“I’m not.”
“So you’re watching it because . . .”
“Nothin’ else to do.”
I turn back to him. “What about all your women?”
He snorts lightly. “You threw poop at the last one.”
I laugh softly. “You’re right. My bad.”
His lip twitches.
“You don’t hang around places for long, do you?”
He looks to me. “Why do you say that?”
“You’re restless. I can see it. My guess, this is the first house you’ve had in a long time.”
He studies my face before answering, “Yeah, I’m usually on the road.”
“Is Diesel the reason you’re here?”
He stares briefly at Diesel, and there is definitely something in his eyes. It makes me want to push—in fact, I think it’s the best thing I can do. I make it my mission in that moment to make sure Mack is forced to spend more time with his son. I just have to be clever about it.
“No,” he finally answers, turning back to the television. “I’m here for Maddox.”
“Why?”
“There’s trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“Club trouble.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
We’re silent for a moment, and I honestly don’t know what to say. Swallowing my pride, I decide it’s the right thing to apologize for today. It was rude of me to be so bold; he’s probably horrified.
“Listen, Mack, about today,” I start.
He turns to me, his eyes intense. “Don’t worry about it.”
Okay, not what I expected.
“It’s just . . .”
He stands, and my entire body jerks as shame rises over me. He doesn’t want to talk about it. I can’t blame him, but now I feel like a complete jerk. He looks down at me, his eyes scanning my face, then he murmurs, “Night.”
Shit.
That was a fail.
~*~*~*~
“So, what happened?” Josie asks.
I peer into Diesel’s room. I’ve put him down for the night and so far he’s been quiet. I’m thankful, because quite frankly, I’m exhausted. Who knew babies were so much damned work? He’s worth it, though, and it makes my heart ache to think his mother, whoever she was, is missing out on this. Even worse, it’s a shame Mack is missing out.
“Nothing,” I say, closing Diesel’s door and tiptoeing to my room. I drop down onto the bed and cross my legs.
“Nothing?” she says, her voice low.
“Yep, nothing. He came home in a bad mood, we had an awkward conversation and he went to bed.”
“Oh, my.” She giggles.
“It’s not funny, Josie. I feel like a complete idiot.”
“Maybe he thought you were uncomfortable.”
“I sat beside him,” I point out. “I even brought it up.”
“Well, maybe he’s in his room right now, waiting to see if you’ll come in and rip his clothes off.”
I roll my eyes to the ceiling. “He’s not waiting for me.”
“How do you know?” she pushes.
“Ah, because he practically ran away from me. He’s horrified.”
“Well, you did kind of announce to his entire club that you wanted to ride him.”
“I was joking!” I cry.
She giggles again. “Still . . .”
“Yeah, I know,” I cry, throwing myself backwards dramatically. “I’m like the nanny from hell, and he’s probably embarrassed of me.”
“Or,” she says, her voice chipper, “he’s in there thinking about you, right now . . .”
I laugh softly. “No, honey, he’s definitely not.”
“How do you know?”
“Ack,” I cry. “Because I’m totally, like, a stalker nanny.”
She laughs loudly. “That’s an actual thing.”
“Right? I’m sure I fall into that category.”
Her voice drops low. “You don’t watch him sleep, do you?”
I giggle. “No.”
“Then you’re good.”
I’m about to answer, but my voice is cut short when the most beautiful, sultry, sexy voice comes travelling through the door and into my room. Mack. Singing. I gasp, the words stuck in my throat. His voice, it’s like heaven. Not all husky, but not all soft either, just the perfect in between.
“Oh my God,” I breathe. “Josie, do you hear that?”
She’s silent, and then she whispers, “Is that Mack?”
I nod, and then shake my head because she can’t see me nodding. “Yes.”
“Oh my God,” she cries. “He sings. He sings!”
“And plays the guitar,” I whisper, mesmerized.
“Is he singing Eric Church’s ‘Wrecking Ball’?”
“Yes,” I croak. “Oh God, I think my panties just got wet.”
“Mine too. You should totally go in there and jump him. Make him lick every part of your—”
“Josie!” I snap, cutting her off. “You’re ruining the moment.”
“Go and stand by the door, get your stalker on and listen to him. Oh, man. Take me with you, I need to hear more.”
“Gonna ride you baby,” Mack’s voice travels through the door and both Josie and I squeal.