Dominate Me

Chapter 39

"Miles Adam Rhett, you'd better get your sorry ass down these stairs this instant!"

The angry voice bellowed up the stairs and I felt my own stomach drop, Miles wincing at my side.

Uh oh.

He sighed and leaned down to kiss me on the cheek, clearing his throat before he walked out of the room. I looked to Liam, who simply shrugged, nodding his head for me to walk down with him.

Hell of a way to meet Miles' mom.

Liam's hand on the small of my back reassured me as we made our way down to the foyer, a small woman - smaller than me - stood with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot against the tiled floor.

It looks could kill, Miles would've been murdered in cold blood, then brought back to clean up the mess.

"Why am I just now finding out you were hospitalized?"

"Mom, I-"

Her gaze turned to me.

Oh fuck. Shoot me now.

Before I could run, she gasped, glaring once again at Miles, who stood with his hands in his pockets, a look of properly chastised chagrin on his face.

"You didn't tell me she was here now!" She scurried over, shocking me when she pulled me into a tight hug.

"Oh, I'm so sorry we met like this, sweetheart. You probably think I'm an evil monster. My son over there just worries me with his work as it is, and then I find out this evening that he was in the hospital just the other week."

Miles rubbed a hand on the back of his neck as he stepped over, placing a hand softly on his mom's shoulder to pry her off of me.

"Mom, this is Avery Hensley. She's the woman I've told you about."

"Well it's about time you let me meet her."

I laughed when she pulled me into another bone-crushing hug, ready for it this time. I took an uneasy breath, my entire body shaking when I wrapped my arms around her.

Is this what a mother's hug feels like?

I cleared my throat and stepped back, gesturing towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry, Mrs. Rhett? Liam just made dinner and I'm sure he overcooked. He always does."

"Oh no, please. Call me Penny. Just dinner? Liam Hawkins, you didn't offer this woman dessert? You'd better be spoiling her."

He smirked, stepping over to me. His eyes hooded, darkening with lust and promise. "Trust me. There are dessert plans."

"Oh. What, is there a pie in the fridge? Ice cream, maybe? I don't see anything out. I'd love some dessert, too." Penny looked around, craning her neck to check the lack of sweets selection on the counter, shrugging it off a moment later.

Miles coughed to hide his chuckle, wrapping an arm casually around his mom's shoulder. "Who's hungry?"

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I sat on the couch, elbows on my knees, completely enthralled as Penny told me stories of Miles as a child.

"He was! He was so innocent! Oh my goodness, his first crush, he was afraid to tell her, so he wrote her a note and hid it in the tire swing, hoping she'd be the one to find it. What was her name, sweetheart? Hailey? Hannah?"

Miles groaned, wiping a hand over his face in embarrassment. "Hazel. But Mom, I really don't think Ava wants to hear about my first crush."