Lakeside Hero (Men Of Millbrook Lake Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cupcakes to put one at every place setting—her contribution to the meal. She sank down and wished she’d kept her issues to herself. She was the scary one—blurting out the wrong things to a man she’d known for about five minutes. She was so not ready to date again.
    After Alec slipped into a chair beside her, she turned to him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t let my preconceived notions affect getting to know you. I’m sure you’re a very nice person.”
    “Ouch,” he said on a wry smile. “A very nice person is usually a person about to get the brush-off.”
    She should brush him off. She should get up and run screaming toward the door. But honestly, she couldn’t see this man going off on her in a rage of anger or putting his fist through a wall to make a point. She couldn’t picture Alec Caldwell falling in with a bad crowd just to make himself feel better, either. He was a friend of Rory Sanderson, and that alone was the best endorsement she could want.
    “I’m only being cautious,” she finally said, a fork in her hand. “My husband and I had a volatile relationship. I can’t put my daughter through that again.”
    “You have a daughter?”
    Marla cringed and wondered why she’d bothered. Why was she telling Alec all the intimate details of her life? He probably didn’t
really
want to settle down, and she surely didn’t want to give him the impression that she was fishing for that very thing. She already had a bad history with men and she had a child, too. That child would always come first. Besides, he probably had some snobbish socialite to keep him company all the time.
    She was used to seeing somewhat-interested men turn and walk away at this point, but Marla didn’t want to put Alec in that category.
    She reminded herself again that this was just dinner at a church function, not a first date. She could be honest with Alec and get it all out there, since nothing would come of this once they walked out the door.
    “Yes, I have a child,” she finally said. “Gabby. She’s four years old and...special. My parents take care of her when I’m working or out doing things like this.”
    He took a quick sip of his tea and glanced back over at her. “If she’s as cute as you, I’d like to meet her.”
    Marla almost choked on her chicken spaghetti. “What?”
    “Don’t look so surprised, Cupcake Girl. I like children. I actually used to be one.”
    Marla’s shock turned to admiration. Alec made her laugh. That was certainly new and refreshing. But she couldn’t let him near Gabby. So she pretended in order to hide the
clop, clop
of her beating heart. “I’m thinking you might still be one, at that.”
    He smiled and winked at her. “Want me to show you my spaghetti face?”
    He moved to go for a handful of spaghetti, but she stopped him by grapping his wrist. “Don’t you dare. I believe you.”
    But she couldn’t believe he wanted to meet Gabby. He was obviously just being polite. Her daughter was adorable and well-loved, so Marla could handle most men walking away, but she wasn’t ready to subject Gabby to anything too sudden, either.
    While hearing this from Alec made her want to grab him and hug him, she had to push away that notion for Gabby’s sake. Her daughter was still too fragile for a new man in her mother’s life. Or in her life.
    He leaned close, his eyes going smoky amber. “Well then, if you believe I’m still a kid at heart, can you believe that not all warriors are hard-core and full of rage?”
    She swallowed and took a breath. “I’d like to believe that, but this is the part where most men get up and never come back.”
    He chuckled and pointed to his face. “This and my bad leg are usually the reasons most women never give me a second glance.”
    She took a sip of her tea. “I’m not good at believing things I can’t trust. It’s one of my biggest flaws.”
    “You can count on the truth from me,” he said, his gaze holding her with a warm regard.