Mack could work with that.
At least Lacey didn’t have anything against him specifically.
He grinned as he sat back in the booth at the restaurant, his hands behind his head.
It was busy for a Wednesday night. Several cowboys were seated at the bar, their hats on stools beside them or the counter. Their voices drifted toward him despite the country music playing over the speakers. Lacey hadn’t arrived yet, but he’d managed to get her schedule for the week. She was working every night until Saturday. That meant a date this week was out of the question, but it wouldn’t stop him from seeing her.
Angela was likely at home with the kid, so there was zero chance that she’d find out Mack was here and trying to win over her sister.
He’d bribed the hostess to put him in Lacey’s section so he’d still be here when she arrived. In about twenty minutes, she’d arrive, and he couldn’t wait to see the spitfire’s reaction to his presence.
A chuckle reverberated through his chest. There was just something fun about getting her riled up—though he couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed seeing her at her most vulnerable, either.
Those twenty minutes passed in a flash, and soon, her shadow crossed over his table.
“Are you kidding me?”
Lazily, he lifted his eyes to her gorgeous and livid ones. “Hello, beautiful,” Mack drawled. “How are you doing tonight?”
She had a hand on her hip, the other one holding a tray at her side. “You can’t be here.”
“Why not? I’m ordering stuff.” He gestured to the coffee in front of him.
Lacey rolled her eyes. “We’ve been through this before. You can’t just camp out at where I work all night long.”
He leaned forward across the table and smirked at her. “You know what would get me to leave, right?”
Her expression didn’t change one bit.
Mack lifted his brows comically. “You just have to agree to?—”
“No.”
He cocked his head. “But I didn’t get to finish what I was going to say.”
She groaned and practically stomped away, leaving him chuckling.
“I’ll take an onion ring tower to start,” he called after her. He didn’t know if she’d actually follow through with the order. If she didn’t, he was certain he’d get another chance to place it. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Fifteen minutes later, Lacey returned, her eyes flashing with fire as she placed the onion rings in front of him. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
He cocked a brow, and her lips thinned.
“Not that.”
Mack shrugged. “Then nothing right now, but come back in about ten. I’ll order something else.”
She eyed him up and down, but he didn’t bother asking her what she was looking for. She probably wouldn’t answer him anyway. He grinned at her, and she huffed before storming away.
The rest of the evening was more of the same. He enjoyed every spare moment she had for him, and toward the end of the night, she even offered him a genuine smile. He made sure to leave her a very generous tip. It wasn’t like he was spending the money his parents had set aside for him anyway. He could afford to give some to a single mother who deserved the world.
The sidewalks werebusy on Saturday, and it took effort not to bump into anyone. From what Mack could tell, there wasn’t anything big taking place. It was simply busy. He was onlyhere to grab a few things for Caleb. His brother was working on another idea for making it easier to feed the livestock at Sagebrush—something to do with an automated system so no one would have to get up at dawn to do the chore by hand.
Noah had come with him, insisting he needed a few things from Cliff’s Market. They were moving down the street in that direction after coming from the hardware store when Mack got a sharp dig to his ribs.
He let out a yelp then shot his brother a dark look.
“Isn’t that the girl you’ve been salivating after?”
