by RC Boldt
He had been a bit lost after the way things had gone down on his last tour in Afghanistan. After losing Mikey and Nash, recuperating in Bethesda had given him some time to think about where he wanted to end up. He had his degree in hand prior to joining the Navy and always knew he wanted to teach one day.
Foster had left the Teams a year prior to Mac, deciding to head back to his hometown to start his own security consulting firm. He had hired on two other guys who had served with him as well as a former Green Beret. They had already landed contracts to assess the security at Kings Bay Sub Base right over the border in Georgia, as well as Mayport Naval Station and Naval Air Station, both in Jacksonville.
When Foster had found out Mac had been injured, he and his mother, known to most as Momma K., had driven up to see him in the hospital. That had been the first time Mac had met the infamous Momma K. and it had been unforgettable to say the least.
Where Foster was tall, had fair skin and short, light brown hair with brown eyes and tended to be more on the quiet, contemplative side, Momma K. was the opposite; she was short, with extra weight around her midsection, dark brown hair always tied in a bun, bronze skin, the kindest, clearest blue eyes and what seemed like a perpetually bright smile upon her face. Just thinking about the day she had made her entrance into his life made Mac nearly chuckle.
Mac heard some commotion coming from outside of his room, nurses calling out frantically, “Only family can go in!” He could recall Momma K.’s response as if it were yesterday: “We are his family. Now, kindly move aside, ma’am. I need to see my other son.”
From that point on, he had become the newest addition to the Kavanaugh family. This family offered him nothing but acceptance. Momma K. had informed him that he needed to come down to Fernandina Beach and stay with them until he was able to get up and about by himself. She was the one who had helped him find the home he had eventually purchased.
Laney, Foster’s younger sister, had informed him that since he had been officially welcomed into the family that it was her sisterly duty to harass him. She did so by reading him some of the gossip magazines she was addicted to or made him watch some of her awful reality shows. He didn’t have much of a say while he was laid up, recuperating from the shrapnel wounds along his upper body. Mac had groaned and fussed, but it was all just for show. This was the first genuine home and family that he had ever had and he was never more grateful for these people.
He was starting a new chapter here in Fernandina Beach. He was fully recuperated and ready to move on, ready to try and embrace his new life and put the tragedy of Afghanistan firmly behind him.
When Mac had gotten out of the Navy, he knew he wanted to teach but wasn’t sure where he wanted to settle. Being taken in by Foster’s family had certainly helped make that decision easier. Laney had pushed for him to apply for a teaching position at her school. The extent of her excitement at finding out he had been offered the job at her school had taken him by surprise. Foster had merely shaken his head at her and told Mac, “That’s Laney so you’d better get used to it. Between her and Raine, you’ll have yourself a gaggle of friends here before you know it.”
He had smirked, thinking that Foster had been kidding. When Foster looked at him knowingly and said, “You’ll see,” Mac got a nervous feeling.
He would soon realize why.
DRIVING DOWN THE familiar streets of Jacksonville the following Monday morning to arrive at the school where she taught, Raine maneuvered her car around the sharp corner and turned into the school parking lot just as her cell phone rang. She answered it, knowing by the ringtone that it was her best friend and coworker.
“Laney, I’m about to park right now.”
“Did you get my coffee? Please say yes, please say yes,” her best friend pleaded.
“Oooh! I like it when you beg for it.” Raine lowered her voice huskily.
“You’re a sicko, Raine Thompson! Just please tell me you got it.” Laney was a beast if she didn’t have a large coffee, especially when faced with preparing her classroom for the newest group of students.
“Calm down, Kavanaugh, I got your coffee,” she laughed. “Now, let me park and bring this load of materials up to my room and you’ll get it.”
Laney huffed out a breath on the other end, melodramatic as always. “I. Cannot. Wait. Please, hurry.”
“If you run down here and help me, you’ll get your coffee even quicker,” Raine said in a slight sing-song voice.
“Done!”
GETTING OUT OF her vehicle, Raine started unloading some of her teaching supplies onto the rolling cart she had borrowed from another teacher. Out in the hot, humid, typical August weather for Jacksonville, Florida, she began sweating, relieved she was wearing her workout clothes. Preparing her classroom for the upcoming school year was always an exciting if not dauntless and exhausting job so she made sure to dress comfortably.
Raine walked up to the side door of the school designated for teachers where she would normally enter and immediately turn into the elevator with what felt like 500 pounds of materials and supplies. She parked her cart and went to grab the door handle with her coffee-free hand when it suddenly snapped open, banging right into her hand.
“Shit!” she muttered, shaking out her hand in deference to the pain.
“Well, that’s hardly teacher approved language,” teased a low, rough sounding voice. “But I am sorry about that, just the same.”
Startled by the unfamiliar male voice, Raine’s head shot up in surprise.
Oh, my.
She found herself looking at a living, breathing version of Tall, Dark and Handsome. His dark brown hair was in a short military buzz cut and if the biceps stretching his shirt sleeves and the trim waist of his khaki pants were any indication, he was very fit.
As her eyes traveled up his form, she estimated he was likely a little over six feet tall. But it was when she met his eyes that she faltered. Stormy blue eyes framed with dark lashes longer than should be allowed on any man. Along with that square jaw that currently had enough stubble to constitute as a bit of scruff.
Raine felt the urge to swipe her chin to be sure she wasn’t actually drooling. A man just shouldn’t be allowed to be this . . . beautiful. Suddenly, she realized by his quirked brow that she had been staring at him, nearly blatantly checking him out.
“Oh, I—”
“Oh, thank heavens you’re here!” Laney came bursting through the door, interrupting Raine’s pathetic attempt at a response.
She grabbed the coffee from Raine and took a sip reverently. Almost immediately noticing the man to whom Raine had yet to be introduced, she greeted him. “Hey, Mac!”
Surprised, she stared at Laney. “You two know each other?”
“Duh! He’s the new Math teacher. Right across the hall from you.” Linking her arm through his, she added cheekily, “And he also happens to be my brother from another mother.”
Looking back at Raine, she explained, “He’s Foster’s buddy from the teams.” Foster was Laney’s older brother, a former SEAL. Gesturing with her hand in between the two of them, she said, “Mac, meet Raine. Raine, this is Mac, who’s been hiding out in that new house of his, too busy to socialize.” She gave him a stern look.
Mac turned an apologetic gaze to Laney. “You know I would’ve been more social if I hadn’t had to renovate so much. But, it’s finally finished now, kiddo,” he winked at her.
Attempting to compose herself to be able to meet those captivating eyes once again, Raine turned to him and held out her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mac.”
And damn if his eyes didn’t crinkle a little as the corners of his lips turned up slightly, reaching out to shake her hand.
When his hand grasped hers, feeling his firm, callused fingers, she swore she felt like their hands just . . . fit.
Aaaand she clearly needed to get out more if she was beginning to analyze handshakes.
“Likewise, Raine,” came his deep, hus
ky voice. “Sorry, again, about your hand,” he added apologetically.
“No worries,” she replied with an internal sigh.
“Here, let me help you get this load up to your room,” Laney interrupted Raine’s swooning, gesturing to her cart. “You can fill me in on how your date went last night.”
Raine groaned loudly. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.” They started through the door as Mac held it open for them.
“Thanks, Mac,” Laney called to him before following her inside the school, letting the heavy door close behind them.
With a chuckle, Raine continued, lowering her voice, “Unless, you’d like to hear about the difference between mastication and masturbation, that is.”
Laney quirked an eyebrow. “How did you know those were my favorite M words?” They looked at one another and burst into laughter as they entered the elevator to take it up to the second floor where their classrooms were located.
“I have a feeling this story is better told behind closed classroom doors,” Laney managed to get out, a bit breathless from laughing.
Raine leaned against the side of the elevator, giggling uncontrollably, and nodded. “You have no idea.”
NOW THAT HE’D met the infamous Raine, Laney’s best friend, he could see why Foster had warned him to keep his distance. She wasn’t show stopping gorgeous. Pretty, yes. Maybe even considered slightly hot.
But when she had turned a smile his way, he instantly changed his classification of her to “stunner.” It lit up her whole face. Hell, her eyes even smiled. That smile of hers was, for lack of a better word, captivating.
A face devoid of makeup, she had long eyelashes framing the most compelling pair of green eyes he’d ever seen. She had an athletic body that had curves in all the right places, dressed in workout gear of a pair of running shorts paired with a sports bra beneath a tank top, and that hair. God, that hair. Dark black in color and wavy, twisted up loosely upon her head, just begging for a pair of hands to unpin it and slide into it.
Shit.
This is exactly what Foster had been warning him about. His friend has mentioned something along the lines of, “I’m so glad you’re moving here, man and oh, keep your hands off Laney’s friend, Raine, or I’ll have to kill you.”
Okay, so maybe Foster didn’t actually threaten to kill him, but it was implied that bodily harm would come to him if he crossed the line. But, wow. Had he ever seen a smile that had sent him reeling?
And what the hell was with that handshake? That had just felt . . . weird. When he took her soft, delicate hand in his, he swore it felt like their hands fit together. Perfectly.
He could almost hear the needle scratch across a record at that thought.
Shit. Maybe he should go and get a mani-pedi while he was at it if that’s where his mind was going to go.
Shaking off those thoughts, he walked back to his vehicle to unload some more materials to bring up to his classroom, trying to put off the attraction he had felt to his new coworker because, well, everyone knew what his deal was.
Mac didn’t have anything to do with nice girls.
And Raine? She had nice girl written all over her.
AS THEY UNLOCKED the door to Raine’s classroom and turned on the lights, Raine parked her cart and began unloading the crates stacked upon it. Without looking at her friend, she casually tossed out, “That was the infamous Mac, huh?”
“No.”
Raine lifted her head to look at her friend in question.
Laney blew out an exasperated breath. “You know what I mean when I say no to Mac.”
“Oh. Bad news?”
Sighing, Laney pulled a chair from the tall stack by the door and sat down with her coffee. “No, he’s not bad news . . . as a friend. Now, as a guy you might be interested in? The worst news. Very anti-relationship. He’s just one of those guys who doesn’t have any interest in normal, down-to-earth women who aren’t complete slutbags.”
Well, that was certainly a bummer.
“Ah, I see.” Raine pulled another crate off the cart and set it on the counter.
Reaching for her coffee, Laney continued, “So, tell me about this date of yours.”
Raine snickered, shaking her head at the memory of the awful date. “You mean the food masturbation guy?”
That’s when coffee sprayed out of Laney’s mouth.
Raine ran to unwrap a roll of paper towels from within one of her crates she had just unloaded and handed them to Laney.
As her friend tried to wipe up the mess she made, she demanded, “Tell me everything, right now. My classroom can wait five minutes in the honor of masturbation.”
Raine filled her friend in on her cringe-worthy date she had been matched with by the online dating site. By the time she had finished her recap, Laney was wiping tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.
“Raine,” she gasped, still dabbing her eyes, “You need to delete your profile right now if that’s the kind of person they matched you with.”
She held up a hand. “Already done.”
“Speaking of dating . . .” Laney began.
Translation: I have someone I want to set you up with.
“No, Laney,” she shook her head at her friend.
“But you haven’t even heard me out!” Laney complained. “He’s really nice, Raine.”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you set me up with someone you claimed was ‘really nice’?” Raine asked.
Laney threw her hands in the air. “He never told me he had a wife!”
“Right. A wife who showed up and accused me of being his mistress, for God’s sake!”
“I apologized for that, Raine. Profusely.”
“It was traumatizing, Laney. It was like a scene from a movie.” She shuddered in remembrance.
“I promise I vetted this one, Raine.”
Raine just stared at her.
“Raine,” Laney said in a sing-song voice.
“Laney,” she mimicked.
The two girls stared at one another until Raine finally caved. She exhaled. “Fine. Who is he?”
Laney clapped her hands together in excitement. “His name’s Ben Givens. He’s thirty-two, has a steady job working downtown for the Presidential Insurance company, just bought a house over in Midtown, doesn’t smoke or do drugs and has never been married.”
Sheesh. Laney wasn’t kidding when she’d said she vetted him.
Raine let out a resigned sigh. “Okay, but what does he loo—”
“Really cute,” Laney interrupted, winking. She pulled out her phone from the pocket of her shorts and began tapping the screen a few times before turning it to show Raine.
Raine had to agree. Ben was . . . really cute. Raine glanced up to see Laney’s triumphant expression before turning her attention back to Laney’s phone where her friend had accessed his Facebook page.
Ben reminded her of a younger version of Johnny Depp with his dark hair shorter on the sides but a bit longer on the top, tousled artfully. His eyes were a deep brown and, as she swiped through his profile pictures, she discovered he actually had a good sense of style. There were photos of him in board shorts at the beach with a surfboard, a few shots of him surfing, and any photo of him out with his buddies had him wearing a nice polo and khakis.
She perused the rest of his page. “It says here that he’s working on his MBA at UNF,” Raine raised her eyebrows at her friend, impressed. Then, narrowing her eyes, she asked Laney, “So why is he still single?”
Laney made a tsking sound at her. “So cynical. He’s just like us; hasn’t met the right person yet, that’s all.” She paused. “So what do you think?”
“I guess I’d be okay with meeting up with him.” Raine handed the phone back to Laney.
“Great!” Laney said happily. “I’ve set everything up. He’s going to meet you at The Surfside at seven o’clock Wednesday night.”
It was already Monday.
“Laney! What would you have done
if I hadn’t agreed?” She asked incredulously. “Or if I already had plans?”
“Please. As if you could deny yourself a meeting with a man looking like that.” Laney pointed to her phone. “Plus, I already looked at your planner the other day to make sure.”
“I don’t know whether to feel violated or feel thankful you’re my friend and not my enemy,” Raine muttered.
“Definitely the latter, my dear.” Laney patted her hand. “Definitely the latter.”
“HEY, YOU READY TO head down?” Tate Donnelly, her other best friend, popped her head in the doorway.
Raine was standing barefoot on a chair, taping the large “Scientific Inquiry” poster high upon the wall of her classroom. So far, she had been having a very productive day of prepping her classroom for when students would begin the school year next week. The current week was filled with time allotted for teachers to work in their classrooms intermixed with mandatory meetings.
“Sure, just let me grab my things.” She stepped down from the chair and carefully slid her flip flops back on. “Where’s Laney?”
Tate’s short, sleek blonde bob moved as she shook her head. “She and Zach have been arguing about the placement of her desk.” Sighing, she rolled her eyes. “She wants it in the corner facing the door and he told her it should be in the back left corner of the room so she can hide from parents better.”
Raine winced. “I bet that went over well.”
“Exactly,” Tate agreed.
Laney and Zach were always bickering with one another over something normally inconsequential. Those two were like oil and water; they just didn’t mix.
Raine picked up her planner, clipboard with paper and pen and met her friend at the door to head downstairs to their meeting on the first floor.
As they closed the classroom door behind them, a voice called out. “Mind if I tag along with you ladies?”
