“Fine. Mom, this is Olivia, my girlfriend. Olivia, this is my mother, Mercedes Hollis. Please don’t let her run you off.”

Olivia, who’d been charmed by the byplay in spite of her embarrassment, suddenly found herself the center of attention. “Um. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hollis.”

“Please, call me Mercedes. Mrs. Hollis is my mother-in-law, God rest her evil soul.”

“She’s been dead for ten years, Mãe.”

“And I asked God to rest her soul, didn’t I?” Mercedes sniffed, then turned the full force of her personality on Olivia. “So, Olivia. How long have you known my son?”

“About a year and a half,” Olivia began, then blinked when Mercedes turned and whacked Cade on the back of the head.

“A year and a half you’re dating this woman and I don’t hear about it?”

“We’ve only been dating a couple of months,” Olivia hastened to explain.

Mercedes scowled and smacked him again. “Two months you’re dating and I don’t hear about it?”

“She’s got you there,” Olivia pointed out, and bit her lip when he turned his scowl on her.

“I like her,” Mercedes declared, and sat down next to Olivia before Cade could stop her. “What do you do for a living, Olivia?”

“I’m a physical therapist,” she replied, and shot Cade a warning look when he sat down next to her. He ignored it and pulled her into his arms again.

“And how do you know my son?”

“Ah…” That one gave her pause. She couldn’t very well say we belong to the same BDSM club.

“Mutual friends,” Cade stepped in smoothly.

“I see,” Mercedes murmured, eyes sharp, and Olivia resisted the urge to squirm. “And where is this relationship going?”

“It was going to the bedroom before you showed up,” Cade said.

“Cade,” Olivia groaned.

“What? It was.”

“You’re embarrassing her,” Mercedes said, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

“Am I embarrassing you, fofa?” Cade asked cheekily.

“Yes,” she hissed, and turned to apologize to his mother. But Mercedes was staring at her son in shock, and to Olivia’s horror, tears glimmered in her eyes. She turned to Cade. Do something, she mouthed.

“Mom?”

“I’m fine.” Mercedes gave them a brilliant smile and stood. “And I’ve overstayed my welcome. Olivia, it was lovely to meet you. I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

“It was nice to meet you, too.” Confused, she glanced back at Cade, who merely patted her hand in reassurance and rose to his feet.

“I’ll walk you out,” he said to his mother, and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, walked with her into the kitchen.

Cade waited until they were in the kitchen to speak. “Tá tudo bem, Mãe?”

She took his face in her hands. “You called her ‘fofa’.”

“Yeah.” He’d known she’d catch the significance of that. “That’s who she is.”