Sweet Burn (25 page)

He wanted her dead?

Not scared or running, but
dead
.

Sol didn
’
t say anything for a moment, just pressed the gun harder into her temple. She wished a bruise or a headache was all she had to worry about.

“You don
’
t want to beg? Scream for help?”

“I—” Was that croak her voice? Because right now, God, she
’
d do whatever it took to make it out of her dumpster alive.

“
She doesn
’
t need to. She has me.” Mack exploded through the open gate, clocking Sol hard with the baseball bat she kept under the bar as his palm swung up, slapping the gun away from her head. The crack of his fist followed up his words with a one-two punch to the jaw. Sol
’
s head snapped back, slamming in to the metal side of the dumpster. Everything got mixed up for the next couple of seconds as Sol collapsed slowly toward the ground and she got into the action, kneeing him in the balls. Just to make sure.

“Jesus.” Mack ran a hand over his head, staring down at the man lying on the ground at their feet. “You are such trouble.”

He opened his arms and she fell into his embrace.

It seemed to take far too long for Sheriff Hernandez to make her appearance and haul Sol Herring away. Mimi sat on the bench outside Ma
’
s and tried not to count the minutes she could have spent doing something else.
Being
somewhere else. The red-and-blue lights of the police cruiser flashed off Ma
’
s window, making the police presence at her place hard to miss. She
’
d be the star of Strong
’
s evening gossip yet again, but strangely she didn
’
t care one way or another. She
’
d spent a lifetime trying to make people talk, but right now all she felt was an enormous sense of relief. Maybe that chapter of her life was finally closed.

She just hoped the chapter with Mack
’
s name all over it wasn
’
t.

She looked over at him. He was doing his Grim Reaper impression, arms crossed over his chest while he stared after the police cruiser. She definitely got the feeling that he wished his fight with Sol had gone on for far longer than it had. That was his fault, she decided, for handling Sol as efficiently as he did everything else. Two quick, hard rights and her assailant had been out for the count on the pavement. And, if she
’
d kicked the guy in the ribs (not hard enough to break anything, but just enough to make herself feel like she
’
d contributed), well, that was their secret. Some things, Sheriff Hernandez did
not
need to know.

“It
’
s over,
” she said, when the silence had stretched on too long between them. When he didn
’
t say anything, she tried again.

“He
’
ll go back to prison. No more parole for him.”

“You
’
re free to get on with your life.” He didn
’
t sound happy about it. In fact, he sounded downright grumpy. Huh. The note of irritation in his voice had possibilities. He didn
’
t sound like he was jonesing to hit the road.

“I get it,” he continued as the good sheriff pulled out. “You don
’
t need me to keep an eye out for you. You
’
re done playing sleepover and I can go away now.”

Wow.

That was so
not
what she
’
d had in mind.

“Apparently we have really different definitions of
marriage
,” she said.

“Absolutely,” he agreed promptly. “
Mine doesn
’
t include
bigamy
.”

“
We don’
t know that I committed bigamy,” she grumbled.

“But there
’
s apparently a possibility,” he pointed out ruthlessly.

“Well, yes.” She stared up at him, wondering what her next step should be. He didn
’
t look thrilled at the possibility that they were actually married. That observation started a little frisson of anger uncurling in her. He
’
d asked her to marry him. In fact, he
’
d been downright insistent. She looked down at her rings, pointed the right way out. The stones flashed in the light.

Too bad for him if he
’
d come down with a case of cold feet now.

Eddie had gotten cold feet, once they
’
d driven back to Chicago and he
’
d gotten an earful from his family about the kind of person Mimi was. He
’
d been perfectly happy to throw in the towel on their three-day-old marriage and walk away. No harm, no foul, he
’
d said to her and she
’
d agreed because, really, what else was she supposed to say?
Stay with me and give
us
a chance?

In retrospect, that probably would have been the better choice.

She hadn
’
t fought for Eddie. She
’
d let him tell her what the future of their relationship was. They
’
d been young. Maybe, the marriage would have ended anyhow. Or not. Until someone invented a time machine, there was simply no way to know. It didn
’
t matter any more, she realized with some surprise. Eddie was her past. Mack…he could be her future. She snuck another peek at his face. Nope. His face was carved in stern lines, his whole body radiating aloofness.

No surprise.

She
’
d fucked up. She
’
d pushed him away. So… now it was up to her to do the right thing and make the first move. It would probably involve groveling. Begging. And an apology. Damn it.

He turned his head and looked at her when she huffed. She hated apologizing. “Problem?” he asked.

Only if he wasn
’
t accepting apologies today. “
You coming up?
” She hesitated, with a foot on the bottom of the stairs leading up to her apartment.

He didn
’
t move. “Is that an invitation?”

“Yeah.” She started up the stairs, feeling his eyes on her butt, her back. He hadn
’
t said
yes
, but he also hadn
’
t said
no
, either. She could work with that. As soon as they were inside and the door closed, she considered her next move. Not having much experience with apologies, she had no idea what the best venue was. Should she sit him down on the couch? At the kitchen table? Taking him to bed seemed like the most fun, but she had a feeling that then she wouldn
’
t be doing much apologizing. Just a whole lot of kissing and moaning. Those were good things—and she had every intention of getting there with this man—but she owed him the truth first.

“Mimi—” He stopped in the middle of the living room, so she took that as her cue. No bedroom for her yet.

She waited a beat, but he didn
’
t say anything more. Her turn. “I screwed up.”

She tilted her head back to watch his face. She felt like she had four pairs of arms, a dozen hands and no idea where to put any of them. The three feet between her and Mack yawned as deep as that abyss thingie on the ocean floor. She was also more than a little afraid of falling in and never coming back up. But for a chance at Mack… she was going to give it a shot. It would help, though, if he cracked a smile or opened his arms for her or did anything but stare back at her.

“Uh-huh,” he said levelly. “And?”

Damn it. He was going to make her work for it.

“I should have told you about Eddie and being married. You wanted to get married and—” She stopped.

“And what?” He was definitely not feeling cooperative.

“I wanted you to have what
you
wanted.” She shrugged.

“Jesus.” He closed his eyes briefly. “You married me to throw me a bone? To make me
happy
? How on earth did you think that was going to work out?”

She sighed.
“That
’
s part of the problem. Is there any chance you could hold me now?”

She could
feel
his sigh, despite the oceanic trench separating them. “Come here.”

He didn
’
t move, but he opened his arms. She fell into them. She probably should have given him sexy sashay or held his eyes as she crossed the distance towards him, but all she could think about was getting where she wanted to be. Where she
needed
to be.

“I
’
m holding you,” he prompted, his arms closing around her as she buried her face in his chest. He smelled so good. “Tell me about this problem.”

“
I don’
t think so much when I
’
m around you.” She swallowed. Shit. Maybe they could do all their talking tonight and just live in blissful silence for the next ten years or do. “All I do is feel. I love you.”

His arms tightened more and that was when she knew it was going to be okay. His cheek brushed the top of her head and she burrowed deeper. “That
’
s why you married me?”

She had to be honest with him, she reminded herself. “Yes, but I didn
’
t know that. My first marriage—it was more disaster than not. We were young and stupid.”

“And in love,” he said and she nodded her head. That had been true, too.

“
We were,
” she agreed, “but it wasn
’
t enough. We weren
’
t prepared to work at the being married part or to do much of anything once we were out of bed.”

“I
’
m fairly certain I have zero interest in hearing about your sex life with the man you loved.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“My family was pissed as hell. I
’
d always been the wild child and that was the final straw for them. I was selfish and emotional and determined to upset the family apple cart. That meant that I needed to go. They didn
’
t want me around anymore.”

“They said that?” Now he sounded pissed and that made her happy. It was going to be the two of them taking on the world, for better or for worse and all that crap. And, she had a feeling that she
’
d be giving Mack plenty of crap in the years to come.

“I failed them. I was no poster child.”

“They failed you too.” He sounded certain. “If we have a daughter some day, she
’
ll always be able to come home. We
’
re going to do plenty of yelling and crying, but we
’
re going to do it with love.”

Definitely certain. God, she really did love him.

“Can we be done talking now? Unless perhaps you want to tell me you love me? Because I
’
m out of words and I
’
ve got a perfectly good bed going to waste in the other room.”

He grinned. “I love you. Should we have a code word?”

The only code words she knew were from a mercifully brief experiment with bondage. That had so
not
been her thing.

“Eager to get in touch with your kinky side?”

“A code word for a hug.” He smoothed his hands over her hair. “In case you feel too vulnerable.”

She liked that idea. Plus, Mack looked like he
’
d rather have his fingernails pulled off than keep on discussing their feelings. Knowing he found this as uncomfortable as she did was somehow immensely cheering. They were a good fit for each other.

“I love you,” she said again. She
’
d probably be saying those three words at least once a day for the next fifty years or so.

“
Thank God.
” Mack swung her up in his arms and headed for her bedroom. She hoped. The kitchen didn
’
t hold any appeal right now, unless Mack had some kinky kitchen table fantasies of his own.

He looked down at her. “We
’
ll take what we
’
ve got and we
’
ll make it work. We don
’
t have to make our marriage look or work like anyone else
’
s.”

“Perfect,” she said and then he took her to bed and proceeded to show her just how
perfect
he could be.