Maid for Love (13 page)

Thomas let out a happy squeal when he saw Mac.

"Hey, buddy," Mac whispered. "You're up early." Mac scooped him up and carried him to the changing table where he removed what felt like a twenty-pound diaper. Amazing to think that just yesterday he'd never changed a diaper before, and now he handled the squirming baby like an expert—and didn't mind doing it. That was the odd part. He, Mac McCarthy, commitment-phobe and bachelor extraordinaire, was taking care of a baby and
liking
it.

"You and your mother have done quite a number on me, mister," he told the baby.

Thomas rewarded him with a smile full of new baby teeth and a good dose of drool. What a cutie.

Mac changed him into a clean all-in-one shirt contraption that snapped between his legs and picked him up.

Thomas grabbed a handful of Mac's chest hair and gave a healthy yank, bringing tears to Mac's eyes. "Yikes," he said. "No no. That
hurts
."

Thomas's mischievous smile made Mac laugh. "You're a devil, aren't you? What'd you say we let Mom sleep a while and take a walk?"

When the baby seemed to approve of the plan, Mac put him back in the crib for a few minutes so he could get ready. They snuck out of the apartment a short time later. Mac debated taking the stroller that was parked under the stairs but decided he'd rather carry the baby.

In town, workers swept and washed the sidewalks in front of the various establishments. Shopkeepers carted samples of their wares to the street and rolled back awnings. Mac and Thomas wandered down to the ferry landing where Captain Joe supervised the loading of a fuel truck onto one of the smaller ferries.

"Whoa, dude," Joe said when he saw Mac carrying the baby. "You work fast!"

"Very funny."

Joe toyed with Thomas's pudgy foot, earning a squeal from the baby. "Who've you got there?"

"This is Thomas. My friend Maddie's baby."

"And how long, exactly, has Maddie been your 'friend'?"

"Since I knocked her off her bike about ten minutes after I left you yesterday."

"Awww, and now you've got yourself a little family. Isn't that sweet?"

"It's not like that." But wasn't it? "Exactly."

Joe barked with laughter and tugged cigarettes from his shirt pocket.

"You can't smoke in front of the baby," Mac said.

"Wow, look at you. All paternal and everything. Never thought I'd see the day."

"If you're quite finished, Thomas and I are going to grab some coffee. Want to join us?"

"He's kind of young for coffee, isn't he?"

Mac shot him a withering look.

Joe checked his watch. "Yeah, I've got some time. My first run isn't until eight." He hollered for someone to take over for him and walked with Mac and Thomas up the hill to the South Harbor Diner. When Mac walked in with Thomas in his arms, everything came to a halt in the small restaurant, and every eye in the room landed on him.

"Morning, everyone," Mac said.

Murmured greetings followed as Mac and Joe slid into a booth.

"Jeez, man, you've got the whole town buzzing," Joe said.

"Apparently."

Mac told Joe about what'd happened since yesterday while sharing tiny bites of his corn muffin with Thomas. If the boy's bouncing antics were any indication, he loved the treat. Before long, the muffin was a pulverized mess of crumbs that Mac scrambled to contain. The kid moved fast!

"You know what people say about her, don't you?" Joe asked tentatively after hearing Mac's story.

"It's not true, Joe." He told his friend what Darren Tuttle and the other boys, including Evan, had done to her.

Joe swore under his breath. "God, that's horrible." He leveled a steady look at Mac across the table. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Mac appreciated that his old friend knew him so well. "Haven't decided yet. But I plan to have a chat with my brother. Soon."

"Tuttle owns an auto body shop out on Sunflower Road."

"Good to know."

"He's still as much of a jerk as he was in school."

"Also good to know."

"That's one cute baby," Joe said a bit wistfully.

"He really is."

"You're getting kind of involved here, huh?"

"I think maybe I am." It still amazed Mac to realize all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. "There's something about her that just gets to me. I can't explain it."

Joe shrugged. "Happens to the best of us."

Mac knew he was referring to his feelings for Janey. After spending time with Maddie, he had a new appreciation for what it would be like to want someone who didn't return the sentiment. That thought struck a chord of fear in Mac. Suddenly, he needed to get back to her. He needed to see her, to reassure himself that what they'd shared during the long night had started them down a path toward something important.

"I need to get Thomas back to his mom," Mac said, tossing some bills on the table. "Give me a ring when you have time to kill."

Joe raised an eyebrow as his lips quirked with amusement. "Sticking around for a while, are you?"

Mac glanced down at Thomas and then back at Joe. "Looks that way."

Tingling breasts woke Maddie. Shifting in the bed, she moaned when her knee and elbow protested the movement. Her injuries hurt more this morning than they had the day before, if that was possible. Ignoring the sharp blast of pain from her knee, she got up too fast and hobbled into Thomas's room. His crib was empty.

Maddie gasped. Where were they? Where had he taken her son? Her heart racing and her throat tightening, she tried not to think about her terrifying dream as she went to the front door and looked down over Tiffany's yard. No sign of them.

"Oh, please," she whispered. "Please come back. Bring my baby back."

You don't really know him at all
, the devil on her left shoulder said.
Of course you do
, said the angel on the other shoulder.
You know him better than you ever knew the baby's father
. To which the devil said,
He could be anywhere by now
. Maddie's panic mounted as she watched the day's first ferry clear the breakwater on its way to the mainland. The angel scoffed at the devil.
He'll be right back. You'll see
.

As if she had waved a magic wand, a minute or two later Mac came strolling down Tiffany's driveway holding Thomas. He carried a white bag in his other hand and kept up a steady flow of chatter with the baby. Even though she was furious with him for taking Thomas without her permission, she couldn't help but notice how completely focused he was on her son.

"There's Mommy," he said to Thomas on the way up the stairs.

They came in the door, and she reached for Thomas.

"Hey, whoa," Mac said. "Wait a minute. Sit down, and I'll hand him to you."

"I'll just take him now."

"But your hand—"

"Please give me my son."

Surprised by her sharp tone, he did as she asked. "Uh oh, buddy. I think Mom's mad at us."

"I'm not mad at him." She returned to the sofa bed and painfully managed to arrange Thomas so her shirt was covering her breast and sighed with relief as he latched on for the one feeding she still managed to get in each day. Feeling exposed, she reached for the sheet and tugged it up over them.

Mac dropped the bag he'd been carrying on the kitchen table. "I brought you a muffin and some coffee." He turned to her. "I didn't know how you like it. Are you…"

"Feeding him? Yes."

"Oh." He didn't seem to know where to look.

"Don't take him again without telling me."

"I'm sorry. We wanted to let you sleep for a while. You were up late." His eyes finally met hers. He looked proprietary, as if he was gazing at something that belonged to him. Not knowing whether to be flattered or fearful, she looked away.

"I didn't like not knowing where he was."

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I should've left a note."

"You should've told me you were taking him."

"That would've required waking you up, which would've defeated the whole 'let you sleep in' purpose of our mission."

"Have you ever had an argument you didn't win?"

"Hmm, not that I can recall."

Maddie growled in frustration, which startled Thomas, causing him to release her nipple. She resituated him and patted his bum to reassure him. Venturing a glance at Mac, she found him watching her with thinly veiled hunger that zipped through her like an electrical current, settling into a throb between her legs.

As if he knew exactly what he did to her just by looking at her that certain way, he sat on the edge of the bed.

Maddie wished she could run away, but the twenty-pound baby anchored to her breast and the cut on her knee kept her from moving.

Thomas let out a cry to tell her he was ready to move to the other side.

"Could you… Turn away?" she asked.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!"

Reluctantly, or so it seemed, Mac turned his back to her. "That's about the sexiest thing I've ever seen," he said in a strangled tone.

"You can't see anything."

"I have a very vivid imagination. Can I turn back now?"

"If you must."

He not only turned back, he put his hands on either side of her hips and leaned in so his face was close to hers. "Kiss me."

"No," she said, turning away from him.

He took that as an invitation to lean over Thomas to nuzzle her neck.

She jolted. "Mac! Stop!"

"Not until you kiss me."

"I haven't even brushed my teeth," she muttered.

"I don't care." Turning her face, he rubbed his lips over hers. "You make me crazy, Maddie. I've never wanted anyone the way I want you."

"I wish you wouldn't say those things. Whatever you think is happening here, I don't want it."

"I don't believe you," he whispered against her neck, sending a shiver racing through her.

A knock on the door interrupted the intense moment.

"We'll finish this later," he whispered, pressing one last kiss to her lips.

"No, we won't."

"Wanna bet?"

Oh, that cocky smile of his made her so mad! He always got exactly what he wanted, which was just one more reason to resist him. Maddie watched him swing open the door.

"Hey," he said. "Come in."

His friend Libby stepped into the room. "Hi, Maddie. How're you feeling?"

"Like I got knocked off my bike by a big oaf who wasn't watching where he was going," Maddie said with a scowl for Mac.

"Cute," he said, flashing that irresistible grin of his.

Libby giggled at their banter. "I'm glad I was able to help out today."

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked.

"Oh," Mac said. "About that… I meant to tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"Libby agreed to hang out with you and Thomas while I'm at the hotel today."

"But I never asked her—"

"I did."

Maddie walked a fine line between wanting to yell at him and not wanting to be rude to Libby, who hadn't done anything more than agree to help her misguided friend.

"That's not necessary," Maddie said. "We'll be fine by ourselves."

"But, honey, your hand—"

"Don't call me that! I'm not your honey! And it's not up to you to arrange a babysitter for me."

"I told you I'm going to help you."

Maddie wanted to scream but kept her voice even when she said, "You
have
helped me, but this is too much. I can't put Libby out—"

"Oh, it's no problem. I love babies! My kids are teenagers now, and they're off with their friends today at the beach. I'd love to help out with Thomas."

"Don't you have a hotel to run?" Maddie asked, aware that she now sounded ungrateful as well as rude.

"Today's my day off."

"Fabulous." Maddie shot what she hoped was a hateful look at Mac.

He just smiled at her. "Great, then it's all worked out. I can't be late on my first day, so I'm going to head out." Leaning down, he tried to kiss her, but Maddie turned away. "I'll be back to get you for dinner, so be ready by six."

"I'm not going to dinner."

"See you then." He tweaked Thomas's foot and kissed Libby's cheek on the way out the door. "You girls have fun."

"Oh, we will," Libby assured him. "Don't worry about a thing."

They listened as he started his motorcycle and headed down the driveway to the main road.

"Ugh!" Maddie said. "He's the most aggravating person I've ever met!"

Libby raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"He's bossy and pushy and—"

"Totally smitten," Libby said with a smug smile.

"What?"