The Day He Kissed Her (22 page)

She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal even though it was huge. “I have no idea how it tastes, but—”

He bent over and pressed his mouth to hers, a quick, soft caress that nevertheless made her knees go weak.

“Darlin’, if it tastes half as good as you do, I’ll be one happy man.” His eyes went soft, their green depths like liquid clover. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Four simple words.

And suddenly special took on a whole new meaning.

Her heart kinda sorta stopped. So did her breathing. A lump the size of Texas filled her throat and just when she managed to clear it and say something—anything to get her past this unfamiliar feeling—Liam stepped forward.

“Are you guys gonna suck face all night? It’s kinda gross.”

Lily couldn’t help herself; she started to giggle and then a wide smile claimed Mac’s mouth as he hefted the box into his arms and turned to his nephew.

“We’re done sucking face.”

Liam shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Good.”

“For now,” Mac continued as he led the way down the path to the cottage. Lily’s eyes feasted on the sight of his wide shoulders, muscular back, and, damn, those old, faded cargo shorts were dangerously close to exposing what she knew was one hell of a butt. God, he probably wasn’t wearing any—“I know you’re staring at my ass,” Mac said over his shoulder.

Wait. What?

Liam snorted and shot a look her way before running ahead of his uncle and disappearing inside.

“I was not,” she began and froze when he turned back to her. The man could stop traffic with that face and smile, and at the moment, he seemed to have stopped not only her heart but all rational thought.

“It’s okay. You can admit it,” he said with a wicked grin. “And, Boston?”

Mouth dry, she was barely able to get an answer out. “What?”

He opened the door and motioned her closer. Hesitantly, she inched forward, and when she so close that she felt his body heat right through her top, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Just so you know, I’m rocking the whole commando thing.”

Okay. Even though her heart was beating erratically, damn near out of her chest, Lily shrugged and walked into the cottage.

“I wasn’t looking.”

She glanced at Liam, who was desperately trying to act as if he wasn’t paying attention to any of the adult shenanigans, but his eyes slid away from hers a second too late. A blush stained his ruddy red cheeks as he flopped onto the sofa and reached for the television remote.

Mackenzie helped her get the salad prepared, and about a bottle of wine later, they had eaten, cleaned up the plates, and stowed the leftovers in the fridge. Mackenzie suggest a boat ride, which was the only thing that brought Liam to life, and the three of them had a leisurely tour of Crystal Lake.

They stopped in at the Edwardses’—Steven was fishing off the end of his dock and Marnie brought down coffee. They also stopped at the far end of the lake and Mackenzie explained Jake’s vision for the development. She heard the excitement in his voice, saw it in the way he moved his hands when he talked.

She liked this relaxed Mackenzie. Maybe a little too much.

They slid past Pot-a-hock Island and Lily’s entire body was near eruption status from the heat building inside her as she thought of that first kiss. Her fingers found her lips, and when she glanced up at Mac, his eyes had darkened and she knew that he was thinking about the same thing.

They didn’t speak much once Mackenzie turned the boat back toward his cottage, though his hand found the small of her back, or the crook of her neck, more than once, and by the time they got back to the boathouse, her body was thrumming with pent-up sexual need.

Liam’s face was flush with a healthy glow that had nothing to do with his sunburn—it was obvious he’d enjoyed himself. He hopped off the boat and went about securing it as if he were a pro, but when he couldn’t quite get the knot done properly, Mackenzie showed him how.

Lily stood back, watching the two of them, and after a few moments, she had to look away. Mackenzie had said family and kids weren’t for him, but, sweet Jesus, it sure looked good on him.

She wondered then, what it was exactly that shaped a person—and she wondered if a person could ever change.

“You can call your mother after you brush your teeth. And then it’s bed, Liam.”

The boys had followed her up to the cottage, and Lily leaned against the kitchen counter as Liam made a face.

“But it’s not that late.” Liam pouted. “It’s barely dark.”

“It’s late enough, and we’re up early tomorrow. Don’t forget we told O’Malley that we’d meet him at the driving range six thirty sharp. We need to be outta here by six.”

Liam tugged long bangs from his face. “We’re really going?” He seemed surprised and she could tell that it didn’t sit well with Mackenzie.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Mackenzie asked, standing a little straighter as he faced his nephew.

Liam started fidgeting with the end of his T-shirt. He shrugged. “Dad says stuff like that all the time, but it’s not like we ever do anything.”

Mackenzie strode toward the boy and ruffled his hair. “Well, maybe your dad forgets or he gets busy.”

“He’s lame,” Liam muttered.

“Yeah,” Mackenzie said. “He is. But I guess we can all be lame sometimes, right?”

Liam shrugged. “I guess.”

He gave him a gentle shove. “Bedtime. Lily and I are just going to, uh, watch some television for a bit.”

Liam gave Lily a small wave, and before he had disappeared in his room, two big strong arms slid around her. Mac pulled her in nice and close, and Lily nestled against his chest. With her head tucked under his chin, she felt his breath and heard his heart.

“Do you like playing games, Lily?”

She was content to stay where she was for the rest of the night. It felt that good.

“Huh?” Cuddling closer, she closed her eyes.

“I want to play a game with you.”

She could feel his heart beating faster, and it mimicked what was going on inside Lily. That sexual frustration from before rose up and suddenly all sorts of things were going off.

“A game?” she managed to say.

She felt him nod. “Yep, but I gotta tell you, Boston, I’ve never lost this game.”

She moved so that she could see his face, and the look in his eyes made her mouth go dry. He swooped in and slid his tongue over her lips as he slowly started to maneuver them toward his bedroom.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and she whispered, “What about Liam?”

“What about him?” His mouth pressed into her neck and she sighed. “He won’t know.”

“How can you be so…” God, his mouth. “Sure…”

“It’s the game.”

“What kind of game is that?” she asked breathlessly when he closed his door behind them.

Mackenzie tugged his shirt off and tossed it onto the ground, a wicked grin on his face. “For obvious reasons, we don’t want to make a whole lot of noise, so I propose we play the quiet game.”

His shorts joined his T-shirt on the ground; Mackenzie hadn’t been teasing when he said that he was going commando.

“The quiet game,” she repeated, her eyes on his taut stomach before they followed that thin line of hair downward. Damn.

Mackenzie beckoned her, and she walked toward him, desire pooling in her stomach. Her nipples were hard, her breasts aching for his touch. He slid a hand into her hair while the other found its way into the front of her shorts. Seconds later, he’d infiltrated her panties and his fingers were between her legs, gently stroking and teasing.

She opened her mouth, a soft moan escaping, and he slid his tongue inside and kissed her so sweetly, so thoroughly that her head spun.

“So this game,” he said, dragging his mouth away as he began to slowly blaze a trail down her neck. She let her head fall back—she let everything go slack, because as far as she was concerned, Mackenzie Draper could do whatever the hell he wanted to do with her.

Even play a game if it meant his mouth and fingers were involved.

He pressed his hard cock into her.

Oh, and there was that too.

“This game,” she said, eyes closed as she leaned into him.

“You can’t make a noise.” He nipped at the top of her breasts. “Not one little sound. No matter what I do to you, Boston, or you lose.” He paused. “And I plan on doing a lot.”

Her hands crept up into his hair, and she pulled on him until he was forced to look at her.

“What about you?”

“Same rules apply.”

She ground her hip against him, smiled when he inhaled sharply.

“So the first one who makes a noise loses?” she asked, tongue between her teeth as she felt for his cock. When her fingers found the hard length of him, the look on his face was hot enough to make her come.

“I like that,” he murmured. “You’re playing dirty.”

“I’m going to win,” she quipped, wrapping her hand around his cock as she slowly began to work him.

Mackenzie’s fingers continued their assault as they leaned back against the door. “Trust me, darlin’, even if you lose…”

He slipped two fingers inside her, but she clamped her mouth shut just in time.

“You win.”

He grinned, a wicked grin that disappeared soon after. They both got busy, and it wasn’t long after that Lily lost.

Holy hell, but she lost big time.

Funny enough, she was okay with that.

Chapter 22

Mac had always thought that he was content with his lot in life. Sure, he knew that he was never going to conform to the whole Hollywood chick-flick idea of happy. But all in all, things were good.

He had a job that he loved and one that he was damn good at. He had a nice brownstone in New York City, and a car that gave him a lot of pleasure to drive. He enjoyed season tickets to both the Yankees and the Rangers, and had more women than he knew what to do with.

There’d been a time when an ideal night for him was either dinner at some fancy restaurant with a beautiful woman and sex back at her place—always her place—or drinks after work with some of the guys from the firm, which could get out of hand, but what did that matter? It’s not like he had anyone to answer to.

If he felt like playing a game of hockey in the men’s league he’d joined or heading out of town to ski, he did it. If he wanted to do nothing but chill in his house and work on the renovations he’d started, he did that. But no matter what, the one thing that was constant in his life was that in the morning, he was alone.

That was it. All she wrote.

It was the life he’d built—the life he’d wanted—which was why he found it a little weird that having Liam around all the time kinda fit. His sister Becca had returned a well over a week ago, a little more sad, a little more broken, but at least she was officially separated from her bastard husband. And though he hadn’t suggested it or thought about it really, he’d started swinging by his mom’s every morning to pick up Liam and bring him to work with him.

The kid was bright, and he liked to learn. And funny enough, Liam liked math and he liked to draw.

Even funnier? Mac liked to teach him.

But Boston, well hell, Lily St. Clare had to be the most perfect woman on the planet. Hands down. He’d never met anyone like her.

Aside from the fact that her intense blue eyes, long, blond hair, and amazing ass would make any man happy, she had a great sense of humor and was quick to laugh. Her trucker mouth came out occasionally, and damn if he didn’t like that too. She was independent and had her own money, so she wasn’t always whining for him to buy her something.

And the sex was mind-blowing. Christ, just this morning he’d joined her in the shower and things had quickly gotten out of hand.

Mackenzie had lost control—they both had—and by the time he realized it, there was barely enough time to pull out. He’d come hard, there against the wet tiles—like a fucking teenager without any control—but Christ, she’d felt good.

Too damn good.

And for the first time since he’d come back to Crystal Lake and Lily, he was starting to think of things he probably shouldn’t think about, because there was no way any of that shit would ever work out.

It was nothing permanent that he was thinking about, Christ no, but it was something more than what they had. Like maybe Lily should be spending all of her time at the cottage. The lighting was good for her painting, and he liked the thought of her there, dressed in one of his old T-shirts, when he was at work.

The problem was he didn’t know how to proceed with that train of thought. This was uncharted territory for Mac, and considering the state of bliss his buddies were living in, it’s not as if they’d be good for any kind of advice.

Shit, they’d have him married before the end of the year.

“Like that will ever happen,” he muttered.

Yet here he was, three weeks after he’d started up with Boston, getting ready to take part in a canoe race around the lake with Lily and Liam. The Race Of A Thousand Canoes was an annual charity event put on by the church. It was a loud, bustling family event from what he could tell, which was totally different than the memories in his head.

When he was a teenager, he and Cain used to race the Edwards twins around the lake, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes once they were out of sight of Pastor Lancaster. And now, Cain was set to race with Michael because Maggie was so pregnant she was as big as a house—still gorgeous, but shit, Mac was convinced there were at least three kids in there.

And joining them in another canoe was Raine and Jake, with their hyper retriever, Gibson.

When the hell had everything changed?

“I gave Liam a cooler with snacks and stuff.” Becca stood beside him, shading her eyes as she watched Liam and Lily discuss the merits of placement. Liam was sure that he should be in the front because he was the smallest, while Lily was pretty sure he should be in the middle to even things out.

“Thanks,” Mac said. “Where’s Mom?”

Becca shook her head. “I don’t know. She got a phone call this morning and left a note saying she had to go meet up with someone.” She chuckled. “It’s not like her to be so mysterious. Maybe she’s got a boyfriend.”