“I do.” He had a slight blush. “She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and I had one hell of a crush on her. I didn’t tell Thomas, but I had planned on marrying her when I was ten.”
“I knew.” Thomas laughed.
“What’s a crush?” Lucas asked, having just finished his huge, ice cream sundae.
“A crush is when you really like someone, and you can’t think about anyone else,” Mack replied to Lucas, who still looked confused.
“So you mean like you and Dean?”
With everyone laughing, Dean let go of her hand, took hold of her face, and kissed her . . . it was a very slow and very soft kiss.
“Yes, like me and your Auntie Mack,” Dean answered, grinning at Mack’s dazed look.
Just then, Dean’s cell started to ring. “Excuse me a minute. It’s my mother.” He stood up, and before he walked outside to answer his cell, placed a quick kiss on the top of Mack’s head.
Her sandwich arrived and she started to eat it but kept glancing outside to catch a glimpse of Dean. She liked to look at him. Wherever he was, her eyes were always drawn to him. Was this how Rose felt when she was with Jacob?
Dean came back inside and appeared rather distracted as he sat back down next to her. “Is everything okay? You look bothered.”
He sighed in frustration after he’d talked to his mother. “I’m fine.” Then he looked directly at Mack. “I have to go to Boston tomorrow for a garden party at my folks’ place. Do you and Lucas want to go with me? We would, of course, have to go in your car, but we could share the driving. We could also bring my laptop and scanner back as well.”
She stayed silent, not sure whether it was a good idea to meet his family after only knowing each other for a short time.
“Mack?” he asked nervously.
“Are you sure you want me to meet your family?” she whispered.
Dean took hold of Mack’s hands. “Yes, I do. I need to warn you, though, Cynthia, who I mentioned before, will be there trying to get her claws into me . . . you know . . . maybe this isn’t a good idea, after all.”
She heard Dean say Cynthia was going to be there and felt her hackles rise at the women’s name. There was no way her man was going to a party without her when another woman wanted him. No way in hell.
“Yes, we would love to go,” she replied. She noticed a mixture of relief and fright cross Dean’s face. She giggled. “I’ll sharpen my knives. No one messes with my guy, so don’t be surprised if I can’t stop touching you all the time. I need to lay claim to you!”
“Christ, you’re hot when you get pissed, and babe, you can touch me as much as you want. I’m all yours!” Dean whispered into her ear, feeling relieved and happy that she obviously had deep feelings for him.
Thomas stood up and took hold of Lucas’s hand. With a cough trying to smother his laughter at Mack and Dean, he said, “We’re going to the beach for the afternoon so I’ll have the boy back home for dinner.”
“Are you sure, Thomas?” She was worried about leaving Lucas all day with him.
“I’m sure. I’m not about to miss dinner!”
They finished their lunch in silence as they watched Thomas and Levi take Lucas across the road to the shady part of the beach. Mack, for the second time, wondered what it would be like to live in Cape Elizabeth instead of the city.
“You finished?” Dean asked her rather abruptly.
“I am, thanks. That was really good.” Mack wiped her mouth on her napkin.
She watched Dean place the dishes onto the bar and let her mind wander back to last night and how he looked naked and aroused.
Dean started to walk back to Mack and noticed the steamy look in her eyes. He hesitated. “What do you want to do now?”
She licked her luscious lips and stood. “Mmm, how about going back to my place and getting naked?” she whispered.
Dean tightened his hold on his jacket, picked the helmets up, and then practically dragged Mack out of the door and onto his bike.
To try to keep his libido in check, Dean took some deep breaths as he waited for Mack to climb off his bike, then he followed her into the cottage.
She dropped her jacket onto a chair at the kitchen table before she then turned and perched on the edge of it, looking up to meet Dean’s eyes. She stared at him, then licked her lips and watched his eyes go from hot to blazing in seconds. “Make love to me, Dean.”