Undercover Bromance

by Lyssa Kay Adams

  The Russian looked up. “You did not say fuck you to me.”

  “Fuck you too.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that the reason she drives you crazy is because you’re attracted to her?” Malcolm asked. “It’s classic enemies-to-lovers.”

  “Classic,” Gavin said, nodding and chewing.

  “I can’t believe this,” Mack said to him. “I thought you of all people would know this is nuts.”

  Gavin took a deep breath. “I only know of two women in the world who can drive a man as crazy as you are right now. I’m married to one, and the other is her sister. I say go for it.”

  “Go for it?” Mack parroted, his voice an incredulous squawk.

  “Why not?” Gavin said. “But I probably should also tell you that if you hurt her, I will have to hurt you.”

  Mack slapped his hand over his heart. “Your faith in me is heartwarming, truly. I’m all squishy inside.”

  “I’m not trying to be an asshole. I’m just saying you have to be careful. Liv is . . . she’s not what she seems.”

  Mack dragged a hand over his hair. “I know.”

  “She likes to pretend she’s all tough and stuff, but it’s bullshit.”

  “I know.” It came out a growl this time, because that was what scared him the most about her. That her sarcasm, her fuck off attitude, and her complete distrust in men were just a cover for something else. Maybe that, above all else, was what they shared in common. They were both living a lie. A sudden sense of loneliness stole over him. Not for the first time, he felt on the outs. The odd man in the group. The man who could save a hundred marriages but was doomed to never find his own happy ending.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Okay, I think that’s everything.”

  Thea dropped the last of Ava and Amelia’s four bags on the floor of Liv’s living room. “But if we forgot something, you can just get it from the house.”

  “Who needs toys when there are goats and chickens?” Liv said, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms open for the girls. They launched themselves at her with squeals. Thea waited patiently as Liv did her best to get them riled up with tickles and raspberries on their necks.

  Finally, when the girls had collapsed in a heap of giggles, Liv stood.

  “You’re sure this is okay?” Thea asked. “I mean the dog with the chickens?”

  Liv was also watching Butter Ball. “It’ll be fine.”

  Butter had reached that tipping-point age for golden retrievers when they stopped noticing squirrels and instead sought out the best sunbeam for a nap. As if on cue, the dog sank to the floor with a heavy sigh in front of the window, where a crack in the curtains had let in a ray of sunshine.

  “How are things going?” Thea asked.

  Liv looked up to see that her sister had wandered to the kitchen table, where Liv had been searching job postings. Liv strode over and shut the computer.

  “I’ll find something.”

  “That good, huh?”

  Yeah. Great. Two more form rejections had come in just this morning. “I’ll find something.”

  Thea set her purse on the table and fished out her wallet.

  Liv gritted her teeth. “What are you doing?”

  Thea didn’t answer as she set a stack of twenty-dollar bills on the table. Liv picked them up and handed them back.

  Thea refused to take them. “You’re babysitting. People get paid for babysitting.”

  “They’re my nieces.”

  “Use it to entertain the girls, then.”

  Liv shoved the money back in Thea’s purse. “Don’t insult me.”

  “Liv,” Thea sighed, but whatever she might have wanted to say after that was cut off by the unmistakable clunk of Rosie’s footsteps on the staircase outside. Rosie knocked once and then opened the door to peek her head inside. “Can I come in?”

  The girls ran to her with hugs. “Rosie! We’re staying wiff you and Aunt Livvie for three days.”

  Rosie walked in and hugged the girls against her legs. “I know, and I have so much planned for us. We are going to make cookies and feed the goats and collect the eggs, and Hop says he’ll take you for a ride on the tractor.”

  Tractor rides were some serious shit for 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 nos
e. 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. “Thanks. Maybe save those other two houses for tomorrow?”

  The man smiled. “I’ll contact the sellers.” He added with a nod, “Nice to meet you, Erin.”

  Mack helped his mom into the front seat and shut the door. As soon as he got into the driver’s side, he looked over. “You good?”

  “Just tired. I think I’ll take a nap when we get home.”

  “You were rubbing your shoulder.”

  “Was I?” She shook her head. “It’s fine. Just gets stiff sometimes.”

  Mack gripped the steering wheel. “Maybe you should have it looked at.”

  She made a psh noise with her lips. “I’m sixty years old. Sixty-year-old shoulders get stiff sometimes.”

  “But that’s the shoulder that—”

  She cut him off. “Braden, stop hovering.”

  She fell asleep in the car on the ride back to his house, her head bobbing gently with the rhythm of the road. Mack glanced over several times, unease turning his stomach to acid. She was being cagey again. I’m sixty years old . . . Christ, was she sick? Would she keep something like that from him? He tried to study her while driving but damn near ran off the road. She didn’t look sick. Her brown hair was only half gray. Her weight hadn’t changed. But there was definitely something going on.

  He woke her up gently when he pulled into his driveway. “We’re home.”

  She stretched and yawned. “I’m going to head upstairs and nap I think. Wake me if I’m not up in an hour.”

  He followed her inside, watched as she climbed the stairs, and waited until he heard the guest room door close before dialing his brother’s number. Liam answered without a greeting. “How’s the house hunting going?”

  “Bad. She rejected every single one.” Mack grabbed a beer from the fridge and started down the stairs to his finished basement.

  “Maybe she’s getting picky in her old age.”

  Mack plopped down on the curved sectional that took up an entire wall and faced the sixty-inch TV screen. “Sixty isn’t old.”

  “Chill, it was a joke.”

  The sound of kids running and screaming interrupted briefly, and Mack grinned despite his unsettled stomach as he listened to Liam tell the kids to slow down.

  “Where are you?”

  “Home. Lucy has a friend over from preschool.”

  A pang of loneliness once again joined the churning in his gut. Ever since Liam and his wife had moved to California for his job, he’d seen them less and less. They used to see each other at least every other month when Liam still lived in Iowa, but now it was every six months if they were lucky. God, he missed the kids.

  “I think something’s going on with Mom,” he said.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. She’s acting strange. And someone sent her flowers.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” Liam snorted then. “Like you know how to not worry.”

  “I just wish she’d hurry up and choose a house. She’s been alone in Iowa for a year.”

  “You’re the one who moved to Nashville, dude. Was I supposed to stay in Iowa forever and give up a great promotion?”

  “I’m not blaming you. I just don’t understand why she’s dragging her feet.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to move. Did you ever think about that?”

  Ridiculous. “Why wouldn’t she want to move? There’s nothing for her there.”

  “Except all her friends and the town she grew up in and—”

  “And horrible fucking memories.” Mack had moved to Nashville to get away from them. Why wouldn’t his mom want to do the same? “You and the kids were the only reason for her to stay there. You’re gone now. She needs to get out.”

  “Fine. Maybe I’m wrong. Why don’t you just ask her what’s going on?”

  “I’ve tried. She just dodges the question and says she’s entitled to privacy.”

  “She is.” There was another squeal of laughter in the background. “Shit, I gotta go. I have no idea what’s going on.”

  “Kiss the kids for me.”

  “I will.”

  Mack dropped the phone next to his hip. Liam was full of shit. His mom had no reason to stay in Des Moines. And if she didn’t want to move, she would’ve just said so. This was her second trip out to look at houses for fuck’s sake.

  Annoyed, he turned on the TV and channel surfed until he found a basketball game. Sometime later—he wasn’t sure because he’d dozed off—his phone buzzed with an incoming call. He glanced down, fully prepared to ignore whoever it was, but his heart leaped clear into his throat when he saw Liv’s name on the screen.

  He scrambled to sit, nerves shredding his gut. They hadn’t spoken since the kiss. “Hey,” he finally answered, then grimaced. Hey? That was the best he could do?

  “Hi, um . . . Shoot. Hang on.” Liv’s voice grew distant as if she’d pulled the phone away. “It’s okay, Ava. I’ll clean it up. Just help your sister with the crayons.” She returned to the phone. “Sorry. I have the girls.”

  “Right. Gavin mentioned something about that. Everything all right?”

  He heard her suck in a breath, and he pictured her standing tall like she always did when she was about to blurt something out. “Rosie was wondering if you and your mom want to come over to the farm tomorrow to see the goats and have dinner.”

  The nerves settled into a different sensation. Relief maybe. Definitely anticipation. And something else too. A healthy shot of lust.

  “Hello?” Liv said, annoyed as ever, and damn but he loved the sound of that cranky voice. It meant they were back on normal ground. “Are you there?”

  “Rosie wants to know, huh?” Mack kicked back on the couch and crossed his legs at the ankle. “You’re sure this isn’t you inviting me because you miss me?”

  “Yeah, pretty sure.”

  “Well, gee, I’ll have to check our schedule tomorrow. What time were you thinking?”

  “Rosie said she can have dinner ready whenever you are.”

  “Ah. Wow. That is super nice of Rosie.”

  “Right? I told her I didn’t want to you to come, but she insisted.”

  He laughed low in his chest. “How can I turn down an invitation like that?”

  “You probably should. It won’t be any fun whatsoever.”

  Mack hmm’d. “Let’s not be hasty. The girls probably want some Uncle Mack time.”

  “Why would they want that when they’re having Aunt Livvie time?”

  “Because I’m way cooler.”

  “Those are fighting words.”

  Upstairs, he heard footsteps in the kitchen. Mack stretched his arm over his head and yawned. “I’ll go talk to my mom about tomor
row and let you know, okay?”

  “Whatever. I don’t really care.”

  He laughed again and hung up. He jogged up the stairs and found his mom standing at the stove, getting ready to start dinner. “You really don’t have to cook, Mom.”

  She looked over her shoulder. “I want to.”

  “But if you’re tired—”

  “Let me do this for you, Braden.”

  The words hit him like a punch. Bile rose in his throat along with a memory he’d tried so hard to forget.

  “What are you doing up?”

  His mom looked up. “Making coffee.”

  “I can do that. You’re supposed to stay in bed.”

  “Braden, I’m fine.”

  She wasn’t fine, though. Her arm was still in a sling, and her face was still purple in places.

  “Go back to bed. I’ll bring you coffee.”

  She gave him a stern look that had zero effect. “I’m going to make your breakfast.”

  “I can make my own damn breakfast.”

  “Braden Arthur. What did you just say?”

  Liam shuffled into the kitchen. His hair stood on end, and he was still in his pajamas. Braden scowled at him. “Get dressed. We’re going to be late for school.”

  Liam went to their mother’s side. She tucked him against her with her good arm and kissed the top of his head. She looked up then.

  “Let me do this for you, Braden.”

  Mack blinked out of the memory, walked up behind her, and hugged her. His mom laughed, startled, and said, “What’s this?”

  “Just glad you’re here.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “Fine.” He coughed and forced a grin. “Just hungry. You’re going to cut up the carrots really small, right?”

  She smiled. “Of course. I know that’s how you like it.”

  “Liv needs to know what time we’re coming for dinner tomorrow. You still up for that?”

  His mom smiled over her shoulder again. “Of course.”

  A few hours later, Mack went to bed, his stomach full and his heart doing weird fucking things in his chest. He hammered out a text to Liv.