New Beginnings (123 page)

I thought about defending my brother, but unfortunately Mac had his number. It seemed he would never grow up. “You ’bout ready to get out of here?” I asked, brushing my lips against her ear.

“You can’t leave now,” Kane said. “I just ordered another round.”

“I’m sure you boys’ll have no problem takin’ care of those for us. What do you say, baby? You ready?”

“Sure, I just have to run to the restroom first.”

I watched her cross the bar, leaning back in my chair to make sure she made it into the restroom without being harassed by some drunk biker. I knew and trusted most of the guys here tonight, but a few faces I’d never seen before, and I wasn’t taking any chances with Mac’s safety.

“So you finally wore her down,” Seb said, grinning. “When’s she lettin’ ya move back home?”

My brother may be a master under the hood of a car, but when it came to women, he was as clueless as the rest of my brothers. They all thought chasing a good time was the answer to a happy life. They still hadn’t figured out that what I’d found with Mac put every one of their one-night stands to shame.

“We’re takin’ it slow.” I was really beginning to hate that term. “But it won’t be too much longer if I have my way.”

“It’s your goddamn house, Ryk,” Seb said, rolling his eyes. “Just tell her you’re movin’ back in. End of story.”

“Yeah,” Kane said, laughing. “Like that’ll work. You know Mac. She doesn’t take his shit.”

That’s what I loved most about her, the fact that she wasn’t afraid to stand up to me. “Doesn’t matter how long it takes,” I said, washing the lie down with my last sip of beer. “All that matters is we get there.”

Mac returned, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind. “You ready to get out of here, sexy?”

She’d had a few drinks, and since Mac was a lightweight when it came to drinking, I knew she was probably feeling pretty good. I’d love nothing more than to invite her back to my place, but given her state and the stunt our son had pulled last time she’d left him alone too long to spend time with me, I was thinking I should drop her off at home first.

“Sure.” I watched her make her way around the table, giving each of my brothers a hug and a kiss before promising to have them over to the house for a barbeque soon.

My brother Gabe, our firefighter and thrill seeker, held her hand before kissing it. “We’re really glad you’re back, Mac. We’ve missed you.” Gabe was eight years younger than me, so he’d been a kid when Mac joined our family.

“I missed you guys too,” Mac said, kissing his cheek. She glanced around the table. “Thanks for giving me a second chance, guys. I promise I won’t hurt him again.”

“Hey,” Kane said, grabbing her free hand, “it takes two. We don’t blame you. We just want to see you guys work this out. You belong together.”

I couldn’t agree with my brother more and seeing Mac with my brothers again just renewed my determination to fight for my family.

***

When the cab pulled into Mac’s drive, she squeezed my hand. “Why don’t you come in? I’ll make some coffee. You’ve only had a couple of drinks. You could always take the bike home.”

“Sure.” Any excuse to spend more time with her. “Thanks, buddy,” I said, handing the driver a bill to cover the fare and a generous tip.

I’d seen a family picture clipped to the cabbie’s dash, and it reminded me that some people had to struggle to support their families while I’d been lucky enough to be able to support mine doing what I loved most.

“Thank you, sir,” he said, his eyes widening at the sight of the large bill. “You have a good night.”

“We will.” After last night, I feared I may never get another chance like this with Mac. The fact that we were together at all was a miracle and not one I intended to take for granted.

When we walked into the house, the lights were still on in the family room and the TV was blaring. It was just after eleven and the boys had finished taking their exams, so I wasn’t surprised to find them awake.

“I’m going to get changed,” Mac whispered, gesturing to her outfit.

I chuckled, imagining Mac sneaking out of the house earlier because she didn’t want our sons to see her in that sexy getup. “Go ahead,” I said, kissing her cheek before letting my lips drift over her temple. “I’ll say hi to the boys, then go make that coffee.”

“Thanks,” she said, slipping her arms around my waist. “I had fun tonight. It was so nice to see your brothers again.”

“Yeah, I’m just sorry Brody wasn’t there.” My missing brother was a world-famous poker player who travelled the world winning millions at tournaments. “He should be back home next week. Maybe we can have that barbeque you mentioned.” When I realized I just suggested a party at
her
house, I said, “Uh, I mean if—”

“Oh, I’d love that,” she said, smiling. “The boys would love to see their uncles. It’s been too long. Will you call Brody and ask the rest of the guys? Maybe next weekend?”

I was hoping to take her and the boys to our family cottage next weekend. But since it was only an hour and a half from our house, there was no reason we couldn’t do both. “Why don’t we just do it up at the cottage?”

She bit her lip. “We haven’t been up there in ages. We’d have to have it cleaned and stock the cupboards and wash all the towels and linens and—”

I kissed her to silence her ramblings. “I’ll take care of everything.”

That cottage, which was really a large beachfront house, was one of my favorite places on Earth. I hadn’t been there since Mac and I split because there were so many good memories. I knew I would be surrounded by them as soon as I walked in the door, and given my precarious emotional state at the time, I didn’t want to risk it. But things felt different now, and it seemed like the perfect place to start over.

“If you’re sure,” she said, sounding hesitant. “I wouldn’t mind heading up myself one day next week to take care of things myself, you know, just to put my mind at ease that everything is perfect before we have guests.”

“My brothers aren’t guests. They’re family, and you know they wouldn’t care if they had to sleep in tents as long as they had a keg of beer and a few bags of chips.”

Mac wrinkled her nose as though the idea was distasteful. “I think we can do better than that.” She laughed. “God, how will I survive all of that testosterone for an entire weekend?”

“I could lock you away in our room for the weekend,” I whispered in her ear. “Then you wouldn’t have to deal with it.”

She trembled slightly before patting my chest with a breathy laugh. “You are way too tempting. Now go say hi to your boys while I get out of these clothes.”

I grabbed her hand before she could get away. “You sure you don’t need any help?” I asked, winking.

She giggled, reminding me how much I loved the sound of her laughter. “Behave yourself.”

“Come on, now. You know you prefer it when I’m bad.”

She licked her lips as her heated gaze travelled over my body. “You’re so right. I do.”

I groaned before adjusting the front of my jeans. “You expect me to go in there now?” I asked, hooking my thumb toward the family room.

“Don’t worry. If they’re watching TV, they won’t even spare you a glance.”

“I hope you’re right,” I muttered, reluctantly letting her go. The animalistic part of me considered following her into the bedroom and locking the door, but the thought of my sons sitting a few feet away quashed that idea.

At least we’d had the foresight to choose a house with the master bedroom on the main level to ensure privacy once the boys went to bed.

I glanced at my watch again. Not too early to suggest they hit the sheets, especially if I could convince them to come into work with me tomorrow to get the lay of the land.

“Hey, Dad,” Zane said, looking up at me when he caught sight of me lounging in the doorway. “We heard someone come in but thought it was Mom. What’re you doing here?”

“Your mom and I met up tonight, so I thought I’d see her home.”

“Oh,” Cole said, looking dejected. “I thought maybe you were here to stay this time.”

It pained me to see my boys hoping for a reconciliation as much as I was. “Hey,” I said, sitting down beside him on the sectional. “Your mom and I were just talking about heading up to the cottage next weekend. We thought we’d invite your uncles too. What do you say? You guys game?”

“Uncle Brody’s home?” Cole asked, his face lighting up. He loved all of his uncles, but he’d always had an inexplicable connection with Brody.

“He will be by then,” I said, crossing my arms as I leaned into the sofa. It had been a long and stressful day, and now that I was finally relaxing, I realized how tired I was. I really needed that coffee if I planned to head home soon.

I was stifling a yawn when Mac walked back into the room wearing block yoga pants and a black zippered hoodie. “You look like you could use that coffee,” she said, smiling.

“I was gonna make it, baby.”

“You just relax. I’ll take care of it.”

When she left the room, I slipped my jacket off and tossed it over a chair before toeing my boots off and kicking my feet up on the ottoman.

“Looks like you and Mom are getting along,” Zane said, his lips tipping up in a half-smile. “Does that mean you’ll be moving back home soon?”

I was afraid to jinx it or get their hopes up, but I heard myself say, “Nothing would make me happier than being back here with you guys, you know that. But it’s really up to your mom.” I didn’t want to make Mac out to be the villain, the one who was keeping our family apart, but it was important for my boys to remember that I wanted to be with them, not across town in some house that would never feel like home. “I hope next weekend will get us one step closer.”

I saw Zane and Cole exchange a look before my eldest handed me the remote and said, “Uh, we’re pretty tired, Dad. We’re gonna head up now.”

“You guys got anything planned for tomorrow?” I asked before they could leave the room. “I thought you might like to kill some time at the factory with me this summer. The pay’s not bad, and the hours are pretty good. You could come with me in the morning if you’re not busy. I’ve got some meetings lined up, but I’m sure I could get your uncle to set you up.”

“Sure, that’d be great,” Cole said, sounding more enthusiastic than his brother looked.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Zane. “You got something more important to do?” They both knew how I felt about the importance of working hard and being responsible, though I knew if they’d heard some of the stories from my youth, they’d call me a hypocrite.

“No, it’s cool,” Zane said. “What time you gonna pick us up?”

“Let’s say eight o’clock?”

“Okay,” Zane said before dragging his brother out of the room.

I heard them call goodnight to their mom before they made their way upstairs. I was channel surfing, looking for the news, when Mac walked in with a tray of coffee and homemade cookies.

“Those aren’t…?” My mouth began to water at the sight of my favorite peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookies.

“They sure are,” she said, grinning. “I couldn’t sleep after our fight last night, so I stayed up half the night baking.” She rolled her eyes. “I know I’m crazy, but baking relaxes me.”

I bit into the soft cookie with an appreciative moan. I hadn’t tasted these in almost a year, and now that I had, I feared I wouldn’t be able to stop until I cleaned the plate. “Oh my God, these are even better than I remembered. You really oughta sell these things.”

“You really think so?” she asked, laughing. “You’re not just saying that? You think they’re really that good?”

“Come on, you know how good they are.” When Mac used to bake for the kids’ school and various fundraisers, her goodies would always sell out before anyone else’s. “You want to start a business, look no further.” I reached for another cookie. “You could be the next Mrs. Fields with these babies.”

She prepared my coffee before handing it to me. “I do love to bake,” she said, considering the idea. “But I love charity work too. It makes me feel like I’m giving something back.”

“So do both,” I said, taking a sip of the hot coffee.

“What do you mean?”

“Sell your products, and give a percentage of every sale to your favorite charity.”

“Oh my God,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Why didn’t I think of that? That’s perfect, Ryker!”

I was happy to see her so enthusiastic, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to get it off the ground without some help. “You’ll need an e-commerce site, an accountant, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to work on your business plan with a professional.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. “I hadn’t thought of all that. I guess it won’t be as easy as I thought.”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy, baby.” I grinned, hoping she knew I was talking about her. She’d played hard to get, and it only made me want her more. “Come to the office tomorrow. I’ll set you up with my accountant, I.T. guy, and business consultant. Oh, and you’ll need to meet with my lawyer too. It’s best to incorporate right from the start. It’ll mean filing more taxes, but at least you won’t have to worry if someone decides to sue you.”

“Why would someone want to sue me?” she asked, looking alarmed. “I just want to sell baked goods.”

I chuckled. “Honey, we live a litigious society. People will sue over a hangnail these days, and there are too many shysters willing to take their cases. It’s sickening.” I reached for a paper napkin when I realized I was making a pig of myself. “Your biggest concern would be the ingredients you use, but you should be able to avoid any problem by clearly stating the ingredients and possible allergens on the label.”

“God, there’s so much to consider,” she said, tucking her legs under before crushing a throw pillow against her chest. “Maybe I should give it a little more thought. I don’t want to get in over my head.”

“Baby, I’m gonna tell you what you told me when I was thinking about starting my business. Life is all about managing risk, not hiding from it.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?”

I reached for my coffee before handing her the camomile tea she’d made for herself.

“Thanks,” she murmured, wrapping her hands around the warm mug.