I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford #2)(20)

“Do they keep to themselves?”

“Hell no. They’re always all up in everybody’s business. Especially mine.”

“Well, man up! Let them in. You need friends. Non-football friends for your non-football life.”

His eyes lit with anger, and she knew she’d struck a nerve. She’d meant to. He was too good a guy to become a hermit in his thirties.

“I’m not setting you up with one of them,” he said again as he took a sip of beer.

“But if you were going to set me up…”

“God. I’d forgotten how incapable you were of dropping stuff. Okay, fine. There’s a guy with dark hair and blue eyes, and his jaw could be considered…chiseled.”

Mollie fanned herself. “Name?”

“Lincoln Mathis.”

“Marital status?”

“Single. Jesus, you think I’d set you up with a married man?”

“Handsome?”

“Sure, Mollie. A total dreamboat.”

“Dreamboat, Burke?”

She could have sworn she saw him flush. “My mom uses the phrase.”

Oh my God, you’re cute. “Speaking of your mom, did she tell you that she dyed her hair pink for a day after losing a bet to one of her bridge friends?”

Jackson blinked in surprise. “Sure she told me, but how do you know about that?”

Mollie shrugged. “She mentioned it on the phone the other day.”

“You talk to my mom on the phone?” He looked stunned.

“Well, not like every day or anything,” she said, feeling uncomfortable. “But we keep in touch. I like her.”

Jackson was staring at her, and Mollie squirmed. “I guess I can stop if that’s weird for you.”

“No,” he said quickly. “It’s just…I didn’t know. I bet she loves that. She always wanted a daughter, and it’s not like…you know.”

Mollie did know. It wasn’t like Madison had been much of a daughter.

Mollie hadn’t witnessed much of Madison and Jackson’s early courtship; her sister had always made a big deal about not wanting to introduce a man into Mollie’s life until Madison was sure the man was there to stay. Back then, Mollie had thought this was sweet—had bought into her sister’s pretty words that Mollie had had too many people abandon her for Madison to put her through it again. It wasn’t until years later that Mollie wondered if Madison hadn’t merely been trying to plant put-a-ring-on-it thoughts in Jackson’s head.

But regardless of Madison’s motives, Mollie knew that in those early years Madison had been perfect, doting daughter-in-law material. But Jackson’s mother had once let it slip after one too many lemon drops that Madison had changed once the ring was on her finger. Subtly at first, being a little less considerate, a little more impatient. By the time Jackson and Madison had reached their three-year anniversary, Maddie had taken to claiming a “stomach bug” on major holidays to avoid the Burkes.

Jackson had tried to pretend that he was okay with it—that he understood family dynamics were hard for Madison because of the way she’d grown up. But Mollie knew it ate at him, knew that he desperately wished that the three most important people in his life had gotten along.

“Thanks,” Jackson said gruffly.

Mollie’s head shot up. “What?”

He lifted a shoulder. “For staying in touch with my mom. She always liked you. Although why she didn’t tell me you guys were all chatty is interesting.”

“She probably knew you were going to get weird about it,” Mollie said pointedly. “As far as her liking me, what can I say? I’ve got a knack with the sixty-and-older set,” she said with a little wink. “Now, if only the twentysomething guys were as easy to charm as your father. Say, like these Oxford guys.”

He groaned. “Drop it.”

“Fine. But if my eggs dry up, it’s on you.”

“You’ll find someone, Molls,” he said, his voice a little gruff. “Your mate-for-life worm, or whatever is out there.”

“Eh.” She waved her hand. “I’m guessing I’m going to have to relax my stance on that.”

Jackson frowned. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that my eyes are open on that whole mate-for-life thing. I mean, when I was twenty, it was easier to focus on the scant few species that are loyal, but I’m twenty-eight….” She shrugged. “I just don’t know that monogamy’s all that realistic an expectation.”

He stared at her for several moments. “That’s bullshit. And pardon me if I want to pound every single jackass who’s had you believing you’re not deserving of a man’s loyalty.”

Um, what? This, from him? Really?

Mollie’s hand faltered a little as she reached for her beer, and his eyes narrowed. “What? What’s that look?”

She bit her lip and waited until the movers, who’d just reentered the apartment carrying a stack of boxes, had gone down the hall to her room.

“What, Mollie?”

She blew out a breath. Other than the wee crush on him she’d had back in the day, Mollie had never kept a secret from this man, and she wasn’t inclined to start now.

“Okay, it’s just…it seems a little hypocritical coming from you,” she said, the last words coming out in a nervous rush.