Page 4 of The Fun Part
Mom smiles tightly. “I promised to help him get acclimated to his new hometown. We’re good. Right, Cal?”
I keep my voice light.“I’ll get him acquainted with the under-forty crowd since he’s clearly under forty.”
Her eyes narrow. She firmly believes age is just a number, as she’ll tell anyone who mentions getting older. Cal looks from me to Mom, seeming unsure what to do.
The music changes to a slow song, Etta James’s “At Last.”
Mom sighs dramatically. “Okay, Mackenzie, but whatever you do, don’t slow dance with him. The last thing I need is my daughter getting drawn in by another player. No offense, Cal.”
Yup, she said that. Mom has no filter when it comes to protecting her kids. She believes I’m frequently taken in by “players” because she’ll often hear from the small-town grapevine that I was seen out with a guy, and when she follows up with me, I crush her romantic hopes by telling her we’re not seeing each other anymore. She never believes it’s me who keeps it casual. It’s her love goggles that keep her from seeing clearly.
“More of a baseball player,” Cal mumbles. Of course no one wants to be labeled a player, but any guy who just got out of a live-in relationship for commitment issues isn’t going to want more of the same. He’s perfect.
I tilt my head toward the dance floor. He follows me without a word.
A few moments later, I wrap my arms around his neck, leaving just enough space between us for decency. He radiates heat and pheromones. Mmm, he smells so good. A clean, crisp scent. Cologne? Him? I don’t know, and I don’t care. Cal is the perfect man to end this damn dry spell.
On the other hand, he did just go through a major breakup.
Is he even into me?
I’ll know by the end of the party.
Cal
I’ve already met a lot of people in town thanks to Hailey, which is crucial for building a client list, and now I’m dancing with her sexy daughter. I noticed Mackenzie right away. When her eyes met mine, a jolt of lust hit me by surprise, especially after the day I’ve had.
She’s about a foot shorter than me, even in her spiked heels. Her dress clings to her athletic body, ending mid-thigh. I gulp. It’s just a dance. One dance to be polite.
If you had told me I’d go from dodging law books to dancing with a sexy stranger today, I’d have thought you were nuts. That’s right. Law books. Thrown at my head.
In answer to Rayna’s demand for marriage, I said in my most reasonable tone, “What’s the rush?”
Boy, was that the wrong thing to say. She blew up, saying we were both in our thirties and that’s what normal people do. Then she threw my briefcase and law books at me. All this happened before noon. She woke up expecting big things, and it went downhill from there. I’m more relieved than sad, which I guess says a lot about our relationship.
Before she moved into my apartment, Rayna was cool and casual. Things were easy between us. Then my roommate moved out, Rayna’s lease ran out on her place, and she asked if she could move in with me while she looked for a new place. Rent in the city isn’t cheap, and rentals go fast. Even so, I looked for another male roommate and asked her to use her extensive network to find her own place. Nothing panned out, so I offered my place as atemporarysolution.
I was very firm—six months max for her to find a new apartment, giving me time to find a new roommate. She agreed. Honestly, I liked her a lot. I just wasn’t in deep-emotion territory. I never am. Not since…anyway, after she moved in, Rayna went into overdrive on the couple thing. Candlelit dinners, little gifts and love notes left around the apartment,a new social schedule with her married couple friends, even a vacation that was couples only. It got so I couldn’t relax at home and spent most of my time at the office.
She veered between the silent treatment and yelling. I knew I was disappointing her, but I could barely breathe in our shared space. She wasn’t having any luck finding a new place, and I quietly decided to let her take over my lease when it ran out, and move somewhere else. I was just waiting for the right time to tell her. I had hoped we could keep seeing each other, even if we didn’t live together. It was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, after all.
But then she started spending a lot of time with her ex. She told me it was platonic, he was her best friend again, and I was too closed off to meet her emotional needs.
I wasn’t happy about all the time they spent together, but I also knew he had a girlfriend. When he got engaged, Rayna was upset. That’s why she suddenly wanted us to get married. Not because of me, because of him. I guess Valentine’s Day upped the stakes.
“Welcome to Clover Park,” Mackenzie says near my ear, rocketing me back to the present.
“Thank you,” I say politely, shifting back a little. There’s this incredible heat radiating off her body. Or is that heat between our bodies? She’s so sexy, and I can’t even believe I notice that with today’s breakup. That’s compartmentalizing for you.
Her blue eyes meet mine, and my mouth goes dry. “Long shot, but do you know Sutton Davis? She’s from Minnesota, too, and, you know, same last name.”
A corner of my mouth lifts. “Sure, I know everyone in the great state of Minnesota.”
“Smartass.”
I grin. “Sutton’s my little sister. That’s how I heard about Clover Park and Gabe Reynolds looking for someone to take overhis law practice. She subscribes to theClover Park Record.” My sister is a ball of sunshine, always bright and enthusiastic. She’s a full-time virtual assistant for Brooks Campbell Security here in Clover Park.
“She works for me!”
