A Place to Call Home (11 page)

He hung up and looked disheartened. “Just another day in the MacDevin household.” When his gaze lingered on her mouth, it took all his willpower not to jump back into her arms. “I probably shouldn’t kiss you again now that I work for you and all. You have my word I’ll be professional.”

“Lucky me,” she said sarcastically. “And lucky for you I don’t plan to be professional.”

He grinned wickedly.

With her body humming in too many places to count, she savored the moment, enjoying the fact that she obviously had him highly aroused too. “You enjoy your night with your boys, Mac.” She left, but not before noticing the fiery look in his eyes, and his very apparent erection straining against his jeans.

Chapter Twelve

Later that evening, when the sun had just set, Hannah snuck onto Mac’s porch, creeping along through the darkness, carrying her goods, and feeling like a thief in the night, even though she came bearing gifts. Since they were probably still fishing, she would leave the basket of blueberry muffins on Mac’s kitchen table.

Porkchop met her at the door without even a bark, his tail wagging, his nose sniffing her hands and what they held.

“Good doggie,” she said and surveyed the spotless kitchen. The house was quiet. Only a lamp from the parlor offered her enough light to see the shadow of the kitchen counter. Quickly, she placed the brown wicker basket with a dozen of her special recipe giant blueberry muffins on the counter and opened her purse to retrieve the note card she’d already written for the boys.

Porkchop continued to smell the air. Hannah adjusted the basket, making sure the contents were displayed nicely, and obsessed over placing the card just right. Stepping back an inch, she surveyed her work and smiled. Yeah, that looked really nice. The boys were sure to be surprised.

She picked up her purse and turned to leave but instead smacked hard into a solid male chest. She screamed and jumped back holding her hand on her heart. “What the hell are you doing, Mac?” she yelled, breathless.

“Funny. I was just going to ask you the same thing,” he said, arms crossed, staring. “Have you graduated from vehicle theft to breaking and entering, Hannah?”

“Don’t be a clown,” she said, and hitched a thumb toward the basket. “I just, well, I made some blueberry muffins for the boys. I wanted them to have them for breakfast and I remembered you said you’d be out fishing and, well, what the hell are you doing here anyway?”

“I live here.”

“Don’t get smart with me. You scared me.”

“Then don’t break into my house and I won’t scare you.”

Her breath escaped her lungs in a long sigh. Butting heads at the moment proved too tiring to do. “Will you make sure the boys get these, please? I didn’t mean to bother you. Sorry.”

“If you leave them there,” Mac said softly and not in his usual sarcastic tone, “the only one who’s gonna get them is Porkchop. He looks very interested right now.”

“Oh, well.” She grabbed the basket. “Where can I put them?”

“Give them to me.” He took the basket and placed it on top of the stove. “He can’t reach it there.”

“How come you’re not fishing?” She looked past him for the boys. Surely if they heard her they’d come out and say hello.

He shrugged, his shoulders suddenly appearing to weigh a ton. “The boys didn’t finish their chores and were fighting so I had to punish them. That meant no fishing. And bed after dinner.”

“Uh-oh. I guess you really are a man of your word, huh?”

He looked so miserable. His eyes had lost their usual brightness, his mouth set in a firm line. His expression reflected his solemn mood, the seriousness etched on the angles of his handsome face.

“Yeah. I’m not really liked right now around here so please don’t add to it with one of your tantrums.”

She frowned. “Now why would I do that? And what do you mean ‘one of my tantrums’? I don’t have tantrums.”

“The hell you don’t.” He sighed and stared at his feet. “I’m sorry. I’m just not in the mood for any more arguing.”

Her hand angled his chin up so she could look in his eyes. His steady gaze couldn’t hide his heartbreak or the fact that he believed himself defeated. “Wow. The boys did a number on you tonight, huh?”

He shifted his gaze to the wall. “Yeah. It wasn’t pretty. They think I’m mean.” He looked at her. “Too bad you weren’t here. You could’ve agreed with them.”

Her hands moved to her hips—an automatic response when riled. “Now that’s not fair. I think you’re a wonderful father and that’s what I would’ve told them.”

Standing within arm’s length, she could smell his soap, the sharp, tangy scent of clean. He’d showered since she saw him in his office. She bit her bottom lip. It was that or eat him alive.

“They’re gonna love the muffins, Hannah. It beats the hell out of cereal. Why’d you do it?” Those blue eyes stared into hers.

It broke her heart to see him so down. “Because I wanted to. I was home alone. Bored. Usually I have contractors in place by the property closing. But purchasing this property happened so quickly I didn’t have time to plan properly. So now I have time on my hands and don’t know what to do. I found old muffin tins and still had blueberries left over from the dessert last night. I thought of the boys. Before I knew it I was baking my special muffins.” She flashed him a wide smile in hopes of cheering him up. “I was glad I picked up flour and eggs when I shopped.”

He returned the gesture with a smile of his own, relaxing. “You’re something else you know that, Hannah?”

“What?” She looked at him innocently.

“You come out here in the dark to break into my house in your pajamas—those are PJs, right?—to surprise my boys, who don’t deserve anything after tonight, with homemade blueberry muffins.”

“So?” She shifted her feet around, the awkwardness hard to dismiss. When he put it that way, she sounded desperate for company.

“So,” he said and pulled her against him. “I think that was pretty damn nice of you. I’m sorry, Hannah. I’ve been a complete ass toward you.”

Shock jolted her at his apology. She raised a brow and stared him down. “Oh? Would that be ass with a capital A?”

His lips pressed into a thin line. Leaning against the breakfast nook, he rested his hands on her hips. “A bold capital A,” he said. “Can you forgive me? I’m not usually like that.”

“You mean you’re not usually pushy, bossy, demanding, conceited, arrogant—”

“Okay, okay,” he said with a chuckle. “I get the picture. And no, I’m not usually all that, at least not at once. But apparently you bring out the worst in me.”

“So I guess what you’re saying is that we get on each other’s nerves without even trying, right?”

“Yeah. Why is that?” His soothing voice rolled over her.

“I bet it has something to do with sexual tension.”

When he stared, heat raced through her belly.

“There’s a good chance of that,” he said. “And the fact that you’re one stubborn lady with a temper that can scare a grown man.”

Her fingers walked up his chest. “I don’t scare you, though, do I, Mac?”

“Nah. I can handle you.”

“Oh, you think so?” She leaned away from him but he held firm. “Just you try and handle me and see what happens to you. I’ll make sure you’re at the top of the stairs next time before I make you fall down them.”

He laughed and squeezed her sides. “So you admit it. You tried to kill me that day.”

“Let’s just say the thought did cross my mind. A dozen times or so.”

“See. I knew I should’ve paddled your bottom when I had the chance at the foot of those stairs. That’s what you need. That’ll tame your temper.”

The twinkle in his eyes warmed the spot between her legs, her pussy creaming after only a few moments of being close to him.

“If you’d tried I would’ve clawed you limb from limb.”

He laughed. “I have no doubt about that, sweetheart, and it’d be worth the risk. But still…” He rubbed his cock against her. ”You do tempt me.”

“Is that so?” she said, her voice husky. “Well, I admit the idea of an over-the-knee spanking is appealing.” She laughed when he growled.

She envisioned herself pretending to struggle against his grasp, the feel of his strong hands holding her firmly over his legs, igniting her desires until she begged him to spank her harder.

She took a deep breath. Wow, she never expected to view a physical threat in such a positive light.

“There’s something damn kinky about having a beautiful woman across my knee for an intimate spanking,” he said, his voice low.

She tilted her head up to study him. “Never thought of it like that before,” she said, her bottom tingling, curiosity consuming her. Her pussy reacted immediately, throbbing like a fast drum beat.

“God, now I want to spank you so bad,” he said.

His body heat warmed her already flushed skin in the close embrace. The power of having a man at her mercy, mindless of all else, proved to be a natural aphrodisiac.

“I see nothing wrong in having a healthy sexual appetite and the willingness to push the erotic boundaries,” she said and bit down on her lip to keep from howling when his arms tightened around her and he mumbled inaudible words into her hair.

With her past, she should be scared shitless of his threat, but he didn’t frighten her at all. How could he? This was so much different. The way his eyes danced with excitement when he admitted wanting to paddle her bottom.

“Maybe I’ll try to think of ways to tempt you into spanking me,” she said, keeping her voice to a whisper. Oh, yeah! Receiving a spanking by Mac just moved to the top of her Things-To-Do-Before-She-Died List.

“Honey, you don’t have to even try. You do all the time with that damn hot temper of yours.”

She laughed. Never would she have guessed that the threat of a spanking would arouse her immensely. “Good to know.”

“God, all I can picture is you naked,” he whispered. “Keep talking like that and you will be.”

She giggled. “We can’t possibly. The boys are upstairs.”

He growled low. “They sleep soundly.”

His mouth crushed against hers, the kiss unexpected but welcomed. She easily melted into his embrace, allowing herself to linger in the moment, to enjoy the way his lips slanted over hers as his tongue searched deeper and deeper into her mouth.

How could a simple kiss arouse her so damn much? Why were her defenses useless around this man? Although, it appeared she’d had an affect on his as well. The way he ground his cock into her pelvis showed his arousal matched hers.

Hannah broke the connection first. She spoke, struggling through breathlessness. “They can’t possibly be asleep yet, Mac. We should stop…for now.”

He growled again, but this time it sounded more feral and desperate than earlier.

Removing his hands from her waist, a strained smile stretched across his lips and he looked at the stove. “You know those muffins smell too good. I don’t think they’ll make it to breakfast.”

“Don’t you dare eat them on the boys.” She swatted her hand at him while he still held her in his arms.

“What’s the note say?”

“You’ll have to ask them after they open it.”

His gaze caught hers, held. “I’m their father. I can open it now and read it. I don’t have to wait for them.”

She glared. “I wrote it to them. Not you. You’ll wait for them to share it with you. Besides, it just says to be good and enjoy the muffins.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah. Did you think I wrote a book?”

“That’s real sweet, Hannah. They listen to you. It must be that redheaded temper. Or the daggers you shoot from those emeralds in your eyes. But they listen to you. I’ve never seen anything like it. You speak and they practically salute.”

She laughed. “It’s all in how they were raised, Mac. You have yourself to commend for that. You’ve obviously taught them to be respectful of women.”

“They better be if they know what’s good for them.” His hands traveled up and down her hips excruciatingly slow.

With her hands resting on his chest, she spoke softly. “Remember. We shouldn’t start anything tonight that we can’t finish.” She kept her voice soft. “You wouldn’t tell me about their mom, and I won’t pry except to say if it’s her choice not to be here with them, then she’s a fucking fool.”

He stared for a long moment. “You know. For the first time I don’t mind hearing you curse. Because you happened to hit the nail right on the head. You’re right. I have great kids. She’s a fucking fool to be missing out on them. But she is and there’s nothing I can do about it.”