Kickstart My Heart (Burgers and Brew Crue #1) - Lacey Black Page 0,61

trying to step around her.

I feel Lizzie tug my hand, so I reach down and pick her up. The faster I leave, the better off we’ll all be.

“Oh, I plan to see him later tonight,” she replies, playing with a strand of her long hair.

Again, I step to the right, but this time, I bump into Bethani. “I didn’t know you had a wife and kid,” she says, smiling at Lizzie.

“I don’t,” I mumble.

“I mean, I wouldn’t care if you did.” Both women giggle and block my exit.

“Have a nice day,” I reply, retreating backward.

“Wait, can I stop by later?” Bethani asks, my mouth dropping open in disgust.

“No. I thought I made my position pretty damn clear two years ago,” I tell her.

She laughs. “Oh, that little piece of paper didn’t mean anything. Plus, you let it expire.”

I sigh, regretting ever letting the Order of Protection I had to take out on her end, but she left town. At least for a while. “Not happening, Bethani. Stay away from me and my bar. You’re not welcome near either.” With that, I turn and walk away.

The moment I step beside Mallory, she asks, “Friends of yours?” There’s a smile on her face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. They’re tight with anxiety, as if she knows she may not want to hear the answer to the question.

“Absolutely not. I’ll explain later,” I tell her, setting Lizzie in the cart, and gently pushing it toward the checkout.

We use a self-checkout station because the lines at the other lanes are too long. I hate lines. Mallory pays for her purchases and is smiling as we make our way to her Escape. Once we’re loaded up, I jump behind the wheel and get the hell out of the busy supercenter.

Something hits me as I’m heading back to her house. “I have an idea,” I say, catching her attention. “You’ll probably want to wash your bedding before we get everything put together. How about we stop at my place and use my washer and dryer? This way, you don’t have to worry about babysitting the machines in the basement.”

Mallory seems to consider the offer. “We could go to the laundromat downtown. It’s pretty clean and usually isn’t too busy.”

I shrug. “We could, but you don’t have laundry soap with you. I have some at my place. Plus, Lou can play in the backyard while we wait on it to wash and dry.”

She’s silent for almost a full minute before she finally speaks. “Okay, I guess that would be all right. Thank you.”

Feeling like this is a small victory, I pass the apartment complex and head for my place. I don’t know why, but the thought of having Mal and Lizzie there calms me. I like the idea of having them at my house. It’s nothing special, but maybe that’s not what makes a house a home anyway. Maybe it’s not the walls or the number of bedrooms or the amount of living space.

Perhaps it’s the people you invite inside.

Chapter Eighteen

Mallory

By the time we wash and dry two loads of laundry and head back to my apartment, it’s well after five. Lizzie is dirty and tired from playing outside on the swing set Walker has, left by the previous owner of the house, and I’m anxious to get my new bed put together. The prospect of not sleeping on that lumpy old couch has me all sorts of excited.

It takes two trips to get everything up to my apartment, but once we do, a renewed sense of happiness sweeps through me. It’s partly because of the bed, but it’s more than that. Today was…nice—wonderful, actually—and I can’t argue the reason. Walker. He’s sweet and caring, even though he tries to act a little gruff and can be blunt, and not just with me, but with Lizzie. He’s the kind of man any woman would want, especially if you have a child.

I’ve felt this attraction to him pretty much since the moment I laid eyes on him in a darkened hallway, and that hasn’t waned in the slightest. In fact, it’s only growing stronger and stronger the more time I spend with him and get to know him. Is it too soon to welcome him into my home—and maybe my bed? Probably. Am I creating more heartache and hurt with allowing my daughter to get so close to him? Possibly. Will that stop me from wanting to get to know him more and see where this thing