Lorelei smiled softly. “We only met a few days ago. Several men had accosted me. Alex saved my life.”
“Are you-are you serious with this? On top of tonight? When did my son become a superhero?”
Lorelei’s smile twitched a bit. “I wouldn’t call him that, but as the officer said, he’s an extraordinarily brave and unselfish man.”
“He’s-? He couldn’t sleep without his stuffed pony until six years ago! The football coach cut him for flinching too much!”
“I can hear you, Mom!” Alex’s voice reverberated through the window next to her. Michelle winced, tossed an apologetic glance over her shoulder, then looked back to Lorelei.
“There is a difference between common machismo and courage,” Lorelei shrugged smoothly. “Alex is often cautious because he is intelligent and does not take unnecessary risks. But faced with a worthy task, his inner fortitude is inspiring.”
The mother’s eyes flared. She had no doubt what this stranger meant by ‘inspiring,’ regardless of how subtle her shift in tone was. “Look,” she said, “you’re obviously a very sophisticated, older… b-beautiful woman. I think the world of my son, but he’s just a year out of high school. This doesn’t compute.”
“Does it have to?”
“Of course it does! This is just…what would a woman like you want with my son?”
Lorelei simply shrugged. “I want to make him happy.”
* * *
She didn’t come home with Alex and Michelle. At least, not that Michelle saw. They faked a goodbye. All it took was a wordless glance to agree that she would catch up to him later.
“I don’t want to sound so critical,” his mother said in the front seat of Eddie’s car, “but that woman seems just so…I don’t want to say this, but-”
“Say it, Mom,” Alex sighed. He sat in the back seat, as straight as he could manage for the benefit of his cracked rib. The conversation was uncomfortable, but he wasn’t angry about it. This was bound to happen. He couldn’t blame his mother for reacting like this.
“Doesn’t it just seem too good to be true?”
“I’d think that if things went smoother,” her son grumbled.
“That’s the other thing. She got you shot! Three guys came to kidnap you and that Taylor girl-and what’s up with that, by the way?”
“Those guys were looking for Lorelei because they thought she knew someone they knew, Mom. I told you already. Just like we told the cops. And Taylor and I are just friends.”
“Honey, ‘just friends’ don’t say goodbye like that. Her name came out of your mouth twenty times a day for two or three years. I’m surprised your head didn’t explode in there.”
“I don’t have an explanation for that, Mom,” he sighed. Not that he would tell her right now, anyway. Michelle was normally much cooler. The isolated hook up in a store dressing room would have easily been well into “too much information” territory, but in the end she would have laughed it off and let him live his life. He simply couldn’t put it into context now.
“It didn’t seem to bother Lorelei,” Michelle noted.
“Not a whole lot does.”
“Are you sure she isn’t just using you for something?”
“Like what? My money? My awesome social connections?”
“I’m sorry,” Michelle sighed. She looked at Eddie. “And I’m sorry you’re here for all this.”
Eddie just shrugged. “It’s not my business, but I can’t blame your mom, Alex,” he put in, glancing up at the mirror. “This is your first relationship, right?”
“First time I’ve used the girlfriend label, yeah. Not that we’ve actually discussed it. I just didn’t know how else to introduce her.”
He nodded. “Look, only a fool would try to tell you to stop seeing someone like her,” he said as much for Michelle as for Alex, “and age gaps mean less as you get older. It’s just odd because you’re so young. I don’t want to discount the idea that you’re happy together and everything will work out great, but that gap will be a real challenge.”
“Don’t I know it,” Alex muttered.
Michelle frowned, resenting the fact that Eddie was right. She turned back to Alex. “Are you in love with her?”
He glanced meaningfully at the back of her co-worker’s head, as if to remind her that he’d met the guy all of once before if ever. “We haven’t used that word.”
“But are you?”
“I don’t know. I get how weird this is. Better than you do, Mom,” he said, shrugging glumly. “But I’m not going to let go of something good just because of what might happen. I’ll be careful, but if I get my heart broken, I guess that’s just the way it goes, right?”
Michelle’s frown did not abate, but she couldn’t argue with that. He’d learned it from his mother.
Lorelei’s car sat parked just up the block from Alex’s home as they pulled up. Complete with broken window, he thought. He gingerly exited Eddie’s car and walked with the two of them to the entrance to the condo complex. He found Lorelei waiting by the front gate with a single finger held up to her lips. She winked. A laptop bag hung from one hand. The others obviously couldn’t see her.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Eddie,” Michelle said. “I’ll probably be in late tomorrow.”
“I can’t blame you. Sure you don’t want to take the day off? Everyone will understand.”
“I don’t know. We’ve still got to wrap up those contracts. And I’ll have to go get my car, anyway. Thanks so much, Eddie.” Alex had already buzzed himself and the unseen succubus inside. Michelle paused to kiss Eddie on the cheek before following them.
At the door, Alex asked with a smirk, “Is that how co-workers say goodbye, Mom?”
“Oh, you’re one to talk.”
* * *
“Holy shit,” Alex said with his hands over his face as he lay in bed. “I can’t believe my mother just tucked me in. It’s like I’m supposed to be eight years old again.”
Lorelei kept her amusement in check. “It’s understandable. Moving is painful for you at the moment. You could have been killed. She feels the need to be a mother.”
“Still. I knew she’d freak out about you.” His hands fell away. He looked up at her, now standing over his bed in the relative darkness. A gibbous moon and reflected street lighting through his window provided enough light to see her.
“We could have done a number of things to mitigate this. It is not too late. I could look younger to her and others, and convince her to remember this night slightly differently. Some degree of deception is necessary, given our situation.”
“I don’t want to hide you or what you are. Or what you are to me.”
Lorelei smiled softly. “What do you want, Alex?”
“I want you. I want to be with you,” Alex answered. “I don’t want to hide with you in my bedroom in my mom’s house anymore.”
“I had assumed that last part,” Lorelei said. Her smile showed how pleased she was with the rest of his answer. “We can acquire a new place for you-us-to live soon.”
“We accomplished basically nothing we went out to do tonight,” he grumbled.
“I am rather amazed at all that you have accomplished,” Lorelei replied. “Priorities often shift regardless of intentions. I am at least in possession of my finances and transportation again, along with a few other helpful things. The rest will come quickly. Alex, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you and Taylor.”
“You’ve said. You don’t have to apologize. I know you didn’t plan all that.”
“I would still like to make it up to you,” she said, slipping off her jacket.
Alex grinned. “I’m sure I’d like that. Just don’t make me move my upper body.”
Lorelei smiled back, dropping the jacket on his desk chair. “Tonight you mustn’t move a muscle. Just relax and let me take care of you. I think you’ll find that I am quite skilled in physical therapy.” She reached for his stereo and pressed a single button. Soft, sexy pop music began to play. “Among my other talents,” she added.
Alex watched as she swayed and ran her hands over her body, starting from her legs and moving upward to draw is attention to every delicious curve. She had quite a few of those. She hooked a thumb under one shoulder strap of her top, pulling it free.