“Speaking of,” Will interjected, leaning forward and thrusting her hand out to Caleb. “I’m Willow Haven, Mac’s sister.”
Caleb took her hand and dipped his head. “Willow.”
No familiarity there, no automatic shortening of her name. Which meant Hudson didn’t talk about Havenbrook in the general sense. Just her.
But she wasn’t thinking about that right now.
“You can ignore her,” Mac said. “It’s how I’ve spent the past hour.”
“Lord, you’re such a damn grouch tonight,” Will said.
“Just to you, sister dearest.” Mac batted her eyelashes at Will before tossing coasters down in front of Lilah and Caleb. “Y’all need dinner menus too, or you just in for drinks?”
“Menus, please,” Lilah said.
Mac plucked them from beneath the bar. “What can I get y’all to drink?”
Lilah pointed to the chalkboard by the register proclaiming Campfire Crush as their featured beverage. “I’ll have the drink of the week, please.”
“You got it. How about you, Caleb?”
“Got any local IPAs on tap?”
“Sure do. Gimme a sec.” With a pat to the bar top, Mac turned and fell into the familiar movements, mixing and pouring as she ran a scrutinizing eye over the rest of the customers parked up to the bar, making note of who needed refills.
Once she’d placed Caleb’s and Lilah’s drinks in front of them, she made a circle at the bar, refilling drinks for a couple patrons before grabbing a bill to settle it.
She strode toward the cash register, near where her pain-in-the-ass sister sat, chatting with Lilah and Caleb. Or mostly Lilah. Caleb seemed to do a whole lot of watching and listening, especially where Lilah was concerned.
With her back to them as she focused on the POS machine, Mac asked, “So, where’s Hudson tonight?” And then immediately kicked herself. She didn’t care. Didn’t care at—
“Miss me, Kenna?” At the sound of his deep voice, her entire body erupted in goose bumps, and she snapped her head toward him.
He slid onto the stool between Lilah and Will, propped his elbows on the bar top, and leaned toward her. “You know, you could’ve saved my ego a whole lot of bruisin’ if you’d told me your plans tonight meant you were workin’. I spent the past two hours—” He abruptly cut himself off, shaking his head and glancing down.
Spent the past two hours…what? Trying to figure out how he was going to walk in and see her wasting her life away behind a bar? How he’d hide his disappointment at all she hadn’t accomplished in her life? At all she’d thrown away after he’d left?
Except…she hadn’t told him she was working there. Hadn’t told him about any of her random jobs over the years to save herself from hearing the long-distance disappointment in his response.
She furrowed her brow, cocking her head to the side. “You knew I worked here?”
He hummed in affirmation. “I hear you’re as much a draw as the atmosphere, booze, and burgers. Can’t talk to Momma without her mentioning whatever cocktail of the week you’ve thought up and how delicious they always are.”
How lovely. He was out dodging bullets and IEDs, and Marianne was jabbering to him about how Mac tossed a few ingredients together and came up with a catchy name so they could charge a buck more for the drinks.Definitelyin the same realm. She shot Will a pointed look, which her sister studiously ignored.
“That’s…well…” Mac cleared her throat and tossed a coaster in front of him before grabbing a menu and handing it over. She wasn’t sure there was anything more humiliating than waiting on your ex-…something, who just so happened to be a real-life superhero, but if there was, she hadn’t yet lived it. “What can I get ya?”
“You know what I like.” The way he said it, all low and rough, brought her back to a night years ago when he’d used that same voice while he’d been inside her. Eyes locked with hers, hips rocking together, breath comingling between them…
Her breathing quickened, her eyes never straying from his, and it felt like they were the only two people in the room.
At least until her sister squeaked and then tried to cover it up with a loud cough. Then Lilah said, “Ew…is that your sex voice? For the love, Hud, don’t do that around me.”
That, of course, caused everyone else to break into laughter. Everyone except Mac.
She pressed her lips together in a bland smile, strangling her libido through sheer force of will. “Not sure I know what you like anymore.”
The thing with having spent a lifetime as best friends before Hudson had left meant he could read her, even after all this time. He stared at her for a long, tense moment, his eyes darting between hers, head cocked to the side. Studying. Assessing.
