Hold On Tight(47)

“Hey, little man. Ready for the best burgers you’ve ever eaten?” I asked him.

He frowned. “Do they have mac ’n’ cheese on them?”

The kid was obsessed with mac ’n’ cheese. And as a matter of fact, I’d had mac ’n’ cheese added to his burger.

“Yours does,” I told him. His little eyes went wide and his grin got wider. “YAY! Momma, Dewayne got me a burger with mac ’n’ cheese on it!”

I looked up just as Sienna walked into the living room from the kitchen. She was wearing another pair of leggings and a baggy T-shirt over them. No makeup and her hair was up in a ponytail. If this was her trying not to act like she wanted to impress me, then she didn’t know me that well. Because her looking all comfortable and clean was sexy as hell.

“He has you all figured out,” Sienna said, smiling down at Micah before looking up at me.

She smiled at me shyly and had that look women got when they wanted something more. Shit! Shit! Shit! I had told her we were just friends. That what we’d done didn’t change anything.

“Um, you two can go ahead and eat. I’ve already eaten, and I’m going to go take a soak in the tub. Enjoy your visit.”

Or maybe not. She was escaping. I didn’t want her to escape. I wanted to hear her laugh and see her eyes light up. I also wanted to make her smile. And see her eat. Dammit.

“You don’t like burgers?” I asked, trying to think of a way to keep her in here.

“She loves ’em,” Micah offered.

“I got you the best,” I told her.

She looked like she wanted some but was fighting it. Was it because she couldn’t look at me? I didn’t like that. I wanted her comfortable with me.

“You didn’t eat nothing but a few pretzels with peanut butter, Momma.”

The kid was telling on her. Which was funny and was giving me leverage.

“You don’t have to eat the whole thing, just eat some. I know you don’t eat a lot.”

Micah looked up at me and frowned. “Yeah, she does! She can eat lots more than me. She normally eats a whole burger, fries, and a piece of pie.”

Then why the hell had she picked at the pizza? Was it really because of the “average” comment? I’d straightened that out already. Hell, after last night she shouldn’t have any concerns around me.

“Gotta keep those curves in place. It’d be a shame for them to disappear,” I told her.

“What curves?” Micah asked.

Her eyes went wide. She looked over at the bags in my hand and let out a sigh, then smiled. “Okay. I’ll eat. It smells delicious.”

Score.

Micah started telling me about his day at school, and I tried like hell to listen to him and not focus on his mother sitting down across from me, eating her burger like it was the best thing she’d ever put in her mouth. She’d clearly been starving, from the way she was eating. I hated that she’d picked at her pizza the other night and had been hungry. All because of my dumbass comment to my mother.

“And Mama T said I could come over to her house and stay the night again soon. We’re out of school Friday and Mama T said I could stay with her ’cause I don’t want to stay at day care. Her and Grandpa Dave’s house is more funner.”

“More fun,” Sienna corrected him.

“Yeah, more fun, and so maybe I could stay the night tomorrow night. I told Momma, but she said she’d have to talk to Mama T first.”

I had no doubt my mother would take Micah any time he wanted her to. My dad, too. When Micah had called him Grandpa Dave the other day, he’d had to leave the room because he’d teared up. My dad wasn’t a crier. Seeing him get emotional like that wasn’t something I was used to. Once again it made me feel like I owed Sienna Roy the world. She’d been alone and scared, but she’d had Dustin’s baby anyway and she’d been a damn good mom. All on her own. Micah was the healing I didn’t think my parents would ever find. Because one young girl was brave enough to be a mother without a family’s support around her.

My chest ached and something fierce settled in. I had to protect this woman. Even if I was protecting her from myself. I wanted her to have nothing but happiness in life. She deserved that. More than anyone else I knew, Sienna Roy deserved the best life had to offer.

And the best wasn’t me.

“And I bet that Momma could go on another date with Mr. Dodge.” Micah’s comment snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Mr. Dodge hasn’t asked me out again, Micah,” Sienna said to her son while setting drinks down in front of us.

“Then he’s an idiot,” I said. The dude had stepped way up out of his league with Sienna.