Of course her mother would want to know him better, Mandy thought, an inner sigh of resignation filling her heart. Mrs. Sloane was very thorough when it came to her daughters’ relationships. For now, Mandy was the only one allowed to have a boyfriend, so Georgia had more than enough time to spend monitoring Mandy’s love life. Mandy had to say she was relieved. They all seemed to be taking it rather well about Marcus.
Her father, however, pulled her into his study and asked her with a shrewd look, “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“No,” Mandy said honestly, heaving a sigh.
Her father, handsome and dark-haired with peppered sideburns, grinned. “Best answer you could give. I know next to nothing about rock stars so if you’re going to start dating one, I figure it’s best getting into it with a blank script. Take it easy; don’t build your hopes up. It’ll be so easy to get hurt, my dear.” Her father patted her cheek gently. “Not that I’d imagine any sane man would ever dream of walking away from my beautiful, smart Mandy. If he does, he’ll need his head examined – not to mention a few stitches by the time I’m through with him.”
Her father’s eyes were smiling though his lips looked grim. Mandy couldn’t help but laugh as she thought of her father roughing Ethan up. But she felt touched by her father’s concern. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
And yet Mandy couldn’t help asking herself, will I?
She had no time to dwell on it. There was dinner to plan with her very capable mother and then getting ready to see Ethan again. She had been aflutter when she’d called him to ask if it would be okay to have dinner with her family that evening.
“I’d love to,” he’d said deeply. “I’d be honored to dine with your family, Mandy.”
Her heart had been singing ever since. In record time, they’d prepared a worthy dinner for their famous guest. Then the girls – including her mother – all disappeared into their rooms to prepare for the special occasion.
Ethan arrived and the whole atmosphere in her family home seemed to come alive. Her parents had recently redecorated the house in a Moroccan-styled theme, which Mandy had always loved. She wondered what Ethan would think about the bright colors: the rugs, the lanterns, and the grand arches.
“I love this place,” Ethan said once he arrived, looking around with enjoyment on his face. Mandy’s hidden fears were allayed at once.
Her parents loved him. Her sisters were another matter. They managed not to freak out at having Ethan Tyler as a guest and were on their best behavior in front of their parents. Mandy spent the whole evening just staring at him.
His long hair was tied back and he was dressed in a black buttoned-up shirt with white stitching. The long sleeves fitted his broad shoulders and arms, and he completed the look with a pair of tailored black slacks and black boots. He looked good enough to eat, which was probably why Mandy kept wishing it was him she had on her plate and not her medium steak and dill sauce.
He looked so different tonight. He’d toned down the eye makeup and the black nail polish. And there was no tattoo in sight. Mandy thought it was really sweet of him to try and impress her parents. However, his everyday self did nothing to detract from the fact that his stimulating personality, his superstar grin, and his own-the-world stance shone right through no matter what.
Ethan mentioned his upcoming London tour and how he was looking forward to having Mandy with him. He also talked about the last concert the band was having before the trip to London, and then about his step-sisters Hayley and Samantha, who weren’t rock music fans but supported him whenever he needed family to back him up.
Mandy had read up about his many charity interests and she brought that up over dinner. It wasn’t that she was trying to ‘sell’ him to her family. She really thought it was cool that he personally took some time to give back to society through his aid projects and donations, which he never publicized but were aired by the media anyway. The Strum also gave a lot of charity concerts and had headlined a recent show in aid of injured Afghanistan veterans. Mandy found that pretty amazing and obviously, her family did too, especially Georgia, who had chaired a lot of benefits.
It wasn’t a disaster. Far from it. The few hours flew by and the delicious food was a hit with their guest. Ethan gallantly assured Georgia that he was glad he’d chosen to join them tonight instead of going out for dinner with Mandy as planned, and that the food was positively the best he’d had in a long time. “I miss home-cooked meals,” he said with an appreciative grin. “More than ever now that I’ve had some of your delicious cooking, Mrs. Sloane. I hope you’ll invite me again soon.”