“It’s okay that you have. But I’m telling you right now that it stops. You and me? It’s gonna happen.”
Her mouth fell open as if he’d put the final nail in the coffin for this whole conversation. Did she actually like his cocky demeanor? Or was she irrevocably so worn down from him chasing her that she was willing to give in again?
Maybe it was both.
Finally he took a step back. “I mean it, Lacey. I’m going to get you to go out with me again and again—until you realize that you can’t live without me.”
Not a sound filtered through the air. They could have heard a pin drop if it wasn’t for the inexpensive and matted carpeting of her apartment.
He took a step backward and then another, hating the distance that grew between them. He should be holding her in his arms and telling her how much he cared for her. He should be promising to take her to places she could only have dreamed of going.
But he’d worn out his welcome—at least for tonight.
Lacey watched him through hooded eyes as he grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. Then he pulled his cowboy hat from the back of the couch. “Mark my words, doll, one of these days you’re going to realize how right I was, and we’ll both laugh about how stubborn you’d been all along.” Mack touched the brim of his hat and tilted his chin down a moment before he spun around and headed out the door.
His grin was still plastered to his face when he strode up to his parents’ new place. The house didn’t look like it belonged on a ranch—more like it should have been built in the suburbs of Billings. Sure, there were touches here and there to show off thatit was, in fact, a house where cowboys resided. The oversized porch being only one of them.
He hurried up the wooden steps toward the door and stepped inside.
“Where were you, tonight?”
Mack whirled around to find his younger brother seated on a high-backed chair, his eyes raking over Mack like he could see into his soul. Noah was the baby of the family, but that didn’t mean he kept his nose out of everyone’s business.
Chest growing tight, Mack stared hard at his brother. “I thought you were at the rodeo tonight. What are you doing back?”
Noah smirked, one brow lifted. “Iwasat the rodeo. You practically sent me there. What’s wrong with you? Does this have to do with Angela? Because she?—”
“What did you say to her?” Mack hated how he immediately wondered about his childhood friend. “You didn’t tell her that I asked about her, did you?”
Noah chuckled, rising from his chair in a fluid motion. “No, of course not. I knew what you were trying to do when you asked about her.”
Wait, what? He did? How? Had Angela said something?
Before he could ask these burning questions, Noah laughed again. “You should see the look on your face. I swear. What is it with you and this chick? I thought you didn’t like her?”
“I don’t,” he said all too quickly. “At least not like that. We were—are—friends. I would really rather not lead her on or make her believe that we have something at all.”
“Well, there’s no chance of that happening, let me tell you.” Noah sauntered over to him and folded his arms tight across his broad chest. “She’s interested in one of the rodeo stars. At first, she asked a lot of questions about you, all of which I didn’t answer—at least not honestly.
Mack didn’t know whether to be grateful for the help or concerned that his brother was clearly smarter than most of his family gave him credit for. “What did you say?”
Noah shrugged. “I just turned the conversation around. She asked about you, so I’d point out someone else. It worked pretty well. I guess she wasn’t just looking for someone to hang with for the next couple of weeks.”
Mack had never made a comment remotely close to that sentiment, but it made sense that his brother would assume as much. “You think she’s pursuing something deeper? More permanent?”
“Heck if I know. I just could see the way she made you uncomfortable the other day… so I tried to help. Besides, it was more fun watching her flirt with other guys when she finally realized that you weren’t ever going to be an option. That girl knows how to get a guy wrapped around her finger.”
Mack rolled his eyes, but he knew exactly what Noah was talking about. If he hadn’t been entranced by Lacey, he would have easily given in to Angela’s charms. He set his brother with another curious stare. “So why aren’t you still out there with her and your friends?”
“Just got back. We all left about ten minutes ago.”
Mack had left Lacey’s just in time.
“How was your night?” Noah drawled. “You win her over yet?”
Mack gave his brother a slight shove. “None of your business.”
Noah rocked back on his heels with a laugh. “I think it is my business, seeing as I kept her sister entertained for the evening.”
