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She chews on the corner of her lip while she thinks. “How long is the meeting, Jem?” she asks my sister.
“Uh. Usually about an hour and a half, but sometimes we run over.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s at six on Thursday. So you’d be back home by eight at the latest.”
Indecision flashes across her face.
Come on, Sunshine. Take a chance. You won’t regret it.
I want her to know that she can trust me, not only with her, but with her daughter. That I won’t let her down. But maybe she’s not there yet. I’m a patient man. However long it takes her to feel comfortable with me is how long it’s going to take, but I’m going to keep trying until she lets me in.
As if she heard my internal plea, she says, “Okay. If you’re sure you want to watch her?”
Elation at her trusting me with Audra, even if it’s only for an hour and a half soars through my blood. I nod, my throat too tight to answer her verbally.
“Yay,” Jem crows from her side of the table. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“Asshole alert,” Rhett says under his breath to the table.
The bell on the door just finishes chiming as I turn in my seat and see Cormac standing by the breakfast bar.
Fuck.
His eyes land on our table and he starts back toward us, weaving through diners and tables.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Calhoun family brunch.” He sneers.
My family’s expressions go stony, but Maisie just looks confused.
Instead of being dressed for a casual lunch at the local diner, Cormac’s wearing a suit, his pants pressed and ironed within an inch of their life. Gelled hair is slicked back from a receding hairline, and I level my own smirk at him.
“Cormac.” The word is a verbal gauntlet between us.
His gaze lands on Maisie, the only one from the table that he doesn’t recognize and my gut clenches with the need to get his attention off her.
“Don’t be rude, Calhoun, introduce me.”
Maisie cuts a questioning glance in my direction before turning back to Cormac.
If I was worried that the presence of a strange man at our table would upset her, the direct deadpan stare she levels him with proves me wrong.
“Maisie. And you are?”
“Cormac Lewis. Nice to meet you. You visiting?” He smiles at her, his eyes drifting down her body.
Did he just fucking check her out? With me right here?
“No,” Maisie says, her tone tight.
“No? I’m sure that I’ve never seen you around town, and trust me, I would have remembered you.” His slimy tongue swipes across his lower lip and my own lips curl in a snarl.
Anger blasts through me, and I clench my jaw to hold in the emotion. My brothers pick up on my irritation because Audra changes hands until Duke hands her back to me.
Maisie levels him with a sweet smile. “Oh. How flattering.” The saccharine sarcasm of her words makes my brother snicker behind us.
“And who’s this?” Cormac singsongs to the baby in my arms making the little bit of my lunch threaten to reappear at his attempt of a baby talk voice.
