Sucking in a breath, she came up just as Angie declared, “So I’m a little crazytown today, as my mom calls it. My day care forgot to give me my medicine this morning, so I might be a little crazy.”
If waving her arms at the end didn’t say crazy, Lucy wasn’t sure what did. Her sweet baby had been diagnosed with ADHD two years before. Getting her medicated was a feat, but they overcame it, and now Angie was flourishing. In school and in life. She was just happier and, in turn, that made Lucy happy. It wasn’t easy, though, especially when Rick blamed her for all of it. If it wasn’t enough that she was already blaming herself—because obviously there was something she could have done to make sure her baby didn’t have those problems—having her ex-husband throw at her that it was her fucked-up genes was just great.
It had been a tough couple of years, but they were good now. Rick didn’t toss it in her face as much anymore, and Angie was great. Lucy was proud of her little nugget, and when she looked at Benji, she was happy to see he wasn’t judging Angie, only smiling at her.
“It’s cool. I love crazy!”
Angie beamed as Lucy smiled. “All right, Hans.”
Benji looked confused, which made her question that he had a daughter. Anyone with a daughter had seen Disney’s Frozen at least a million times. “Who’s Hans?”
“From Frozen!” Angie said with a laugh and Benji chuckled. She then promptly started singing the “Love is an Open Door” song. Benji looked confused and Lucy just smiled. Man, Angie was a nut.
“I haven’t seen that one yet.”
“What!” she cried out and Lucy laughed. “Mommy, we have to watch it with Benji.”
“Honey, I’ve seen that movie so many times, I don’t think it would be fair to subject Benji to that. But we’ll see. Okay?”
Benji looked over at her and smiled. What surprised her, and also made her a bit breathless, was that his smile filled his whole face. He was like a happy little puppy that had just been promised a treat.
She really needed to stop associating this man with a dog.
It wasn’t nice.
But then, she never claimed to be a nice person.
His eyes were darker than a puppy’s, though, and full of something. Something dirty, maybe. As he dragged his eyes from hers to her daughter, his face broke into a happy grin. “A movie night sounds awesome. I’ll bring candy. But let’s wait a bit. Gotta make sure your mom doesn’t think I’m a weirdo.”
Angie scoffed. “She already does.”
“Angela!” Looking at Benji, her face beet red, Lucy shrugged. “Sorry?”
But he laughed. “No biggie. Maybe I can change that.”
Whoa… Lucy’s hands tightened on Angie’s bag as she got lost in the depths of Benji’s gray eyes, hot lust gathering between her thighs. If that wasn’t suggestive, she didn’t know what was. She’d been out of the game for a bit, but she knew when someone was hitting on her. And weird, puppy-dog cutie Benji Paxton just hit on her.
Felt pretty fucking nice, too.
“I’m so glad you guys came. I almost texted Jayden to make sure you guys could make it,” Benji said then, his eyes still holding Lucy’s.
Breathless, she nodded. “Yeah, Angie really wanted to come, so I moved some things around.”
“She’s the best,” Angie said, her eyes full of love for her mom. “I’m so excited.”
She was bouncing. Like, literally bouncing in place, and Lucy could only smile. “She is. Obviously.”
“Me too. Why don’t you go get ready? You know how to now, right?”
Angie nodded quickly. “Yeah, I’ve been practicing. I’m a little spotty on my stick tape, though, and getting my skates tight.”
“I can help with that,” he said with a smile.
Lucy swallowed hard, still very much reeling from two minutes ago. Apparently, she wasn’t prepared to be hit on by this guy, which was odd. Usually, guys didn’t affect her that dramatically. But the way he looked at her made her feel something, and Lucy didn’t feel. So she was still trying to find her footing. But she was on a mission.
The other reason she made sure to move things around was not only to make Angie happy but also because she had to talk to him. After a long chat with Avery earlier that day about Benji, she decided she needed to apologize to him. She had been a bitch, and that wasn’t fair. He was really good to Angie and she loved him already, so Lucy needed to man up and apologize for her actions. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to do so, but she did, and she was going to own up to her mistakes.
She knew what she needed to say to him, but the problem was saying it.
“Honey, why don’t you go get ready so I can talk to Benji?”
Angie eyed her, and so did Benji. “You’re gonna be nice, though?”
She gave her a frustrated look. “Really, Angie? Go get ready before I wear out that butt.”
Angie’s eyes widened before she glanced up at Benji. He shrugged. “I’d go.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, taking the bag from Lucy and then walking toward the bench to get ready. When she sat down, Lucy looked up to see Benji watching her.