the twins. They reacted as if Rosie had just promised them unlimited ice cream all weekend. Which, in all likelihood, would also probably happen.
“What time are Mack and his mom coming for dinner tomorrow?” Rosie asked. “Isn’t this the weekend his mom is flying in to look at houses?”
Thea’s head whipped around so fast Liv could’ve sworn she heard a bone crack in her neck. “What was that?”
Great. “Nothing.”
“He did say that his mom loves goats,” Rosie said.
“Is that right?” Thea asked. “And you know this how?”
Liv shot a look at Rosie. She could’ve talked all day without bringing that up. The smug smile on her face said she knew it too. Rosie tore her gaze away and shifted it to Thea. Liv knew that look. She was about to be ganged up on.
“Okay, stop with that. Right now.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Thea said. “Did you say anything, Rosie?”
Her work there apparently done, Rosie kissed the twins, promised them sugar, and left.
Thea pounced as soon as Rosie shut the door. “Talk.”
“Oh my God, there’s nothing to talk about.” Liv dropped to the living room floor again to resume her aunt duties.
“He’s bringing his mom here to meet you,” Thea said.
“No, he’s not. Rosie suggested that I invite them here. Big difference. And I’m not going to do it.”
“Why not? Do you like him?”
Liv shrugged. “No.”
“Oh, that was convincing.”
Liv rolled her eyes. “It’s Mack, Thea. Think about what you’re saying.”
“I am. And it’s not crazy.”
“It’s entirely crazy. We can’t go two minutes without fighting.” Or getting all hot and bothered and wanting to inconveniently suck face.
Thea’s small smile spoke a thousand words. “I know.”
Liv shook her head and busied herself with moving the girls’ bags away from the entry. “Come on, Thea. A guy like that?”
“Yeah a guy like that. Mack is true-blue. I’m telling you. I think you should give it a chance. Give him a chance.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means you need to stop assuming every man is like Dad.”
Liv paused, her breath catching in her chest. Then she stood and held open the door with a sweet—aka, not sweet—smile. “You’re going to miss your plane.”
Thea returned the smile, kissed the girls, gave them smooshy hugs, and told them to behave for Liv. Then she did basically the same thing to Liv. “Mack is a good guy,” she said. “I think you’d be surprised.”
She had already been surprised by Mack, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Thea any more than she was going to own up to the fact that they’d already kissed. Thea would read too much into it because that’s what Thea did. Her sister had an overzealous romantic streak that allowed her to believe in things like love at first sight—which, admittedly, had seemed to work out for her. She and Gavin had only dated a few months before getting married. But they were among the lucky few.
Liv couldn’t afford to be romantic. If she and Mack ended up doing anything, it would be short-term and sexual. The end. Inviting Mack and his mom over to play with goats and eat dinner was not a step on the path to a meaningless sexual fling.
So why was she staring at her phone?
“I don’t know.” Mack’s mom sighed and shook her head. “I’m not feeling this one.”
Mack pinched the bridge of his nose. This was the fourth house they’d toured in the past two hours. “What don’t you like?”
“Maybe I don’t need a formal dining room.”
“You vetoed the last one because it didn’t have a formal dining room.”
“I know, but I don’t need this much formal. It’s not like I’m going to have a lot of people around me to entertain.”
Mack’s real estate agent, Christopher, stood silently off to the side, his hands clasped politely in front of him. Mack would bet big bucks the man was yelling obscenities in his head. Mack sure as shit was. His mom had managed to find fault with every house they’d seen. Not enough yard. Too much yard. Too many bedrooms. Not enough bedrooms. Too close to the freeway, too far away from the city. Mack was tempted to slip Christopher a gratuity to apologize for the waste of time.
“We have two more we can look at,” Christopher said after a moment.
“Maybe we should call it a day,” his mom said. “I’m exhausted.”
She absently rubbed her shoulder, and a burst of adrenaline made the hair on Mack’s arms stand. He stuck his hand out to Christopher.