Maybe he was right.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“For what?”
“For… tonight. You really made Bridger feel special.”
“Well,” Mack drawled. “He’s a special kid.”
“Stop saying stuff like that,” she whispered.
“Why? It’s true.” Mack tilted his head, his expression sobering.
“Because,” she muttered, “I don’t want…” What was she trying to say? That she didn’t want to fall for him because it would make it harder to walk away when they inevitably didn’t work out? Unfortunately, she couldn’t bring herself to say it in those certain terms.
“What don’t you want?” he whispered, moving closer. His voice was husky and warm. She could feel his breath fanning her face. Sheesh, he was close.
Lacey closed her eyes, probably in anticipation of him doing the one thing she’d told herself she’d never let him do.
Kiss her.
But then Bridger’s voice shattered the tension that had grown between them.
“Mom!”
Her eyes flew wide, and she met Mack’s with an apologetic and embarrassed look. “I should probably…”
He nodded. “I’ll clean up.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
There wasn’tmuch to clean up. The food Mack had brought came in its own packaging. He tossed some empty wrappers and tied up the leftovers, then glanced around the small kitchen. It made sense that he was a little antsy. He’d never been this interested in a woman before. There was something about Lacey that had him throwing all his notions aside.
He pulled open a couple of drawers until he found the rags, then he set to work wiping down the surfaces. It was getting late, but he didn’t want to just slip out of her home without telling her goodbye.
More than that, he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t make it so hard on him the next time he spent time with her.
Honestly, he’d nearly expected to show up here at her place and find that she’d been lying about her son being sick. It would make sense, after all.
It didn’t stop him from bringing everything she might need to take care of him.
While it wasn’t ideal that the kid was sick, he’d actually been relieved that she wasn’t just making excuses.
Was it stupid of him to believe that might mean she was warming up to him?
Probably.
He wrung out the damp rag and then moved into the living room. There were a few toys lying around from when Bridger had gotten enough energy up to show off his favorite things. Mack grinned as he scooped the jeep, toy giraffe, and the dinosaur into his arms. The kid liked him. That much was clear. Maybe Bridger would be the key to winning Lacey’s heart completely.
Mack wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Bridger was incredibly important. But then what could he expect? Most children held a part of their mother’s heart in their fist. That was a given. Something told Mack that this relationship was slightly different. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but he could tell Lacey wouldn’t put up with nonsense when it came to the guys she might be inclined to date.
He smirked, placing the toys in a woven basket in the corner of the room. Then he straightened up the coffee table and fluffed the pillows.
For a split second, he wondered if Lacey didn’t plan on coming back out to the living room. Was he supposed to just gather his belongings and lock the door behind him? That didn’t sound right to him no matter how he attempted to rationalize the situation.
But then the door to the bedroom opened, creaking softly as Lacey emerged.
Their gazes clashed from where she stood on this side of her bedroom. Her eyes swept through the small apartment, lingering on the tidiness of the space before landing on him with an arched brow. “What are you doing?”
