“Good for you, Mac. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” he replies, surprise in his voice. “My mother left him two weeks ago and he’s just now noticing? Maybe this is what’s going to wake him up. That, or he’ll lose his kneecaps soon.”
“Let’s not think like that,” I reply, and hope it doesn’t come to that. “But I do agree that this might be the turning point for him.”
“Okay, enough about my family drama. I want you to have a blast with the girls.”
“Thanks, we will. Are we still on for dinner tonight?”
“Absolutely,” he replies. “Have fun, babe. I’ll see you later.”
I hang up and gather my black patent-leather handbag with little red cherries all over it and walk inside.
“Seriously, you’re going to see him later,” Mia says, and takes a bite out of a cupcake.
“Cami’s texting Landon as we speak,” I reply, pointing to Cami, who has her nose in her phone, her thumbs flying furiously over the screen. “You’re not giving her shit.”
“She already did,” Cami says, not even looking up from her screen.
“Hey girl,” Cici says with a wide smile. “Welcome to my humble new abode.”
“I love it.” I turn in a circle, examining the space. “Are you all settled in?”
“Yes, and I never want to go home.” She winks and points to the pedicure chair between Riley and Addie. “Have a seat.”
The pedicure chairs give a fantastic massage while your feet soak. Cici has decorated this place impeccably. There’s one wall of reclaimed barn wood with huge wood letters that say you’re really pretty. The floors are hardwood, the decor is classic rustic, and it’s all fancy.
“I feel like I’m somewhere fancy,” I say as I roll my pants up and dip my feet in the hot water. “Sweet merciful heaven, this is nice.”
“It’s cute, isn’t it?” Addie asks, her hands resting on her belly.
“So, you just had to get out of your house?” I ask Cici, and adjust the massage chair to focus on my lower back.
“I have four thousand kids and a scientist husband who’s hardly home. My poor clients had to endure all four thousand kids interrupting us all day long.”
“Your kids aren’t that bad,” Cami says with a laugh, and pours me a glass of champagne.
“No? Just the other day they were all supposed to be napping, and I had a break from clients. Hubs was home, so we start to make out on the couch. Suddenly, just when things are getting good, my six-year-old comes into the room and sings ‘I’m sexy and I know it.’”
We all bust up laughing, but Cici rolls her eyes.
“Hiring a nanny and renting this place was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“Well, I like it,” I reply. “It suits you.”
“Thank you.” Cici grins. “So I hear you’re in love.”
I frown. “I never said I was in love.”
Addie smirks and I shoot her a glare.
“She’s with him twenty-four/seven,” Riley informs Cici. “And if you say his name, she blushes.”
“I don’t blush.” God, how mortifying.
“You do,” Mia says, agreeing with Riley. “It’s pretty cute.”
“What’s his name again?” Cici asks.
“Mac,” Cami says, and giggles. “See? Blushing.”
“It’s the hot water,” I mutter, and take a long sip of the bubbly.
“Well, they’ve filled me in on the how and where, but I want to know more. How is he in the sheets?”
I choke, champagne comes out my nose, and I cough so hard I swear I’m going to pee my pants. My alleged friends laugh mercilessly.
“You’re all on my shit list.”
“Oh, come on, you can be ruthless in your questions too,” Addie reminds me. “Now the tables are turned and we want to know.”
“He’s amazing,” I reply reluctantly. “Like, the best-sex-of-your-life kind of sex.”
“Hell, I’d be with him twenty-four/seven if I were you too,” Cici says, rubbing Mia’s feet. “It’s convenient that he lives in the same building. The walk of shame the next morning is a short one.”
“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” I say with a laugh. “I’m going to have to tell him that.”
“I took his wine tour once,” Cici says. “He’s hot, and he’s smart when it comes to wine.”
“I didn’t know that,” Addie says. “Was it fun?”
“Absolutely. We should all do it together sometime.”
“That would be so fun!” Cami says. “Oh, Landon says hi to everybody, by the way.”
“Shut your damn phone off,” Mia says with a scowl. “We’re supposed to be spending quality time with each other. How are we supposed to do that when you keep sexting with your husband?”
“How did you know we’re sexting?” Cami asks, her eyes wide and mortified.
“Please, you always sex each other up. It’s disgusting,” Mia replies. “He’s my brother.”
“He’s not my brother,” Cami says with a wink. “Okay, I’m putting it away.”
“Things are still good with you two?” I ask her.
“Things are great,” she replies. “I think we’re going to start trying to have a baby.”
We all smile widely. Cami got pregnant right before their wedding, but lost the baby. It was a hard time for both of them.
“I’m so happy for you,” Riley says, squeezing Cami’s hand tightly.
“Well, it could take a while,” Cami says. “I have a lot of scar tissue from the last one, and only one fallopian tube, but it’ll be fun trying.”
“That’s the best part,” Addie says. “This part? Not the best part.” She rubs her belly. “Not that I’m complaining. But damn, I’m a house.”
“You’re not a house.”
“I’m a baby house.”
“You’re gonna be a mama,” Riley says with a smile. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah.”
“Baby shower, next Sunday at Cami’s place,” Mia says with a grin. “I’m making some awesome food for it.”
“Of course you are,” Cici says. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away. Are you registered?”
“Don’t buy us presents,” Addie says adamantly. “Honestly, just come to the shower.”
“Right.” I roll my eyes. “It’s a baby shower. We’re supposed to buy insanely cute things and ooh and aah over every little thing and sit in silence as our ovaries burst.”
“My ovaries burst every time I look at her,” Riley says. “And I’m not sure if I want kids, but damn, she’s the cutest pregnant woman ever.”
“I have cankles,” Addie says, wrinkling her nose. “No matter what I do, my ankles won’t stop swelling. Not to mention, my hair and nails grow so fast I have to go get them done twice as often as I used to. And you don’t even want me to tell you about my butt problems.”
“You have butt problems?” Mia asks, her eyes wide with concern. “What kind of butt problems?”
“I’m constipated most of the time. And when I do go, it’s like Satan himself is coming out of my ass because I have hemorrhoids.”
“Eww,” Cami says, making the I-just-sucked-on-a-lemon face.
“Exactly,” Addie agrees. “I’m not sexy at all. Yet Jake wants to have sex with me anyway.”
“You’re sexy,” I inform her. “It’s just the kind of sexy with hemorrhoids.”
“I don’t think that sexy exists,” Addie insists.
“Does the sex hurt the baby?” Mia asks. “I mean, I would guess not because people have been having sex forever, and I’m sure they’ve done it while pregnant, but I wonder about that.”
“I don’t think so,” Cici says with a laugh. “They’ve got a lot of padding in there.”
“All of this is disgusting,” I reply with a shudder.
“Jake says I have a sexy glow.”
“Well, since he impregnated you, he should t
hink that,” Riley says. “It’s pretty cute to watch him when he puts his hands on your belly.”
“He’s started reading to the baby,” Addie says with a soft, lovesick smile. “I said no to Fifty Shades.”
“He wanted to read Fifty Shades to the baby?” I ask with a laugh.
“He said it didn’t matter what he read because the baby can’t understand the words, and we might as well read something entertaining, but I said no way. No R-rated books for the bambino.”
“So what does he read?” Riley asks.
“Guitar magazines, mostly. He did recently read a biography of Johnny Cash.”
“I wouldn’t mind listening to that,” I murmur. “So, speaking of reading aloud, Mac reads to me all the time.”
“Why?” Mia asks.
“Because I like it.” I shrug. “He even reads my romance novels to me. It’s incredibly sexy. They’ve inspired some really fun sexy time.”
“Huh.” Riley taps her finger on her lips, contemplating. “I can see that. Do you read back to him?”
“I did once.” I smile slowly. “When we were in the car on the way to the beach. It turned him on so much he fucked the shit out of me as soon as we got to the condo.”
“Wow,” Addie says, and puts her fist out for me to bump. “Good for you.”
“I’m telling you. Best. Sex. Ever.”
“That’s when you know he’s The One,” Cici informs me. “If it’s the best sex of your life, you hang on to him.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” Mia says with a shake of the head. “I’ve had the best sex of my life, and I’m definitely not marrying him.”
“Why not?” Cici asks.
“Because he dumped me and married someone else,” Mia replies. She does her best to make it sound like it’s old news that no longer affects her, but we all know differently.
Camden was the one who got away. Or, more accurately, the one who left with no explanation.
“Well, I’m not talking about marriage either,” I say, and sigh in pleasure when Cici moves over to my feet and gets started on them. “Who knows what will happen? For now, we’re enjoying each other, and that’s good enough for me.”
“Okay,” Cici says with a wink. “Your feet are torn up.”
“That’s what happens when you wear heels every day to work and you’re on your feet for ten-plus hours.”
“My feet don’t do that, and I wear heels just as much,” Addie says. “Well, I used to. Before I got the cankles.”
“You have good feet genetics,” I reply. “I have to work to have mine look nice.”
“No,” Cici adds, “I have to work for your feet to look nice.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“I’m on my way home,” I inform Mac about three hours later. “Do you need anything?”
“Just you, but thanks for asking,” he replies. “Did you have fun?”
“We always have fun.”
Suddenly my car jerks and black rubber flies up from the passenger side. I swerve, narrowly missing another car.
“Holy fuck!”
“Kat? Kat, what’s happening?”
“Oh my God!”
A car clips my back fender, sending me onto the shoulder of the road. They don’t stop, and I don’t have time, or the wits, to get their plate before I come to a crashing stop at the side of the road.
“Holy shit, Mac.”
“Baby, what is happening?”
“I think I blew a tire. Someone hit my back fender.”
“Did they stop? Where are you?”
I’m breathing hard, my heart is beating a million beats a minute.
“They didn’t stop.” I get out of the car and circle to the passenger side. “Front right tire is shredded.”
“Where are you?” he asks again.
I find a sign, and give him the nearest exit information.
“Fucking hell, you’re on the freeway?”
I can hear his car start.
“I was about to get off the freeway.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. Get in your car and lock the doors and I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay.” I nod, not even caring that he can’t see me. My hands are shaking with adrenaline. “Okay, I’m okay.”
“I’ll be right there. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”
“No, no. You should just drive.”
I climb back in the car and lock the doors.
“Hang in there, sweetheart. I’m coming.”
He hangs up and I start to cry. I’m not hurt, but holy shit, I was so scared. It happened so fast.
It could have been a lot worse.
Not wanting to entertain those thoughts, I wipe the tears from my face. Just then, there’s a knock on my window, making me scream.
“Sorry!” The man holds his hands up as if in surrender. “I just wanted to see if you need help.”
“My boyfriend is on his way,” I say, rolling the window down only about an inch so he can hear me.
“Did you blow the tire?”
“I think so.”
“I’m going to take a look.” He smiles reassuringly and walks around the front of the car. He seems normal enough. He’s wearing a white shirt with slacks and a tie. He’s probably on his way home from work.
He walks back to my window. “It’s blown, but the wheel is okay. If you have a spare, I’ll switch it out real quick and you’ll be good to go.”
“You really don’t have to,” I reply, but he just smiles.
“I promise, it’ll be okay.”
I wonder if Ted Bundy said that to his victims right before he killed them?
I pop the trunk and get out of my car as the stranger retrieves my spare.
“I’m Preston,” he says with a smile.
“Kat,” I reply. I stand at a safe distance while he works on the tire.
“What do you do, Kat?”
He seems to know what he’s doing with the tire, working quickly and efficiently.
“I own a wine bar,” I reply, not wanting to give him too much information. He’s a stranger, after all.
“Yeah? That’s cool. I know a guy who owns a wine business. You might know him.”
“I might,” I reply with a shrug. “It’s not a big community.”
He screws in the last lug nut and stands to put the tools back in my trunk, then pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his hands off.
“Do you know Mac?”
What the hell?
I make sure not to show any emotion as I pretend to think it over. Preston hasn’t done anything wrong, but there’s something about him that I don’t trust. I can’t put my finger on it, but I learned long ago to trust my gut.
“I think that name is familiar.”
“I thought you’d know him. This should get you home.”
I glance back as I hear another car pull off the freeway, relieved to see Mac’s car.
“There’s Mac now,” I say, but Preston is already getting in his car and pulling away.
“Did you call someone else?” Mac asks as he joins me. “I told you I’d be right here.”
“I didn’t call him,” I reply, irritated at the tone of his voice. “He pulled over and offered to help.”
“You didn’t stay in your car.”
“No, because I’m a grown woman who’s capable of deciding when I do or don’t feel safe.”
“Come on,” he says, gesturing for me to get in his car.
“My car will drive me home just fine now.”
“You’re a wreck,” he says, pulling me in his arms now. “You’re shaking, and I think you’re in shock.”
“I can drive myself.”
He presses his nose close to mine and says sternly, “Get in the fucking car, please.”
“This is the bossy part I don’t like,” I inform him as I get in his car.
“I don’t care,” he replies, his voice too calm. “You’re not in any shape to drive
. And I’m still pissed at you for getting out of that car.”
“He said he knew you,” I say. “He asked me what I do, and I said I own a bar, and he said he knew you. Called you by name.”
“Who was it?” he asks with a frown.
“Preston somebody.”
He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “I don’t know a Preston.”
“Maybe he took your tour once.”
He shrugs. “I don’t know.” He exhales deeply and takes my hand in his. “You scared me.”
“I scared me,” I reply. “Why are we arguing?”
“Because we’re both high on adrenaline and fear,” he replies, and looks over at me with bright green eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you?”
“Working on it.”
Chapter Fourteen
~Mac~
I can’t believe I’m going to a baby shower. Since when are men invited to these things? I’m on my way to Cami’s place to meet Kat, who has been there since early this afternoon. Apparently, the guys are invited for dinner and cake.
And games. I don’t even want to know what kind of games they play at a baby shower.
Just as I turn toward Cami and Landon’s house, my phone rings. I frown at my dad’s name.
“Hello.”
“Hi, son,” he says. With just those two words he sounds tired. Old.
“What’s up, Dad?”
“I was just calling to find out how your mom’s doing.”
“She’s great.”
He pauses. “Good. That’s good.”
“I’m not going to tell you where she is,” I say, feeling like a dick. This is my dad, he should know where his wife is, but I just can’t do it. He didn’t even notice she was gone for two weeks.
That’s still a hard pill to swallow.
“No, don’t tell me,” he says quickly. “The less I know the better.”
He coughs, a deep, gurgly cough.
“Are you sick?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I park outside Cami’s house and cut the engine. “Dad, you don’t sound good.”
“I’ll be just fine. But I need to ask you a favor.”
I roll my eyes and rub my hand over my mouth. Here we go.
“Okay.”
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