Although...

Her mind ran on Keiran, and she immediately dropped her fork, the loud clang echoing around the empty restaurant. Definitely not the man her mother would have in mind for her, but her mother didn’t know him like she’d gotten to. He’d shown her something else of himself other than what the rumors said and what she’d assumed. Especially that day in the studio.

“Everything okay?” Her father’s hand was gentle on her arms. He was the softie between her parents, and most times, she and Ava would run to him for soothing when her mother had chided them for some perceived slight.

She was definitely a daddy’s girl.

“Yes.” She mustered a smile. “I’m fine. I think...I might be having an epiphany about something, is all.”

“About Jerome?” Her mother looked hopeful, and Cherisse almost busted out laughing. Wrong guy, mother.

But then she thought, why not? Why not just stop keeping things inside and say what was on her mind? It could’ve just been the sugar coursing through her veins, giving her a false sense of “don’t care,” but it was her birthday, dammit. She could do this.

“Not Jerome. Someone else.”

Her mother’s perfectly filled-in brow winged up. “Someone else?” she repeated slowly as if the idea of Cherisse succeeding in this on her own was ludicrous.

“I like him, and maybe you’ll meet him at the party I’m not supposed to know about but obviously do. So, I'm gonna need you to abort your matchmaking mission. Please.”

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, and Cherisse refused to look away. The wheels were obviously turning in her mother’s head, trying to figure out who the hell Cherisse was talking about. But her birthday wasn’t the time for argument, and one would definitely erupt if she so much as mentioned Keiran’s name.

“Looking forward to meeting him,” her father said, offering up his usual smile as her mother continued to stare her down. “Seems like a great time for presents!”

Ever the peacemaker, her father’s jovial attitude was catching, and by the time she was scheduled to meet Remi at the Hyatt, she was in less of a panic mode—by a smidge. The apprehension was still there, of course, because what was she doing? But step one was complete. She’d told her mother to back off on her matchmaking. She was still a mess of emotions and possibly falling headlong into something, but it was a start.

Even so, it was their birthday, and she shouldn’t allow herself to check out because of feelings. The next step was checking into the Hyatt, then out with the girls tonight. Anything else could wait. Easier said than done, but she owed it to her girls to be present. Keiran was on her mind too much. The fact that it wasn’t just naughty fantasies with him in a starring role was distressing, but maybe not as terrible as whatever her nervousness was doing to her gut. Relax, girl. You got this. Keiran King is but a man.