Chapter 9
Nine
Tucked into his stroller, Thomas slept on the ferry ride back to Gansett.
Sleepy herself after the nicest day she’d had in years, Maddie let her head drop to Mac’s shoulder.
He put his arm around her and settled her against his chest. Maddie was letting her eyes drift shut when they connected with a familiar face on the other side of the ferry.
He smiled at her.
Maddie gasped.
“What, honey?” Mac asked.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Thomas’s father.” Automatically, she brought the stroller closer to her.
As the tall, dark-haired man approached them, Maddie straightened, and her heart began to hammer in her chest. She noticed he had more gray in his hair than the last time she’d seen him, but otherwise he hadn’t changed.
Mac tightened his arm around her.
“I thought that was you, Maddie. How are you?”
Momentarily paralyzed, she couldn’t form a rational thought. “I’m. . . ah. . . I’m good.”
He glanced at Mac, and Maddie remembered her manners. “Tom Wilkinson, this is, um—”
Mac extended his right hand. “Mac McCarthy, Maddie’s husband.” He gestured to the stroller. “Our son, Garrett. Nice to meet you.”
Twisting her head, Maddie stared at Mac, but he just gave her a bland look that said, Roll with it.
“You’re married,” Tom said with the charming smile that had convinced her to part with her virginity—not that he’d ever figured that out. “Well, that’s disappointing.”
“Excuse me?” Maddie asked in a strangled tone.
“I was on my way to see you.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, my bad,” he said with what seemed like genuine regret. “I guess I waited too long.”
“Maddie’s not the kind of girl you let get away,” Mac said.
Maddie’s breath got caught in her throat when Tom leaned over to peek in at Thomas.
“Beautiful baby.”
“Thanks,” Mac said. “We like him.”
Good answer, Maddie thought, grateful that he could speak, because she was incapable at the moment. Her heart beat so fast she wondered if it would explode in her chest.
“You’re a lucky man,” Tom said to Mac.
“Believe me, I know.”
“It’s good to see you, Maddie.”
She cleared her throat and stuck her shaking hands between her knees. “Yes, you too.”
“Good luck to you both.”
“Same to you.”
Tom walked away, and Maddie sagged with relief. She’d imagined this moment a million times, expecting him to take one look at his son and just know. But he hadn’t. Because Mac had been so quick to say just the right thing, Tom had never even entertained the possibility.
Mac held her tight against him. “Breathe, baby,” he whispered in her ear, raising goose bumps on her suddenly sensitive skin. “It’s all over. Take a deep breath.”
Maddie did as he said, and it helped to slow her galloping heart.
“You gave him his father’s name.”
“I wanted him to have something. . .”
“I understand.”
She glanced at him, the contact with his beautiful eyes filling her with an overwhelming awareness of him, of what he seemed to feel for her, of what she was beginning to feel for him. “I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but thank you. What you did—”
He tilted her chin and laid a soft, wet kiss on her lips. “Was also my pleasure.”
After Mac got Thomas settled in his crib to finish his nap, he turned to Maddie, who had followed him into the bedroom. “Go out with me tonight.”
She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Like on a date?”
He took a step toward her. “Uh-huh. A real date.”
“We were out all day. I can’t leave Thomas.”
Another step. “My sister will watch him. She’ll love it.
” To hell with giving her space. He wanted her in his arms. Right now.
Mac took a final step to close the distance between them and rested his hands on her hips, drawing her in close to him.
“I want to take you out. Buy you a nice dinner. Woo you.”
Maddie’s face flushed. “You’ve already done so much. . .”
“I haven’t done nearly enough.” He leaned in, brushed his lips over hers and reveled in her sharp intake of breath.
Encouraged, he went back for more. As he kissed her, his hands traveled down her back to her bottom.
When her arms encircled his neck, Mac lifted her and groaned into her mouth as her legs curled around his hips.
Worried about disturbing the baby, he walked them to the hallway where he pressed her against the wall and kissed her as if he’d been starving for her, which, of course, he had.
Her fingers fisted in his hair, keeping his mouth anchored to hers. Wiggling tight against him, she made his legs go weak and stars dance in his eyes.
Mac kissed her until he had no choice but to come up for air. He buried his face in her fragrant hair and breathed in the scent he would recognize anywhere as hers. “Now that we’ve gotten the good-night kiss out of the way, what do you say? Will you go out with me?”
She smiled. “Are you sure Janey won’t mind?”
“I’m positive.”
“Then yes, I’d like to go out with you.”
“Have I told you lately,” he said, skimming kisses over her neck and face, “how much I like being married to you?”
That earned him the genuine, lusty laugh he’d grown to adore, and it was all he could do not to say the words right then and there. I love you. I love you so much I ache with it.
She caressed his face. “What are you thinking? Right now?”
Caught off guard, Mac had no idea what to say. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
He kissed her lightly, fighting for control of his desire and emotions. “Because it would scare you.”
“Oh come on. Just tell me.”
“I’ll make you a deal: If you still want to know what I was thinking after our date, I’ll tell you.”
“You’ll tell me the truth?”
“Always.” He kissed her again before he reluctantly lowered her to her feet. “I have to go drop the wood and stuff at the marina and get my dad’s truck back to him. Will you be okay for a little while?”
“I’m fine. You don’t need to hover over us like a mother hen anymore.”
Kissing her nose and then her lips one last time, he said, “I love hovering over you. I’ll be back to pick you up in an hour.”
“And you’ll call Janey?”
“Already taken care of.”
“Awfully sure of yourself, weren’t you?”
“I was hopeful. That’s all.” Framing her face, he kissed her once more. “I’ll be back.”
Mac unloaded the lumber from the back of the truck into a pile in the parking lot.
Sweating under the late-afternoon sun, he pulled off his T-shirt and reached for another sheet of plywood.
He was just about finished when a willowy blonde approached him from the direction of the Tiki Bar, wineglass in hand.
She sported a dark tan and wore a white tube top over hot pink shorts.
“You must be Mac,” she purred in a voice that sounded like pure sex. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Mac used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”
She released a sultry laugh. “Where are my manners? I’m Doro Chase.”
He remembered the name from dinner the other night—the dinner he wanted to forget. “Ah, yes, you’re a friend of my mother’s. Good to meet you.”
Her gaze traveled up and down his torso in obvious approval. “The pleasure is all mine.”
God, she was so ridiculous! Had he ever seriously gone for this type? Well, yeah, but that was then and this was now. He thought of the sweet, unassuming woman who waited for him in town, and all he wanted was to get back to her as fast as he could.
“Your mother says you’ll be here a while,” Doro said.
“That’s right.”
“We should get together sometime.”
“I’m going to be really busy.” As he put his shirt back on, he swore he saw disappointment in her blue eyes. He gestured to the sagging roof on the main building. “Lot of work to get done.”
Her lip rolled into that foolish pout women did so well, but it had no effect on him. “You can’t work all the time.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Glancing at his watch, he said, “In fact, I have somewhere I need to be. You have a good night, now.”
As he got in the truck and drove away, Mac checked the rearview mirror to find her still standing where he’d left her, probably trying to figure out how she’d managed to let a live one slip away. He suspected that didn’t happen very often to good old Doro.
At the top of the hill, Mac pulled into his parents’ driveway, where his motorcycle waited for him.
He parked the truck and went into the garage to grab a helmet.
Blowing the dust off, he strapped it to the back of the bike and gave the house a quick look.
He’d love to say hello to his father but didn’t want to run into his mother and have to answer fifty questions.
As he weighed the pros and cons, she appeared at the door. Mac suppressed a groan.
“Hello, stranger.”
“Hi, Mom. I was just dropping off the truck.”
“I see that.”
“Is Dad around?”
“In the shower.” She opened the screen door and stepped onto the porch. “Want to come in? Have a beer?”
“Got to be somewhere.”
“Of course you do.”
“Look, Mom—”
“I don’t know what kind of power that woman has over the men in this town, but it’s apparently quite formidable.”
Fighting to control his temper, Mac looked up to the heavens in search of patience. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, and once again, I’ll remind you to be very careful.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll take her and her son and go back to Miami tomorrow. I’m far too old to be justifying myself to my mother.”
“Oh, Mac. You could do so much better!”
He released a bitter laugh. “Like your good friend Doro Chase?”
“For one.”
“I just had the pleasure, and she reminds me of a hundred other women I’ve known. Nothing about her interests me.”
“And you know that after what? Five minutes?”
“Actually, it only took thirty seconds.”
Before Linda could reply to that, Big Mac stepped onto the porch. “Hey, buddy. How was the mainland?”
Mac smiled, relieved to see his father. “It was a great day. I got everything I need to hit it hard on Monday.”
“Sounds good. I appreciate that.”