CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Ugh, you!” Seeing Mitch left Maggie relieved, yet annoyed.
She wasn’t about to get slashed up by an ax-murderer, but with all the thoughts of sex she was having, he was the last person she wanted to see.
He looked a little worse for the wear but was still the hottest guy she’d been around in a long time.
If not ever. “What are you doing here? You scared the crap out of me.”
He took a long swig straight from the bottle. “You naked?”
“Oh my God. No, I’m not naked. You should go.”
She watched helplessly as he bent and picked up the hot pink bikini top lying inches from his left boot. Swinging it around by the strap, he raised his eyebrows. He swayed a little before sitting down to take off his shoes.
“What are you doing? Don’t do that. I told you, you need to go,” she said in a panic.
If she got out, he would see she was topless.
Oh, who was she kidding? He’d already figured that out but was clearly planning on getting in anyway.
Her body tingled with anticipation. Parts that hadn’t tingled for far too long. Treacherous, stupid body.
“Looks inviting. Mind if I join you?” In one swift motion, he pulled his shirt off over his head, and her mouth dropped open.
Not very ladylike, but then again, it wasn’t every day she was treated to a striptease by a man this amazingly gorgeous.
He looked like he’d walked off the page of a magazine.
Broad shoulders, bulging biceps, nice, trim waist. And just enough chest hair to prove he was a man, not a bear. And that love trail…
She snapped her mouth shut and looked away. “No! I mean, yes. I mind. Don’t you dare!” It wasn’t just the wine that had her flustered. “You don’t have a swimsuit.”
She looked back in time to see him smile and unbutton the top button of his jeans.
“No need,” he said casually.
He stumbled a little, trying to get out of his pants.
Was he drunk? She looked around frantically for something to cover herself.
His recently shed clothes were the only thing nearby.
The towel she brought out seemed miles away.
It hung uselessly on the back of a patio chair several steps away.
She felt the water slosh around as he slid in, bottle in hand. Oh, dear.
She remembered what day it was and figured this must be his way of coping. He was probably drinking to forget.
“So, um, I’m getting out. If you could look away for a second, I’ll leave you in peace.” Her brain wasn’t working at full capacity, and she had to work hard to get the sentence out without slurring her words.
“That’s all right. I don’t mind the company.” He not only didn’t look away but continued to stare right at her. His eyes were unfocused, but there was no mistaking the look that pinned her to her seat. Lust.
She stared back, the alcohol making her brazen. Could she go through with this? Only five minutes ago she’d been thinking about loosening up. Perhaps it was time to put her money where her mouth was.
“Maggie?”
His words shook her from her thoughts. “Yeah?”
“Come here, will ya?”
What the heck? She could always blame it on the alcohol tomorrow.
She inched a little closer. Sensing her weakness, he grabbed her wrist and pulled.
All at once, they were face to face, and she was straddling his lap.
Her hands gravitated to his shoulders of their own accord.
His muscles tensed under her fingers. The water covered her breasts, but barely.
“Mags?” Why did he keep saying her name? She was right here for God’s sake.
“Hm?” she said, staring at his mouth.
“Never mind,” he mumbled as he pulled her to him and kissed her.
She opened to him right away. She’d made up her mind, time to quit thinking.
His tongue swept into her mouth, and she moaned.
He tasted like tequila and testosterone.
She moved her hands to the back of his head and scooted closer, turning her head to deepen the kiss.
He put his hands on her bare back. Millimeters were all that separated them, but that felt too far.
They’d gone from zero to sixty in an instant, and still, it didn’t seem fast enough.
She wanted to eat him up—every last, sexy inch of him.
The kiss deepened, and soon their naked torsos were flush against each other.
Her breasts pressed against him, exposed to the cold night air.
He bent and took her taut nipple into his mouth.
She tipped her head back and groaned. God, she missed this.
She’d gone way too long. He moved to the other breast, and she pushed her pelvis against him.
He was hard and huge, and the only thing separating them was her skimpy bikini bottom.
He worked his way up her neck and nibbled on her ear. “God, you are beautiful,” he whispered into her throat.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, he stood. After waiting a second to make sure he could balance, he climbed out of the hot tub with her hanging on tight.
“We can’t finish this here.” He grabbed the towel on his way into the house. Upon entering, he froze. They couldn’t go to Jenny’s bed, and certainly not the boys’ room.
“Couch,” she said, realizing the dilemma. It was closer anyway, and she was getting impatient. She was ready to have her world rocked and had a good feeling this man could do it.
Mitch staggered to the living room and lowered them both to the rug on the floor. “We’re too wet for the couch.”
He covered her with his body and immediately began kissing her again.
She arched into him, desperate to get closer.
He held his weight on his forearms, kissing her like she’d never been kissed before.
Every cell was wide-awake and screaming for more.
She opened her legs and wrapped one around his waist. Her hands stroked his soft, short hair.
He pulled back, and she cupped his face.
The living room was dark, but the glow from the kitchen appliances illuminated his face.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, and she noticed something she’d missed before.
Lurking behind the drunken lust was an immense, overwhelming sadness.
Real, raw pain and a loneliness that made her heart ache.
In that instant, he let his guard down and allowed her in.
It might have been the alcohol or maybe just the sheer weight of the burden he carried constantly, but for a moment, he dropped the tough guy mask, and her heart broke.
He closed his eyes and put his forehead on hers. Neither of them moved. “It was all my fault.” The mood shifted but somehow became more intimate than the previous five minutes.
She knew exactly what he was referring to and remained silent.
She’d let him say what he needed to say.
He laid his head on her bare chest, and like a mother soothing a distraught child, she stroked his hair, slowly and softly.
All thoughts of sex had fled, and the only thing on her mind now was comforting him.
“I was in front of him. It should have been me. Why wasn’t it me?”
Her tears fell silently in the dark. She shook her head. “Don’t do this to yourself, Mitch. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Goddammit, Jimmy. I don’t understand. Why’d you fucking leave me?
” There was no anger in his words. He sounded tired and resigned.
After a few minutes of silence, she thought he’d fallen asleep.
Then she felt his tears, sliding down her breast and pooling over her heart.
She barely heard him as he whispered over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, man.”
She choked back a sob. What had started as an unexpected opportunity for quick, passionate sex had rapidly turned into something much more profound. Even if he didn’t remember it—and she was reasonably sure he wouldn’t—she would.
The tears stopped, and his breathing evened out to a slow, steady rhythm.
He’d either fallen asleep or passed out, his full weight now squishing her to the floor.
As she tried to wiggle out from under him, he rolled to his side, hugging her to him.
She should leave, but his arms around her felt so good.
Since he wasn’t going to remember anything anyway, she figured a few minutes in his arms couldn’t hurt.
She pulled a blanket from the couch to cover them and within minutes was also asleep.
***
He woke alone and confused. Where was he?
Why did his entire body ache? His head was throbbing, and his back hurt like hell.
Slowly, he came to his senses and realized he was on the floor at Jenny’s and very hungover.
He cracked open his eyes and stared at a blue bucket with a Post-it stuck in the middle.
“Just in case” was written in neat, feminine handwriting. Oh, shit. Maggie.
He sat carefully and silently thanked her as he grabbed the bucket just in time to empty his stomach into it.
It reeked of alcohol. Dammit. He hadn’t been this hungover in a long time.
Last night was coming back in pieces, but he couldn’t remember the most important part.
Did they have sex? He was naked under the blanket, but that wasn’t proof positive.
The smell of chlorine brought back a faint memory of being in the hot tub with her. He remembered her pink bikini top lying on the ground and kissing the hell out of her, but then things got murky.
Maggie didn’t seem like the type to have random, meaningless sex, so that boded well for a no. Although, she hadn’t seemed too bothered by him kissing her. In fact, she seemed pretty into it. God, who knew? Trying to figure out how or what a woman thought was something he’d given up on years ago.
Emptying his stomach helped, but he needed some aspirin, stat.
He was too old to be sleeping on hard floors.
He used the couch to help himself up and noticed his clothes, folded neatly and placed where he could find them.
Grabbing the clothes, he made his way to the medicine cabinet in Jenny’s bathroom and downed four tiny pills that he hoped would kick in soon.
After a quick shower, he felt marginally better.
He called a cab, cleaned up his mess, and sat on the porch to wait.
How was he going to tell Jenny? Did he have to tell her? Who was he kidding? Maggie had probably already told her everything, and an ass-kicking was imminent. Well, what else was new?
He put it out of his mind and made his way back into the city for his appointment with Dr. Patrick. He’d put in for this day off months ago, anticipating he wouldn’t be in any shape to work, but couldn’t put off the doctor’s visit.
“So, how’d last night go?” Dr. Patrick asked. She sat in her usual chair while he paced back and forth between the window and the other chair.
“Fine. Had a few drinks and then went to bed.” He knew she wouldn’t buy it but thought it was worth a shot. She stared at him and waited.
“You can’t tell anyone anything I tell you, right?”
“That’s correct. What’s on your mind, Mitch?”
He sighed heavily and sat, running his hand through his hair. “Well, after I drank myself stupid, I somehow ended up at Jenny’s. Luckily, she and the boys are out of town, but her best friend was there, and I may or may not have slept with her.”
“Would that be a bad thing?” she asked.
“Of course. I mean, probably. Jenny’s going to kill me.”
“Do you like this woman?”
“Her name’s Maggie, and I don’t really know her. She’s hot but a bit of a goody two shoes. She’s the one who fell walking the dogs—I think I told you about that?”
“Yes, when you were trying to convince me you still had a sense of humor because you laughed at her,” she said. “As you recall, I didn’t buy it.”
“Well, it did make me laugh,” he said, knowing full well laughing at a woman falling in no way equated to a sense of humor. “Anyway, she’s Jenny’s friend, but also her niece. It’s all very complicated, but whatever she is to Jenny, I don’t think Jenny’s going to appreciate me sleeping with her.”
“Well, you don’t even know if you slept with her, so maybe you’re worried about nothing. How’s your search for a pet going?” He was becoming accustomed to her frequent and abrupt topic changes.
“That’s true. Um, okay, I guess. I haven’t actually started, but I’ll talk to Maggie about one this week. She owns a pet store.” The doctor made a quick note, and he wondered what it could be about. He’d only mentioned Maggie. Again. Was she keeping track of how often he made mention of her?
“Are you ready for more homework?”
“Will it get me out of more sessions?” he asked hopefully.
“Not this time.” She smiled. “I want you to rekindle some of your old friendships. Have a beer, watch a game, whatever. Make some new friends, too. Also, spend some time with your family. Call and check in on your mother. Hang out with your brothers.”
“That’s easy. I get together with my family a couple of times a month. And does my new friend Mr. Barnet count?”
“I suppose, but try to find someone your own age, too.”
He took that as a yes and considered his homework done for the week.
It wasn’t until he left that he realized they hadn’t talked about Jimmy at all.
These shrink sessions were weird, but he had to admit he was feeling a little better about everything.
He’d laughed more these last couple of weeks, and it felt like he was on the verge of friendship with Adam.
That was progress, right? At this point, he’d take whatever he could get.