Page 8 of Comeback
She held up four fingers.
“Wow. Four,” I said.
“She just turned four,” her mom added.
“You’re getting big, aren’t you, Mackenzie?” I asked.
She nodded shyly.
I smiled at her mom. “She’s awfully cute.”
And so are you,I thought.
“Thanks,” mom said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m Emma, by the way.”
“Jack,” I said. We shook, and I felt a jolt jump from her small hand to mine. “I haven’t seen you around. Are you visiting?”
Emma paused, her eyes ticking skyward for a brief second, as if she needed to think it over.
“Sort of,” she answered cagily.
Sort of?I wasn’t sure what to make of that. I’d learned that when women were being coy with details, it meant they were hiding something. I looked for a ring on her left hand—and found a big ol’ stone.
Of course.
I couldn’t say I was surprised to see it, but a part of me soured nonetheless. The way she looked at me, all smiles and nervously playing with her hair, suddenly lost some of its magic.
“Do you live here?” Emma asked.
“Yep,” I said curtly.
I won’t lie. I still thought she was hot—and I still wanted her, bad. And yeah, it was true, a woman in a relationship didn’t exactly scare me off like they used to. The way I figured it was, no oneelsehad a problem with sleeping with taken women, so why should I? Playing by the rules for all these years had only put me at a disadvantage while everyone else did whatever the hell they wanted.
But seeing her little daughter changed things for me. Mackenzie’s father probably thought he was the luckiest guy ever, coming home to an adorable daughter and a lovely wife.Someonemight wreck his image of his perfect little family, but this time it wasn’t going to be me.
The line ahead of us had disappeared.The teenager working the food truck window called for the next customer, once, twice. Then the surly teen lost his patience and suddenly called out, “I said,NEXT!”
Emma didn’t realize he was talking to her.
“He means you,” I said, pointing at the food truck behind her.
“Oh! Sorry!” Emma laughed, her cheeks blushing as she rushed up to the order window. “There was a huge line here a second ago …”
Chapter 5
Emma
We were standing in the food truck’s crowded linewhen I suddenly heard Mackenzie’s gleeful voice.
“Mommy, look! A hockey player!”
I was stunned. It was the first time in two months she’d spoken in public—and while surrounded by strangers, no less. I wassostunned, in fact, that I almost didn’t even process what she’d said. But Mackenzie wasn’t going to let me miss it. She gripped the pant of my jeans and tugged, trying to direct my attention to the total stranger that she’d locked eyes with.
I took a quick peek.
The stranger Mackenzie had spotted was a total babe—tall, strong jaw, square chin, massive shoulders and thick arms. Luscious locks of his chestnut brown hair poked out from beneath his baseball hat, which he wore backwards.
And yes, he had a hockey stick, bulky gloves, and stood on rollerblades.
