I Want You Back (Want You #1)(53)

I wrapped my arms across hers and leaned back, keeping our gazes locked in the mirror. “What happened, Linds?”

“Just another week where nothing panned out as I’d hoped.”

“A bad date?”

“It has nothing to do with a specific guy and everything to do with the fact I don’t have a man in my life.” She set her chin on my shoulder. “I thought I’d be married by now. Or at least settled in a long-term relationship. So every guy I’m even remotely attracted to . . . I wonder if I really like him, or if I’m so tired of waiting for Mr. Right that I’ll settle for any man who’s not a total jackass. Plus, my biological clock is ticking. I want a baby, but I don’t want to do the whole parenting thing on my own for so many years like you did. And like Mom did.”

“If you decide to go that route, you know I’ll be here and eager to help out any way that I can.”

Lindsey teared up. “Thank you. That’s still one of my biggest regrets, following dickhead to Milwaukee after Mimi was born and not being here for you.”

“I know. We’ve moved on from that. Put the past in the past, where it belongs.”

“Are you doing that with Jax for Mimi’s sake? Or for you on a personal level?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I don’t know Jax well. I never did. It was easy for me to hate him and his behavior in solidarity with you.” She paused. “But you never hated him, did you? Not even when he pulled all the bullshit with custody and fighting you on child support payments.”

“I was mad and hurt and worried about Mimi’s future, but no . . . I never hated him. How could I when the person I love most in the world shares half of his DNA? It’d be like hating half of my daughter.”

“You’re so much nicer than me,” Lindsey groused. “I hold a grudge forever. That little fucker Mikey Speerbraaten? If I saw him walking down the street, I’d jump outta my car and dick-punch him for cutting off my braid in second grade.”

I snickered. “I’d pay money to see that, sis.”

“Sorry for that digression. I’m just asking you to be careful, okay? Jax is hot and he’ll be living in your damn building. It’d be convenient to start up with him again.”

I started to deny it.

But Lindsey steamrolled right over me. “Don’t deny your attraction to him—I saw how you two were together. The man is sex on legs, and when he turns that charm on you, it’d be easy to get sucked in. He may act differently, but who’s to say that he has changed? But the good news is if he does hurt you again I know where he lives and I’d have no problem dick-punching him.”

“You’re welcome to try,” Jax drawled outside the bathroom door.

Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

I couldn’t freaking believe that Jax had heard all that. My cheeks flamed, my heart sped up and I wanted to tit-punch my sister for having zero filter and kick my own ass for forgetting—once again—that there was another person in my apartment.

“Oh, hey, Jax. We were just talking about you,” Lindsey said without missing a beat.

“So I heard.” He leaned against the doorjamb.

“Is eavesdropping a new skill you’ve practiced too?” I asked, somewhat crossly.

Jax’s eyes met mine in the mirror. “I wasn’t listening in. I just got off the phone with Nolan, and it seemed to be taking you for fucking ever to get ready, so I came to see what the holdup was.” His gaze traveled over my face, then he gave the rest of my body a thorough once-over before those stunning eyes reconnected with mine. “You look incredible, Lucy.”

I wasn’t expecting that or the way my body heated from his sexy perusal. “Thank you.”

“We’ve gotta get going. I still need to stop at my place and change before we check out those facilities. I figured it’d be better if we met Mimi early and talked to her together about what happened last night before we see the rest of the family.”

“Good idea.” I brushed past him. If Jax could ignore the elephant in the room, I could too.

But of course my sister couldn’t. I heard them speaking in fierce whispers, followed by Jax’s sharp bark of laughter.

I truly didn’t want to know what had transpired between them, so I didn’t ask.





Ten





JAX




The next couple of hours were so busy I didn’t have time to obsess about the conversation I’d overheard between Lucy and her sister. It wasn’t Lindsey threatening to dick-punch me that’d stuck in my mind; it was that Lucy hadn’t denied her attraction to me. Nor had she refuted her sister’s accusation that it’d be “convenient” getting intimately involved with me again.

On one hand . . . that was insulting.

On the other hand . . . I’d be anything Lucy needed, including convenient, if I had even the tiniest opportunity for a second chance with her. Now that I suspected that she wouldn’t slap me, knee me in the balls and yell, NO FUCKING WAY, WE’RE NEVER, EVER, EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER, if I let her know how I felt when the time was right, my outlook was vastly improved.

Lucy wandered through my apartment as I quickly changed for brunch. She didn’t spend much time in Mimi’s room besides a cursory look to see if the kid had made her bed and picked up her clothes. No, Lucy seemed to scrutinize everything else. The few pictures I’d put up, the reading material and DVDs on my bookshelves, the contents of my fridge and cupboards (I heard Miz Snoopy opening and closing cabinet doors). When she slipped into the main bathroom, I knew she was rifling through drawers and cabinets, searching for items that indicated I’d had female overnight guests. I wondered if she’d be relieved or disappointed her search would come up empty. The only female who’d stayed overnight in my apartment since I’d moved in was Mimi.