Both women glanced at him with varying degrees of curiosity.
“Sure, kiddo. Have at it. I’ll get another one later.” He turned to Angela. “Dinner sounds fun.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“What?No.”
All eyes turned to Lacey. Bridger stood frozen with the brownie halfway unwrapped. Angela merely looked confused. But Mack appeared to be enjoying himself. Lacey wanted to wipe that smug smile from his face.
“What?” Angela asked, her eyes darting to Bridger. “Come on, Lace, don’t tell me that you’re one ofthosemoms. Bridger isn’t going to ruin his dinner withonebrownie.”
Lacey glanced at the brownie. That was her out. How was she supposed to explain to her sister that the ‘no’ had been a reaction to Mack accepting her dinner invitation? She’d worked so hard to keep her distance from the guy.
It shouldn’t matter that when it was late, and her son had fallen asleep, she thought about giving in to him. It definitely didn’t matter that there were interactions with him that left her smiling like an idiot.
He wasn’t good for her or Bridger. And by the looks of it, Angela might have a crush on him anyway. A twinge of disappointmentslithered along her spine, and her shoulders sagged. Angela definitely had a crush on Mack. Just by the way she was looking at him when she spoke about him, Lacey could tell. Her sister was smiling too much. Her voice had taken on that higher pitch she used when she was flirting with a guy.
Dang it!
Lacey should be thrilled. Now she had a legitimate excuse as to why she needed to push Mack away. If her sister liked the guy, then he was off-limits.
“Lacey? You okay?”
Lacey jumped, her eyes focused on her sister. “What?”
“I hate to break it to you, but Bridger’s already eaten half of the brownie. If you want to stop him?—”
“Whatever,” Lacey sighed. “It’s fine. Let’s just get some dinner.” She retreated into her room for her jacket, pausing to cover her flushed skin with her cool hands. This wasn’t happening. Maybe if she went back out there, Mack would be gone, and she could have the fun night out with her sister that they’d planned.
She was wrong.
Mack and Angela were in the throes of a conversation when Lacey returned. From the sounds of it, they were discussing the summers they’d spent hanging out together. They’d moved the year Lacey had gotten pregnant and hadn’t seen each other since.
In a small town like this one, a teen pregnancy would have been the end of her reputation. So far no one seemed to notice that her son was on the older side for her twenty-two years of age.There were more interesting rumors going around—like who was dating who.
Angela gasped. “Wait, you were going to visit someone. Do you need to cancel?”
Lacey watched Mack closely.
Oh, he was good.
He didn’t even glance in her direction when he said, “Nah. I was going to surprise them with a visit, but I can do that another time.” He’d been planning on surprising her. Something deep down warmed at the knowledge that he still hadn’t given up trying to pull her to the dark side.
Nope. She wasn’t going there—especially since her sister would be here for the next couple of weeks, and she would definitely be wanting his attention.
At the restaurant, Bridger climbed into the booth first. Lacey followed suit just to ensure she wouldn’t have to be seated beside Mack. Unfortunately, Angela climbed into the booth to sit across from Bridger, leaving Mack to be directly in front of Lacey.
“Mom? I have to go to the bathroom.”
She shifted to leave the booth when Mack offered, “I’ll take him.”
Lacey blinked. Bridger was at that age where he didn’t like going to the women’s restroom anymore. She usually took him to the men’s restroom and stood outside the door. She must have taken too long to respond because Angela nudged Mack out of the booth.
“Just let him do it.”
Lacey settled back in her seat, giving Mack a look that she hoped portrayed just how bloodthirsty she could get if her son was harmed.
And all he did was chuckle. “Come on, kid.”
