I Want You Back (Want You #1)(40)

Lucy was . . . dating?

Why the fuck hadn’t she mentioned that little fun fact to me?

“Maybe because it’s none of your business,” Nolan answered.

Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I sent Mimi a sideways glance, but she was too busy stuffing her face to point out my f-bomb slipup. But I couldn’t keep from grilling her. “How do you know your mom is on a date? She told you?”

“Huh-uh. I heard her and Aunt Lindsey talking about it.”

“Do you know the guy’s name?”

She shrugged.

“Do you know how many dates she’s had with him?”

“Jax,” Nolan hissed. “Stop.”

“What? I’m just expressing interest in—”

“What’s clearly not your business, bro. If Lucy had wanted you to know about her private life, she would’ve told you.”

I leaned in. “Which is exactly why I’m having this conversation with my daughter, to find out more information about this fu—”

Mimi looked at me.

“Fellow,” I amended. Christ. I hoped my smile came off as reassuring to her and not as menacing as it felt. “Have you ever met this man?”

“Nope. But I don’t think Aunt Lindsey likes him.”

Now I was getting somewhere. “Why would you say that?”

“Because she called him a pencil-neck geek.” She cocked her head. “What is that?”

“That is not a nice description for a man,” Nolan inserted.

“Has anyone ever called you that, Uncle Nolan?”

He coughed. “Uh, no, but I have been called far worse.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing worth repeating.”

My gaze landed on my fitness watch. Eight twenty. Lucy and Mr. Pencil-Neck Geek were likely in the middle of dinner.

Or in the middle of something else.

No. I would not think about some other man’s hands on her body. I would not imagine some douchebag’s mouth on her soft skin, searching for all those secret spots that drove her wild, spots I was already intimately familiar with. I could not fathom some dickhead looking into those molten brown eyes as he drove his—

“Jax,” Nolan said sharply.

“What?”

His expression said, “Take it down a notch,” but his mouth said, “Mimi asked you a question.”

I unclenched my fist and my jaw and forced a smile to my lips. “Yes, sweets?”

“Do you think I should call her on my new cell phone?”

“Absolutely. But let’s text her first so she knows to answer when your number shows up.”

Nolan muttered something that I ignored.

“But . . . I don’t know how to text.”

“It’s easy.” I scooted my chair closer. “I’ll show you. And you can even add these cool little pictures called emojis that’ll really get her attention.”

Nolan pushed away from the table. “That’s it. I’m out.”

I smiled at him. Must not have been my nicest smile, because the smarmy fucker took a step back. “But you’ll miss all of the fun.”

He bent down and kissed the top of Mimi’s head. “Now you have my number, girlie-girl. Call me if you need me.”

Mimi grunted her response and then exclaimed, “Is that a mermaid and a unicorn?”

“It sure is.”

Another gasp. “Daddy, there’s even a hockey stick and a hockey net on here!”

“I know. You go ahead and use as many of those emojis as you want in your message.”

“I’m sending it right now.”

Nolan snagged his gym bag and scowled at me. “This antagonism will come back and bite you in the butt, Jax.”

I lifted a brow. “And yet you’re the one bailing so you don’t have to face Lucy’s wrath about the little ‘safety device’ you gifted your niece.”

He smirked. “I’ve perfected my timing for an exit strategy in all situations. Later.”

“Okay, Daddy, she just sent this text back.”

I peered over Mimi’s shoulder and saw a string of question marks. I didn’t bother to mask my grin when I said, “Go ahead and call her now.”





Seven





LUCY




Normally I didn’t answer my cell phone during a dinner out.

Then again, my normal wasn’t usually dinners out, without my daughter, on a date.

But as a mother, I needed quick access to my phone in case Jax called, which was something Damon understood.

Damon didn’t understand why I blurted out, “What the ever-loving fuck?” a little too loudly when a text message came through from my daughter, from her cell phone . . . because the girl didn’t have a cell phone. Or she hadn’t had one when I’d kissed her good-bye twenty-four hours ago.

“I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“Lucy?”

“What?” I snapped as I typed a string of question marks in the text window.

“Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is absolutely not okay.”

“Could you keep your voice down?”