Family Bonds- Mac and Sidney (Amore Island Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

  “Do you watch chick flicks?” she asked, tilting her head.

  “Not likely. Do you want to watch them?” he asked.

  “I don’t mind one once in a while, but I like doing it with the girls or alone. I mean what if I want to ugly cry or something? I can’t have you see that.”

  “Don’t be afraid to show me any side of yourself,” he said and that just made her feel like shit that she was keeping Rod’s email from him. But what was she supposed to say? Her ex reached out to her in a letter weeks ago and now an email wanting to meet up? It sounded nonthreatening even if she wondered why now after all this time. What might have caused or triggered it.

  Maybe now that she knew how to reach Rod she could tell him to leave her the hell alone in some of her own colorful vocabulary. Yep, that was what she was doing the minute Mac left.

  “So, what brought you here?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.

  “I had lunch with Hunter, Drew, and Eli today to ask for money.”

  “Oh yeah. I forgot you were going to do that. I didn’t know it was today. They gave it to you, didn’t they? I bet with no questions asked?”

  “Yeah. They gave me double what I needed, which will go a long way toward things I could use for the department and haven’t been able to afford. Or to put some more man-hours on this summer. I’ve got lots of ways to use the money.”

  “You were nervous for nothing,” she said, punching his arm.

  “I know. They said pretty much the same thing. I guess I’ve got to get out of my own head like you’ve said enough. I made a comment about wishing I could contribute more and they all put me in my place.”

  “It’s not about money, Mac,” she said, starting to get mad. “Why do you always do that? You bring yourself down for no reason.”

  “Great. I didn’t come here for a lecture from you too.”

  “Then why did you come here?” she asked, folding her arms in front of her chest.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll leave.”

  He turned to walk out and she grabbed his arm. The last thing they needed to do was fight. She shouldn’t take her mood out on him when she knew how hard it was for him to ask at that meeting. But he did and he got what he needed.

  Looked like he also needed something from her and she wasn’t giving it to him.

  “Hang on. I’m sorry. My mind was on other things. And I hate to hear you put yourself down. You’ve got plenty to offer and you know it.”

  “Like Drew said. They all said it’s easy to write a check and know I was doing the job.”

  “That’s right. We all have our strengths and bringing order and control to the island is yours. Sitting behind a desk isn’t.”

  “No,” he said. “I do the administrative work because it’s part of the job but not the part I love.”

  “You’d rather be out getting things done, I know that. I think others do too. But you’re a leader too, Mac.”

  “You’ve gone from lecturing me to boosting my ego. Is this my lucky day or something?” he asked, smiling.

  “It could be if you wanted it. But I’ve got to work later.”

  “And you could come over after,” he said.

  She normally didn’t stay during the week since he had to get up and go to work and she slept in, but she was shaken enough to need that tonight. “If you don’t mind, I think I will. Do you mind if I sleep in once you leave though?”

  “I’ve never minded.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Before I go, I should say congrats to you.”

  “For what?” she asked.

  “One of the guys said your book or books was a top seller. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  She smiled. “I’ve never reached top seller status in any category, but I did this time on my most recent release. Not sure if it’s because my mother and all her friends are buying my books now that they know. Or people around here. I’m sure that is it,” she said, laughing.

  “Or your books are really selling and you are just finding your groove. You should try to spend more time on them. Do you need more from me on your book?”

  “No. The story is written. It’s just drawing now. That takes time and I don’t have a lot of it.”

  “You could cut back on your hours at the bar and do more for your books,” he suggested.

  “I need to stay full time for benefits,” she said. “Maybe someday. It’s all good. I’m making the best of my time.”

  It was the first he’d made a comment about her cutting back her hours and she wondered if it had anything to do with her job in general and if he was embarrassed over it. They’d talked about it before and he’d said it was nuts for her to feel that way and he didn’t think it. But now that she had a different career—one that might be looked at more favorably than a bartender at night—she wondered if he was trying to push her in that direction.

  “I get it. It’s not for me to tell you what job to have. But you should do what makes you happy,” he said. “I need to get back to the station. I’ll see you tonight.”

  She gave him a quick kiss and then walked him to the door, locking it behind him.

  She’d love nothing more than to just work on her books full time, but she couldn’t live off of that and she’d never let herself be dependent on any man ever again. Not for anything.

  There was nothing wrong with an honest day’s work and she liked working in the bar too.

  But what she needed to do more than anything was let Rod know she wasn’t interested. And as much as she wanted to rip him a new asshole she wasn’t going to. She’d seen how he could change personalities and she was trying to not provoke him if she could.

  Anything in writing could come back to bite her so she was going to be firm and direct and not immature. She was going to tell him that she wasn’t interested in reconnecting. That she wasn’t into men that hit women and changed their moods with a flip of a coin. She had put that behind her and moved on.

  It would probably piss him off more than if she threw a bunch of curse words into the email, but she wanted it in writing what he’d done as much as she had those reports from the college all those years ago.

  Nope, nothing officially had been done to Rod and she hadn’t pressed charges either. But she wanted that documentation in case she ever needed it.

  Hopefully she never would.

  32

  Worth the Nerves

  Over a week later, Mac knocked on Sidney’s door to pick her up. She hadn’t spent the night last night like they’d been doing on Fridays since he had plans for a date. They were spending the day together, he was bringing her to work later, then going in for a drink after and bringing her back to his place for the night.

  Sunday she’d go home before work and he wouldn’t see her again until Monday or Tuesday for dinner. If he was lucky.

  They were making it work the best they could. If she lived with him, they’d see more of each other.

  And thoughts like that had never been in his head.

  He hadn’t even lived with Colleen since he was on the army base, but they’d spent a lot of time together. That was part of the problem too. Colleen wanted to get married so she could move in with him.

  He’d been tempted, but something told him to ease the hell back. That wasn’t a reason to marry anyone. The divorce rate in the Bond family as a whole was low. It was the highest on William’s side and he wasn’t going to add to it because his dick had a mind of its own.

  His grandparents only stayed married because back then people tried to make it work. But his grandmother and grandfather fought like rabid cats and dogs. His grandmother passed away many years ago and his grandfather had been fine to stay single and take out his moodiness on the rest of the family.

  “So are you going to tell me what the plans are today?” Sidney asked when she opened the door. It was a nice early April Saturday morning. They were both in jeans and a T-shirt, Sidney grabbing a light jacket and putting it over her
arm.

  “It’s a surprise. Where’s your bag?” he asked, knowing she’d probably have something else she’d want to change into for work tonight.

  “We won’t have time to come back for it?” she asked.

  “I guess we can,” he said, frowning.

  “Hang on. I’m sorry. I’m scattered. I got home last night and got to work on my book and stayed up later than I thought. So of course I rolled out of bed later. Is there a time limit? Can we take five minutes for me to pack a few things?”

  He looked at his watch. “We’ve got five minutes.”

  “Come up with me if you want. Or you can wait here. Doesn’t matter. Amanda is at Drew’s and Bri went off the island this weekend. She’s dating some guy in Providence and spending her weekends there if she can.”

  “Were you alone last night?” he asked her.

  “I was. It’s fine. I’m a big girl.”

  “You should have come to my place,” he argued. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t.

  “I had work to do. My stuff is here.”

  They were in her room now and she was pulling jeans out of a drawer, then a shirt off the hanger and a change of underclothes. She had leggings she kept at his house so he figured she’d put them on tomorrow.

  Then he wondered why he was thinking of that when he barely thought of his own clothes half the time.

  “You could have brought it to my house,” he said.

  “You already stay up late as it is waiting for me. Then on top of that, when I’m with you I want to fool around and then I don’t get work done. I knew we had plans today.”

  “I’m not sure how you get anything done. You really should consider cutting back your hours.”

  She turned and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve got it covered,” she said. “I make my own timelines, but I’m just excited about this book and it’s moving along.”

  She grabbed her bag and put it over her shoulder and he let it drop. He didn’t want to come off as controlling. He didn’t have any say over what she did with her free time.

  “Are you ready now?” he asked.

  “Yep. So tell me, what are we doing today?”

  He didn’t say a word, just walked to his SUV and climbed in. She laughed at his silence and he started the engine, then pulled away.

  Twenty minutes later they were moving down a long road and in front of a parked helicopter. “Seriously?” she said.

  “Yep. I told you I was going to get you up in one and give you a tour of the island. Or at least Egan was.”

  “This is too much,” she said.

  “It’s family and it’s a date. We don’t do a lot of date type things. Or are you afraid?”

  “Not really. I mean, I’ve never done it before but just need to wrap my head around it.”

  “Wrap it around it fast,” he said, getting out.

  They walked into the building and Egan was sitting behind a desk talking to one of his staff. “Mac,” Egan said. “And this is the lovely lady that you’re bringing up. Do you know that Mac has only been in my chopper for work related things, and even then, just a few times.”

  “Work?” she asked, returning Egan’s handshake.

  “Sometimes we have to get up in the air to find missing people, or other stuff that I’d rather not bore you with,” he said.

  “Ever been in a chopper before?” Egan asked.

  “Nope. You’ll take it easy on me, right?”

  Egan laughed. “It’s a beautiful spring day, lots of sun, very little wind or clouds. You’ll get to see a lot of the island.”

  “I can’t wait,” she said. “I mean I haven’t even been here two full years and I know where most things are on the island, but it’s not like I’ve see everything or gone all over it.”

  “Then let’s get going,” Egan said.

  “Your other chopper out?” Mac asked.

  “Yeah, we’ve got tours scheduled all weekend.”

  Mac was shocked he was able to fit this one in on short notice. As it was, Egan was barely charging him. Just a fraction of what they cost and then said it was only for the gas because Mac insisted he pay something.

  “Did you have this planned in advance and kept it a secret?” Sidney asked.

  “No,” he admitted. “It was last minute.”

  Egan stopped before he climbed into the chopper. “Last minute cancellation. Guess Mac called at the right time before I could have filled the slot.”

  “Which you could have still done,” Mac said.

  “I did fill it. With you. And before you get all pissy on me again, I kept their deposit.”

  Egan didn’t say another word and neither did Mac. Instead, they climbed in and did what they were instructed, buckling in, putting on headsets and watching while Egan started everything up.

  The blades began to rotate while Egan flipped switches and up they went.

  Sidney started to laugh and he was glad she was more excited than nervous.

  “We’re in the middle of the island for easy access,” Egan said, “but there are a lot of landing spots for me. Anyway, I’m going to circle around and start at the south end and make our way north and then west to east.”

  “Sounds good,” Mac said. He turned to look at Sidney. Even though they had headsets and microphones on, he heard himself yelling over the noise. “This is the first I’m really seeing everything too. Or at least relaxing while I’m doing it.”

  She reached her hand over and placed it on his knee. “This is fun. I know I gave you somewhat of a hard time about it, but I’m glad you did it.”

  “Me too,” he said.

  They flew around for a bit, Egan pointing out landmarks and places, coves and resorts. Both of them answered a lot of questions that Sidney had.

  “There is Atlantic Rise,” Egan said. “The tallest hotel on the island. The tallest structure on the island.”

  “Your cousins own that, right? It’s only a few years old?” she asked, looking at Mac.

  “Yeah, distant cousins to both of us. Emily and Penelope Rauch built it.”

  Egan laughed. “We are all related about the same when it comes to crossing family sides. But yes. Emily and Penelope’s grandfather on her father’s side has always had hotels and rental properties. Their father, Mason, who lives on the island and is on the town board, works with my dad. That’s how Sophia and Mason met. Anyway, long story short, Mason’s family had some money in investment properties too and the girls always had grand plans for this hotel. One higher than the casino.”

  “How many floors is it?” she asked.

  “Thirty-five. The casino is thirty floors, plus a penthouse on top for Eli. So thirty-one floors total,” Egan said. “Anyway, Mason and my father are part owners of Atlantic Rise, but it’s the girls who own the majority and run it. I suppose it all stays in the family some way or another.”

  “They’re twins, right?” Sidney asked.

  “No,” Mac said. “Emily is barely a year older than Penelope. Though there are twins in the family, not many in our generation. Ava Mills has twin brothers—they are from Catherine’s side and Duke Raymond has a twin sister from Patricia’s side like Emily and Penelope. There are other twins through the years, but no reason for a history lesson.”

  “I heard Duke’s food is outstanding,” she said. “Drew took Amanda there on Christmas Eve.”

  “We’ll have to try it out,” he said. “Maybe Monday or Tuesday?”

  “That’d be nice,” she said. “I don’t get to go out to dinner much. Of course I don’t crave it often since I work in a restaurant.”

  When they went out it was usually lunch, but the least he could do was take her to a nice dinner. Not only that, it gave them another time to be together.

  They flew around for another twenty minutes, then were landing back at Egan’s place and climbing out.

  “And that concludes our tour for the day,” Egan said, smiling. “Normally I do a lot more talking but I’m glad that Mac was able to ju
mp in. Maybe you’re looking to be a part-time guide?”

  “Not likely,” he said. “Thanks though. Are you sure we’re square?”

  “More than sure.”

  “So was it worth the nerves?” he asked Sidney when they were back in his SUV.

  “More than worth it. Now I’m starving. How about some food?”

  “Lunch it is,” he said. “Then we’ve got a few hours before you need to be to work. What do you want to do?”

  “What I want to do is go back to your place and relax.”

  He turned to look at her. “Just relax?”

  “Really, Mac. If I just wanted to relax I’d go home. When I go to your place, it’s all about you and me. Us together.”

  His heart was pounding more than it ever did before. More than going to war. More than when he’d lost his virginity.

  Now he understood why she had to go home at times. She had a life outside of him and he wanted her to have that. Friends and a new career she was working so hard on.

  If she focused on him when they were together—and what man didn’t want that—then he couldn’t be upset if their time was limited.

  “Yeah,” he said. “It really is.”

  33

  More Than Enough

  Sidney was almost vibrating an hour after that flight.

  She’d never been one that was afraid to fly or try new things; she just didn’t jump at it as fast as her sister had.

  And though she knew Mac had wanted to plan this date, she thought he’d forgotten about it.

  Not only that, there seemed to be some tension between Mac and Egan over the tour. She wondered if it had to do with money. If she was to guess, Egan gave Mac a family discount or something and it bothered Mac.

  He should really get over his insecurity about his side of the family not having wealth like the others. It was getting old in her eyes and she wondered if it was in others too.