His question made me feel even worse, guilt surpassing anger. Parenting was fucking hard. Hell, adulting, in general, was hard. My mama had warned me, but she hadn’t warned me enough.
“I’m not sad, I’m angry.” And humiliated. Vulnerable. Exposed. “But it has nothing to do with you. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
I took a deep breath, mentally bitch slapping myself to get my shit together. All it was doing was clogging my nose and upsetting my child. And Lord knows I wouldn’t make any tips tonight if I showed up with a puffy face.
I called the restaurant as soon as we pulled up to the house, letting them know I’d had to go into the school and would be late. Then I climbed out, circling the vehicle to open my passenger door and find the heels I’d thrown.
I’d just leaned down when my skin tingled, the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention. I twisted my neck and glanced over my shoulder to see Garrett standing in the middle of his yard with a push mower.
His eyes, which had been on my ass, snapped up to my face. I frowned at him, straightening and tucking the heels under my arm before shutting the door.
His gaze zeroed in on my face and lingered. He worked his jaw back and forth, narrowing his eyes slightly before they finally dropped to the child stepping up next to me. Jamie stared back at him, a defiant look on his face, and I watched Garrett’s eyebrow arch before he turned away, effectively dismissing us. Fine by me.
I ushered Jamie into the house, hearing the rumbling of the mower start up as I closed the door.
“What the hell happened?” Layla barreled toward me like a bull that’d spotted a red flag.
I cleared my throat pointedly, flicking my eyes to Jamie and back. “Nothing. We’ll talk later, but I need to go.” Dropping my purse on the bar, I ran toward my room, throwing off my clothes and yanking on my uniform. Five minutes later, I had on the barest of makeup and was running back out, shoes and apron in hand.
“Thanks again for hanging out with him. Try not to destroy the house, you two.”
Layla hadn’t moved a muscle. She was looking all over my face with squinted eyes while I shoved my feet into my shoes. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, “I make no promises.”
I gave Jamie a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek which he instantly rubbed off. “Behave, love you.”
“Love you too.”
Locking my spine, I walked out, prepared for another stare-off with Garrett, but both he and the mower were nowhere in sight.
Chapter Six
An hour into my shift, and I’d already added a new stain to the shins of my pants. I groaned, tempted to stamp my feet. Solid black and snug in all the right places, they were my most comfortable pair of work pants. Go figure.
I wiped my hands on my t-shirt, uncaring if I got it dirty, and started grabbing plates of wings, smelling them and stacking them in order along my arm. I’d been working at the restaurant long enough, I could tell the flavor of each wing sauce by smell alone. It made my job a whole lot easier since the cooks had a habit of not labeling them anyway.
Turning, I bumped the swinging door open with my hip, dashing out to each meal’s designated recipient, smiling and re-filling drinks before heading back into the kitchen to do it all again.
Overall, I didn’t mind waitressing. It wasn’t always easy, but the tasks themselves were fairly straightforward and it kept me busy. The only slow time I ever had was at the beginning of my shift during the grace period before the dinner rush.
Which was why my boss hadn’t batted an eye at my late arrival. He was younger than I was and high as a kite most days, so he was pretty laidback. It bugged me more about being late than it had him.
I’d stressed about it the entire way here, deciding I would start taking my uniform to the office to change so I could drop Jamie off and head right back out. Layla was about to start her new job soon, and I’d have to start dropping him off at my parents again anyway. It made sense to cut out as much wasted time as possible.
About halfway through my shift, I finally got a lull in my tables. It was times like this I envied the smokers who had an excuse to step out back for a break. If I had the money to spare, I’d buy a pack and light one up and hold it, just so I could join them.
Checking on the few customers I had, I made sure they’d be set for a bit and then made my way to the bar. Nate always worked the same nights I did, and he was my favorite person here. “Hey, Nate.”
“Hey, Curly, where has your cute ass been all night?”
“Working. We can’t all laze about, twiddling our thumbs behind a bar.” I grinned at him.
Nate was a damn good bartender, and he had the giant jar of tips to prove it. Around the same height as me, he had black hair slicked back, tattoos covering every inch of his arms, and big green eyes that worked like a charm when he needed something. He had a mysterious and dangerous vibe to him but was a gooey pushover on the inside.
He also happened to be a horndog with a firm belief in open relationships and group activities. I’d lost track of the number of times he’d tried to convince me to give the lifestyle a shot. Not with him, but in general.
My answer had always been the same. No, thanks. Reverse harems were sexy in books, but the female anatomy could only take so much. I swore my vagina clamped shut just thinking about more than one dude climbing on top of me in a twenty-four-hour period.
“Guess I’ll be too busy twiddling my thumbs after close to make you a drink then.”
Recoiling, I clutched my chest and dropped my mouth open. “You wouldn’t dare.” He just pointed at me, making me chuckle.
I tapped my hands on the bar, getting ready to head back to check on tables when a familiar face snagged my attention. I froze, blinking several times, unsure if it was actually him or not.
Dressed in jeans that pulled taut around his thighs and a dark green Henley, Garrett sat perched on a stool at the far end of the bar. He was leaning to the side, one elbow resting on the bar while his other hand curled around a bottle of beer in his lap.
He wasn’t alone. Sitting next to him, blessed with his undivided attention, was a woman. She could’ve been a stranger I supposed, but his posture was relaxed, and his face lacked the tension I’d begun to think was a permanent feature. It seemed like he knew her, liked her.
I wondered what it was about her that enticed him, what he preferred in his women. Looks could often be deceiving, but she appeared to be in her early forties with thick, luscious curves, and long, coppery waves that fell about her shoulders. She was gorgeous.
I liked to think I had a decent ass, but there was nothing luscious about my thighs, and no one would be writing ballads about my B-cup breasts. Biting my lip, I forced myself to snap out of it. Who cared what he saw in her? It’s not like I wanted his attention.
Before I could force my body to move, his eyes traveled over the woman’s head and landed right on me, widening almost imperceptibly. I could have looked down and seen a sniper’s dot on my chest, and it wouldn’t have caused my heart to stop as much as his stare did.
I should’ve walked away right then. I didn’t owe him anything. I knew that, but some neighborly part of me wanted to repair the rift between us and at least say hello.
With each step I took in his direction, his face seemed to close down more and more, until it finally settled into that flat look I was accustomed to. His companion, sensing his attention was no longer hers, looked over her shoulder at me. Her brows rose, and her eyes darted back and forth between us.
In perfect Madison fashion, I gave her an awkward wave, and then looked back into Garrett’s unfriendly, yet still stupidly attractive, face. “Hey, Garrett. How are you?”
“Fine.”