by Marie Force
Laura smiled at them. “Hey, kids. Have a nice swim?”
“Yeah,” Shane said. “It was great.”
“Looked like fun from here,” Adele said with a wink.
“I told you people were watching,” Katie said to laughter from the two women.
Shane took hold of her hand. “We’d love to stay and chat, but we’ve got somewhere to be.”
“I’ll see you there,” Laura said. “We were invited, too.”
“Great,” Shane said, leading Katie inside.
“That was mortifying,” Katie muttered when they were in the kitchen, which bustled now as Stephanie’s staff prepared for the dinner rush.
“I bet if you asked them both, they’d say they’re delighted to see us together. I know Laura is, because she told me so.”
“My grandmother is, too.”
“So there you have it.”
“Just because they’re happy to see us together doesn’t mean they want to watch us frolicking in the surf.”
“Is that what we did? Frolic?”
“You know what I mean.”
Laughing, he said, “They saw us having fun, Katie. No need to be embarrassed.”
“So you’re into PDA, then?”
“At times. Depends on the circumstances. What about you?”
“As that was my first instance of PDA, the jury is still out.”
“Keep me posted. I have a vested interest.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.”
“I’m serious.” He left her with a kiss at her door. “Hurry up. I don’t want to be late to your mother’s. Got to make a good impression.”
“As if. She’s already in love with you.”
“As nice as that is, she’s not the one I’m trying to impress.”
He was gone to his room before his words registered. Katie fumbled with her key and stepped into her dark room, standing there for a full minute, thinking about what he had said. Anticipation made her skin prickle and her nipples tighten. In a few minutes, she’d get to be with him again, and she was more than ready.
In the shower, she spent extra time with her razor until every inch of her was smooth. She towel-dried her hair and combed it out, applied lip gloss and mascara, chose underwear with special care and put on a red halter dress. As she tied the dress behind her neck, she had a vision of Shane untying it later.
Whatever her mother had planned for dinner, Katie hoped it didn’t take too long to eat.
Shane rushed through his shower but took the time to shave. As much as Katie had liked the feel of his whiskers against her face earlier, he planned to kiss her all over later and didn’t want to give her whisker burn.
As he relived the pleasure of kissing Katie, he realized Courtney hadn’t crossed his mind all day. Apparently he’d found that off-switch he’d been looking for, and her name was Katie. All his thoughts were of her since the amazing night they’d spent together. In many ways, she was Courtney’s total opposite.
Whereas Courtney was confident and ballsy, Katie was tentative and cautious. Shane had once been attracted to confident and ballsy, but now he found himself drawn to tentative and cautious. What he liked about Katie was that she knew herself. She made no excuses for how she’d chosen to live her life or why she’d made the choices she had. She owned them, and he respected that.
Her innate sweetness was also a huge draw. While Courtney had been a nice person with lots of friends and a healthy social life, sweet wasn’t a word anyone would’ve used to describe her. Funny and loud and quick to laugh, Courtney had been fun to be around, but she’d also had a hair-trigger temper. He knew now that had been because of the drugs, but at the time, he’d worked overtime to keep the peace.
Hindsight was a bitch, he decided as he ran a towel over his face. When he’d still been in love with her, he would’ve said there was no one else in the world for him. But now that sweet Katie had come into his life, he had reason to question those beliefs.
Did he want to fall in love again? Did he dare risk his hard-won sanity by handing over his heart, and with it the power to hurt him, to another woman? What was the alternative? Being alone for the rest of his life? Never having children of his own? What about what she wanted? She’d waited so long to even date. Would she decide she wanted to play the field before she settled on one guy for the rest of her life?
No matter the answers to those questions, hard as he tried, he couldn’t picture Katie hurting him the way Courtney had. She was softer and kinder than Courtney, for one thing. If she had to let him down, he was fairly confident she’d let him down easily. It was strange to think that before the ordeal with Courtney, he wouldn’t have been quite so attracted to Katie’s sweetness. Now he craved it.
He’d had more than enough of the drama that had been such a big part of his relationship with Courtney. When he’d still been dazzled with her, he’d found the drama exciting. With the wisdom that came from age and experience, he could see there was a lot to be said for tranquility.
During the darkness that’d followed his split with Courtney, he’d also had far too much time to wonder if he’d ever feel physically attracted to another woman the way he had with her. That was another question that had been resolved to his extreme satisfaction in the last few days.
He loved kissing Katie and touching her and making love with her and wanted to do it again as soon as possible. After he’d applied a dab of cologne and dressed in shorts and a clean polo shirt he unearthed from a pile of laundry he’d yet to put away, he stopped short at the realization that he should’ve gotten something for Sarah. Since he’d been invited as Katie’s date and not as Sarah’s friend, he should bring flowers or wine or something.
It had been such a long time since he’d done the dinner-with-the-parents thing for the first time that he’d forgotten the rules. Courtney’s parents and sister had loved him. They’d loved his father and Laura and made them a part of their family. Her parents had been as surprised as Shane to learn she was addicted to pain meds, and they’d been devastated by her decision to divorce him.
For a year or so after it all blew up, her parents had remained in close touch with him, their concern for him rivaling only his own father’s. After a while, though, he’d stopped returning their calls, because it was too damned painful to be reminded of what he’d lost every time he talked to them.
Again, Shane had to ask himself why he was thinking about this shit when he had a beautiful, sweet, sexy, funny woman waiting for him to take her to dinner. It was because he was terrified of history repeating itself, and every minute he spent with Katie increased the stakes. And because he’d like to think he’d learned a few things from the nightmare he’d been through. He sat on his bed and ran his fingers through his damp hair. He was still sitting on the bed when a soft knock sounded at his door. He got up to answer it.
“Hey,” he said to Katie, who looked gorgeous in a sexy red dress that left her shoulders bare.
“Did I really get ready faster than you?” Her smile faded when she took a closer look at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Come in.” Shane stepped aside to admit her and then closed the door. “Could we talk for a minute?” He hated that he had to do this, but what choice did he have?
“Of course. Are you all right?”
He sat on the bed and gestured for her to join him. “I’m better than all right for the first time in a really long time. And it’s because of you.”
“That’s nice of you to say. So why do you seem upset?”
He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, meeting her gaze. “I like you, Katie. I really like you. I like hanging out with you and everything else.”
“I like hanging out with you, too. Were you worried that I didn’t?”
“I wasn’t worried about that so much as…”
“Just say whatever it is. Get it off your chest.”
He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but interest and compassion and that underlying layer of sweetne
ss that made everything so much easier with her. “After what happened with my wife, I was a wreck. It was as bad as it gets. I survived it, for the most part, but I don’t think I’d survive it a second time. So I guess what I’m saying is if this is just a fling, a get-the-first-time-out-of-the-way-and-move-on thing, which is perfectly all right if that’s what it is for you, I’d like to know that sooner rather than later.”
Katie stared at him, and for a moment he wasn’t sure if she was shocked or pissed or what. Had he just screwed it all up?
“It’s much more than that to me, Shane. I would never use you that way. First of all, that’s not who I am, and second of all, with your sister married to my brother, there’s much more at stake here than what’s happening between us. I’ve known that from the beginning.”
“I didn’t mean to insult you. That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do. I’ve learned the hard way that I have to look out for myself in these situations, and the more time I spend with you, the more time I want to spend with you. If you aren’t on the same page, I’d rather know now. That’s all I was trying to say. Sorry if I made a mess of it.”
“We’re on the same page. I can’t promise this is it for me forever—”
“I’m not asking for that.” He softened his words with a smile. “Not yet anyway.”
She returned his smile. “I was excited to see you tonight. Why do you think I went downstairs to get lemonade right after five? Because you told me you’d get home around five. I was hoping to see you the second you got home.”
“You were? Really?”
“Yes! Why do you seem so surprised to hear that?”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“I’m laughing with you.”
He scowled playfully. “Except I’m not laughing.”
“Shane… Look at me.”
He did as she asked. “I really, really like you, too, or I never would’ve done what I did last night or what I’m going to do again tonight if you’re willing.”
His snort of laughter made her smile. “If I’m willing?”
“Well, I don’t want to get cocky or anything.”
He took hold of her hand and placed it over his erection, drawing a gasp of surprise from her at his bold move. “Safe to get cocky.”
They shared a laugh that turned into a kiss as a huge weight lifted off his chest. It was safe to relax and let it happen with her. She knew what he’d been through and understood what he needed.
“Feel better?” she asked.
“Yeah, except now I’ve got a whole other problem. Seems to crop up a lot when you’re around.”
She glanced at the unmistakable bulge in his shorts.
“Don’t look at it. That doesn’t help.”
She bit her lip as she glanced over his shoulder at the bedside clock. “We have half an hour before we need to be there.”
“Katie…”
“What? I was just pointing out that we do, in fact, have some time.”
“No, we don’t. I have to stop and get something for your mom and we’d have to shower again and… God, what the hell am I saying? Take your clothes off. Hurry. We don’t have much time.”
Katie fell on the bed laughing, but she didn’t take off her dress. “I didn’t expect you to take me so seriously.”
“If you’re you and you’re offering sex, I’m taking you seriously.”
“I’m sure my mom has gone to a lot of trouble for tonight. I don’t want to be late, and if you talk me out of my clothes, we’ll be late.”
“You’re right about that.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Do I get a rain check for later?”
“Absolutely.”
Shane got up and then offered her a hand, drawing her into his arms when she was standing. “Thanks for letting me talk it out.”
“Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I’m trusting you with a lot more than what’s on my mind. I hope you know that.”
“I do, Shane. And that works both ways.”
“Good,” he said, kissing her again. “Now, what should I get for your mom?”
Chapter 24
The doctor had asked them to stay close for the night in case Maddie had any complications, so they were spending another night at Uncle Frank’s house. She’d done nothing but sleep since they’d arrived a couple of hours ago. They’d been told to expect her to be sore for a couple of days with spotty bleeding, but otherwise, she’d be back to normal in a week or so.
They’d also been told they could try again to conceive after she’d had two regular periods. Maddie hadn’t reacted to any of this information, and other than allowing him to help her get dressed, she hadn’t reacted to him either.
Now Mac was left with an entire evening to himself and only his own unpleasant thoughts to keep him company. Would Maddie bounce back from this heartbreaking loss, or would she be different now? Would she ever talk to him about it, or was he expected to get through it on his own?
His dad had left shortly after Maddie came out of surgery, with promises to check in with him later. Mac still couldn’t believe his father had come from the island to sit with him while Maddie was in surgery. But of course he shouldn’t have been surprised. His dad had always been there for him, in good times and bad, propping him up, steering him clear of trouble and supporting him and his siblings in any way he could.
His ringing cell phone snapped him out of his thoughts. Mac glanced at the caller ID and wasn’t surprised to see the word BRAT on the screen. “Hey, brat.”
“Honestly, Mac. I’m calling to check on you and Maddie, which of course you know, and you still have to call me that?” Janey asked.
“Helps to keep things normal.”
“Then by all means, call me whatever you want.”
“Thanks, brat.”
“How is she?”
“Physically, it all went well from what we were told. Routine, if such a thing can be routine. Emotionally? I don’t know. She’s barely said a word to me since we got the news at the clinic.”
“How about you?”
“I don’t know about that either. I’m all over the place. Mostly I’m worried about her and the way she’s internalizing it. It’s like I’m not even here or like it wasn’t my kid, too. Like I said. I don’t know how I am.”
“It’s a fresh loss, Mac. She had to get past the medical business before she could process it. I’m sure she’ll be back to normal in no time.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“When have you ever known me not to be right?”
“Such a brat.”
“That’s why you love me.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“I love you, too, Mac, and I’m so sorry you guys are going through this.”
“Thanks.” He sat on the sofa and pressed his fingers to his eyes, as if that could contain his tears.
“Are you going to be all right?”
“Eventually.”
“I’m here if you need me. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. Thanks, brat.”
“Any time. Will you be home tomorrow?”
“That’s the plan, unless she has complications.”
“I’ll bring dinner over.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
After he ended the call with Janey, Adam called, then Evan and then Grant, each of them expressing sorrow for his loss and concern for Maddie—and him. Talking to his siblings made Mac feel less alone and helped to pass the time, but it was still only eight, and he was starting to feel hungry even though the thought of eating made him sort of nauseated.
The phone rang again, this time with a Providence number he didn’t recognize. Thinking it was someone from the hospital, he took the call.
“Hi, Mac, it’s Mallory. I thought I’d get your voice mail.”
“Oh, hey,” he said to the half sister he’d only recently learned he had. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, but I j
ust spoke to… to Big Mac, and he told me you were in town and why. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
“He said you were staying at his brother’s house on the east side, which is where I live. I was going to leave a message to let you know I was nearby if I could do anything for you or your wife.”
“That’s very nice of you. Thanks.”
“Do you need anything?”
Mac hesitated but only for a moment. “Do you know where I can get a pizza around here?”
“I certainly do.”
“Throw in a couple of beers, and we’ll be friends for life.”
She laughed. “You got it. What do you like on the pizza?”
“Sausage and onion?”
“Hey, me, too!”
“Really?”
“Yep. Thin crust or thick?”
“Thin.”
“We must be related.”
“I heard a rumor that we are, and P.S., this is really nice of you.”
“I’m happy to do it. I’ll be there in thirty minutes or so.”
“Did Dad give you the address?”
“He did. I’m three blocks away. Is there anything I can get for your wife?”
“She’s out cold, and they said she would be for most of the night.”
“All right, then. I’ll see you shortly.”
“Great, thanks again.” Mac put down the phone, feeling oddly grateful to a woman he’d met only once before, when she’d come to the island to seek out the father who hadn’t known she existed. What a strange day that had been, but because it mattered so much to the dad who mattered so much to them, they were willing to make an effort where Mallory was concerned.
Mac had been prepared to dislike her. After all, he loved being the oldest sibling in his family as well as the oldest grandchild on the McCarthy side of the family. Since Mallory was older than he was, she bumped him off his oldest-child pedestal. But there was nothing not to like about her. She’d come into his parents’ home on the day his father told them about her and hadn’t tried to be anything other than a potential new friend to them.
Janey, who’d just had P.J. under difficult circumstances, had chosen not to meet Mallory that day. Hopefully, they would meet this coming weekend when Mallory returned to the island to get to know her new family better.
