Lacey scrunched her face up, grateful her sister couldn’t see her. “You realize you’d have to sleep on the couch. I only have a one-bedroom apartment. I can move Bridger’s bed into my room. It’ll be cramped, though.”
“I don’t care if I’m sleeping on the couch. You know me. I just want to hang out with my baby sister and my favorite nephew.”
“He’s your only nephew,” Lacey said dryly.
Angela laughed. “How long is that gonna last? You finally gonna accept that the kid needs a father figure?”
Lacey rolled her eyes. “What about you? When are you going to make our parents actually excited to be grandparents? I’m sure they’d love to see you married and having kids.”
“Not until I find the right guy. And Lace? They don’t exist.”
Lacey held back a snort. If her sister believed that, then she shouldn’t be pushing her baby sister to marry some guy just so Bridger had a father-figure.
Against her will, her thoughts shifted to Mack. He wasn’t father material. At least he didn’t appear to be. He was the charming, flirtatious type who wanted to give a girl a good time and then move on so he didn’t get bored.
But that wasn’t what he’d said.
“Lace? You still there?”
She blinked. Shoot. Had Angela been speaking? “Yeah? What were you saying?”
“I asked how everything was going. Meet any interesting guys? I know the town is small, but sometimes the ranches have turnovers.”
She could tell Angela about Mack, but something held her back. Her sister was well aware of her one-date rule. She teased Lacey incessantly about it, and at the same time, utilized it to her benefit. Usually, the guys would end up asking Angela out after the fact. They were flings, but it wasn’t something either sister wanted to change.
Nope. Lacey wasn’t about to talk about Mack. There was a twinge of something sour in her gut at the thought of her sister hanging all over Mack. It wasn’t rational, but there it was.
“Nothing interesting,” Lacey said. “Oh! My friend Sammie had her baby. I haven’t been over to see her yet, but I hear she’s beautiful.”
“That’s exciting.”
They continued to speak for about another half hour, planning for Angela’s stay. Her sister caught her up on everything going on with their parents. And then they hung up.
Lacey sat on the couch, Bridger still asleep on her bed. He’d slept there the last couple of nights. Lately, he’d been getting nightmares. It wasn’t a big deal. The bed was large enough, and she didn’t mind cuddling with him. Soon enough, he wouldn’t want to cuddle with his mother.
It had been three days since her date. She’d already gotten a couple text messages from Mack, but she’d ignored them. They were the typical short notes that most men sent when they wanted to go out again.
I had a really good time.
When can we go out again?
And then there were a few that were more personal.
Ignore me all you like, baby, I’m not going anywhere.
She stared at that message, her thumb hovering over the delete icon. Was it the fact that he’d called her a pet name? Or that he insisted he wasn’t going anywhere that stopped her from just trashing the message?
Lacey tossed the phone to the couch and curled up with her blanket. The town was small enough she knew she’d likely bump into him. And when she did? She’d have to turn him down to his face.
Something told her that was going to be incredibly difficult.
Burying her face into her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs, she heaved a sigh. The worst part was that it was tempting. They’d had a good time for the most part. He’d won several points in his favor.
But there were more important things to worry about.
Bridger’s custody, for one. She didn’t know how easy it would be for the courts to take away her rights again, but she wasn’t going to risk it. It would be best to keep everything status quo.
Two missed calls,three flirtatious messages, and three days later, Lacey pulled up in front of Sammie’s house. She’d insisted that they could wait to come meet the baby, but Sammie wouldn’t hear of it.
