Not Broken: The Happily Ever After(66)

“What! No! No, Macy it wasn’t that at all.”

She frowned at me. I got up to help Shawn get in the jumperoo, since he was trying to climb in it. I picked up London and carried her with me to the couch after he was situated.

“So, what then?” she asked, repositioning herself when London crawled from my lap to hers. Macy gave her one of the crackers to chew on.

After all our years of friendship, I knew when she was prepared to let things go and when she wasn’t. This was the latter. She was my best friend, yet I’d been so closed off that I couldn’t even bring myself to confide in her.

“It’s me okay. I...I have issues. Panic attacks.”

“Oh my god, Lee! Since when?”

I looked over and gave her a weak smile. “For a while now. Since right after…everything.” I started twirling the ring around my finger.

She slid over on the couch to sit closer to me then reached out for my hand. “You never said anything.”

“Didn’t want anyone to know. So…the thing with me and Mal…I had one while he was around. Then, basically, I got mad at him for seeing me like that.”

It was a seriously edited version of events, but I felt somewhat relieved at letting her know a little of what was going on with me.





Chapter 36


Malcolm





Ginger wasn’t standing at the door when I parked my truck. She’d normally be standing on her porch waiting, yet I stood on the other side of the mahogany door waiting for her to answer it. I was getting ready to knock when I heard the click of the lock followed by the rewarding sight of her.

Ginger stood chewing on her bottom lip, then graced me with a nervous smile. “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

My eyes traveled the length of her body. She wore one of those dresses that looked like a button-down shirt. The dark blue color looked great against her skin tone. It was loose fitting, but the thin brown belt helped to accentuate her waist. The dress stopped mid-thigh, and she wore a pair of knee-high brown boots. Women in boots; I always thought it was a sexy look, the way they seemed to elongate the legs, and gave their asses a little more lift. I was a sucker for a woman in a nice pair of boots, but my Ginger in them was on a whole other level.

She started smoothing down the front of the dress. “Is this okay? I can change. Actually, I did already three times, but if you don’t like it—”

My laughter cut off her nervous rambling. “Baby, you look fine. Better than fine.” I stepped forward and placed my hands on her waist. “But if you like, we can go inside, you can try on more outfits while I watch, but then I don’t guarantee we’d make it out of the house.”

Innuendos were risky, because I didn’t want her to think I was expecting anything sexual from her tonight. I wanted things to be easy and fun, just us hanging out like old times, and flirting was part of that.

She smiled. “Let me get my purse.”

She turned to walk away, and I took pleasure in watching the seductive sway of her hips. I had high hopes for tonight. Progress had been made. She’d opened up to me more in the last few days and I wanted to keep that going. I wanted her to trust me, trust in my feelings for her.

“All set.” Ginger reached behind the door, and the porch light came on. “So, where are we going?” she asked after she locked her front door.

“The Last Laugh.”

“What’s that?”

I opened her car door. “It’s a comedy club, lounge type of place. They have open mic night on Saturday. Hopefully, they’ll have some funny people tonight.”

“Can’t wait.”

I ran my finger along her jawline. I wanted to kiss her. The moment she’d opened the door, I’d wanted to kiss her, but I wasn’t sure I trusted myself.

“Buckle up.” I stepped away and shut her door. “Best behavior, Malcolm,” I reminded myself as I walked around to the driver’s side.

“Were you just talking to yourself?” she asked with a laugh.

“What? No. Maybe.” We laughed as I cranked up my truck. “You have control of the radio.”

Ginger started pressing buttons on the touch screen console, trying to find a station she liked. “What did you say?”

I cast a side glance at her. “I didn’t say anything.”

“When you were talking to yourself. What did you say?”

I gave a short laugh. “I was reminding myself to be on my best behavior.”

“Why would you need to do that?”

I looked over at her, and let my gaze traveled down to her legs. I reached for her hand, and brought it to my lips as I returned my eyes to the road. “Because I have a dirty mind, and a very active imagination.”

“Oh.”

“You asked.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod.

“What if I rather have your normal behavior? I don’t want you to treat me differently, Mal.”

I thought about how to respond. Things were different, she was different, so it was inevitable that how I treated her would change. “I get that, but you can’t expect me not to take a different approach.”

“Mal—”

“Let me finish. You’re not just Macy’s friend any more, Ginger. You’re my girlfriend. I now can act on all those dirty things that run through my head about you. Mostly.”