I told her gently. “I’m still focused on the garage, but that won’t last forever.”

“I just want to know that you’re happy.”

“I’m not miserable.” But it didn’t make her smile. I should have known it wouldn’t, not on a day like this. Clearing my throat, I said, “Actually, I did meet somebody at a club last night. We just danced, but…I liked her. We’re supposed to meet up again tonight.”

Her face brightened. “Tell me about her.”

“There’s not much to tell. She’s beautiful.” I shrugged self-consciously, not willing to add the more earthy details that had caught my attention, like that tight body, a roadmap of curves and valleys, her dark, silken hair, and eyes that seemed like I could fall right into them.

“You’re blushing, Kian,” Mom said, laughing. “Okay, don’t tell me anything else.”

A couple hours later, I was wet and standing under the spray of water as I showered.

I didn’t know what I was expecting to happen tonight, but I sure wouldn’t mind if Suria and I ended up wrapped around each other in bed somewhere.

My cock took notice of that thought, and I grimaced. “Down, boy.”

The prick had a mind of its own, though, and wanted to indulge in wayward thoughts about the two of us slipping out, finding a hotel close by…dancing a little more, as one piece of clothing after another fell away.

That was definitely something I wouldn’t be opposed to.

Still…my mind wandered back to the conversation I’d had earlier with my mother.

I just want you to be happy.

And what had I told her?

I’m not miserable.

It was the truth. I liked my life.

I was…content enough.

But shouldn’t there be something more than that?

A sardonic voice inside my head laughed at me. You’re going to meet up with a beautiful woman, and if you play your cards right, chances are you’ll end up naked with her. What have you got to bitch about?

“I’m not bitching,” I muttered.

And I wasn’t.

But while I couldn’t exactly complain about the state my life was in, I knew there had to be more than what I had going on.