“That’s the spirit.”
Her sister motioned to the bottle Lacey had left on the coffee table. “Not interested?”
Lacey followed her motion and shrugged. “It’s not like it’s going to do the same thing that yours does for you. I’m perfectly happy to live vicariously through you, though.” She bit on her lower lip, fighting the urge to revel in the fact that Mack had openly admitted to someone else that he wanted to date her—well, sort of.
Angela sat up and placed her now empty glass on the table. “You know what we need to do? We need to find a couple of guys to go out with on a double date.”
Lacey fought her own urge to groan. “I’m not going?—”
She waved a hand through the air. “I’m well aware of your rules for dating people. One date rule, right? We’ll find some guys who aren’t local. You can get a sitter, and we can have some fun. Just two sisters going out with some hot cowboys.” She raised her brows flirtatiously. “What do you say?”
Taking a moment to pretend to consider her sister’s proposition, Lacey tilted her head just to make it look good. Then she shook it. “Pass.”
“Why not? You can’t tell me you have an eye on someone else—not with that ridiculous rule of yours. And you need to take care of yourself if you want to take care of Bridger the right way. What’s the harm?”
There wasn’t any harm. They both knew it. But there was something holding her back. Much like Mack had brushed off any other advances, Lacey felt herself doing the same. Something told her that no one would compare to the man who had stealthily stolen not only her heart, but the heart of her son.
She shrugged. “I just don’t have the mental bandwidth for that sort of thing. But you go ahead and have some fun. Then you can tell me all about it.”
Angela pouted then nodded. “Fine. But if I find someone who has a friend, I’m not making any promises about keeping you out of it.”
Lacey laughed. “Fine. Whatever.” Her sister wouldn’t do any such thing. Lacey knew Angela better than that. She reached for the remote. “Until then, let’s catch up on some TV. What do you want to watch? I hear there’s a fun new comedy on Netflix.”
Angela poured herself another small serving and nodded. “Sounds perfect.”
CHAPTER TEN
It wasdark in the living room, and the glow of the television offered the only light when Lacey was roused from her sleep. She groaned, attempting to discover the reason for waking up. Her neck was stiff, and when she glanced over at her sister, she found Angela sprawled out with her arm hanging over the edge of the couch. Their legs were a mess of bundled limbs, but Angela was a deep sleeper and likely wouldn’t notice when Lacey got up to move to her room.
What time was it?
Only eleven.
Sheesh. When she’d been younger, she could stay up past midnight without any issues whatsoever. Her phone buzzed, and she twisted to look at it.
The cause of her waking up. Figured.
She carefully pulled her legs out from under Angela’s and placed her feet on the floor before reaching for her phone.
Mack:Go out with me.
A rushof heat filled her cheeks, and her eyes darted to her sister, who let out a snort in her sleep. Lacey chewed on her thumbnail and let her eyes drift back to the device in front of her. She could ignore it.
Wrong.
Sheshouldignore it.
But her conversation with her sister about how much he liked someone else lingered in the recesses of her mind, tempting her to do something about this revelation. She nibbled on her nail some more before she typed out a response.
Lacey:Wow. Not even a please.
There was a long moment,and she thought he might have decided to send the first message before going to bed, and she’d waited too long to respond. But then, just before she put the phone down, she saw those three little dots indicating he was typing something back.
Mack:Please.
A wicked smiletouched her lips.
Lacey:Please… what?
