Chapter 9 #2
“Owen and I have got the music covered, in case you wondered,” Evan said.
Sitting beside him, Owen smiled in agreement.
“Me and Francine will take care of gittin’ ’em there,” Big Mac’s best friend, Ned Saunders, said. “We’ll invite ’em out fer dinner.”
“Perfect.” Mac rubbed his hands together. “I love when my master plans come together so smoothly.”
“So what exactly is your job in all of this?” his cousin Laura asked.
“It was my idea. What else do you want from me?”
The entire group howled and threw balled-up napkins at him.
Laughing, Mac batted them away. “I’m so underappreciated in this family.”
“You’re perfectly appreciated,” Maddie said, tossing another napkin at him.
“I nominate Mac to pay for the whole thing,” Janey said. “All in favor, say aye.”
A loud chorus of aye votes had Mac groaning.
Mac’s son, Thomas, ran over to him. “Dada, why they throwing stuff at you?”
Mac picked up the blond-haired toddler. “Because they’re being silly.”
Thomas wrapped his arms around Mac’s neck. “I take care of you, Dada.”
Sighing, Mac closed his eyes and squeezed the little boy. When he opened his eyes, he caught Maddie watching them with tears in hers.
“I can always count on you, buddy.”
Thomas squirmed out of his embrace and scampered off to play with his cousin Ashleigh and his baby sister, Hailey.
Maddie reached for Mac’s hand, and he curled his fingers around hers.
“So everyone is going to AM’s bachelor party next weekend, right?” Evan asked, referring to Alex Martinez’s high school nickname. Paul had been known as PM back then.
“Can’t wait,” Grant said to murmured agreement from the other guys.
“However shall we entertain Jenny while the guys are off partying?” Sydney asked with a mysterious grin.
“Gee, I have no idea what we should do,” Maddie replied.
“They’re up to something,” Mac said.
“Do ya think?” Adam asked.
“You hired the male strippers, right?” Maddie asked Adam’s fiancée, Abby.
“All set,” Abby said. “They’ll be on the five o’clock boat, and we’ll bring them right to Syd’s place.”
“Wait just a second,” Luke said. “Syd’s place is my place, too, and I never signed off on strippers.”
“It’s okay, babe,” Sydney said, patting Luke’s arm. “I don’t need your approval to have some friends over.”
“They’re not friends! They’re strippers!”
“Who will be very good friends by the end of the evening,” Stephanie said with a dirty grin.
“You’re not partying with strippers,” Grant said.
“Oh yes, I am, honey,” Stephanie said, laughing at her husband’s outrage as the other women egged her on.
“Maddie won’t be there,” Mac said.
“Grace won’t be there either,” Evan said.
“No Abby,” Adam said.
“Laura is pregnant,” Owen said.
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Laura asked him.
“It’s indecent for pregnant women to party with strippers.”
“Color me indecent, then,” Sydney said. “Pregnant and partying with the boys.”
“You are not,” Luke said, glaring at his wife.
“Janey can’t make it that night,” Joe said.
“In your dreams,” Janey shot back. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Mac noticed that Ned was laughing his ass off. “What the hell is so funny over there?”
“All ya fools thinkin’ ya can tell yer ladies what to do.” He dabbed at laughter tears. “Funniest thing I ever heard.”
“What do you know about it?” Mac asked. “You’re a newlywed. Us crusty veterans know how to manage our women.”
More napkins and other items flew in Mac’s direction.
“You’re such a freaking blowhard,” Janey said.
“No kidding,” Maddie said. “I have a few ideas of how I can show him who’s really in charge around here. I believe I’ll begin his retraining program at bedtime tonight.”
“Oh damn, dude,” Adam said. “You’re getting the deep freeze.”
“I know a few ways to defrost her,” Mac said.
“Better bring your blowtorch,” Maddie said.
“I carry it with me everywhere I go.”
“I’m going to puke,” Janey said.
“So about the strippers,” Evan said. “We’re clear on how we feel about that, right?”
“Crystal clear, honey,” Grace said with a smile for the other women. “We heard you loud and clear.”
“They’re going to do it anyway, aren’t they?” Evan asked no one in particular.
“I believe they are,” Grant said.
“Wait till you ladies see the guys Abby and I hired,” Tiffany said with a wink. “They make the Chippendales look ugly.”
“Wait till your husband hears you’re hiring strippers while he’s off protecting our fair island,” Mac said to his sister-in-law.
“What can I say? The ladies consulted the expert, and I came through for them.”
“Blaine will hit the roof when he hears about this,” Mac said.
“I can’t wait,” Tiffany said. “I love when he gets stern with me.” She shivered dramatically, making the others laugh.
“I was living such a nice quiet life in Nashville,” Evan said, shaking his head. “What was I thinking moving home to be treated this way?”
“Awww, baby,” Grace said. “No one has ever treated you better than I do.”
“Most of the time, that’s very true. Today? Not so much.”
Grace covered her mouth but couldn’t hide her laughter.
“It’s very inappropriate of you to laugh in my face, my love.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You are not!”
The laughter and joking continued until everyone began to leave when the kids started getting cranky. As they did every night, Mac and Maddie worked together to get their kids bathed and into bed. Stories were told, night-lights illuminated and kisses were given to sweet-smelling cheeks.
They left Thomas’s room and propped the door open so they could hear him if he got up in the night.
Mac put the gate across the top of the stairs just in case Thomas went wandering.
Exhausted after the long day and a little buzzed from the beer he’d consumed, Mac went into the bedroom, where Maddie was applying lotion to her arms as she sat up in bed.
She wore one of the sexy silk nightgowns he bought her for every occasion.
They were more for him than her because he loved how she looked in them.
He took a quick shower, shaved the stubble off his face and emerged from the bathroom to a dark bedroom, which was unusual. Maddie usually waited for him to come to bed before turning off the light. The sheets were cool against his naked skin, but he found the heat when he curled up to her.
“Nice time tonight, hon. Thanks for letting the family invade.”
“Mmm, it was fun.”
He slid his hand from her flat belly to the valley between her spectacular breasts. The rest of his body reacted predictably to her closeness, her scent, her sexy curves. Mac pressed his erection against her ass and kissed the back of her shoulder.
A soft snore from his wife was like a bucket of cold water on his plans. “Maddie,” he said softly. Cupping her breast, he ran his thumb over her nipple until it stood up.
Her breathing changed before she turned over, dislodging his hand and nearly unmanning him with her knee.
“Oh, sorry,” she murmured sleepily. “Did I hurt your blowtorch?”
“Oh my God! You were faking?”
She began to laugh and couldn’t stop. “You’ve got some defrosting to do, Mr. McCarthy. I can’t make it too easy on you.”