Mac turned and headed back toward the boat. “Got that right.”
Suddenly it was as if the clouds parted and the sun shone on everything in his sight. The tension across his shoulders dissipated and not one single muscle or bone ached. All was right with his world.
He saw the way Boston’s pulse still ran…the way she let her tongue glide across those pouty, full lips—a nervous gest
ure, no doubt about it.
She wanted him to think that he didn’t matter. That New Year’s Eve didn’t matter. That the way she’d responded to his touch didn’t matter.
Mac hopped into the boat. It mattered.
It mattered a lot.
He knew when a woman wanted him.
He pulled his aviators down over his eyes and turned back to the dock, a grin on his face, legs crossed casually as he leaned against the wheel. The grin faded when he spied a tall man just behind Lily. A tall man who had his hands on her as if they belonged there.
His eyes narrowed on the dark-haired newcomer. A guy he recognized. What the hell was Blair Hubber doing here?
Jake strode toward the boat and shrugged when Mac raised his eyebrows.
“What’s he doing here?” Mac asked carefully. The guy was doorknob. Or at least he used to be, though Mackenzie hadn’t seen him in years.
Jake shrugged. “Apparently Lily asked him to come along. They’ve been hanging out a bit.”
Mac stood a little straighter. Boston was involved with Hubber?
“What the hell does she see in a guy like him?” he said without thinking.
Jake rounded on him sharply. “Why do you care, Draper?”
“I don’t.” But he did. “It’s Hubber though. He’s the guy who ratted us out on the whole Ronald McDonald thing. Or did you forget that?” His jaw tightened. His father had kicked Mac’s ass but good over the stolen statue.
“Come on, Mac. That was what? Fifteen years ago? We were kids.”
“I still think he’s a doorknob.”
“Yeah, well, the doorknob is now our mayor.”
“Really?” Mac murmured as he watched Raine, Lily, and Blair make their way down the dock. Lily’s chin was still up and those damn glasses were still in place.
Mac stood back and shook the hand offered to him by Blair. It was true that Hubber no longer wore his jeans halfway down his ass and his metalhead hair was long gone, but still…
“Mackenzie,” Blair exclaimed. “Good to see you.”
“Same,” Mac replied, his eyes on Lily as she walked past him without a word. The woman’s silence said something. It said that either the she was truly embarrassed about their hot night together, or it said that Mac pushed her buttons.
He was guessing she didn’t like her buttons pushed, and judging from the heat in her cheeks and the way her chest rose and fell, he was willing to bet that it was door number two.
For the first time in forever, it seemed Mackenzie Draper had found a woman who challenged him.
A woman he wanted to get to know—he glanced toward Hubber—regardless of the fact she’d dragged the mayor along for the day.
And the thing of it was, Boston thought she had the upper hand. She thought that she could hide behind those glasses and Blair Hubber. She thought that she could hide behind that cool persona and the cold front that came with it. But he knew it was nothing but a mask.
Mackenzie was used to masks because he wore one every single day. He was used to hiding. Hell, he was the king of that shit.
But more importantly, Mackenzie Draper was used to winning.