Maid for Love (21 page)

Mac and Maddie held hands as they left the restaurant. Sated after the meal, the wine, the conversation, he wanted to rush her home so they could be together. It was too soon. He knew that, yet he also now knew that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Unlike any woman he'd ever known, she made him breathless and anxious and edgy and nervous. He couldn't wait to get her back on the bike, to have her wrapped around him, to have her legs tight against his hips and her breasts flat against his back. Good thing she hadn't seen what having her close to him like that had done to him earlier. She'd never trust him to keep the bike on the road.

"Look at the stars," she marveled.

"That's one thing I miss in Miami. Too much city light."

She continued to gaze upward at a sky littered with stars. "Sometimes I really love it here."

Because he couldn't bear to wait another second, he caressed her face and pressed a chaste kiss to her sweet lips. Her arms came up to encircle his neck, and her tongue traced the outline of his mouth. Mac stopped breathing as she teased her way into his mouth. He groaned from the effort of holding back the need to plunder.

"You're killing me," he whispered.

"Good."

"I won't be any good to you dead."

She laughed against his lips and killed him some more with dainty sweeps of her tongue that sent electrical currents rippling straight through him.

He slid a hand down her back, cupped her bottom and brought her in tight against his throbbing erection.

She gasped. "Mac."

"What, honey? Tell me."

"I want you."

"It's too soon." He wanted to shoot himself for being so honorable. At times like this, that really sucked. "You need time—"

She put her fingers over his lips. "I need you."

"Are you sure?"

Nodding, she rubbed herself against him, and he nearly lost it.

"Maddie," he gasped.

She tossed her head back and laughed.

He took advantage of the opportunity to sink his teeth into her exposed neck.

She shuddered. "Can we go home now?"

"I was going to take you dancing."

"I don't want to dance."

"What do you want to do?"

"You."

His heart tripped into overdrive. "Maddie…"

She took a step back from him. "God, that sounded so slutty. I don't know what I was thinking—"

He brought her right back. "No, honey. It sounded so sexy that I'm about to lose my mind. I want you to say whatever you want to me. I'll never think you're anything but beautiful and funny and smart and so freaking sexy you make me crazier than I've been since I was a horny teenager."

She looked up at him with bottomless eyes full of what looked an awful lot like love. God, he hoped so. "Take me home, Mac. Please?"

With shaking hands, he helped her into the helmet and got her settled on the back of the bike. Before he got on, he walked around it a couple of times.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to cool off so I can drive."

Maddie giggled and never took her eyes off him as he took another lap around the bike.

Finally, he got on in front of her.

"All better?"

"Not hardly, but good enough to get us home. I hope."

Maddie slid her arms around him, caressing his chest and belly before heading south.

He caught her wandering hands with one of his. "No more of that until we get home," he said through gritted teeth.

"You're no fun."

"I'll show you fun. Just let me get us home without crashing."

Whereas before dinner, he'd taken the long way so she'd get a chance to enjoy the bike ride, on the way home, he took the shortest possible route. Having her pressed against him, even more tightly than before, was pure torture. When they arrived at her place, he was relieved to see the lights off in Tiffany's house and only one lamp glowing in Maddie's apartment. How quickly, he wondered, could he get rid of his sister without being rude?

"Don't be obvious," Maddie whispered on the way up the stairs.

He stopped and drew her into another torrid kiss. "That's just to tide me over," he said when he came up for air many minutes later.

Maddie wiped a self-conscious hand over her kiss-swollen lips and preceded him into the apartment.

"Hey," Janey said from the sofa. "You're back early."

"Maddie wasn't feeling well," Mac said. "Her injuries are acting up again."

"Oh, give it a rest, Mac." Janey rolled her eyes. "You want to fool around, and you want me out of here. Don't worry, I'm going."

"That's not true—" Maddie said at the same time Mac began to protest.

"You two are so funny," Janey said, laughing.

"Let me walk you home," Mac said.

"Not necessary. I walk around town by myself all the time."

"I don't want you doing it tonight."

"Tough." She gathered up her purse and the book she'd brought. Going up on tiptoes, she planted a kiss on Mac's cheek. "You're not the boss of me, big brother." She patted his face. "Take care of your lady. I'll take care of myself."

"Call me when you get home. Let it ring once."

Janey laughed at him. "All right,
Mom
, if you insist."

"I do."

"Thanks so much, Janey," Maddie said. "I really appreciate you watching Thomas."

"Anytime—and I mean that. He's adorable. I loved hanging out with him."

"Thanks, brat," Mac said as he held the door for her. He watched her go down the stairs to the driveway before he swung the inside door closed and turned to Maddie.

"You're crazy, you know that?" she said.

"Crazy about you, and I got rid of her in three minutes. That has to be a record where Janey is concerned."

"So much for not being obvious." Maddie got up from the sofa. "I'll be right back." On the way by, she made sure to rub up against him.

He was never going to survive her.

After she disappeared into the bathroom, he got busy pulling out the sofa bed. "We're getting a bigger place and a real bed," he muttered. "Immediately." Going to his pile on the floor, he dug out the gift he'd bought her at the mall and left it on the bed. When she came out a few minutes later, he took his turn in the bathroom, giving her the chance to discover the bag on the bed.

Janey took her time walking home. The mild evening had brought out the crowds, and Main Street was busy and loud. Since it was still early, she decided to stop at the Beachcomber for a beer before going home. No doubt she'd find someone she knew at her favorite bar. Unlike her brothers, she'd never been confined by island life and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. But she missed David so much that she wondered how she'd ever survive another year apart.

They were so close to having everything they'd ever dreamed of. All their plans were in place for a wedding next summer, after which he'd move home to Gansett to take over the practice of the retiring Doc Robach. Janey had graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in animal science. She'd had the grades for veterinary school, but David had convinced her that only one of them should go to medical school, or they'd be repaying student loans for the rest of their lives. She knew he was right. Island practices wouldn't generate the kind of income they'd need to live and pay off massive loans, too. Sometimes, however, she wished they both could've pursued their dreams.

Janey's parents had offered to pay for her to go to veterinary school, but she and David had decided they didn't want to be that deeply indebted to them. Her parents had vehemently disagreed with that decision and hadn't hesitated to tell her so. But it was her life—and David's—and they were going to do things their way. Her parents had been a little chilly to David since then, and Janey hoped they'd get over it before the wedding.

She and David had been a team for so long, since their sophomore year of high school, that Janey couldn't imagine her life without him. She just wished they saw more of each other. Once a month or so, she spent a weekend with him in Boston, and he came to the island whenever he could get at least forty-eight hours free. Unfortunately, that hadn't happened very often during his residency. He was either working or sleeping. Often when they were together, he slept through much of it. That was the main reason why they'd decided she should stay on the island with her family and friends, rather than move to Boston to live with him. He worked so much that she'd spend more time alone there than she did on Gansett.

This time next year, all the sacrifice would pay off. Somehow, she just had to get by until then. Seeing Mac and Maddie, so suddenly and stupidly in love, had made Janey wistful and lonely. Taking the steps to the Beachcomber two at a time, she was glad she'd decided to stay out for a while. Before she walked into the bar, she called Mac's phone and let it ring once as requested so he wouldn't come hunt her down.

At the far side of the bar, Joe Cantrell nursed a beer and flirted with the bartender.

Thrilled to see him, Janey snuck up behind him and covered his eyes with her hands.

"Who goes there?" he said.

"Guess."

"Hmmm, smells like Mac McCarthy's bratty little sister to me."

"I've never been able to fool you!" Janey planted a kiss on Joe's cheek and smiled when he flushed with embarrassment. He was such a mush and one of her all-time favorite people. "What does Mac McCarthy's little sister smell like anyway?"

"Sunshine and wildflowers," he said, startling her.

Janey swallowed hard. "Is that so?"

Realizing she no longer had Joe's attention, the bartender stalked off to wait on other customers without taking Janey's order.

"Yep," Joe said. "What're you doing out running the streets so late? Isn't it past your curfew?"

Janey rolled her eyes at him. "I just babysat for Mac's girlfriend, Maddie, so they could go out."

"That seems to be getting serious. I've seen him out with the baby every morning this week."

"He's crazy about them both."

Joe chuckled. "Hard to believe."

"No kidding, but he seems really happy. I love seeing him all befuddled by a woman. It's high time." Taking a handful of pretzels from the bowl on the bar, she popped one into her mouth. "What're you doing here? This isn't one of your usual island nights."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Got my schedule memorized?"

She took a drink from his bottle of beer. "It's not exactly rocket science: Friday and Saturday nights from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Since today is Thursday, it's a reasonable question."

"If you must know, busybody, the wife of one of my guys is in labor, so I'm taking the first run in the morning."

"Ah, I see." Janey noticed him fixating on her engagement ring. Casually, she shifted on the barstool and dropped her left hand to her lap. He'd never said or done anything inappropriate. He'd never treated her as anything other than his best friend's little sister. But there was something—something Janey couldn't allow herself to examine too closely. Truth be told, she was afraid of what she might find just below the surface of her easy friendship with the handsome ferryboat captain.

He signaled the bartender and ordered a beer for her, pushing forward a ten from his stack of money on the bar.

Janey raised her bottle in toast to Joe. "Thanks."

"My pleasure."

"It's good to see you."

"Janey, it's
always
good to see you."

M
addie emerged from the bathroom and immediately spotted the bag Mac had left on the bed. After he closed the bathroom door, she approached the pink-striped bag as if it was full of explosives. Inside, she found the gorgeous white nightgown she'd admired in the Victoria's Secret window. Maddie blinked back tears as silk slipped through her fingers. He must've seen her looking at it and bought it after she moved on.

Glancing at the closed bathroom door, she realized she had just a few minutes to change. She took the bag into the bedroom where Thomas slept and quickly stripped off her clothes and slipped into the nightgown. With only the light from the hallway, she could see that her breasts filled the top to overflowing, and nothing she did lessened the effect of too much breast and not enough nightgown. Fighting back tears of frustration, she told herself that he'd wanted to do something nice for her, to make their first time together extra special. If she made a fuss about the top being too small, she would ruin it.

Mac came up behind her, kissed her shoulder and slid his arms around her.

Maddie startled. She'd been so consumed with worry that she hadn't heard the bathroom door open.

"Stop worrying about how they look," he whispered, his breath warm against her sensitized skin. He had removed his shirt but still wore his shorts. "Every inch of you is perfect to me."