Page 48 of And Then There Was Us
“Uh oh.What happened?” Kat set down the glass she’d been holding and folded her arms across her chest.
“Nothing. Hugh’s just careful. He asks permission sometimes, and I know it’s because I’m a mom and he respects me and all that, but I kinda want…” She looked at the couple in the corner again.
Kat smacked her chewing gum and followed her gaze. “Ah. So, tell him. Or show him. I vote for showing him.”
Brianna purposefully stopped looking at the couple. “How do I do that without looking like a slut?”
“You’ve already slept with him. There’s nothing left to look like. Just, you know.” She moved in close and whispered, “Take him.”
“Take him?” She narrowed her eyes. “Oh,takehim. Right. I’ve already told him he didn’t have to be so careful, but…”
Kat winked. “You go, girlfriend. But how are you holding up without a plan? You’re not like that. Overplanning is how you manage.”
“I’m trying to not bethatperson.”
Kat put her cheek next to Brianna’s and whispered, “I’ve got news for you, hon. Youarethat person.” She patted Brianna’s cheek. “That’s why you’re so great at being a mom. You think ahead in ways I never could.”
Brianna sighed. “You know, while I was at the park with Layla, I thought about Hugh the whole time.”
“Yeah, and?” Kat blew a bubble with her chewing gum.
“And…I’ve never done that before, thought about being with a man when I’m supposed to be thinking about my daughter. I don’t want to be one of those women whose mind is somewhere else when her child needs her.” Brianna wiped her hands on the towel that hung from her belt. “It felt weird.”
Kat shook her head. “You really have lived in a boxed-off mommy world for too long. Every parent thinks of other things or people when they’re with their kids. That’s normal, Bree. Just ask Mack. He’ll tell you.”
Mack walked behind Brianna to the far end of the bar. “Ask Mack what?”
“Mack, when you’re with your daughter, what do you think about?” Kat crossed her arms and smacked her gum.
Mack had a daughter two years older than Layla, and he and his wife, Tami, had been married for ten years. “I don’t know. Sports. The bar. My wife. Why?” He grabbed a large bottle of liquor and walked past them again toward the back room, stopping beside Brianna. “Something going on that I should know about?”
Brianna rolled her eyes. “No.”
“She’s thinking of a guy when she’s with Layla,” Kat said.
“Kat! Geez, can’t I have any privacy?” Brianna covered her face so Mack wouldn’t see her cheeks flush again.
“What guy?” Mack asked.
“The guy from the other night,” Kat explained. “Patrick Dempsey’s look-alike.”
“Kat!Really?” Brianna pushed past Mack and went into the stockroom. A second later, the door opened and Mack walked in.
“You okay?” He leaned against a metal shelf and crossed his arms.
“Yeah. Fine.” She grabbed two bottles and headed for the door.
Mack put his hand on her arm and lowered his chin. “Bree?”
She sighed. “Okay, fine.” She set down the drinks. Mack was the closest thing she had to a big brother, even though he acted more like a father, and she knew she could trust him. “I went out with Hugh, the guy from the other night, and I really like him. A lot.”
He crossed his arms and pressed his mouth into a tight line. “You know who he is?”
She nodded.
“I figured it out at about two in the morning after I met him. The name clicked.” His eyes searched hers. “Capital Series driver.”
“Yup.”
