“Natalie,” Luke said with a gentle voice. “This is my brother. Blake.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged her indifference and looked away.
Blake’s hand stiffened in Mackenzie’s and she continued to soothe him with her touch.
“Blake, as you can probably figure out, this is Natalie.” Luke kept some space between him and Natalie and gently rubbed Sage’s back.
“Uh, hi.” He’d never had trouble coming up with something witty to say before. Sensing his unease, Mackenzie stepped in.
“Hi, Natalie. Or do you go by Nat? I’m Mackenzie.” She held out her hand to shake the young girl’s and then realized it was futile. The girl lacked manners, and who could blame her? She’d had a crappy life.
“Nats are bugs. Thanks for the insult.”
“So whenever you’re bugging me, I’m going to call you Nat.” Sage laughed at her own joke and tugged Luke forward. “Let’s introduce little Miss Mary Sunshine to the rest of the gang.”
Natalie followed them, not looking back.
Blake sighed when they’d gone inside. “I’m such an idiot.”
“Hey.” Mackenzie slid her hands up his chest, resting them on his shoulders. “Everyone knew that was going to be awkward. Better to say nothing than something stupid. Sorry for screwing that up.”
“You didn’t screw anything up.” Finally, Blake’s gaze focused on her. “I’m sorry I brought you here today.”
A piece of Mackenzie’s heart stopped beating, her throat tightening, restricting her breathing. She plastered on a fake smile and stepped back. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“God no.” Blake pulled her back into his chest. “That’s not what I meant. I. Shit. I don’t know. I just don’t know.” He rested his chin on her forehead and she relaxed into his warm chest.
“If I’m making you more uncomfortable—”
“It’s not you. It’s me.” She’d heard that one before. “I’m really uncomfortable here. Totally out of my comfort zone.”
Yeah, she was too. These feelings and relationship ideas kept swirling around in her head. She’d had no interest in settling down since her heart had been run over by Chad. Trust wasn’t something that came easily to her but now, with Blake’s arms wrapped around her, and her cheek pressed against his heart, she so wanted to believe in him. In them.
Only today wasn’t about her or them. It was about a young girl who was given a new opportunity in life. One she wasn’t ready to accept. It was about Blake learning about his niece and finding out what role he could play in her life and vice versa. It wasn’t about Mackenzie’s confused feelings.
Normally she was the one to step up, make decisions, tell people what to do, what path to take. Blake needed her support today and she’d give it.
“She’s a little freaked at seeing you. You guys look alike. I think this just got real for her.”
“I don’t know what to say to her. How to act.”
“Be yourself. Pretend she’s just a girl. A girl Luke and Sage are taking care of. Let the rest come naturally.”
“Is your offer to get naked later still on the table?”
Mackenzie lifted her chin and smiled before whispering in his ear. “On the table. Under the table. Wherever you want it, cowboy.” She squeezed his butt cheek and steered them toward the house where his family awaited.
***
Blake
The last time Blake had been this nervous was when he’d gotten busted for breaking into an abandoned building and the cops were returning him to Keith and Doreen. He’d only been living with them for a month and he’d feared they’d send him away, just as the others had done.
Luckily they welcomed him from the police officer with warm hugs and a stern talking to. They’d expressed their disappointment in his decisions and asked him to make better choices in the future.
He’d still stumbled with those good decisions, but knew he’d be well loved despite his idiocy. Maybe he could figure out how to do the same with Natalie.
When he and Mackenzie entered the house they weren’t blasted with words of wisdom, just the usual hugs from his sisters and sarcastic insults from his brother.
“Just friends, huh?” Graham grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.
“You’re an idiot.” Mackenzie smacked Graham on the back of the head and greeted Maggie with a hug.
Since Graham was married to Mackenzie’s best friend, they’d formed a brother-sister relationship that Blake had been jealous of. Until he’d seen the naked side of Mackenzie and realized he much preferred being her horizontal partner.
“Blake, honey, can you start the grill? The chicken is going to take a while and I don’t trust your brothers to stay out of the potato salad until the rest of the food is ready.”
“Anything for you, Ma.”
He grabbed the lighter from its spot in the cabinet and let himself outside. Colton tossed a football to CJ while Ellie and Rachael huddled around baby Katie on the patio. Natalie and Sage sat across from them, both seeming out of their element with the little one in diapers.
Opening the cover to the grill, he turned on the propane and started the flame. The loud whoosh as it lit caused the women to turn around.
“Have a seat, Blake. I can get you a drink if you want,” Ellie offered. Being an innkeeper, she was used to waiting on others, but it didn’t mean she needed to serve him. She’d had a lot to deal with lately, with her son’s medical issues and running the Inn. And Colton. His brother could be a bear to live with. Blake wasn’t sure how Ellie and CJ could deal.
Yeah, he could. They loved each other. Colton was a different man then what Blake remembered.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
It was uncomfortably quiet on the patio until Maggie and Mackenzie came out, each with a water in one hand, a bottle of beer in the other. Thank God.
“Thirsty?” Mackenzie offered him the bottle and he didn’t know what he wanted to do more. Kiss her senseless or guzzle the cool liquid.
Kiss her. Definitely. Just not with an audience.
“Thank you.”
“I thought you weren’t thirsty,” Sage teased.
“I never said that. I just didn’t want Ellie to have to get up.”
“Well aren’t you sweet?” Sage smirked and rolled her eyes. “Have a seat, you two. Or are you closet lovebirds trying to sneak off already?”
Leave it to his snarky sister-in-law to break the tension in the air. He had to love her for it.
“You guys are all a bunch of horndogs,” Lucy said as she stormed on to the patio, twisting the cap off her girly beverage.
“Easy, Luce. There are kids around.” Blake motioned for Mackenzie to take one of the last two seats around the table.
“I’m not a kid.” Natalie crossed her arms across her chest and scowled at Blake. And there went his second impression. Oh-for-two.
“You are too.” Sage snorted. “Fifteen is hardly an adult. You want to be treated like one, you act like one.”
Blake was no expert in child rearing, but he wasn’t sure if Sage’s tough love method was the best approach after only having Natalie under her guardianship for two days.
“And you’re supposed to be my role model?”
“Hardly.” Sage laughed. “I only beginning to learn how to adult. You should talk to Maggie. She’s good at it.”
“Her?” Natalie pointed at Maggie, who had her baby draped across her shoulder, patting her back until the little thing burped.
“Sure. I bet she’d let you babysit Katie if you asked.”
Maggie’s eyes grew round before turning soft. “I could always use some help. No pressure.”
Blake doubted she wanted the troubled teen around her baby. However, Maggie was a therapist and knew better than anyone how to handle Natalie.
“I don’t think so.” Natalie grabbed a carrot from the tray on the table and took an aggressive bite out of it.
“Can’t blame you. Babysitting isn’t my thing. I don
’t do diapers and snot. Doesn’t look like it’s yours either.” Sage sipped on her water and smirked at Blake.
“How do you know? You don’t know anything about me.”
“You’re telling me you want to babysit?”
“Maybe.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Blake watched the encounter between Sage and Natalie, realizing Sage’s tactic. She was good. Much better than he gave her credit for.
“I can do whatever I want to do.”
“Within reason. And the law.” Sage’s phone rang. Taking it out of her purse, she looked at the screen and got up. “I need to take this.”
The awkward silence fell again and lasted a few minutes before Mackenzie broke the spell.
“So, Natalie. Do you like any sports? Or art or music?”
“Don’t try to be my friend just because you’re having sex with my uncle.”
“Easy, Natalie. There’s no need to be disrespectful to Mackenzie. To anyone.”
“Really?” The bratty teen turned toward him and did that ugly scowl thing again. “You’re going to lecture me on respect? I know about you. You’re a fuc—”
“Watch your mouth. I don’t care how you talk to me. But there are kids here,” Blake warned.
“You’re a loser. An asshole. A scumbag. So don’t talk to me about respect.” Natalie got up, knocking her chair back, and stormed off, heading down the path to the pond.
Blake sank to a vacant chair. “That went well.” He rubbed his palms across his face, resting his elbows on his thighs, and held his head in frustration.
“Give it some time.” Mackenzie rubbed his back and his first instinct was to shrug her away. He didn’t need to cloud their sex-lationship with this crap.
He needed to get away. Theo had messaged him the other day about joining his team in Virginia. The set-up crew for the course had blundered too many obstacles and needed Blake’s help. Only he’d already committed to the Maine project with Colton. The urge to run away, to escape these feelings and emotions swirling around in his head was overwhelming.
This was why he didn’t stay in one place for too long. He didn’t do relationships, not only with women, but with family, or with nieces. Blake liked being the long-lost relative who swept in during holidays and special occasions, then left before things could get too serious.
Knowing he couldn’t do anything about it now, Blake shoved to his feet and tended to the grill. Everyone left him alone while he cooked. Luke had gone down the path to retrieve Natalie, who now sulked in a chair by herself on the patio. While Graham, Jake, and Lucy played pass, Ellie, Rachael, Mackenzie, and Maggie sat on a blanket in the grass playing with Katie, and Colton and CJ rode around the property on a four-wheeler.
Luke and Sage were in the kitchen with Doreen and Rachael, most likely agreeing to give Natalie and Blake some space.
He caught her staring—or rather, glaring—his way a few times while he turned the chicken on the grill. The scene—minus the brooding teen—was postcard perfect, if you were into the family gathering type of thing. Blake didn’t mind it in small doses.
When he hollered out that the chicken was ready, a stampede of Rileys and their spouses came hurdling toward him.
“Wash up, everyone. No fighting over the kitchen sink. You can use the ones in the bathrooms as well,” Doreen called after the mob that pushed their way into the house. Colton and CJ were the last to run past them.
Natalie didn’t budge, so Doreen went over and sat next to her. “You may not be my first grandchild, but you’re my oldest. There’s always something special about the oldest.”
“Gee, thanks, Ma,” Blake teased from his post at the grill.
“There’s something special about the youngest son as well, honey.” She turned back to Natalie, and in her infamous loving, caring voice that had its way of warming the hearts of even the hardened, Doreen continued. “I’m very happy to have you as part of our family, Natalie.”
“I’m not going to be here for long. My mom is going to get me back and then we’ll be out of this hellhole.”
Blake resisted the urge to laugh. Luke and Sage’s log cabin was awesome, as was his mom’s farmhouse. And he’d bet his share of the Rock the Gym that Alyssa hadn’t provided jack shit for Natalie over the years.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re living or who you’re living with, you’ll always be my granddaughter.”
“I’m not going to let Luke and Sage adopt me.”
“Maybe or maybe not. But you’re Blake’s niece so that makes you part of my family.”
Natalie processed this for a minute before forming her comeback. “Blake isn’t your blood. He’s not even your real son.”
Once again the urge to come to his family’s defense struck through him. Blake dropped the lid on the grill and made his way to Natalie and his mother in two quick strides, pointing his tongs at his pain-in-the-ass niece.
“Family isn’t about blood or names or inheritance. Doreen is my mother in every way that counts. Just because a woman gave birth to me, or a man contributed his sperm, doesn’t make them parents. Luke, Graham, Rachael, Colton, and Lucy are my brothers and sisters. Forever. Always. And family doesn’t disrespect each other. Ever. We fight, we argue, we disagree. But at the end of the day we care about each other. Trust each other. Defend each other. No one messes with my family. Not even a fifteen-year-old with an unattractive attitude.”
“Blake,” Doreen warned.
“No, Ma. You never let any of us get away with being disrespectful to you or our siblings and we’re not going to bend the rules for Natalie. Yeah, she’s my niece and I’ll look out for her for the rest of my life, but I’m not going to put up with her mouth. She’ll treat you and Mackenzie and Sage and everyone else better or…” He noticed for the first time they had an audience. His family surrounded him on the patio, including Mackenzie.
“Or you’ll be stuck with me for the rest of your life.” He pointed his tongs again at his gorgeous niece who scared him half to death. “I used to be just like you. I know what you’re up to. You want Sage and Luke to kick you out so you can wallow in your self-pity. So you’ll have an excuse for your shitty behavior. I know they won’t abandon you because they’re good people. But if I see them suffering at your hand, I’ll come in and adopt you myself. You’re stuck with me, kid, whether you like it or not. And trust me, you’re better off with them because I don’t know how the hell to take care of myself, much less a bratty teenage girl.”
Blake tossed the tongs on the patio table and stormed off toward the barn, not knowing what got into him or made him say half the words that just came out of his mouth.
***
Mackenzie
The normally loud Riley family stood in silence as they watched Blake slam the barn door behind him.
“I, uh.” Mackenzie bit her lip and moved her hands, trying to convey her words through gestures. “Yeah, I’ll go check on Blake.” Knowing Blake, he wouldn’t want a heart-to-heart conversation with anyone. And since Mackenzie didn’t do those anyway, she hoped some casual flirting and inappropriate sex talk could make him forget about the tension between him and his niece.
No one moved or attempted to dissuade her as she jogged down to the barn. She found Blake sitting on one of the four-wheelers, his head bent over, resting on the handlebars. Twice now Natalie had insulted him, insinuating that Blake’s past was corrupt in more ways than a typical troubled teen. All the Rileys came from messed-up homes, but she only knew the little Blake shared with her last week.
There was more to his story and she had no right to pry. No need to pry. Still, insecurities poked at the back of her neck.
“Wanna go for a ride?”
He looked up and she swore she saw a glistening of tears in his eyes. There were no words she could even think of saying to encourage or support him, so she did what she knew best.
Mackenzie approached him and straddled the ATV facing Blake, her back to the
handlebars. Her legs looped over his, their crotches and chests almost touching.
“What kind of ride you talking about, darling?” he drawled.
“What kind you offering, cowboy?”
He sized her up with those chocolate eyes that could take her clothes off with one quick quirk. Mackenzie scooted closer, picking her butt up so she straddled him instead of the ATV, and wrapped her legs around his back.
Keeping her eyes locked with his, she inched her way closer to him until their lips touched. Sipping his bottom lip between her teeth, she gently nipped him and ground her crotch into his.
“Damn, Mack. You make me forget that my entire family is on the other side of that barn door.”
“So let’s get out of here.” She rubbed her boobs across his chest and trailed kisses up his cheek toward his ear, sucking roughly on his earlobe.
“Christ.” Blake gripped her hair in his hands, pulling her away from his ear, and took her mouth in his. Their tongues danced and mated and the loud, frustrated moans coming from both of them turned her on until she thought she’d go mad with want.
His touch did that. Blake had a way of touching her with his hands and body and mouth that made time stand still, speed up, and completely disintegrate. Her senses not only exploded with his touch, but with his smell and taste as well.
A cross between soap, the outdoors, the smoky grill, and man. Not just any man, but Blake. The air filled with his scent and she wanted to smother her face into him and breathe him in forever.
And lick him. God, he tasted good. Something between the bitter hops of his beer and the sweet tang of barbecue sauce. It wasn’t what he ate or drank, though. Blake had a sweetness to him. It was the way he seemed to drink her up every time he kissed her. It didn’t matter whether they were rushing their lovemaking or taking their sweet time, Blake savored and devoured her, making her forget she had trust issues.
He leaned into her until her back hit the handlebars and Blake’s body covered hers.
“I’ve never had sex on a four-wheeler before,” he said when he came up for air.
Playful Hearts (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 4) Page 18
