Helping Sarah

Chapter 26

Michael

The cool voice asking me a question distracted Bridgette so much that I was able to peel her hand off my stomach and move away from the cloud of cloying perfume around her.

Or maybe it was that it was a woman's voice asking the question, calling me darling, that confused her.

I loved it.

Bridgette blinked as she turned to stare at the other person at my table.

Sarah's gorgeous eyes were lit with a spark that hadn't been there a moment ago. I hadn't missed the way her eyes had dimmed as she'd stared at my ex-girlfriend, how the happiness I had seen there had vanished. I hated seeing the way she nervously tugged on her clothes and hair. But the moment Bridgette had placed her hand on my chest, the dark brown orbs had sparked almost militantly, in stark contrast to the sweet smile on Sarah's lips as she held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Sarah and this is Charlie."

Bridgette followed Sarah's gesture to the chair beside her and almost recoiled. Her wide eyes swerved back to me. "That's a kid!"

"Well spotted." My lips twitched, but I quelled the laugh, though the poorly supressed snort from Sarah made it almost impossible.

Bridgette was lucky Sarah was present. Otherwise I don't know what I would have done to get rid of this dolled up woman who refused to take no for an answer no matter how many times or how loudly I yelled it.

Her eyes flickered back to Sarah and narrowed as she took in her perceived competition.

If you ask me, the woman in the flowered summer dress that did more than just cover her bum, with her dark hair in a simple pony tail and naturally rosy lips, was the infinitely more alluring of the two.

Clearly my ex didn't agree. Her lip curled and she stepped close to me again, one hand gliding down over the front of her dress and the other placed on my stomach again, long, pink fingernails grazing me through my shirt. "You can't be serious?"

I turned fully towards her. "I beg your pardon?" My voice lowered to a tone I very rarely used. Only my sisters had heard it, when they had ganged up on me and teased me to the end of my tether. Any sane person would hear it as a serious warning.

Bridgette must have had at least a few sharp tools left in her box. She stumbled back and her hand fell. "I just meant–"

"I know what you meant." I held her gaze, my voice still furious, but forced low as this was not a conversation I wanted the rest of the restaurant to be a part of. "This is the last time I'm telling you to leave me alone. We are not going to happen again. I'm with Sarah now."

But the tools must have needed sharpening because she pressed close to my chest and tried to grab my hands. "But, Mikey–"

Bridgette's features stiffened before I could free myself and she looked down. Then screeched, "No! You little shit!"

Charlie stared up at her with utter indifference, then at the small ketchup handprint on her hip. He scowled fiercely at her and stated, "Dig'hed."

Sarah pulled his hands away and started wiping at them with a napkin. "Charlie, no. That's not nice."

"Not nice!?" Bridgette shrieked. "Do you know how much this dress costs? How am I going to return it now?!"

"Sorry." Sarah only glanced at her before she focused on her son again.

"Ugh! Nasty, stupid kid!" My ex stomped her stiletto, glared death at me, and then stalked from the restaurant with a toss of her hair.

Only when the door slammed hard enough to rattle the large windows did I let my held breath seep from my lungs. Then smiled tightly around the restaurant.