Page 93 of Mace
He gets out the car, and I take a moment to get myself together before I join them. I’m pretty sure my eyes are wild because my sister gives me a knowing look before ducking her head and smirking.
Composing myself as we walk into the building, I have no idea how I’m getting through this meal without feeling like I’m being tortured.
Mace leads us over to a table, and my brother and sister sit one side while I take the chair next to Mace.
His huge body blocks me in, giving me a sense of safety that I have never felt before. If this is all we’re ever going to be, then it will be enough. It has to be. At some point, he’s going to realise how much trouble I am and that I’m not worth the effort.
He’s not exactly going to stick around when I have a screaming baby at home and all my time is spent workingto provide for Ivy and her child. If he had any sense, he’d run now.
I keep my smile in place as he hands me a menu and I scan over the prices. Shit. This is expensive, and considering Mace treated me last time, and I’m assuming he bought the meals we had at the clubhouse, I really should get his this time.
“Maybe we should just get some stuff from the supermarket and make something back at the clubhouse,” I suggest.
I can feel the weight of my siblings’ gaze on me, but it’s Mace who speaks. “Why?”
“Because I’d just feel better doing that.”
My brother and sister close the menus, placing them back on the table. They know the score, but Mace hands them back to them. “Pick whatever you want. You’re only allowed one cup of coffee.” He points to my sister. “Ain’t good for the bun you’re bakin’.”
Ivy slides her gaze towards me, a hint of amusement there as well as something else—a softness maybe—that I haven’t seen from her since she started dating Link.
“You’re such a killjoy,” Ivy mutters, but I hear the thread of humour in her voice.
“You want a healthy baby, don’t you?” She nods. “So, only one cup of coffee.” Mace turns to me, handing me back the menu I’d placed on the table. “Your coffee ain’t limited.”
I don’t take the menu from him, my gaze locked on the table. Fuck, this is awkward. “You can’t keep paying for things and sorting all my problems. I’m not your responsibility, Mace.”
The air is so tense, it’s suffocating. Mace blows out afrustrated breath before he slips off his seat. “We’ll be back in a second.”
I’m not sure what he means until he grabs my wrist and tugs me towards him. I have no choice but to follow as he steers me to a corridor at the back of the restaurant that leads to the toilets.
As soon as we’re out of sight, he backs me up against the wall, his huge frame pressing into my space. My body twitches, my pussy craving his touch, and to my complete embarrassment, I let out a needy moan.
Fuck. What the hell is wrong with me?
His hand presses against the wall at the side of my head as he dips his face close to mine. My heart flutters as I lift my lashes to look at him.
“What’s going on with you?”
“You mean besides my sister being in an abusive relationship and pregnant, you coming back with torn-up knuckles which I assume means you beat him up, besides missing my first day as manager, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t set the best example, and the fact I can’t even treat us to breakfast? What could possibly be wrong, Mace?” I ask with a smile on my face to take the sting out of my words. My world is a mess, and none of that includes the problems I’m having with Bernie.
“All of that shit ain’t a problem. Not anymore.”
“All of it is a problem. I’m barely feeding my brother and sister, and in seven months’ time, I’m going to have a newborn baby to take care of as well. Babies need things. They need lots of things. And then you bring us out to breakfast and the prices on that menu make my eyes water. I don’t have the money for things like this. When you said we were going for breakfast, I assumed we’d geta breakfast roll for a few pounds each. I can’t even pay for the three of us, let alone treat you. I am so tired and scared, and I can’t keep doing this. I just want to lie down and stop, but I don’t have that luxury either. And I’m terrified that all of this isn’t real, that you’re going to wake up and realise the giant millstone you’ve tethered yourself to.”
He stares at me, his mouth inches from mine, his eyes scanning my face. There is a ripple of emotion that works across his face before it settles into something I can’t read. “There’s a lot to unpack there.”
“Exactly.” I press my hand against his chest, trying to push him back so I can slide out from beneath him, but Mace doesn’t move so much as an inch. “Please move.”
Am I crying?Could this situation get any more mortifying? Mace already thinks I’m a mess, I don’t need to add a breakdown.
“Baby,” that one word hits me in my chest, spreading warmth through me, “I need you to stop worrying about every little thing. Firstly, we’ll make sure Ivy has everything she needs for her baby. That ain’t an issue at all.”
“That’s not your responsibility.”
Now, I see that flash of irritation that has been building inside him that he has tried so hard to keep under wraps. “Were you or were you not in my bed last night?”
The change in direction has my mouth working before I manage to mutter, “You know I was.”