Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lacey pulled off the side of the road the second she knew Mack hadn’t followed her. Breathing had gotten too difficult to risk driving the rest of the couple of miles to her apartment. A wave of dizziness only made things worse, and all she could do was rest her forehead against the steering wheel.
Yes, she was overreacting, but her heart didn’t seem to think so.
Angela was the only member of her family that treated her with any modicum of respect. She cheered Lacey on when she’d finally got custody of Bridger. She’d probably drop everything if Lacey needed her.
While her sister hadn’t exactly stopped her parents from taking Bridger after he was born, she had made it clear she didn’t agree with their decision to do so. That was a long time ago, and Lacey had forgiven her for it. They’d both been young.
Lacey gulped in air and closed her eyes. She couldn’t afford to have Angela mad at her. Did she think that Angela would do anything if Lacey chose to start dating Mack?
No.
There was no fear that Angela would do anything. The anxiety that ripped Lacey’s body apart was the thought of losing her sister—that fragile friendship they’d finally found with each other.
If Angela got hurt—if she got upset over Mack being interested in Lacey—then she could complain to their parents. Who knew what would come of that? Would their folks scrutinize Mack and judge Lacey for bringing a stranger into Bridger’s life?
Her hands trembled. The paranoia was still there even after having Bridger under her roof for the last year. Every decision she made was done with a calculated thought process. She couldn’t allow even one thread of her hard-earned life to unravel. No weaknesses for her parents to tug at.
Bridger was her son, and he would be raised by his mother.
After a few more minutes, she’d calmed herself enough to put the car into drive and head home. She’d had an earlier shift today because she had to work late tomorrow. The dinner shift wasn’t bad, but it was busy. Then the late-night crowd came in. They were the best tippers and more easy-going.
Angela glanced up from where she sat on the couch watching a cartoon with Bridger. She smiled warmly. “Have a good shift?”
Lacey shrugged out of her jacket and nodded.
“You still okay to babysit tomorrow? It’s okay if you’re not.
” She’d have to check around for a last-minute sitter if Angela had forgotten.
It’d be annoying, but Lacey wasn’t about to make her sister upset.
She’d already been moping about Mack turning her down when she’d texted him.
There were no signs that she’d had a bad afternoon. Maybe she’d given up on chasing Mack. It wouldn’t mean that he was free to date, but at least Lacey could breathe easier knowing that her sister wasn’t still pining for the guy.
Angela’s focus was on the table again. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” The tone of her voice said it all. She still wanted that date with Mack. She hadn’t given up. Her resignation would be short-lived if Lacey knew her sister as well as she believed she did.
Lacey frowned and moved to the couch to sit beside her sister. What could she say? Nothing. She definitely couldn’t tell her that Mack was practically stalking her and had shown up at her work—again. And she absolutely wouldn’t let Angela know that Mack was wearing her down.
She’d all but admitted to him that she liked him.
Her heart twisted as she forced herself to look at the television. They could both stew in their separate and yet similar frustrations.
Lacey pulled a stack of plastic cups from the dish drying rack and flipped them onto a tray one at a time. With deft fingers, she scooped ice into the glasses and then worked at filling them with water.
A table of five. Even if their tips were average, it would be a nice chunk to add to the tally she had going.
“A guy requested your section. Thought you should know.” The hostess for the evening swept past Lacey breezily, not bothering to stick around and answer the question burning on Lacey’s tongue.
Then again, she likely didn’t have to even ask who it was.
She already knew.
Lacey stifled a groan and returned to filling the final cup with water. If Mack was out there sitting in her section alone, he was going to be taking up valuable space. She needed the tips. What was his problem?
By the time she smiled sweetly and winked at the table full of college-aged men, she was fuming on the inside.
She tucked her tray beneath her arm and marched over to where Mack sat.
She’d felt his eyes on her the whole time, though she didn’t bother looking in his direction. She wouldn’t give him what he wanted.
The infuriating man lifted his face to her, still wearing his cowboy hat. There was a piece of straw in his lips, and he held a menu out in front of him.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s impolite to wear a hat inside?”
Mack snatched the hat from his head and tossed it to the cushioned seat beside him, then grinned at her like he knew something she didn’t.
She heaved a sigh. “Is there anyone else joining you tonight?”
Leaning forward, he murmured, “Perhaps you might when you get off?”
Shaking her head, she flashed him a smile laced with irritation. “I’m not going on another date with you. And lucky for me, I’m closing tonight. I won’t get off early enough to share anything with you. So, you might as well leave now. I’m sure someone else would love to take your table.”
He leaned over the edge of his seat and glanced in the direction of the other men with a pointed look. “Like them? Yeah, I’m sure there would.” His eyes lifted to meet hers, and something darkened his gaze. “No, I think I’ll be staying if only to make sure they don’t cause any trouble.”
She scoffed and glanced over to the guys—unsurprised to find a couple of them staring before dragging their focus elsewhere. “They’re harmless.”
“You say harmless. I say disrespectful. Or have you not noticed the way they’re looking at you?” There was an edge to his voice that threw her off balance.
It took all her focus to turn to Mack and force a laugh. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
He stiffened and brought his eyes back to meet hers. “Of course I’m jealous,” he muttered.
She hadn’t expected that response, either.
“If what you’re insisting is true, then any one of them could go on a date with you. I’ve already used mine up.”
Her lips parted, but no words seemed to find a way out of where her brain attempted to form them.
He clasped his hands on the menu he dropped to the table. “You look confused.”
She stumbled for something to say—a quick retort, but still, she couldn’t manage it.
Mack’s completely serious expression didn’t match the words that came from his lips next. “I think it’s time I tell you something really important. You see, I’m beginning to realize that you’ve taken something from me, and I need to return the favor.”
Before she could argue that she wasn’t a thief, and whatever it was he had misplaced was his doing, he continued.
“You’ve stolen my heart, Lacey. I think it’s only fair that you give me yours in return.”
Lacey groaned, rolling her eyes. “You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re a magician.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be back with some water.”
His voice called after her. “Because when I look at you, everyone else disappears.”
Her cheeks burned, and she heard the laughter from the table of college guys follow her all the way back to the server’s station. Mack wasn’t going to let up, and she had officially crossed into the territory where she wasn’t so sure it was a bad thing.
The only good reason she had to avoid him right now was how much Angela liked him.
And yet…
She didn’t want to.
He was obnoxious, but in a cute sort of way. She had started to look forward to the little pick-up lines he threw at her. Was she going completely crazy?
When Lacey returned to his table, she placed his water in front of him and pasted the smile she gave everyone when she prepared to ask them for their order.
Mack’s eyes didn’t stray from hers. He didn’t glance at his menu or anyone else in the room. Instead, he tilted his head, and a small smile touched his lips.
“Well?” she asked. “Are you going to order something? Because if not, you really shouldn’t be here. This job is the only thing that’s helping me pay for Bridger’s food and clothes.” While she said it all with a sickeningly sweet smile, the words didn’t lose their power.
Mack’s smile softened to something like admiration rather than flirting. "I’m surprised they don’t ask you to leave—you make everyone else look bad."
She couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a line or if he was genuinely complimenting her. Lacey chose not to dwell too much on it and gestured toward the menu. “Please, Mack. Either order something, or say what you’re going to say and head out. I need the table.”
His fingers wrapped around the menu, and he lifted it. “What is your favorite thing that they serve here?”
Lacey shrugged. “I really like the battered onion. The sauce is to die for. Sometimes the waitresses pitch in and get one to share.”
“I’ll get two of those to start.”
Her brows creased, then she sighed with a shake of her head.
“Whatever. I’ll put it in.” Before she could escape him, his hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her back.
She glanced at where he touched her, his warmth searing into her skin in the most delicious way.
She couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have those strong, calloused fingers grazing her cheek.
Mack cleared his throat, forcing her to meet his gaze. “When do you get your break?”
“Break?” she murmured.
He nodded. “By my count, you’ve already been here a couple hours. When’s your break?”
“In about thirty minutes, why?” Suddenly, she knew the answer to that question before he said anything. “Mack—” she murmured, but he cut her off.
“It’s not a date.”