McCarthys of Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-3 (21 page)

“Do what?”

“Talk me down off the ledge without breaking a sweat.”

“I just want you to be happy. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen.”

“You really don’t, do you?”

Without taking his eyes off hers, he shook his head. “Whatever you want. Whenever you want it.”

“I still can’t believe you feel that way about me. I’m finding it hard to get used to.”

“Well, you need to get used to it. It’s here to stay.”

“How can you possibly know that after just a few days?”

“I told you. I knew after a few minutes.”

Their waiter returned with the wine Mac had ordered and went through the ritual of uncorking it and giving him a sample. Maddie watched him as he tasted it, nodded his approval to the waiter, and ordered dinner for both of them. Clearly, he’d done this a few times.

“The food here is unreal,” Mac said when their calamari appetizer was delivered.

“It should be for what it costs,” she muttered.

Mac laughed and fed her a ring of fried squid. “So I was thinking. . .”

Maddie eyed him warily. “About?”

“Tom.”

“What about him?”

“You said Thomas’s father was a writer. You didn’t say he was Tom Wilkinson, the bestselling author.”

“Did I forget to mention that?”

“You know you did. But what I don’t get is why you’d let him get away with what he did when he could make life so much easier for you and Thomas.”

“Because I’d never want to risk him trying to take Thomas away from me. What if he decided he couldn’t live without his son? How would I fight back when he has the kind of resources he does?”

“I don’t know too much about being an author, but I can’t imagine he’d want people to know that he lied to you about having a vasectomy and then left you alone and pregnant with a text message to say good-bye. If I heard that, I wouldn’t buy any more of his books, that’s for sure.”

Did he have any idea how adorable he was when he got so indignant on her behalf?

“What?” he huffed. “What’s so funny?”

“You are.”

“I’m serious, Maddie! It’s ridiculous that you’re worried about money when he could be supporting his son in high style.”

“We don’t need high style. We’re managing just fine.”

“It’s not right.”

“Maybe not, but I’d never risk losing Thomas. Besides, now he thinks I’m a happily married mother. I won’t hear from him again.”

Mac toyed with the stem on his wineglass. “How did it feel?” His eyes met hers. “To see him again?”

“All I could think about on the ferry was that he’d take one look at Thomas and know he was his son.” This time she reached for his hand and enjoyed the surprised expression that lit up his face. “But because of what you did, I’ll never have to worry about that again.”

“You think he bought it?”

She squeezed his hand. “I know he did. You may not realize this, but you saved me from one of my biggest worries today. I used to be afraid all the time that he’d show up at my door someday, and the jig would be up. But because I met you—because you knocked me off my bike and insisted on inserting yourself into my life—”

“Hey! You like having me around!”

Maddie bit back a laugh. “Because of all that and because you were so quick today, you made it so I don’t have to worry about that anymore. And I appreciate it. More than you could ever know. If I hadn’t been with you, he would’ve shown up at my door, and who knows what might’ve happened?”

“I don’t want you to have to worry about anything or be afraid.” He glanced down at their joined hands and then back up at her. “So you didn’t feel, you know, attracted to him?”

Smiling at his concern, she said, “Not one bit. I seem to be rather attracted to someone else at the moment.” She loved the befuddled look that crossed his face.

“What’s his name?” he asked, attempting a stern tone that failed miserably.

“You don’t know him.”

“Oh, man!” He clutched his chest, pretending she’d stabbed him. “She giveth and she taketh away!”

Watching him—playful, sexy, generous, solid—Maddie realized that despite all her best efforts to resist him, she’d fallen as hard for him as he seemed to have fallen for her. Now she had to decide if she was willing to risk everything to see where he could take her.

Mac and Maddie held hands as they left the restaurant. Sated after the meal, the wine, the conversation, he wanted to rush her home so they could be together. It was too soon. He knew that, yet he also now knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
 

Unlike any woman he’d ever known, she made him breathless and anxious and edgy and nervous. He couldn’t wait to get her back on the bike, to have her wrapped around him, to have her legs tight against his hips and her breasts flat against his back. Good thing she hadn’t seen what having her close to him like that had done to him earlier. She’d never trust him to keep the bike on the road.

“Look at the stars,” she marveled.

“That’s one thing I miss in Miami. Too much city light.”

She continued to gaze upward at a sky littered with stars. “Sometimes I really love it here.”

Because he couldn’t bear to wait another second, he caressed her face and pressed a chaste kiss to her sweet lips. Her arms came up to encircle his neck, and her tongue traced the outline of his mouth. Mac stopped breathing as she teased her way into his mouth. He groaned from the effort of holding back the need to plunder.

“You’re killing me,” he whispered.

“Good.”

“I won’t be any good to you dead.”

She laughed against his lips and killed him some more with dainty sweeps of her tongue that sent electrical currents rippling straight through him.

He slid a hand down her back, cupped her bottom and brought her in tight against his throbbing erection.

She gasped. “Mac.”

“What, honey? Tell me.”

“I want you.”

“It’s too soon.” He wanted to shoot himself for being so honorable. At times like this, that really sucked. “You need time—”

She put her fingers over his lips. “I need you.”

“Are you sure?”

Nodding, she rubbed herself against him, and he nearly lost it.
 

“Maddie,” he gasped.
 

She tossed her head back and laughed.

He took advantage of the opportunity to sink his teeth into her exposed neck.

She shuddered. “Can we go home now?”

“I was going to take you dancing.”

“I don’t want to dance.”

“What do you want to do?”

“You.”

His heart tripped into overdrive. “Maddie. . .”

She took a step back from him. “God, that sounded so slutty. I don’t know what I was thinking—”

He brought her right back. “No, honey. It sounded so sexy that I’m about to lose my mind. I want you to say whatever you want to me. I’ll never think you’re anything but beautiful and funny and smart and so freaking sexy you make me crazier than I’ve been since I was a horny teenager.”

She looked up at him with bottomless eyes full of what looked an awful lot like love. God, he hoped so. “Take me home, Mac. Please?”

With shaking hands, he helped her into the helmet and got her settled on the back of the bike. Before he got on, he walked around it a couple of times.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to cool off so I can drive.”

Maddie giggled and never took her eyes off him as he took another lap around the bike.

Finally, he got on in front of her.

“All better?”

“Not hardly, but good enough to get us home. I hope.”

Maddie slid her arms around him, caressing his chest and belly before heading south.
 

He caught her wandering hands with one of his. “No more of that until we get home,” he said through gritted teeth.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’ll show you fun. Just let me get us home without crashing.”

Whereas before dinner, he’d taken the long way so she’d get a chance to enjoy the bike ride, on the way home, he took the shortest possible route. Having her pressed against him, even more tightly than before, was pure torture. When they arrived at her place, he was relieved to see the lights off in Tiffany’s house and only one lamp glowing in Maddie’s apartment. How quickly, he wondered, could he get rid of his sister without being rude?

“Don’t be obvious,” Maddie whispered on the way up the stairs.

He stopped and drew her into another torrid kiss. “That’s just to tide me over,” he said when he came up for air many minutes later.

Maddie wiped a self-conscious hand over her kiss-swollen lips and preceded him into the apartment.

“Hey,” Janey said from the sofa. “You’re back early.”

“Maddie wasn’t feeling well,” Mac said. “Her injuries are acting up again.”

“Oh, give it a rest, Mac.” Janey rolled her eyes. “You want to fool around, and you want me out of here. Don’t worry, I’m going.”

“That’s not true—” Maddie said at the same time Mac began to protest.

“You two are so funny,” Janey said, laughing.

“Let me walk you home,” Mac said.

“Not necessary. I walk around town by myself all the time.”

“I don’t want you doing it tonight.”

“Tough.” She gathered up her purse and the book she’d brought. Going up on tiptoes, she planted a kiss on Mac’s cheek. “You’re not the boss of me, big brother.” She patted his face. “Take care of your lady. I’ll take care of myself.”

“Call me when you get home. Let it ring once.”

Janey laughed at him. “All right,
Mom
, if you insist.”

“I do.”

“Thanks so much, Janey,” Maddie said. “I really appreciate you watching Thomas.”

“Anytime—and I mean that. He’s adorable. I loved hanging out with him.”

“Thanks, brat,” Mac said as he held the door for her. He watched her go down the stairs to the driveway before he swung the inside door closed and turned to Maddie.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” she said.

“Crazy about you, and I got rid of her in three minutes. That has to be a record where Janey is concerned.”

“So much for not being obvious.” Maddie got up from the sofa. “I’ll be right back.” On the way by, she made sure to rub up against him.
 

He was never going to survive her.

After she disappeared into the bathroom, he got busy pulling out the sofa bed. “We’re getting a bigger place and a real bed,” he muttered. “Immediately.” Going to his pile on the floor, he dug out the gift he’d bought her at the mall and left it on the bed. When she came out a few minutes later, he took his turn in the bathroom, giving her the chance to discover the bag on the bed.

Janey took her time walking home. The mild evening had brought out the crowds, and Main Street was busy and loud. Since it was still early, she decided to stop at the Beachcomber for a beer before going home. No doubt she’d find someone she knew at her favorite bar. Unlike her brothers, she’d never been confined by island life and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. But she missed David so much that she wondered how she’d ever survive another year apart.
 

They were so close to having everything they’d ever dreamed of. All their plans were in place for a wedding next summer, after which he’d move home to Gansett to take over the practice of the retiring Doc Robach. Janey had graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in animal science. She’d had the grades for veterinary school, but David had convinced her that only one of them should go to medical school, or they’d be repaying student loans for the rest of their lives. She knew he was right. Island practices wouldn’t generate the kind of income they’d need to live and pay off massive loans, too. Sometimes, however, she wished they both could’ve pursued their dreams.
 

Janey’s parents had offered to pay for her to go to veterinary school, but she and David had decided they didn’t want to be that deeply indebted to them. Her parents had vehemently disagreed with that decision and hadn’t hesitated to tell her so. But it was her life—and David’s—and they were going to do things their way. Her parents had been a little chilly to David since then, and Janey hoped they’d get over it before the wedding.
 

She and David had been a team for so long, since their sophomore year of high school, that Janey couldn’t imagine her life without him. She just wished they saw more of each other. Once a month or so, she spent a weekend with him in Boston, and he came to the island whenever he could get at least forty-eight hours free. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened very often during his residency. He was either working or sleeping. Often when they were together, he slept through much of it. That was the main reason why they’d decided she should stay on the island with her family and friends, rather than move to Boston to live with him. He worked so much that she’d spend more time alone there than she did on Gansett.