“But I know what you really are. I know how amazing of a person you are and how wonderful of a mother you are. And I’m not giving up on you. I don’t know what bullshit you’ve been dealt in your life, but I’m not like any of those people from your past who let you down. You will trust me one day, beauty, and until that day comes, I’ll be here waiting.”
Taking full advantage of her stunned silence, I leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her gorgeous lips.
“Now, let’s get back to the party. We’ve got two five-year-olds in serious need of cake.”
We’ve got two five-year-olds in serious need of cake.
Not you....WE.
That one little word was like a wrecking ball to the walls I had surrounding my heart. This man loved my kids. And despite my warnings, he still insisted in believing in me, no matter what.
I didn’t see how it was going to be possible to keep that man at arm’s length for much longer.
The truth was, I was falling hard for Brett, and it terrified me. One more hit to those well-constructed walls and they were going to come crumbling down around me.
Past
The day I met Lance I thought my life had changed for the better. I’d been waiting tables at a local restaurant when a handsome, older man came in and sat at one of the tables in my section. I could recall thinking that I’d never before seen such a handsome man in all my life. His dark, hard and chiseled features, his icy blue eyes framed by long dark lashes were all beautiful enough to draw my immediate attention. But it was that perfectly straight, white smile that had me enamored.
“H-hi,” I stammered as I stepped up to the table. “Uh…Can I help y-you?”
I kept my eyes trained on the floor, feeling awkward and frumpy in my waitress uniform standing next to him in his fancy three-piece suit.
“You know what would really make my day?” he asked, his voice sending a shiver through me. “If you’d let me see those pretty eyes of yours.”
There was no stopping the huge grin that spread across my face. I slowly lifted my head to see him grinning back.
“There they are. So beautiful. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Mackenzie,” I replied shyly.
“Well, Mackenzie, I’m Lance. Nice to meet you.”
For the rest of his meal, he made a point to start a conversation with me any time I’d stop at his table for a refill, or to drop off his plate. He asked for my suggestion on what to order. He asked how I liked waitressing. He seemed thoroughly interested in everything about me. I told him about wanting to be a nail technician and one owning my own salon. By the time he’d finished eating, I was completely smitten with him. So when he asked me how old I was, my heart sank because I knew I’d never see him again when he found out I was only a teenager. He was a lawyer. He was well aware of the trouble he’d get in for dating a minor.
“Hey, why the sad face? What happened to my beautiful smile?” Lance asked me when he saw my frown.
“I-I’m only seventeen.” I spoke softly, too nervous to meet his clear blue gaze.
“How much longer until you turn eighteen?”
I quickly looked up, surprised by his response. I was so certain he’d brush me off when he found out how young I was, even though my life had already made me feel so much older than I was.
“Three months,” I answered, my voice full of hope.
“Well then, it looks like we’re just going to have to spend the next three months as friends. You see, I know a good thing when I see it. And, Mackenzie, something tells me you and I were meant to meet each other.” His smile was so charming I felt my heart squeeze. “I feel a strong connection to you, Mackenzie. Don’t you feel it?”
“I do,” I breathed, stunned that he felt the same thing I was feeling.
“Good. Until then, I’d love to get to know you, sweetheart. What do you say?”
I nodded, grinning like a little schoolgirl. I felt it down to my bones. Lance was the man who was going to make my life better.
The next three months were heaven. Lance came in to the restaurant as often as he could, just to see me. He even bought me a cell phone so we could talk at night after my parents had gone to bed. I’d talk to him about how miserable I was and how I just wanted to escape, and he’d tell stories of all the wonderful things he’d show me when he got me out of that godforsaken hell hole. He was going to take me on trips, show me the world. He talked about putting me through school and buying me my very own salon. He said he wanted nothing more than to spoil me every chance he got, and how, when we were married, he was going to make my life so happy I’d never leave him.