Page 7 of The Only Heart that Matters

Why does she hate him so much?

I catch myself examining his features to see if there’s any resemblance to a certain two-year-old, and I curse under my breath.

What the hell is my problem?

How am I not over this by now?

I’ve spent the last two years scanning the faces of every man in Goose Hollow, wondering if they could be Sawyer's father. It’s a real shitty pastime. One I’m not proud of. But when I think back to the night she told us she was pregnant—the desolate expression on her face and the humiliation in her eyes only visible for a brief moment—I can’t help myself.

The need to shatter the skull and rip out the heart of the man who made her feel less than. Unworthy. Well, that need still hasn’t left me. The man who isn’t here helping her emotionally or financially. The same man who isn’t giving Sawyer the father figure he needs and deserves in his life.

Whoever he is, he better hope I never find out.

Chapter Four

Mia

“Woo hoo!” Daisy yells as the song ends.

It must be the twentieth song in a row we’ve danced to. The sweet country songs didn’t last long and party music has been fueling the energy for the last hour. We’re both out of breath and sweaty. And I’m happy! So happy! I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun! However, the last time I was out at a bar I wasn’t a mom. In my previous life, dancing and jumping around with three beers in my belly wouldn’t have affected me the way they have tonight.

“Daisy, I am gonna pee my pants! Be right back!”

“Okay, make it quick!”

Maneuvering through the crowd of people, I round the end of the bar to the hallway that leads to the restrooms and stumble as I run into a line of women who got here before me.

Shit!

Bouncing from one foot to another, I glare at the back of a guy who walks by and right into the men’s room, because, of course, they don’t have a line.

When the same guy walks back out and our line has only moved a few inches, I’m seriously contemplating sneaking into the guys’ bathroom when I feel a warm body behind me. I nearly melt when warm fingers gently wrap around my elbow and a deep voice whispers in my ear.

“Come with me before you pee on my floor.”

Okay, not the sexiest thing ever said to me, but it is the first time Angus has ever whispered in my ear. Feeling his breath in my hair does things to me that leave me wet for all the right reasons.

“What?” I ask, tossing my hair over my shoulder like I’m in a shampoo commercial.

What is with me tonight? I’m just so extra.

One side of his mouth lifts, because I’m ridiculous, but he can laugh at me all night if it brings the light to his eyes that we so rarely see since he came home.

“Come on, Goof. This way.”

He turns and I follow him behind the bar and through the kitchen. I watch him unlock a door at the back and after I’m over the threshold, he shuts it and locks it behind him. The sound of the music is gone and his proximity in the dark space is overwhelming. But with the flip of a switch, the darkness vanishes. An overhead light illuminates a set of stairs he’s taking two at a time.

Holy shit.

He’s taking me to his loft.

I’ve heard many tales of ladies who have had the night of their lives in Angus McKinnon’s loft. But that’s all they usually get, one night.

“You can use the bathroom in my place. Trust me, it’s a lot cleaner than the ladies’ room downstairs. I don’t know what you all do in there, but by the end of the night, it’s fucking disgusting.”

“Right?” I carefully take one step at a time. “I will never understand it.”

Once we reach his loft, he spins on his booted heels and opens his arms up wide. “Well, here we are. Home sweet home.”

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