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kissed her forehead and pulled her toward the door. “I’ve got to get going now. I would love to stay longer, but I can’t risk it right now.” Giving her what she knew was a rare uncertain smile, he asked, “How about we go to dinner tomorrow night?”
    She grinned and quickly agreed.
    As if he couldn’t help himself, he gave her a quick kiss on the lips and gruffly said, “Lock the door behind me, Ellie. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”
    She turned the lock behind him and sagged against the door.
Please tell me I’m not dreaming.
To double-check, she pinched herself and was relieved when she felt the sting. She did a happy dance right in the middle of the kitchen. It was actually going to happen. Declan Stone wanted her, finally! She grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Beth arranging for a girls’ lunch for the next day. She shuddered as she imagined the advice she would get from Suzy. Of course, with a husband like Gray, Suzy had proven that she knew how to get her man. She might be a little graphic, but the girl knew what she was doing. Beth texted her back wanting to know what was going on, but Ella didn’t want to discuss it yet. She wanted a night to let it all sink in. When the phone rang in her hand, she laughed as she answered the call. “You just couldn’t wait until tomorrow for all of the dirty details could you?” After a moment of silence, she cringed as she heard her mother’s voice.
    “What dirty details are you talking about, Ella Marie?”
    “Um . . . hi Mom,” she said weakly.
    Never one to let a subject be changed easily, her mother repeated, “What dirty details?”
    “Oh . . . well, it’s just a television show that Beth and I both watch. She didn’t get a chance to see it tonight so I figured she was calling to see what happened.”
You big fat liar. Why didn’t you just tell her the truth? I’m sure she would be all for her baby girl having sex with a bad boy.
She couldn’t imagine her mother’s reaction to that news. She would have grabbed her dad and they would be at her apartment before she could hang up the phone. They were still holding out hope that she would marry their pastor’s son who, incidentally, hated Ella because she laughed when he fell off his bike when he was ten. For someone whose father preached forgiveness weekly, he certainly knew how to hold a grudge.
    With a loud sniff of disapproval, her mother said, “Honey, I have told you not to watch those trashy shows. There is nothing but smut on nowadays and a young, impressionable girl doesn’t need to see that.”
    “Mom, I’m twenty-eight years old. I haven’t been a girl for a long time. You watch the cooking network all of the time and those women dress like s—”
    “Ella! What has gotten into you tonight? I think you need to come home next weekend and spend some time with your father and me. Everyone at church has been asking about you. It’s gotten rather embarrassing to keep making excuses as to where you are.”
    Ella wondered if her mother could see the irony of lecturing her about going to church while she admitted in the same breath that she lied about why she wasn’t there. She was smart enough not to mention that particular thought out loud though. She had learned years ago that things went better if you didn’t argue or make waves. Now, she tended to avoid these types of conversations with her mother altogether if she could. “Mom, it’s getting late and I need to get to sleep.”
    Luckily, her mother wasn’t one to question it when you pretended to be sleepy at eight thirty. “Okay, honey. You know if that place is too much for you, your father could find you something that is less stressful. I don’t think those people there are very good influences on you anyway.”
    Ella picked up the fork still sitting on the table from dinner earlier and pretended to stab herself with it. Why must her mother be so judgmental about everything and everyone? All she seemed