When she nudged him, he only smiled. It wasn’t exactly a lie since she told him last night that her mom was a free spirit who enjoyed making trouble. Well, those might not have been Leanne’s exact words, but near enough.

“Junie Vanderpol. I can’t wait to get to you know better.” She smiled then took his hand, which was a relief since he’d been holding it out for a while. To his surprise, Leanne’s mom pulled him into a hug. He returned the embrace in confusion, as she went on, “I can tell you really cherish her. I have a knack for reading people.”

Trev blinked. But he didn’t deny the claim. Leanne rolled her eyes, beckoning him toward the table, where food in Styrofoam containers had been set out.

“Sure you do,” Leanne muttered. “That’s why you’ve been married six times.”

Holy shit. Getting married that often showed peerless optimism if nothing else.

“Hey.” The older woman sounded hurt. “You know my abilities don’t work when I try to use them for my own benefit.”

“Junie,” Leanne said in a warning tone.

Trev had the feeling he was missing some important context here. “Are you a psychic, then?” he asked, trying to be polite.

Junie smiled. “Something like that.”

Leanne pushed the chair beside her with one foot while setting down plates and cutlery. Trev helped her set the table and received a grateful smile in return. Yeah, I could get used to this, even if she’s using me.

In honor of their ruse, she’d ordered Chinese food from one of Trev’s favorite restaurants: noodles, kung pao chicken, broccoli beef, fried rice, steamed dumplings, spring rolls, and egg drop soup. Basically, it was all his favorites, and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear she’d done some research, maybe even asked Titus what he liked.

“You remembered my order,” he teased. “Thanks, babe.”

Leanne cast him a narrow look, but then she smiled. “How could I forget? Eat up, everything tastes better when it’s hot.”

He took a big bite of kung pao as Junie said, “Tell me about yourself, Trevor.”

“Let him eat,” Leanne answered at once.

Her mom sighed. “Fair enough, I can be patient.”

That earned him some breathing room, and while everything might go sideways after dinner, he enjoyed every bite. He didn’t often get to eat with people unaware of his reputation, and there was a certain freedom in not being that Trevor, at least for a little while. Right now, he was helping Leanne out, and it had been a long time since he felt…useful, let alone valuable.

As Trev finished his soup, Junie asked, “When are you moving in together?”

Chapter 6

That was abrupt, even for Junie.