We have so much work to do with you. My heart bleeds for her.
“Will you please consider going home with either Mac or Chase tonight? They will keep you safe, and you can think about how you want to proceed.”
“This is my home.”
“I know.” I nod again and wrap my arm around her too-thin shoulders. She’s horribly malnourished. “Both options are frightening. You don’t have to have all of the answers tonight, Bonnie. But I think it would make you and your sons feel better if you were somewhere safe.”
“How did this happen?” she asks blindly, shaking her head in despair. “We always had such a good life together. I don’t understand.”
“All you can do is focus on right now and where you want to go from here.”
She swallows and looks up at the guys. “Would it make you feel better if I went home with you?”
“Yes,” they both reply immediately.
“I have a guest suite,” Chase says, and squats in front of his mother, taking her hands in his. “You can stay with me for as long as you want.”
“Okay.” She nods and looks around as if she’s a bit lost. “I guess I’ll need to pack a bag.”
We all help her pack up about a week’s worth of clothes, some toiletries, and the book she’s been reading from the library, and it’s not long before she’s locking the front door and following Chase to his car.
Before she gets in, she turns to Mac and hugs him tightly. “Thank you so much.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too.” She pats his cheek and smiles up at him. “You’re a good boy.”
Chase laughs good-naturedly. “It’s an act, Mom.”
“He is a good boy,” she says as she lowers herself into Chase’s car and slams the door closed, still talking as they drive away.
Wordlessly, Mac takes my hand and leads me to his car. We drive back to our building in silence. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I’m just plain tired. This has been an emotional evening.
He walks me to my door, and when he would walk away, I take his hand and lead him inside.
“Come here.” My voice is soft. The room is dark, except for the light coming through my windows, and I lead him to my chair. He sits, and I sit on the coffee table in front of him, my hands on his thighs, watching him closely. “Talk to me.”
He shakes his head and wipes his hands over his face, then lets out a long, hard sigh. “I can’t believe you talked her into going with Chase.”
“I think she wanted to all along, she just needed to be given permission, and the reassurance that it didn’t mean it was forever.”
“Thank you.” He scoops me into his lap and buries his face in my neck. His voice is raw, his hands grip me tightly, as if he never wants to let go. “I don’t know how to thank you for this.”
“Mac,” I reply, and tip his face back so I can look him in the eyes. “This is what you do for someone when you care deeply and are in a relationship with them.”
He stills for a moment, blinks twice, as if he’s processing that statement, then pulls me in for a tight hug. I don’t know if I’ve just scared him off with the relationship comment, but damn it, it’s true. We’ve been seeing each other for weeks, almost every day. He is the best part of my day, and if that alone isn’t the definition of a relationship, I don’t know what is.
And I’m ninety-nine point seven percent sure I’ve fallen in love with him. It scares the ever-loving fuck out of me, and I will not say it to him yet, but it’s real and it’s there. We have all the time in the world to figure it out.
“Mac?”
“Hmm?”
“She’s going to be okay. It’s going to take time, but she will come out of this better than before.”
“I hope so. She used to be so strong, so full of life.” He shakes his head. “It’s like the light inside her just went out.”
“It’s been a tough ten years,” I remind him. “How long have you been giving her money?”
“She started asking about five years ago,” he replies. “Chase and I used to own the Bar None chains.”
“I love those,” I reply happily, shocked that he and his brother used to own them.
“Thank you. We’ve done well for a while. About two years ago, we sold the bars to a company that wanted to expand them, and paid us handsomely to do so. After that happened, Mom started coming to us more often asking for help.
“It’s been in the past year or so that we’ve paid all their bills. Chase was giving Mom a little cash here and there so she could put gas in the car, get her hair done, things like that. But Dad found it and started stealing it. So the cash stopped.”
“His illness is severe,” I reply. “Of course you know that.”
“He refuses help. If he’d swallow his pride and get some help, he could start selling homes again. The market has bounced back now, and he’d make a good living, but he’s caught in this horrible cycle.”
“He has an addiction,” I reply simply. “It’s not as easy as deciding to talk to a counselor and stopping. It’s as bad as if he was an alcoholic, or a drug user. He needs to go to treatment.”
“Chase and I would pay for it in a heartbeat.”
“It’s not the paying for it. Your dad has to decide that he wants to get better. Until that happens, he won’t change.”
“She’s not going back to him, not like that.”
I smile and drag my fingertips down his cheek. “This has to be so hard on you, to watch a woman that you love choose to be in a relationship with a man so broken. You can’t decide any of this for her.”
“And that makes me crazy,” he replies, smiling ruefully. “But you’ve helped more than you can possibly imagine.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“You’re amazing, Kat, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you decided to brave that plane ride to California. I can’t imagine my life without you, and I don’t want to.”
“I’m right here,” I reply, doing my best to soothe him.
We sit here, staring out at our city, for a long time. We don’t sleep. We don’t speak. We just watch the lights twinkle on the hill, holding on to each other. I’ve never felt so close to another human being in my life. He says he’s thankful for me, but that goes both ways. My heart is in this, all the way.
And that scares me the most of all.
As I look back on my relationship with Sam, I realize that I was the one doing all the work. I wanted a relationship. I wanted to feel normal, for once in my life. I wanted him to love me and respect me and be everything that I’ve read in books for so many years.
And the reality wasn’t even close. So I left him and chose to keep any physical relationships with men light. It’s just sex. I have a very full life with my friends, and our business. Adding a man to the mix just always seemed like too much work.
And now I don’t know what I would do without him. Without the way he calms me, makes me laugh, makes me feel.
Yes, it’s scary, but I don’t want it to ever end.
“Wake up, Red.” There’s either a mouse walking across my cheek or Mac is kissing me.
I’m seriously hoping it’s not the mouse because I’m deathly afraid of them.
“Come on, sleepyhead.”
“Time is it?” I ask, and open one eye, relieved to see Mac sitting on the bed. He’s holding a steaming cup of coffee and smiling down at me. He’s also fully dressed.
“It’s still early, just a little after seven.”
“I’ve only been asleep for three hours.”
“I know, and I’m sorry about that, but I brought you coffee.”
I stare at him out of my one eye, the other is still asleep, and take a sip when he presses the mug to my lips.
“Mm, good.”
“I’m learning how to make your coffee just the way you like it,” he says proudly. “I need you to pack a bag.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to take y
ou somewhere special.”
“I don’t need to pack a bag to go to the roof.” My other eye opens now and I sit up, taking the mug from him.
“A different something special,” he says, leaning in to give me an Eskimo kiss. “Will you go with me?”
“I have to work—”
“It’s been taken care of,” he says quickly. “I’ve been up for a little while, making calls. I’ve got it all covered. All you have to do is pack a bag and get in the car.”
I blink at him, still waiting for the caffeine to kick in.
“Are you awake?” he finally asks.
“Okay.”
“Okay you’re awake, or—”
“Okay, I’ll go.”
His face lights up in pure happiness, so I lean in and kiss him on the lips. “Do we have to leave right away, or do we have time for some sexiness?”
“We should leave,” he replies, and buries his fingers in my hair. “But there will be plenty of time for sexiness once we get there.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, then.” I hand him the half-empty coffee mug and drag myself out of bed. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
We’ve been on the road for thirty minutes. Mac still won’t tell me where we’re going, but we’re heading west, so we must be going to the beach. We can only go so far until we end up in the ocean.
I’m sitting quietly, reading, letting him be with his thoughts. He’s been unusually quiet since last night, but I imagine I would be quiet too if I had something similar go down with my parents.
“You’re quiet,” he says.
“That’s ironic, I was just thinking that I should leave you to your thoughts,” I reply. “How are you today?”
“Better,” he says, and signals to pass the car ahead of us. “Why do people drive so slow on this road?”
“Because it’s curvy.” I shrug. “Have you talked to Chase today?”
“Yeah, he said Mom slept like a baby all night. He was going to take her out to breakfast, and then they were going to do some shopping.”
“That’s great.” Mac takes my hand and kisses my fingers. “I’m glad that she’s doing well.”
“Me too.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“You haven’t guessed?”
“Well, I’m assuming the beach, but there are lots of those on the Oregon coast.”
“Cannon Beach,” he replies. “I own a condo there.”
“No way. That’s my favorite beach.”
“Good.” He smiles, then glances down at the Kindle in my lap. “I’m always the one reading to you. Let’s change it up. Read to me for a while.”
“Okay.” I turn it on and begin to read. This is a romantic suspense, but I’d just started reading the sexy part when he interrupted me. So, I pick up where I left off, describing a very detailed sex scene in a shower. This author is explicit with her language, and I glance over to see Mac’s hands white-knuckled on the wheel.
“Do you want me to stop reading?”
“You’re fucking killing me,” he growls. “But keep going.”
My lips twitch, and then he says, “And the shower is now on my list for this weekend.”
“Oh, good.” I chuckle, then continue reading. The hero lifts the heroine and pins her against the wall of the shower, and it’s hot.
I think I’m starting to sweat.
I quickly learn that this suspense novel is heavy in the sexy department. It seems they’re having sex on every other page, but that could just be because Mac and I are in a confined space, and I want him.
Now.
I’ve wanted him since I woke up this morning.
He reaches over and rubs his hand up and down my inner thigh. His little finger grazes over the sensitive skin this close to my pussy, and my voice catches as I struggle to keep reading.
“Are we there yet?”
“Keep reading,” he says, his voice rough. I do as he says, and he keeps his hand on my thigh, setting my skin on fire.
“Mac,” I finally say in desperation, “I can’t read this stuff to you when you’re touching me like that.”
“I didn’t ask,” he replies, and it only makes me hotter. That look in his eyes, the hardness in his voice, makes me nuts.
So I keep reading, and try to ignore his hand, which is completely impossible. Because this is Mac we’re talking about, and he might be the sexiest thing ever invented.
Ever.
Finally, we pull up to a building and he cuts the engine. We both clamor out of the car and rush to his door.
“We’ll get our things later,” he says as he fits the key in the lock.
“Good plan.”
But rather than pin me up against the door and fuck my brains out like I expect him to, he pulls me into the living room, bends me over the end of the sofa, and yanks my skirt up around my hips.
“I need this, and you’re going to give it to me,” he says with a growl.
“Hell yes,” I reply, and cry out when he buries his face in my pussy, licking and sucking, and makes me come so hard I see stars.
I’m grasping at the cushions trying to hold on as I ride out the aftershocks, and suddenly he stands up. I hear him open the condom, and the next thing I know he’s inside me, filling me up and pressing me even harder into the couch.
“You make me fucking crazy,” he says, bending over me to speak into my ear. He sweeps my hair to the side and bites my earlobe. “You’re so damn sexy. Hearing those dirty words come out of your gorgeous mouth made me harder than I’ve ever been.”
“Now you see why I love it when you read to me,” I reply, and gasp when he fists my hair and pulls back. It’s hovering on just this side of pain, and it’s fucking amazing.
“I never get enough of you,” he says. God, I love it when he talks like this. His voice is pure gravel, and makes me tingle everywhere.
He pulls out and guides me onto my back on the sofa, spreads me wide, and plunges back inside me. He’s holding my legs up, his hands wrapped around my ankles, and he’s watching as he moves in and out of me.
So I reach down and rub my own clit, smiling with pure female satisfaction as his eyes dilate and then close. He bites my inner calf, then kisses me there before bracing my legs on his shoulders and covering me with his body.
“So sexy,” he whispers against my lips.
“It just gets better every time,” I reply, gripping onto his ass.
“You feel so fucking good,” he groans, and I can tell he’s close to his climax. I push up and clench hard, just as he buries his face in my neck and comes, rocking against me, the pressure from his pubis making me come with him.
As we both return to earth, the uncomfortable position registers in my head and I push against his shoulder. “Can’t breathe.”
“Sorry,” he says, rolling onto the floor and bringing me with him, breaking my fall and cradling me on his chest. “Better?”
“Hmm.” I kiss his shoulder and brace myself on my hands so I can smile down at him. “I need to read to you more often.”
“I don’t think my heart can take it,” he says, shaking his head. “If you’d said ‘cock’ or ‘fuck’ one more time, I was going to pull over and fuck you on the side of the road.”
“Well, that’s something to shoot for on the way home.”
He grins and slaps my ass. “You’re my kind of girl.”
Chapter Twelve
~Mac~
“Let’s go down to the water,” Kat says a little later, after I’ve had my way with her in the shower. I just can’t keep my hands off of her. I haven’t been this turned on by a woman in . . . ever.
“I’m game,” I reply, and watch her lazily as she pulls on some clothes and slips her feet into flip-flops. “You won’t need the shoes.”
“Good call.” She kicks out of them and turns to stare at me, her brown eyes still bright from the several orgasms I’ve just given
her. “Are you going to put clothes on? Not that I don’t appreciate it when you’re naked, but my guess is this isn’t a nude beach.”
“I was just enjoying the view,” I reply with a grin and stand to put my own clothes on. “You seem more relaxed already.”
“Of course I am. We’re at the beach.” She sashays out of the room, and when I join her, she’s put her sunglasses on and is walking out the door and down the steps to the sand below. “I’m so happy that it’s nice out today.”
“I’ve found that even on a rainy day, there’s nothing quite like being at the ocean.”
I take her hand in mine as we walk down to the waterline and walk slowly up the shore toward Haystack Rock.
“Did you know that this is my happy place?” she asks, smiling up at me.
“Is it?”
“Yep.” She nods and inhales deeply, breathing in the salty air. “I haven’t been out here in a couple of years. I’ve just been too busy getting the restaurant up and going, so this came at a good time.”
“I’m glad. We can come anytime you want.”
“Be careful what you offer, I’ll have us out here every weekend.”
“That wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” I reply. “The idea of having you all to myself at the beach is incredibly attractive.”
“You say some really sweet things.” She drifts to the water to get her feet wet.
“I just say what I mean.”
“And that’s appreciated,” she replies, then gasps when the cold water engulfs her feet. “Holy shit, that’s cold!”
But she stays in the water, calf-deep, splashing and wading about. It is cold, but refreshing.
We come upon a little boy, sitting in the sand maybe ten yards from his mom, trying to build a sand castle. He’s getting frustrated and begins to cry when the dry sand falls into a smooth pile rather than staying in the bucket shape he’s trying to make.
“What’s the matter, buddy?” Kat asks him.
“It’s not working.” He sticks out his lower lip. “I’ve been trying to make it all day.”
“Hmm, that would be frustrating.” She waves to his mom. “Do you mind if I help him?”
“Help yourself,” the other woman replies with a wave, and goes back to watching something on her phone. Kat just nods, irritation in her eyes, and squats by the boy.
Blush for Me Page 11
