Scars of Yesterday (Sons of Templar MC #8) - Anne Malcom Page 0,50

wink. “And kiss us!”

“No!” he protested, but Lily and I were already laying smooches on either one of his cheeks.

He made a big show of wiping his cheeks when we were done, rolling his eyes and everything.

My heart healed up just a little in that moment. The stitches were crooked, ragged, and they’d left a mark when they came out, but it didn’t matter. My kids still laughed. They still loved. They had a future. I had to hold on to that.

Kace knocked on the door not long after that. I didn’t want to answer. Wanted to pretend we had all disappeared. Too bad my car was in the driveway, which he would’ve noticed.

So I opened the door.

Kace was covered in sweat. He’d kept his cut on, which would’ve only made it hotter, but apparently, he was old school and wasn’t about to put the leather down just anywhere. Ranger was like that too.

His shirt was clinging to his abs, his body, hair slicked back with sweat.

I cursed myself for not offering him water or lemonade. That was the polite thing to do.

“All done,” Kace grinned. His eyes flickered to my dress and legs, but returned to my eyes quickly.

“Thank you,” I grated out, the words coming out like sandpaper. “For interrupting your day to do something I could’ve done myself,” I added, because for some reason, I couldn’t control my bitch around him. I’d always been soft, kind. Sure, I threw attitude when needed, but I hadn’t found the need very often. Flies with honey and all that.

But something about this guy... pushed my buttons.

He smirked, still not bothered by my bitchiness. “Not a problem. Glad to do it.”

I stared at him then peered around him to my lawn, noticing the blaring sun that had been bearing down on him all afternoon. “Can I offer you a beer?”

He tilted his head slightly, regarding me. “You really don’t want to offer me a beer, do you?”

I swore a muscle in my brow twitched with the effort to keep a borderline pleasant expression in place. “I just did,” I gritted out.

“But you don’t want to.”

My hands fisted at my sides. “It’s the polite thing to do,” I answered, instead of admitting he was right.

No, I did not want to offer this man a beer. I did not want him to come into my home, likely charming my daughter, maybe my son. I did not want him continuing to piss me off.

I wanted him to leave so I could shut the blinds, snuggle up on the sofa with my kids, watch a movie and forget the rest of the world existed.

He chuckled. “I’m not going to force you do to the polite thing, Lizzie. I’m an outlaw. Don’t need manners, just honesty.”

Something about his chuckle and the way he said my name pissed me off too. “Okay, honestly, I don’t want to offer you a beer. I want to hang out with my kids for the rest of the afternoon, because on Sundays, we have movie and junk food evening. It’s our routine, and offering you a beer would screw with our routine, and it’s...” I trailed off, not about to tell him routines were all that held me together. “Important,” I finished instead. “So I feel incredibly rude for not wanting to offer you a beer, since you did a really nice thing for me, and I’m normally a nice person, but—”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Lizzie,” Kace interrupted. “You don’t have to be nice to me either. I didn’t do this expecting anything in return. In fact, if you’ll remember, I was kind of an asshole about it. So how about you spend time with your kids? I’ve got beer at home.”

I pursed my lips. Despite not wanting to, I was starting to like this guy. But I wasn’t about to show that. To him or myself. Denial was best.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I’ll be here next week,” he replied with a wink, and before I could argue, he turned on his motorcycle boot and walked away. I watched him walk away, because it was a damn fine sight and I couldn’t help myself.

Fuck.

Kace was a man of his word.

He turned up after lunch the next Sunday. Didn’t knock or anything, just parked his bike in the driveway, let himself into the garage and started mowing. Thankfully, the kids were out. Jack was two towns over playing in a soccer game. It was one of the other mothers in the