I can’t pull my gaze off Colt, who looks like he’s seen a ghost.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks, though,” I murmur, barely registering Anna’s hug before she joins Johnny and they drive off.
Colt moves toward us cautiously, like he’s trying to gauge how bad the damage might be.
The woman beams. “Colt, honey, it’s so good to see you,” she says and strides up to him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
He doesn’t return it.At all.
The little boy glances up at me and gives a shy smile that nearly breaks me. His face, his innocence, magnifies the emptiness in my chest.
Colt gently pulls away from the woman and makes a beeline for me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders in a solid, grounding grip and kisses my temple with purpose.
Possessive.
Claiming.
Protective.
Everything in that single gesture screams—she’s mine.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice hard and clipped.
She shrugs like she has all the time in the world. “Colt, you could at least be a little nicer. After everything we’ve been through.”
I stiffen. Her words crawl under my skin.
I want to slap the smirk clean off her over-glossed lips. Her eyes rake over Colt’s body like I’m not even standing here. Like she’s already thinking about climbing him.
“Who are you?” I demand, my voice ice-cold.
She turns to me with a mock-sheepish smile. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She tosses her hair over one shoulder like this is a casual reunion, like she isn’t about to drop a bomb.
“I’m Macy,” she says.
And just like that…
My heart free-falls through the floor.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DEE
“Macy?” I blurt, my voice higher than I intend. “As in your ex, Macy? The one who broke your heart and made you shut down emotionally for years?That Macy?”
She smirks like it’s a badge of honor.
Colt pulls me closer, protective and tense. “Yeah. That’s her.”
“Nice to meet ya,” she says casually, thrusting out her hand like this is some social call. I glance at it but make no move to shake it.
“Dee, I swear, I didn’t know she was coming,” Colt murmurs, eyes searching mine.
I nod once, my body stiffening. “Why are you here?” I ask Macy, unable to hide the suspicion in my tone.
She glances from me to Colt, then down at the little boy by her side. “Can we go inside and talk?”
Nope.
