Free Just My Type by Erin Nicholas Page B

understand his obsession with whether she ate, but she liked shellfish. “I could probably eat scallops or something.”
    “You will eat scallops or something,” he said firmly. “You need to eat and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat a burger.”
    “You probably haven’t.”
    “That’s weird. Who doesn’t like cheeseburgers?”
    Sara shuddered. “Me.”
    “Maybe you just haven’t had a good one.”
    “I don’t want one. Maybe I’ll try scallops.”
    “You order them or I’ll order them for you.”
    Mac often got bossy with her but never surly. She hoped the uncharacteristic behavior was due to sexual tension. If it wasn’t now, it would be.
    “Sure, let’s go eat,” she said, with a big smile. “Scallops sound good. Thanks, Mac.” He looked suspicious—she just couldn’t win—as he escorted her down two more blocks and then around the corner. “The cabby said this place has great food.” Mac held the door open for her.
    She looked at the front of the dilapidated building off the main street. “The cabby? Why don’t I go back to the spa and ask them…”
    Mac took her elbow and steered her through the doorway of the tiny restaurant that held ten empty tables. “Because I want to eat real food that comes in a proportion that might have a chance at filling me up and won’t cost me a month’s pay.”
    Sara pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She’d never thought about finances where Mac was concerned. He was a single guy with no major expenses as far as she knew. Truthfully, she didn’t know 48
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    much about Mac’s lifestyle outside of what he did for a living. Since her brother did the same thing she knew quite a bit about it and how much it paid. She knew about the time he spent with his friends since all of those people were also her friends. Oh, and of course she knew about his romantic liaisons. Or, at least she knew what she overheard and inferred.
    She knew his parents had been killed in a car accident when he was in college. She suspected that was part of his bond with Sam since he was the only one of Mac’s friends who had also lost both parents. But she didn’t know about his hobbies, or if he had investments, or if he was paying off college loans or out-of-control credit cards, or if he had siblings.
    “Do you have brothers and sisters?” she blurted as Mac steered her to a small corner table and held her chair out. She didn’t sit, but stood watching him process her question.
    He shook his head. “Only child.”
    “Welcome! Please sit.” A young boy, of fifteen or sixteen, approached from the general direction of the kitchen. He laid menus on the table, but Sara barely noticed him. She continued to stand, staring at Mac, feeling she couldn’t let this moment slip away.
    There were things about him that she wanted to know. She’d never met any of his family or any other friends besides the guys that were as much a part of her life as his.
    “Do you have grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins…”
    “Grandparents are gone. Yeah, a few of the others. But my family is the guys, and you and Jess, and Danika now.”
    For some reason, Sara felt her throat tighten and her eyes sting. She’d known it, of course. Everyone in their group felt the same way. They were all closer than a typical set of siblings and any one of them would do anything for the others. But hearing him say it, with the look he had in his eyes and that tone in his voice, made her homesick suddenly. She loved all of those people so much.
    The waiter continued to hover near the table, clearly confused about why they weren’t sitting.
    “We’re going to need a minute,” he told the boy. The waiter moved off, but neither Mac or Sara even blinked.
    “You don’t really think of me as a sister, do you, Mac?” she asked in a whisper. No teasing, no flirting, she just needed to know.
    “I did. For a long, long time, princess.”
    “I know. But