Tipping Point (13 page)

Neil continued to play with the little monsters. Squeaker had joined in by way of gently gnawing his wrist bones. Mac watched and thought about all the ferrets in shelters she hoped to bring to the farm. She would need to do something about that soon. It meant going into cities to do it, but she’d risk it.

Apparently she’d been standing still for a while, lost in thought, because she suddenly felt Neil’s arms wrap around her waist from behind. He nuzzled the hair away from the side of her neck, and began using his lips and tongue on the sensitive skin there. Every thought flew out of her brain, and her head tilted to the side to allow him access. Then he whispered in her ear.

“You ready to go, honey?” She shivered.

“Uh, yeah. Right. I think so?” The questioning tone had him laughing. He was apparently enjoying the effect he had on her.

“Good, because the view I’ve been getting of your backside with you bending over so much has triggered a certain level of interest that I’d like to do something about. If you’re so inclined,” he added softly. She was definitely inclined, but she laughed.

“You’re getting turned on watching me change ferret waste pads? Huh. That’s gotta be a first for me.” Then she pressed back against him, making him groan in her ear. He spun her around suddenly, plastering her full-length against him, and captured her mouth in an almost brutal kiss. Lust slammed through her in wave after wave of spearing need.

“Let’s go,” he said hoarsely when he released her. Tingling from head to toe, Mac mechanically picked up her pack. The only reason she remembered the extension cord on their way out, was because it was bright red and directly in her line of sight near the door. Her hands were shaking as she plugged it into the outdoor outlet closest to the river.

When they got back to the riverbank, Mac just dropped her stuff on the ground. In less than a breath of time, Neil had her in his arms again. She let him take her over, and allowed the waves of heat to carry her away.

It was a good while later that Mac was staring down at herself in what little there was of the moonlight. She was naked again, she noted. She was spending a lot of time that way with Neil around. Not that she minded. She’d been celibate for a number of years, so this sudden abundance of sex was doing her body good. As well as her state of mind.

Despite everything that was about to go wrong with the world, and what she needed to accomplish in the interim, she wasn’t worried.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mac started at his voice. She’d really zoned out.

“I’m not sure I’m willing to share at that price.” He snorted at her pithy response.

“Actually, I was just marveling at the number of times I’ve found myself naked with you, and how good you are for my stress levels.”

“Mmm. I offer twenty-four-hour service, 365 days a year.” Mac smirked at him.

“I’m sure you do. In the meantime, maybe we should get some clothes on. I’ll boot up the laptop so you can go through my music files. Be warned. I think I’ve got about five thousand songs, though there are some duplicates. I’ve been meaning to properly sort and tag everything, but haven’t gotten around to it. Presumably a day will come when I’ve got time to kill.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I can probably keep you pretty busy for a good many years.”

“Years, huh?” Mac’s heart was thumping erratically at the thought.

“Decades, in fact,” he stated emphatically. Mac sucked in a lungful of air.

“You don’t mess around, do you?”

“Been known to in the past, perhaps, but with you? Most definitely not.” Neil was blatantly and utterly serious, and Mac knew in that moment that her heart wasn’t getting out of this unscathed.

“Okay.” It was all she could think to say.

“Mac,” he began, but she put her fingers over his mouth.

“Neil, I’m not going anywhere for now. If that changes you’ll be the first to know. Other than that, neither of us can give any guarantees. I won’t take the time we share for granted, or waste a chance to be with you, but that’s all I can say for now.”

“Alright.” He wanted to say more. She could see it on his face, and she wasn’t ready to hear it. If she let him speak his mind, it would spiral out of control. He made her feel powerful things, which she suspected would be very difficult to resist if the temptation was put in front of her.

Mac had already plugged in the laptop’s adapter, and was entering her password by the time Neil finished dressing again.

“Here. Media Player is open. Scroll to your heart’s content and I’ll set up the tent.” Mac threw on her clothes and got busy with the small pop-up. It took less than ten seconds to set up once it was in the right spot. Then she stuck the inflatable mattress inside, spreading it out a bit before pressing the button.

Mackenzie zipped a couple of individual sleeping bags together to make one big one, and once the mattress was finished inflating she threw the sleeping bags on top.

“Maybe bring the laptop in here,” she suggested. “We can make a playlist. You like to dance?”

“To some stuff. I like older music and dance styles. Stuff like Sinatra and Nat King Cole.”

“Awesome. I’ve got a yen for some moon-themed dancing.” In minutes they had Sinatra’s
Fly Me to the Moon
playing. The laptop speakers weren’t the best, but they did the job. It made her think she should build a gazebo with a couple of speakers in it. It hadn’t occurred to her before, but then she hadn’t been expecting to find a dancing partner.

Neil moved her over the soft grass to the rhythm of the music, making her heart sing. Everything about the moment felt wonderful. She’d resisted romance since her last marriage had fallen apart, knowing it led her into making bad decisions. Now that she was letting those feelings inside her, she realized how much had been missing from her life.

The smell of the light cologne Neil was wearing, mingled with the clear water and natural pine scents. Mac swayed wherever Neil led her, and it felt so beautiful she wanted to cry. The sensation shocked her. There had been a loneliness in her she hadn’t known existed.

Something must have shown on her face, because Neil pulled her a little bit closer without breaking the silence between them.

When Nat King Cole came on, singing
Unforgettable
, Neil pulled her completely into his arms. Mac wallowed in the warmth he radiated, both physically and emotionally.

When the playlist was finished, they curled up together inside the sleeping bags. They talked for hours, and Mac got to know the man she knew she was falling in love with.

Mac woke to the sound of the alarm on Neil’s phone. She’d asked him to set it for ten so she could get to a few places that closed early. She was cranky about it, though. She grunted and stuffed her head back under his arm.

“Oh, no you don’t! You made me set this infernal thing. You’re getting up.” He jostled her shoulder until she pulled her head back out and glared at him.

“You’re lucky I like you, cowboy. One day the rose-coloured glasses won’t be there to protect your fine ass.”

“You like my ass?”

“Well, for now anyway. Who knows if it’ll look as good to me when those glasses disappear?”

“Guess I’d better take advantage of your temporary lapse in judgment then.”

*     *     *

“I’ve never liked morning sex,” she said fifteen minutes later, when she could finally speak again.

“Yeah, I could tell. All that screaming and moaning and carrying on.”

“Shut up. A gentleman wouldn’t mention such things.”

“I’m no gentleman, I’m your lover,” he purred into her ear. “And one day I’m going to be more than that.”

“What the hell is more than a lover?” Mac wanted to bite her tongue. She knew what he meant, and tried to tell herself she wasn’t ready to hear it.

“Wait and see. Assuming there’s someone still around for all that.” That was enough for her. She covered her ears.

“I can’t hear you!” Then she made some obnoxious sounds to drown him out. He yanked her hands away from the sides of her head, and kissed her to shut her up.

“You hear me just fine, honey. Loud and clear, in fact.” Then he ducked out of the tent to start pulling on his jeans, leaving her to sit there, completely befuddled.

“You gonna sulk in that tent all day?” Outrage got her moving. They got everything packed up and both had their arms full when they headed for the house. They dropped the stuff inside.

“You can join me in the shower if you want. It’s a good one,” she said.

“Works for me.”

“Okie dokie. I’ll just grab what I need from my room.”

Mac made sure she locked the bathroom door before they started stripping off. By the time they were finished, she was feeling unusually limber. They dressed and went out to make breakfast. A loud sawing noise emanated from the futon.

“You sure he doesn’t have some sort of sinus issue?” Neil grinned at her.

“I know, right? He’s been like that his whole life. Doctors said he was fine, though. He never stops breathing or anything. I used to sit there and watch him sleep, just to be sure. Took me a while to stop worrying about it.”

“No doubt. Well, this time we have the usual specialty. Mushroom omelets. Fuck!” Her loud curse cause Billy to snort.

“I just remembered the damn chickens. I gotta feed the poor things. Be right back.”

“No worries. I know how to make omelets, honey.” She grinned over her shoulder at him and dashed out.

None of the chickens appeared to have starved in the meantime, so she scattered their feed and checked to see if there were eggs. She didn’t find any. Their water was still full, so she left them to their clucking and pecking, and went back to the house. Neil was just pouring the makings of an omelet into a pan.

“I guess you found everything okay.”

“You have no doors on your cabinets. Kinda hard to miss the pans, even if I wanted to pretend ignorance and wait until you got back to cook for me.”

“That’s because they’re workbenches. This area will be for woodworking and repairs once we move out of here, but it was the most appropriate place to put a temporary kitchen. It has the big outlet for the stove, which I’ll use for the small sawmill later.”

“What kind of woodworking?”

“Whatever we need, basically. I like inventing stuff, and building furniture, which is a good thing. There’s a lot of furniture to be built. Plenty of trees on the property to make whatever I want.”

“You’ve been planning this for a while,” he said, managing to flip the omelet with far more expertise than she could claim.

“Yeah, I have. Long before I could afford to do any of it. I may have to make you my love slave-slash-housekeeper, though. You’re a much better cook than I am. Probably a lot tidier, too. You wouldn’t even have to do windows. I don’t have any.”

“I had another position in mind, but thanks. The first part sounded really interesting at least. Speaking of the windows, though. How the hell do you get it so bright in here?”

“See the tube over your head? It’s called a Solatube. At night they switch to LED lights, but during the day they act kind of like a light periscope, amplifying and distributing the sunlight without putting big holes in the building.” Neil nodded and glanced at her.

Mac was
not
responding to his reference to the other position. That conversation needed to wait. As romantic as it might seem on some level, she had to wonder if he was getting too attached too fast. Maybe it wasn’t a problem, because she was feeling the same feelings. If it was mutual, it might not be something to fear from him, but she was still wary of it.

“You’re freaking out aren’t you, Mac? Look, I’m not some crazy, obsessive stalker who won’t take no for an answer. Mostly I’m just teasing you.” Neil slid the first omelet onto a plate and put it in front of her. He went back to the bowl that was sitting on the workbench and began mixing up more eggs and sliced mushrooms. She grabbed a fork from the cutlery bin that was sitting on the table, and waited for him to continue.

“I can see that you’re the cautious type who doesn’t go all ga-ga over a man just because there’s chemistry. You have your priorities straight, and I respect that. You’ve also had some bad experiences and disillusionment. How am I doing so far?”

“You’re a sharpshooter, cowboy. And before you continue, this is really good.” She took another bite, and he smiled at her.

“Thanks. Okay, I’ve got a couple of years on you. Not just in age, but in preparation. My set-up is done, and I’m pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I’ve got all the time in the world to spend with you even now. You don’t, and you’re spending a lot of the day dealing with things I’m not. I can futz around my store having romantic fantasies about you all day if I want to. You can’t. So, I think it mostly boils down to me being about six or eight hours ahead of you in all this.” Mac laughed.

“So, another day and you’ll have me all sewn up, is that it? Hook, line and sinker?”

“Well, a man can dream can’t he? Honestly? I’m at a point in my life where I’m more than willing to take a risk, even if it seems crazy, but I’m also not the kind of guy who wants a woman who doesn’t want him. That’s some psycho-bullshit. Not to mention a huge blow to a real man’s pride if he’s got to hog-tie a woman to keep her around. If I’m crowding you, I’ll move away until you’re ready to pull me back. You’re not a woman who will play games with that, so you do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

He sat down with his own omelet and began to eat. Mac was just finishing hers.

“I had a stalker once. Aside from the more recent little shit-head, Gerry, I mean. I mentioned to you before that Cameron’s birth father had mental problems. I just didn’t tell you how bad they were.”

10

B
OUNDARIES, BUT
N
O
G
OATS

“Brad became obsessed with me when we were friends in high school. I was going out with someone that I really loved. We broke up, though, and Brad was waiting in the wings. Being an idiot teenager I figured he would never hurt me. He loved me. I’d be safe and he’d never break my heart.