“No, I think maybe a skiff will do; I won’t be rolling up in a yacht.”
She, Grady, and Jason looked at him like he’d dropped out of a spaceship.
Mac raised an eyebrow. “Powerboat?”
“You can’t bargain with me aboutmy own dog!”
“Dude,” Grady said, shaking his head, “that’s all kinds of wrong.”
“But Icanbargain with you; that door’s open,” Mac pointed out.
Cassidy glanced at the dock blankly, then back to him. He tongue-tied and confused her. Blowing out a breath, she relented. “It’s just a dock. When you get a boat, we’ll talk, but you aren’t kidnapping my dog.”
Mac’s smirk of satisfaction was more disturbing than his brooding.
Jason shifted his attention from Mac to Cassidy. “We should go. After all, we did barge in on you, and Mac’s proven he’ll be a nightmare neighbor. Our work here is done.”
Cassidy laughed softly, standing as he stood. Grady followed suit while Mac remained on the ground, looking up at them.
“Mac, up,” Grady said.
Cassidy quipped, “Not very well trained yourself, are you?”
The look that came back at her caused her stomach to clench, lungs to seize, and heart to suspend its pulse. She was consumed by him, like a psychic possession. It happened fast, the engulfing sensation; she could convince herself she’d imagined it except for the gleam in his dark eyes telling her he knew exactly what he had done to her.
Breaking the spell, he bounded to his feet and gave Fred another rub along his back. “You can have him tonight.”
“He’smine.”
Mac chuckled as his gaze swept over her. “I was talking about Jason. I’m taking the dog.”
“Funny,” Jason said.
“Nobody fights over me,” Grady complained good-naturedly.
“C’mon, darling, I’ll take you, too,” Mac teased his buddy.
Jason addressed her, “It was nice meeting you, Cassidy.”
She nodded in agreement.
They started walking away.
Fred, too.
“Fred!” she commanded.
He paused and looked back, confused.
“Stay!”
Fred watched Mac walking away, head cocked. Mac looked back over his shoulder and made another gesture. Fred sat. Fred stayed.
“Seriously?!” Cassidy called after them.
Jason stared at Mac and then back at her. His expression was somber; concerned. It was an odd expression to have.
She watched for a few seconds, then startled. “Wait! Jason!” She beckoned him back.