Page 42 of Duty and Desire
Mac said nothing, looked to the side, then took a step that way and sat her ass down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.
She was not ready.
At all.
She was something else.
And Smithie needed to get to the bottom of it and not to save her fantastic tits.
To save her from jumping too soon into something for which she was not ready.
He leaned forward in his chair and dropped his voice.
“There’s gonna be a mean kid in class that gets in their face. There’s gonna be a health situation that’s probably the croup or a flu that you’re not gonna understand and it’s gonna scare you shitless. Girls’ll get their hearts broken by an asshole. Boys need to learn not tobeassholes. You gotta have it together, Mac. No one can be fully prepared for being a parent. But you gottaknowyou’re as ready as you’ll ever be.”
She held his eyes and said, “I’m ready, Smithie.”
“You’re watchin’ your sister and her man make babies and you’re so in love with your nephews you can’t see straight so you’re feelin’ the time tick by and doin’ that, the itch is comin’ on to one you can’t help but scratch,” he returned.
“This has nothing to do with Jet and Eddie,” she returned.
“Okay, then, how often does Jet go out with those Rock Chicks? Answer me that, Mac. How often?”
“She sees her crew all the time,” Mac told him.
“Right, and she can do that because her husband is home, lookin’ after their boys.”
She got his point.
This was why she shut her mouth before opening it and saying, “Or Blanca looks after them.”
“Blanca looks after them when Jet and Eddie are out together. Unless he’s workin’, no one looks after his boys but him if their momma ain’t around to do it.”
Mac turned her head and studied the wall.
It wasn’t that interesting.
But she kept doing it.
“Mac, look at me,” he ordered.
She did, that stubborn lift in her chin.
Smithie took his voice to soft. “You’re gonna find him, darlin’.”
She got his point on that too.
“I don’t need a man,” she bit out.
“No. But you want one and you’re gonna find him. You just need to be patient.”
She was losing patience sitting right there. “This is not about finding a man, Smithie.”
“How many of the Rock Chicks don’t got a warm body in their bed?” he pushed.
“I can get a man whenever I want.”
She absolutely could do that.
