Chapter 6
Mac spied on his cousin from across the big dining room. “Riley seems to be having a nice time.”
“Mind your own business,” Maddie said.
“What fun is that?”
“I’ll give you fun, but you have to stop staring at your cousin.”
“I just hope he’s being careful. The business with her sister is crazy, and I’d hate to see him caught up in that.”
“He’s not dating the sister. There’s nothing to see over there. Focus on your own wife before she starts feeling unfriendly toward you right when this romantic dinner is about to pay off for you.”
“Pay off how?” he asked, suddenly very interested in his own business again.
“You’ll see when we get home.”
“Check, please,” he said, signaling the waiter, who came right over.
“Not yet,” Maddie said, glaring at her husband. “I want dessert, please.”
The waiter left them with the dessert menu, which Maddie perused in great detail while Mac tried not to pout.
She loved to torture him, and it’d been weeks since they’d last had a night to spend completely alone together.
Her parents had taken all three kids, even the baby, to their house for a sleepover, which was a major undertaking that included getting Thomas to kindergarten in the morning.
“Quit your pouting,” she said. “I pumped myself dry for two days for one kid-free night. You’re not going to rush me.”
“Yes, dear.”
She ordered a brownie sundae with two spoons as well as a glass of champagne to top off the evening.
“I like to see you relaxed and enjoying yourself,” he said once he’d accepted that they wouldn’t be leaving quite yet.
“I like having nothing to do but you.”
Mac choked on a mouthful of beer that came out—painfully—through his nose, which made his dearly beloved laugh her ass off. “That was not nice,” he said after he’d mopped up the beer that was all over him.
Fanning her face with her hand, she couldn’t stop laughing.
He grunted out a laugh—how could he not? Her laughter was always infectious. Never more so than when directed at him, which was a frequent occurrence.
The sundae arrived, and Maddie dived into it like a woman who hadn’t seen chocolate in months while she tried to lose the weight she’d gained carrying baby Mac.
Mac sat back to enjoy her pleasure in the dessert.
“You’re supposed to be sharing this with me,” she said around a mouthful of brownie.
“It’s far more fun to watch you devour it.”
She put down her spoon and patted her lips with a napkin. “I’ve had enough.”
“You’ve barely made a dent. Get back in there, and don’t give up until it’s gone. My wife is not a quitter.”
“Your wife isn’t going to fit through the door if she doesn’t lose some weight.”
Mac scowled and reached for the spoon she’d abandoned. “No one talks trash about my wife, especially my wife.” He held up a spoonful of brownie and ice cream. “Take a bite.”
Holding his gaze, she leaned in and let him feed her a bite.
He took one for himself before dishing up another for her, continuing that pattern until the dessert was gone. Then he paid the check and held her coat for her. Before they left, they stopped by to say good night to Riley and Nikki.
“I have an appointment in the morning, so I’ll be late,” Mac said. “Let the others know for me?”
“Will do,” Riley said. “See you when you get there.”
“It was so nice to meet you, Nikki,” Maddie said.
“You, too.”
“You guys have a good night,” Riley said.
“You do the same,” Mac said, waggling his brows at his cousin.
Riley rolled his eyes. “Get lost, Mac.”
“I’m going.” He put his arm around his wife to escort her from the dining room.
“Why do you have to bust his balls?” Maddie asked.
“Because that’s the McCarthy family credo,” Mac replied as if she’d asked the stupidest question ever. “You know that.”
“Maybe you could let him get through the first date with her before you start the ball-busting.”
“Nope. That’s not how it works. Page thirty-two of the McCarthy Family Playbook is very clear on these matters. Ball-busting shall commence upon birth and end at death.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“So you tell me on a daily basis.” He opened the passenger door for her and waited until she was settled before leaning in to steal a kiss.
“I don’t like when my wife says bad things about herself, because to me, she’s a freaking goddess who has given me my incredible kids.
I love every beautiful inch of her, which I will show her when we get home. ”
Smiling, she placed her cold hand on his face. “You’re very sweet.”
“I’m dead serious. Eat the dessert, Madeline. Enjoy the dessert. Don’t deny yourself anything you want. Ever. You got me?”
“Yes, Mac. I’ve got you. Now take me home before my boobs explode.”
“We can’t have that,” he said, laughing.
He kissed her again before closing the door and jogging around to the driver’s side.
It was colder than a well digger’s ass this time of year when the days were short and the nights long, not that he would ever complain about more time at home with his wife and kids.
He loved the winter, when life was slower in general than during the frantic summer, when they tried to jam a year’s worth of outdoor living into three short months while he juggled two booming businesses.
Thank God the marina was open only four months a year.
“What’re you thinking about over there?” she asked.
“How I used to hate winter when I was a kid living here. It was so boring. Now I love it. Lots of time with you and the kids, as opposed to the summer when the marina is open and life is nonstop.”
“I agree. I used to hate the winter, too, but now it has its redeeming qualities.”
He reached for her hand and curled his fingers around hers. “Long, cold nights with my baby.”
“Lots of snuggling.”
“My favorite winter sport.”
“That’s your favorite year-round sport.”
“Only if I get to snuggle with you.”
Maddie laughed. “You should’ve been a politician. You always know what to say.”
“Sometimes I worry that you think I’m bullshitting you when I tell you you’re a goddess to me or that you’re my favorite person to snuggle with.”
“I know you’re not,” she said with a sigh.
“Why the sigh, then?”
“I didn’t mean to sigh.”
“Part of you doesn’t believe me when I say you’re the sexiest girl I’ve ever known, no matter what, right?”
“I just wish I could lose the baby weight. I’m heavier than I’ve ever been, and I hate it.”
“You’ve also got three little kids, including an infant. It’ll happen, babe.”
“I just don’t want it to get any worse than it already is.”
Mac wished he could find the words to make her feel better. “I didn’t take you out to dinner to make you feel guilty.”
“I don’t,” she said. “Not about tonight. Just in general.” She looked over at him. “Thanks for always trying to make it better.”
He smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze.
“By the way, what’ve you got to do in the morning?”
“My gorgeous wife. We have a rare kid-free morning. No way am I squandering that by going to work on time. I’m taking full advantage of one of the perks of owning the business.”
“In case I forget to tell you later, you’re the best husband I’ve ever had.”
His low growl made her laugh. “I’d better be the only husband you ever have.”
“Only one I ever wanted.”
“Right back atcha, babe.”
When they got home, Maddie went straight upstairs to pump. Mac locked up and texted Francine to check on the kids.
Everyone is asleep, she replied. Hope you had a nice dinner.
We did. Thanks again for having them.
We love having them. Tell Maddie to sleep in. We don’t have anything to do in the morning after we get Thomas to school.
I will, you’re the best.
He went upstairs, where Maddie was attached to the device that she called the milking machine.
“Don’t look,” she said, drawing the sheet over her chest the way she had back in the early days of their relationship when she’d been extremely self-conscious about her overly large breasts.
Then, like now, it truly pained him to realize that she saw herself very differently than he did. He unbuttoned his shirt, stripped down to boxers, brushed his teeth and went to get in bed with his wife. “I checked on the kids. Everyone is asleep, and your mom said to sleep in.”
“Thank God for grandparents.”
“No kidding. I don’t know how people raise kids without them.”
“We’re very lucky.”
“We’re lucky in every possible way.”
When she was finished, Mac took the bottles of breast milk downstairs to the refrigerator for her.
Returning to the bedroom, he smiled at the sight of her out cold.
Her honey-colored hair was spread out on the pillow, and her lips pursed in an adorable bow that made him want to kiss her.
But he wouldn’t disturb her when she was getting some much-needed rest. The kids ran her ragged, not that she ever complained.
Mac turned off the light and got into bed next to her, thankful as he was every night to get to share this life with her, to sleep with her and raise their kids together.
Not that long ago, he’d thought he was living large in Miami, running a successful construction company and having his choice of women.
That life seemed a million miles removed from what he had now, and he wouldn’t trade the present for the past, not for anything.
Maddie was the key to everything, and he hated to hear her down on herself like she’d been earlier. He needed to think of something he could do to make her feel better about herself, but damned if he knew what.
After dinner, Riley asked Nikki if she wanted to stop for a drink at the Beachcomber before he took her home.
“Sure,” she said.
“Here’s the thing, though. My dad is apt to be there, possibly my brother, too. I don’t want you to think I’m rushing you into meeting my family.”
Her stomach twisted with nerves. If they were just friends, it didn’t matter if she met his family, right? “I don’t mind meeting them, if you don’t.”
“I’d love for you to meet them.”