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Maisie turns in her chair, blocking Cormac’s access to me and Audra. “My daughter.” She bites out, just short of a snarl causing my dick to twitch behind my uniform pants zipper.
Note to self. Mama bear Maisie is hotter than sin.
Cormac holds up his hands at the hostility in Maisie’s posture.
Yeah, fucker. This is one baby you won’t be kissing.
“Well. I’ll let you guys get back to it. Nice seeing you, Harlan.” He turns to leave before stopping. “Oh, and no hard feelings about the election, right?” His smug grin makes me want to wipe the expression off his face, but I don’t move. I’m not making a scene in the middle of this diner, with my family and Maisie present.
He’ll get his. Karma always wins.
Cormac threads his way back through the tables to the breakfast bar where he chats with the hostess before taking a to-go container and leaving the diner.
“What a fucking dick,” Jem says.
“Yeah,” Boone says, dropping a kiss to her forehead.
A few brushes of my hand down Audra’s back help me get my own anger under control. Cormac didn’t technically do anything wrong, but the smarmy way he sauntered over here for that little interaction leaves a lead weight in my gut. This reelection is going to get dirty. The truth of it sits heavy in my bones.
“Who was that?” Maisie asks the question at the table, but her gaze is on me.
“Cormac Lewis. He’s running for sheriff of Everette this term — we uh, don’t get along.” I keep my tone even.
“No, shit,” Duke says with a small chuckle.
“But you’re the sheriff,” Maisie says.
I scratch a hand through my beard. “Yeah. I am. For now.”
Maisie’s gaze goes keen. Like she’s trying to understand, and I know that she has more questions, but I don’t have answers for her right now. Not here. Not in front of my family. The doubt that I won’t win the election is something that I’m still trying to deal with, and I don’t have it in me to discuss it in a crowded diner where anyone can overhear us.
I continue to rub my hand down Audra’s back and drop a kiss to her head before handing her to Maisie. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to get back to the station. Are you good to find your way back out to the house or do you want to follow me?”
“Yeah —” she starts to say.
“We’ll follow her out and help her get unloaded, this way you can get back to the station,” Duke offers.
I pick up the bill and throw some cash down on top of it before standing.
“Wait. Hang on.” Maisie rifles in her purse for something.
When she pulls out her wallet, I say, “No. It’s okay. I got it.”
“I can pay for my own lunch, Harlan.” A bit of temper comes into her eyes and while I’m thrilled to see it, it’s misplaced.
“It’s a burger and fries. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not worried about it because I can pay for it myself.” She waves a hand at the check, “Someone hand me that.”
“Sunshine. Whoever loses the first at poker night pays for lunch the next time we all get together.”
That is absolutely not a rule of our poker nights, but a quick pointed glance around the table ensures that my family shuts their traps. My brothers are all looking at me with thinly veiled amusement, and I know they’re going to give me shit for this little scene the first chance they get.
What Maisie doesn’t understand is that we don’t keep track of who pays for what. There’s no invisible tally sheet keeping score. Paying for lunch is no big thing.
“Oh, but I wasn’t at poker night.” Her nose scrunches adorably.
“Well it’s the rule, so don’t worry about it, okay?”
