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“Who you looking for?”
“No one,” Mac replied. Maybe he was seeing things, because the Coach House didn’t exactly look like the kind of place that Lily St. Clare would frequent. And if Hubber was stupid enough to bring her here, well, that said a lot about the guy.
“You’re looking in the wrong direction.”
“What?” he snapped back to Jake.
His buddy leaned back in the booth, took a good, long sip of his beer, and nodded toward the bar.
“She’s over there.”
Mac slowly turned and followed Jake’s gaze. He caught sight of Sal, his round, chubby face grinning from ear to ear as he leaned over the bar toward a sexy blond perched on the edge of a barstool. Her back was to him, but as she rose up a bit and bent forward to whisper something into Sal’s ear, there was no mistaking who that sweet, round ass belonged to.
Or the fact that nearly every male at the bar was taking a good, long look.
Mac took a step forward but paused when Blair Hubber walked up to her and placed his hands low on her back. Sal was nodding at whatever the hell they were talking about, and then she twirled around in her seat, a smile on her face.
A smile that slowly slipped away when she caught sight of Mackenzie. She moistened her lips, nodding absently to whatever the hell Hubber was saying.
Mac felt like everything was stretched thin and tight. He might have fisted his hands. Or maybe growled like an animal.
Because something hot and electric passed between the two of them as they stared at each other—something that traveled across the bar like a conduit. It hit him hard and he saw the exact same reaction in her eyes. So why the hell was she here with Blair Hubber when she could be with him?
“Have a seat, Mac. You’re making me nervous.”
Mackenzie ground his teeth together but managed to calm himself the hell down. He slid into the booth across from Jake.
“And Jesus, reign in the alpha crap, will ya? Sal will kick our asses out of here if you get into it with Hubber, and Raine will have my ass if we get into fight. From what I can see, you’re looking for trouble, but Blair is not the kind of trouble you want to look for. He’s the goddamn mayor.”
Mac didn’t give a crap if Hubber was the president of the United States, the guy was homing in on his woman, and damned if he was gonna stand by and let the slick son of a bitch win.
Jake gave him a strange look. “Is this thing with Lily gonna bite all of us in the ass?”
“Nope.”
“It better not.”
Again with the warning. Mac turned to Jake and pinned his buddy with a look that said “don’t fuck with me.”
“Lily’s a big girl, Jake. She doesn’t need you looking over her shoulder.”
Jake took another sip of beer. He paused a few seconds before answering. “It’s not Lily I’m concerned about.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Jake shrugged. “It means that you’ve never met a woman like her before, and let’s move past the physical aspect. I’m talking real-life stuff. Lily can take your shit and shovel it right back in your face. She’s no pushover. If you think you can get involved with her and have no problem walking away from that, then good. I don’t know many guys that could.”
Christ. Jake was getting all philosophical on him, which irritated the hell out of Mac. Just because his buddies had found “true love” and were happy to settle down with one woman didn’t mean that Mac had any of that in his future.
And it sure as hell didn’t mean that he wanted it either.
“Jesus, Jake. I just wanted to come out for a drink and chill. What’s with the Dr. Phil?”
“I’m just looking out for you,” Jake replied, raising his mug in the air.
Mac did the same. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m good.”
He took a swig of cold beer and glanced back over to the bar. Jake was right about one thing: he needed to dial it down. He needed to come up with a plan.
