Uh-oh. Surely she wouldn’t . . .
He shot a quick look over at Aubry, who shook her head back and forth very fast.
“We did.”
“Before you dragged me over here, Mom, I was going to tell you I met Tucker outside by the gardens.”
“That’s right,” Tucker said. “Your property is beautiful, by the way.”
Mrs. Ross smiled. “Thank you so much. We’ve done extensive work to the place over the years. And I do love my flowers.”
“It shows. I’m a big fan of the outdoors, so I had to take a walk out there. That’s where I ran into Aubry—near the gazebo.”
Aubry’s mom turned to her. “Of course. Well, I’m so glad you two met. I’ll leave you to talk, because I see someone I should say hello to. Nice to see you again, Tucker.”
He nodded. “Mrs. Ross.”
After she left, Aubry laid her hand on his arm. “I am so sorry about that. My mother is in matchmaking mode tonight.”
Tucker’s lips curved. “And she thought you and I—”
Aubry shrugged. “Apparently. Again, I’m really sorry. I saw that look of panic on your face and you can rest assured the incident in the wine cellar will stay between us.”
“Thanks for that. But really, quit apologizing. It’s not like you’re hideous, Aubry. Any guy would be happy to be fixed up with you.”
“Thank you, but I’m not looking to get fixed up. Especially not by my mother.”
He laughed. “I can understand that. Parents seem to have that need to see their kids settled.”
She seemed to relax after that. “Yours too?”
“My mother texts me all the time whenever she sees pictures of me with women.”
“And?”
“She mostly disapproves. And then she tells me that she knows this really nice girl . . .”
Aubry laughed. “Thank you. That makes me feel better.”
He led her away from the middle of the living room, toward the open French doors leading out back. They walked outside where it was quieter. “Though in the case of Laura—”
“The ex from the wine cellar?” Aubry asked.
“Yes. In the case of Laura, my mom might have been right to disapprove.”
“I can’t say I blame her. Was this now ex-girlfriend of yours always so . . . angry?”
“No. In the beginning she was fun and easygoing, always up for anything. She didn’t show her true colors until recently. Then it was all demands and heavy drinking.” He turned to face her. “Laura is not a fun drunk.”
Aubry wrinkled her nose. “We see a lot of ‘not fun drunks’ in the ER.”
“You’re doing a rotation in the ER?”
“Actually, I’ve changed my specialty. At first I wanted to go into obstetrics. One rotation in the ER changed all that.”
He took a seat in one of the Adirondack chairs and motioned for her to do the same. She didn’t hesitate. “There’s a big difference between delivering babies and working in emergency medicine. Why the switch?”
She liked that he took an interest in her work. “There’s such a thrill about working emergency medicine. The immediacy of it, the chance to really do some good for people who are injured or sick. It hit me in the gut when I did my first rotation in there, and I knew right then that I had to make it my career.”
“I can see how it would suit you.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t even know me.”
“You helped me earlier, during my . . . issue.”
“Oh. Right. Well, you were definitely hurting.”
“You can say that again.”
“How are you feeling by the way? Down there.”
“Better. Thanks. I don’t think I’ll be up for sex anytime soon, but I’m sure I’ll recover.”
“Good to know.” She stood. “I should get back to my parents.”
He got up. “I’d like to see you again.”
She frowned. “Don’t feel obligated because of my mother, Tucker.”
“Your mom doesn’t have anything to do with why I asked to see you. I like you. I think you’re interesting.”
“I like you, too. But my life is crazy. I work all the time. I’m not good dating material.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
She shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.”
He nodded. “Okay. I guess I’ll see you around, Aubry.”
Aubry watched Tucker walk away. He really did have a wonderful ass. She smiled to herself and changed her mind about searching out her parents. She decided to linger outside for a while. She could use a quiet moment. And knowing her mother, there was a chance she’d find Aubry and not so subtly ask for an update on her and Tucker.
Not that there was a “her and Tucker,” and there never would be. Her life was crazy enough without adding one of the Rivers players to her agenda.
That was never, ever going to happen. She and baseball players would never mix, despite her mother’s attempts to match her up with one of the guys.
It was bad enough her father owned the team, which for years meant she had been constantly surrounded by jocks. They had too much ego, too much testosterone, too much of everything.
And dating one?
That was never going to happen.
After taking some time to enjoy the peace and quiet of the night, with the gentle sound of the party in the background, Aubry decided to search out her parents. She easily found them and wandered over to where her mother stood having a rather animated conversation with her father.