Page 68 of Always Be Mine

Rossy?Lucy tried not to roll her eyes and instead forced herself to keep her expression neutral as Ross’s wife joined them. She threaded her arm through Ross’s and leaned against him.

“Sorry, honey. I saw Lucy and came to say hi.”

Lucy waited to see how he was going to handle the introduction of his former girlfriend to his current wife.

“Lucy used to work at the restaurant.”

“Is that right?” She turned her perfect and completely ignorant face toward Lucy and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Lucy. I’m Maria. Ross’s wife.”

I know.Lucy bit her tongue to stay quiet and smiled instead.

“I don’t bother myself with the restaurant,” Maria continued. “It’s just too busy and stressful. I prefer to stay far away and let Rossy handle all that.”

Which was why I never knew about you.Again, Lucy struggled to stay quiet. But she didn’t win a prize in destroying their marriage. Especially with a baby on the way.

“Rossy practically lives there.” Maria put her free hand on her swollen, perfect beach ball of a belly. “Which is why it took the doctor telling him I needed to have some peace and quiet for a few weeks to get him to bring me on this babymoon.”

Lucy swallowed hard. “A few weeks?”

“Isn’t it great?” Maria grinned. “Rossy rented us the most beautiful house up on the ski hill for the next few weeks. And I get him all to myself.”

Few weeks?

She was going to have to deal with him in town for weeks.

“That does sound great.” Her jaw was getting sore from forcing the smile. “I hope you enjoy your time here. But I really do need to get going.”

“Of course. It’s so nice to meet you, Lucy.”

“It was really nice to see you.” Ross reached for her.

Was he really going to try to hug her? In front of his wife? What an ass.Lucy sidestepped him. “Enjoy your stay.” Lucy breathed in through her nose and escaped into the relative safety of the ice cream shop before exhaling.

ChapterSeventeen

There wassome sort of documentary playing on the TV, but Craig had no idea what it was about. It had taken a bit for Meri to settle down and get to sleep. He knew it was his own fault with the ice cream, so he did his best to be patient and read book after book, until finally her eyes closed, and she succumbed to sleep.

By the time he slipped from his little girl’s room, Lucy’s bedroom door had been closed.

He’d toyed with the idea of knocking to see whether she’d come out and talk to him, but what was he supposed to say?“Who was that man you were talking to earlier?”

Or maybe he should just tell her that he was incredibly jealous to see the way she smiled at him.

No. Both ideas were bad. Very bad.

For the hundredth time that day, he’d wished he hadn’t looked out the window of the shop and seen Lucy talking to the man. He blamed his sister for pointing it out. And worse, for insinuating that they knew each otherreallywell.

“I can tell,” Charli said. “They have a past.”

“You can’t possibly know that from watching through a window.” Craig tried to sound casual, but he narrowed his eyes and looked harder to see what his sister had noticed. “They’re just talking.” Even as he said it, he wondered,Was this the man Lucy had cried over earlier? Was thisRoss? If it was, should he go out there? Should he?—

“Uh huh. They clearly have a past.”

“You can’t know that.”

But she did.Hedid.

Craig knew instinctively that this guy was the ex. He didn’t know how, but he knew that he was the man who’d hurt Lucy and made her cry. A combination of rage, jealousy, and protectiveness rushed through him. He put his hands flat on the table, ready to?—

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