I cleared my throat to get their attention. She glanced up and smiled as Malcolm flashed me that crooked grin of his. “Hey, baby. Guess what I did today?”
Lifting my eyes, I replied, “No telling.”
“Ran on the treadmill.”
My eyes widened. “What? You were supposed to do the bike, Malcolm. Not run. That’s too hard on your knee.”
His smile faded but returned when his personal cheerleader defended him. “Well, he did a great job! I could hardly keep up with him.” My eyes snapped over to her as I gave her a back-the-fuck-away-bitch look. Her smiled faded as she looked between Malcolm and me. “Listen, I’ll see you next time, right?”
When she placed her hand on his arm, he didn’t even flinch. “Okay, see ya later.”
Malcolm climbed up the steps as he grabbed a towel and dried off as I kept my eyes trained on his new workout partner. “So, you seem to enjoy her company.”
With a confused look, he turned from me to look at her and then back to me. “It’s nothing. She’s fun to talk to when I’m walking in the pool. It’s a nice change.”
Ouch. That hurt.
“And running on the treadmill?” He didn’t bother to answer. “Why didn’t you do the bike, Malcolm? You need to be careful about your knee.”
He pushed past me, clearly in a bad mood. Maybe I interrupted something? Oh God. What if he liked her? No . . . Malcolm would never do that to me. I know he wouldn’t.
“I was in the mood to run.”
Suppressing my anger, I asked, “How did your knee feel after?”
After he slipped on a T-shirt, he made his way over to the exit. “Fine,” he said as he pushed the door open.
Following him, I didn’t say a word when Carrie jumped up. “Bye, Malcolm! See you tomorrow maybe?”
He flashed her his famous melt-your-panty smile. “Maybe, Carrie. Have a good day.”
She practically melted at his words, causing me to roll my eyes.
Well, his leg was feeling better, considering he was walking full speed to his truck.
“Malcolm, do you want to tell me what’s wrong? Why are you acting like an ass to me right now?”
He lifted his hand. “Not now, Paislie. I’m not in the mood to deal with you and your nagging.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and stood there as I watched him walk to his truck. He threw his bag into the back seat and got in the driver’s side and pulled out.
My heart raced in my chest and I wasn’t sure if it was from his words or the look on his face when he drove off.
Sophie’s voice could be heard coming from the kitchen as I walked in and laughed at the sight before me.
“Oh wow. What happened in here?” I asked as I looked at Clarisse.
She shook her head and said, “Sophie felt like making brownies. Needless to say, when she turned the mixer on high and dumped the flour in, I wasn’t ready.”
I covered my mouth in an attempt to hide my smile. “Did you need help cleaning up?” I asked.
She gave me a thankful look. “That would be amazing.” She turned and dropped down to Sophie’s level. “How about you go put on a movie, and I’ll call you when it’s time for more mixing and baking.”
“Okay!”
Just like that, Sophie bolted from the kitchen and headed into the family room.
“Oh, Clarisse! I’m so sorry this happened,” I said as I started to clean up the flour.
She shrugged. “I don’t mind really. It’s been nice having little Sophie in the house. Makes it feel alive.”
I nodded. There had been plenty of times I dreamed what it would be like to have a child with Malcolm. The way he was with his niece made my heart melt every time.
After a few moments, I got up the nerve to ask Clarisse if she had seen Malcolm. The last I had saw him was almost six hours ago when he pulled out of the parking lot of the gym.
“Hey, have you seen Malcolm?”
“No, I haven’t seen him all day. I figured he was with you.”
I tried not to show my anger, but deep down I was pissed as hell that Malcolm dismissed me like he did and drove away leaving me standing in the parking lot.
I sucked in my lip as I bit down on it. “No. He was a bit upset earlier.”
“Oh, really? Why?”
With a shrug, I answered honestly. “I’m not really sure.”
“Well his parents will be here soon for dinner, so he better get his butt home.”
My heart dropped. I still had a sneaking feeling Shirley didn’t like me very much. She tried to be polite, but something was off. If Malcolm left me stranded here to deal with his parents, I was going to hurt him.
“Do you need help with dinner?” I asked with a hopeful eye. I desperately needed something to do to keep my mind from swimming with thoughts.
“Only if you want to occupy your mind.”
With a chuckle, I put my hands on my hips and asked, “How do you do that? How’d you know I needed to keep my mind busy?”
She gave me a wink and said, “Experience my child. Experience. Now grab a mixing a bowl. I’m going to show you my secret recipe for one of Malcolm’s favorites. Chicken and dumplings.”