“You’ve already slept with him. There’s nothing left to look like. Just, you know.” She moved in close and whispered, “Take him.”
“Take him?” She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, take him. Right. I’ve already told him he didn’t have to be so careful, but…”
Kat winked. “You go, girlfriend. But how are you holding up without a plan? You’re not like that. Overplanning is how you manage.”
“I’m trying to not be that person.”
Kat put her cheek next to Brianna’s and whispered, “I’ve got news for you, hon. You are that person.” She patted Brianna’s cheek. “That’s why you’re so great at being a mom. You think ahead in ways I never could.”
Brianna sighed. “You know, while I was at the park with Brianna, I thought about Hugh the whole time.”
“Yeah, and?” Kat blew a bubble with her chewing gum.
“And...I’ve never done that before, thought about being with a man when I’m supposed to be thinking about my daughter. I don’t want to be one of those women whose mind is somewhere else when her child needs her.” Brianna wiped her hands on the towel that hung from her belt. “It felt weird.”
Kat shook her head. “You really have lived in a boxed-off mommy world for too long. Every parent thinks of other things or people when they’re with their kids. That’s normal, Bree. Just ask Mack. He’ll tell you.”
Mack walked behind Brianna to the far end of the bar. “Ask Mack what?”
“Mack, when you’re with your daughter, what do you think about?” Kat crossed her arms and smacked her gum.
Mack had a daughter two years older than Layla, and he and his wife, Tami, had been married for ten years. “I don’t know. Sports. The bar. My wife. Why?” He grabbed a large bottle of liquor and walked past them again toward the back room, stopping beside Brianna. “Something going on that I should know about?”
Brianna rolled her eyes. “No.”
“She’s thinking of a guy when she’s with Layla,” Kat said.
“Kat! Jesus, can’t I have any privacy?” Brianna covered her face so Mack wouldn’t see her cheeks flush again.
“What guy?” Mack asked.
“The guy from the other night,” Kat explained. “Patrick Dempsey’s look-alike.”
“Oh my God, Kat. Really?” Brianna pushed past Mack and went into the stockroom. A second later, the door opened and Mack walked in.
“You okay?” He leaned against a metal shelf and crossed his arms.
“Yeah. Fine.” She grabbed two bottles and headed for the door.
Mack put his hand on her arm and lowered his chin. “Bree?”
She sighed. “Okay, fine.” She set down the drinks. Mack was the closest thing she had to a big brother, even though he acted more like a father, and she knew she could trust him. “I went out with Hugh, the guy from the other night, and I really like him. A lot.”
He crossed his arms and pressed his mouth into a tight line. “You know who he is?”
She nodded.
“I figured it out at about two in the morning after I met him. The name clicked.” His eyes searched hers. “Capital Series driver.”
“Yup.”
“Bree, that’s a fast crowd. You sure he treated you okay?” His eyes softened.
“Yeah, Mack.” She leaned on the shelf beside him. “Better than okay. He’s probably the nicest guy I’ve ever met.” She smiled up at him. “Besides you, I mean.”
He nodded unconvincingly.
“Mack, he’s careful with me, and protective, but not overly possessive, and he’s always concerned about Layla and not messing things up for us.”
“Just promise me you’ll be careful and be smart. I’d hate to have to kill him if he hurt you.”
Brianna leaned against his side. “Thanks, Mack. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything, you know that.”
“Am I weird?” She watched his eyes shine with laughter, then grow serious.
“What do you mean?”
“Kat thinks I’m weird because I'm used to giving Layla my full attention. I just don’t want to be one of those women who slights her kid, you know? But I also don’t want to be some kind of freak who isn’t relatable. I don’t want to turn around when she’s eighteen and have been so blocked off that even she thinks I’m weird.” She sighed. “I wish parenthood came with a handbook.”
Mack put his arm around her. “Don’t we all? You’re weird, Bree—that’s for sure—but not a bad weird. We’re all a little weird. I’ve watched you raise Layla since she was a baby, and you’re a little overly focused, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.” He started to reorganize the bottles on the shelves. “You spend all of your time with Layla or at work. All your brain thinks about is what you know, right? So since Layla was born, you’ve been thinking about work and Layla. You talk with Kat, or go shopping, or whatever, spend time with your mom, I guess. But that’s a really small piece of your life. Suddenly Braden shows up.” He winked at her.
She couldn’t help but smile.
“He comes into your life, but you’re so focused on this safe world you set up for yourself and Layla that you don’t really know how—or if you want to—venture outside of that world. So now you’ve got life over here.” He waved his left arm. “And over here.” He waved his right arm. “And in the center are you and Layla. You’re playing a game of tug-of-war. But, Bree, that game is all in your head, because every day your daughter goes out into the world with her friends. She laughs; she plays; she does schoolwork. She’s growing up and learning, but you…” He frowned and narrowed his eyes. “You don’t give yourself a chance to expand your own life experiences.”
“So what are you saying? I should join more of life and forget about doing the right thing by my daughter?”
“No. Definitely not.” He took her hand and led her away from the shelf. “Bree, you’re twenty-eight. You’re still a kid yourself. You deserve to fall in love, have fun, learn, take pictures, for God’s sake. You used to do that all the time.”
“My camera broke.”
“You know what I mean. Being a good mother and being a woman don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Look at Tami. She’s a mom, but she’s also a woman, with me and in general. She gets her hair done, she goes out with friends, and she still comes home and loves us all up. And I think it makes her a better mother by doing those things.”
Brianna sighed. “So why do I feel so guilty?” She covered her face.
“Because you’ve been perfect—and weird—for a very long time. And because you care. Trust your instincts, Bree. If Braden isn’t the right guy for you, you’ll know it in your heart. If he is…” He shrugged. “You’ll know that, too. But you have to start by allowing yourself to be a woman. It’s okay to think about a guy you like while you’re with Layla. I’d worry you didn’t like him very much if you didn’t think about him. Especially this early on in a relationship.”
She sighed. “Thanks, Mack. Why is it that when you explain it to me, I get it, but when Kat says it, I feel like she’s just pushing me to go out and have fun?”
“Because I’m old and she’s young. And with age comes a false facade of being wise.”
Brianna arched a brow.
“Or some shit like that.” He laughed.
The door opened, and Kat popped her head into the stockroom. “Bree, lover boy is here.”
“He’s here?” Oh my God. I look like hell. She reached up and patted her hair.
“You look beautiful,” Mack said with a smile. He looked at his watch. “You’re on break anyway. Go.”
HUGH HAD WAITED all day to see Brianna, and as she came through the stockroom doors, he felt a flutter in his chest. It took all his willpower not to sweep her into his arms and kiss her right then and there.
“Hi.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.
“Hi. What are you doing here?” Her eyes darted around the bar, and he realized that Mack and Kat were both watching them.
He released her hand and nodded at Mack, then waved at Kat. “I know you only have twenty minutes, but I thought I might monopolize at least fifteen of them.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sure.” She pulled the towel from her belt and set it on the bar. “Let me get my jacket.”
He watched her walk away in her curve-hugging jeans and flat-bottomed boots. She was so damn sexy, and she didn’t even know it. Even her Old Town Tavern T-shirt made her look like the most exquisite and seductive girl-next-door he’d ever seen.
They walked down the street hand in hand. Hugh had been trying to be respectful of her time, her space, and her reputation, and even though she’d given the green light to their intimacy, he still held back. Hugh was used to moving fast, and he worried that if he let his true emotions take control, he might smother her—or worse, scare her off completely. He had to test the waters.