“You know…you probably wouldn’t be so cold all the time if you had some meat on your bones,” Jared teased as he pulled out her chair.

“Meat on my bones?” she countered with a raised brow, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses.

“Yeah,” he said, grabbing the other chair that was completely shaded, which left me with my back in the scorching sun. “All that swimming has made you too lean.”

“Whatever,” Darcy said with a dismissive wave. “I’m in the best shape of my life.”

“I know that’s right,” the hostess cosigned while passing out the menus. “You look damn good for a woman who has a son his age.”

“She looks damn good, period,” I corrected before I was able to censor the thought. I didn’t have a chance to regret it, though, because the compliment brought the prettiest smile to Darcy’s lips.

“Thank you, Tommy,” she said. “I wish my son could just give his mother a compliment without the critique.” She raised an eyebrow at him again.

“Come on, mom. You know you’re beautiful, but men in your age bracket tend to like their women a lil’ bit thicker.”

Darcy scoffed. “First of all, I lost the weight for me. Not to attract a man. I’ll have you know that I have no interest in dating right now. I’m just trying to do me. And secondly, if I were interested in dating, what makes you think I’d be looking for a man my age?”

Oh, shit!

“Mom! Are you saying that you’re a cougar?”

Please, say yes. Please, say yes, and I’ll be your cub.

“Oh, Jared, calm down. I just said that I’m not dating and have no plans to date. I may, however, take a younger lover if I feel the need.”

Jesus Christ. Was she for real or just joking around to wind Jared up? Her eyes were still hidden behind her dark sunglasses, so I couldn’t tell. But even if she was, the mere implication that she might be interested in taking a younger man as her lover had my fucking heart doing a jig in my chest.

“Seriously, ma? That is completely inappropriate.”

“Men do it all the time. Why can’t I? What about you, Tommy? Do you think it’s inappropriate?” She looked at me with a smirk on her face that said she knew exactly what I thought of her dating younger men, and that inappropriate wasn’t a label I would stick on it.

“Jared… I think that you need to consider the fact that Darcy is a damn fine woman and would have her choice of men — young or not — if she decided to start dating,” I said diplomatically.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Jared countered.