by RC Boldt
“I’ll be ready.” She barely got the words out before a big yawn took hold. “Sorry,” she apologized with a chagrined look.
Mac leaned in toward her, tucking her hair behind her ear before giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. She wasn’t sure if his lips actually lingered longer than usual or if it was just her wishful thinking.
“Go home and relax, Raine.” He gestured for her to get into the car, waiting for her to fasten her seatbelt before closing the door for her. Mac gave her a small smile before turning to walk over to his truck.
As she pulled out of the school parking lot to make the drive home, she found herself not mulling over her day or week like she normally did, but instead wondering why that forehead kiss seemed so different than the dozens he had given her before.
Or why she was feeling bereft afterward.
MAC WAS CONVINCED there was nothing on the television but crap. He didn’t feel like going out and had, in fact, turned down Foster’s invite to head over to the bar. His friend had promptly called him out for it.
“Quit moping around like a lost fucking puppy and go see her already.” Foster had been exasperated with him. “Otherwise, get your ass in gear and we’ll head out to get your mind off her with someone else.”
It had been a good thing they were having a telephone conversation and weren’t face to face because Mac was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to hide the look of distaste on his face at the idea of being with someone else.
He didn’t want to admit why he was still lying here on his couch, staring mindlessly at some television show where moms lived vicariously through their kids who had caked on makeup and weren’t even past the age of four. Pressing a pillow over his face and letting out a frustrated yell into it, he realized he had a problem.
He was fucking pathetic.
And the only solution for him right now was to just embrace it. Embrace his pathetic self.
Yeah, he gave himself a pep talk. He could do this. He was just going to show up and get the pathetic version of Mac his fix.
Tossing the pillow to the side and sitting up abruptly, he grabbed the remote to turn off the television and snatched his keys off the counter. Just as he was to the door, he doubled back to open up the fridge and grabbed what had been chilling inside. Mac slid on his flip flops and locked the door behind him. He would embrace his pathetic self, alright.
But, it didn’t hurt to bring wine just in case.
RAINE WAS LYING on her couch in the dark, watching one of her favorite comedies on DVD and really wishing she had some of her favorite chardonnay. She just didn’t have the energy to pick herself off the couch to go get any. She was so comfy, curled up under her chenille throw blanket, in her pajama pants and tank top, her hair still damp from her earlier shower that she almost didn’t notice the faintest tapping coming from outside the porch door.
Her head whipping around in that direction, she stared at the door in question, wondering if she were hearing things.
Tap, tap, tap.
Nope. Someone was definitely tapping on her door at -she glanced at the time- eleven o’clock at night.
Slowly rising off the couch, her bare feet padding quietly on the hardwood floor, she neared the door cautiously. Just before she was about to peek out the blinds on the window beside the door, a deep, masculine voice called out to her. “Raine?”
Looking down at her sloppy attire, not to mention the fact that she wasn’t wearing underwear or a bra, she was hesitant to open the door to him. But then she reminded herself that it had been a solid two weeks since they had their, um . . . thing, so she shouldn’t assume he was here for that.
Cracking open the door a sliver, she peered out at him, barely able to make out his face as he was standing there in the dark. “Mac?”
“Can I, uh, come in for minute?” Raine wasn’t sure she had ever heard him sound unsure of himself. Until now. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the door wider to allow him to enter.
He stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. That was when she noticed he was holding something in his hand.
Raine tilted her head to the side as she gestured to the wine bottle he held. “You brought me wine?”
“What? Oh. Yeah. Here,” he practically shoved it into her hands.
As she grasped it, she quickly realized it had already been chilled, making her shiver slightly. “Thanks . . .” she trailed off as she noticed his gaze was fixed on her tank top. She looked down, realizing that in the dim light the television was giving off, the effects of her holding the chilled bottle of wine had become quite evident.
Oops.
Crossing an arm over her chest, she looked back up at him, grateful to see his eyes were meeting her own this time. “Um, yeah. So I clearly wasn’t expecting company which explains why I’m dressed, or not dressed, the way I am,” she said and started off for the kitchen to open the wine.
She vaguely heard a groan but dismissed it. Raine heard Mac kick his flip flops off onto the mat at the door and follow her into the small kitchen.
The last time they had been in here, he had all but mauled her on the counter. And, by mauled, she meant it in only the most delicious way, of course.
Damn it. She really needed to get over it. It wasn’t happening ever again. Ever again. Not ever. Not ev-
Suddenly, she was turned and backed into the counter, the wine bottle plucked out of her hands and placed on the counter. His hard, muscular body pressed flush against her own. Mac’s fingers threaded through her hair, bringing his lips so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath as he spoke.
“Please say yes, Raine,” he begged, his voice very nearly a low growl. “Please tell me I can have you once more.”
God, just having his body so close to hers once again felt so . . . right. Almost like their bodies were meant to be together. Which was hokey, at best. But, hearing him plead with her as if he actually needed her? That was panty melting material. If she had any on, that was.
Not offering him a verbal response, she pressed her mouth to his and felt him go impossibly still for a split second before he snapped out of whatever had made him pause.
His tongue darted out, grazing hers and then he sucked on her bottom lip, using his teeth gently before soothing it with his tongue. She gasped and pulled back just enough to look up at him in the near darkness.
“You’re officially the first person to get lucky for merely bringing me wine, you know,” she smirked.
Letting out a short laugh, Mac leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.
“Damn, I should’ve brought you a three course meal, then.” Her laughter was soon silenced by his mouth on hers.
JUST AS THE sun was beginning to create a warm glow in the bedroom, Mac woke with his arm wrapped around a very naked woman. A very naked woman whose backside was pressed against his arousal which was hardening considerably, already recalling the exact way they had spent the night.
He pressed his nose to her hair, deeply inhaling her vanilla scent, savoring this quiet moment with her where he could just be. Without him feeling like he had to justify “one more time.”
“Did you really just smell me?” Raine’s sleepy voice mumbled against her pillow.
Mac smiled into her hair. “Nope. You’re dreaming right now.”
“Mmmm, okay.”
“We have to get up and go run pretty soon,” he murmured the gentle reminder even though the mere thought of moving from this spot with her was downright painful.
“I think we did our own half-marathon last night, buddy.”
His fingers tickled her side, making her squeal. “Quit being a slacker, Thompson.”
She turned over onto her back, sleepy green eyes looking up at him. “I’m not a machine, Callum,” she groaned with a slight pout. “I need recovery time.”
Mac felt his chest tighten at the sound of her saying his first name. “You got,” he checked his watch, “approximately four hours of slee
p. That’s plenty of recovery time.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “You’re an evil, evil man.”
He stood up and pulled on his shorts before holding out a hand to her. “Up you go.” Once her hand was in his, he yanked her up. “Go get yourself ready while I get ready at my place. I’ll be back over here in ten minutes.”
“That means I can sleep a few more minutes,” she whined.
Mac steered her in the direction of the bathroom. “Get going, woman.” He swatted her on the ass.
She glared at him over her shoulder before walking into the bathroom. “If you’re not here in ten minutes, I’m not waiting on you.”
“You’re lying right now just like you did last night when you told me you couldn’t come more than twice during sex.” He heard her gasp.
“See you in ten, Thompson.”
RAINE WAS PUTTING her socks on when she heard her back door open.
“You’re back early,” she called out. “You have a few minutes to spare.”
She looked up when there was only silence to see that it wasn’t Mac. It was Laney.
Oh, shit.
Laney looked at her carefully. “Mac’s been here . . . already?”
“Um, yeah. He stopped by because he knew I was ready to renege on this long run we have scheduled for today.”
Not a complete lie. She had truly wanted to rsvp a firm ‘no’ for their run that morning.
“So why didn’t you guys just run when he was here earlier?” Laney looked skeptical.
Crap. Raine had to sell this. Had to.
Poker face, please fully engage. Please.
Raine shrugged. “Probably because he woke me up from the first good sleep I’ve had since this past week from hell wreaked havoc on me.” Please buy it. Please buy it.
“Huh. Yeah, you really had a shitty week, girl.” Laney considered her closely, a worried look coming over her face. “You need to get more rest, though, because I hate to say it but you look exhausted, honey.”
“Who looks exhausted?”
Both women’s heads whipped around to see Mac standing in the doorway.
“Morning, handsome. I was just saying how this poor girl needs more rest. She looks absolutely exhausted.”
“Gee, thanks, Laney,” Raine said dryly.
“Now that you mention it, Laney, I’d have to agree with you. Raine does look pretty exhausted.” Raine glared at him while he merely winked at her when Laney’s back was turned.
Clearly emboldened, he continued. “Maybe she’s been doing some nighttime entertaining?” He posed the question suggestively.
Laney threw her head back with a laugh. “Oh, Mac. You know our Raine would never do such a thing. Aside from that one-time makeout session you two had on New Year’s, that is.”
Apparently, not giving it any more thought, Laney turned back to Raine. “Can you give me a ride to school on Monday? I have to drop my car off later today and they said it’s not likely to be ready until after work on Monday.”
Raine gave a silent sigh of relief. “Of course.”
“Thanks, my dear. Now, I’ve got to get back to my beach walk,” Laney walked to the door. “You two enjoy your run.” With a wave, she left.
Mac closed the door and watched as Raine began lacing up her running shoes. “That was close. God,” she shook her head. “I have no poker face so I have no idea how she didn’t see through that.”
He had an inscrutable expression. “Is it that big of a deal? If she had figured out that you and I had-?” He broke off, leaving the implication hanging.
“Yes!” Raine froze as soon as the response escaped her. “I mean, no. I just . . . I just think it would be awkward, you know? Because we both get that whatever’s going on between us isn’t actually real. It’s just, you know, temporary.” She paused. “Right?”
A look she couldn’t decipher passed over his face but, within mere seconds, it was gone. “Right,” he agreed, his voice clipped. “You ready to run, Thompson?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she told him with forced enthusiasm.
As they began the start of their run on the beach, she couldn’t shake the feeling she had somehow hurt Mac’s feelings by mentioning the ‘temporary’ status of their, well, she wasn’t really sure what to call it. She’d thought reaffirming the fact that whatever they were doing was brief or short-lived would be a good thing since he was president of the anti-relationship club.
Instead, Raine ended up feeling like she was missing something crucial.
TRYING TO CALM his breathing on the cool down of their run, Mac grabbed the thermos of chilled water he had left on Raine’s deck. As he drank from it, he could already feel the tightness in his muscles returning. He sat down on one of the steps, resting his forearms on his knees, looking toward the ocean but not really seeing it.
“It’s just temporary.” He heard Raine’s voice on a loop in his mind and couldn’t figure out why it was bothering him so damn much. It was temporary. He didn’t do anything but temporary.
So why did hearing her say it feel like a knife to his chest?
“Hey.” Her voice brought him out of his dark thoughts. Mac turned to see her sitting beside him.
“Stop that frowning,” she traced her finger over his lips. “I don’t get my dimple fix if you’re frowning.”
“Dimple fix?” He looked at her curiously.
“Yeah, you know. You have this dimple right here.” She touched just to the right of his mouth, above the corner of his lips. “It’s one of my favorite things.” Her voice seemed small and had an almost wistful tone to it.
As Raine sat there beside him on the steps, no makeup, sweat making the skin on her chest and arms glisten, dark hair secured in a long ponytail with a sweatband holding stray strands of slightly windblown hair back from her forehead, Mac didn’t think he could ever tire of looking at her.
“There it is,” she said happily, pointing to his face, making him realize he had been smiling down at her. Raine sighed dramatically.
“I’m set for another day, at least,” she nodded in affirmation and turned her gaze to the ocean before them. They were both quiet for a moment, just sitting there surrounded by the sounds of the ocean and seagulls.
“I don’t think I could ever tire of this view,” Raine remarked with a sigh.
“Neither can I,” he agreed. But Mac’s gaze wasn’t on the ocean.
His eyes were still fixed on Raine.
SUNDAY DINNERS AT Momma K.’s were the best. Raine could still remember the first time she had met Foster and Laney’s mom. Momma K. had come to help Laney in her classroom and had instantly taken Raine under her wing.
Momma K. had grasped Raine’s hand and pulled her to the side of her classroom discreetly saying, “I’d always wanted a sweet girl for a daughter. But then I got stuck with that hot mess over there,” Momma K.’s eyes sparkled with humor, her thumb gesturing in the direction of her daughter who had been standing outside of Raine’s classroom, talking with another teacher. “You call me Momma K. and let me know if you need anything, now, you hear?” The older woman patted her hand affectionately.
“Yes, ma’am,” Raine had answered with what she knew was a huge smile on her face.
She knew Laney’s mom absolutely adored her daughter and her outspokenness. She also knew there was a good chance Laney had told her about Raine losing her own mother to cancer. Momma K.’s gesture had gone a long way with Raine and she was ever so grateful.
When the sweet woman had made it an unwritten rule that their group would come to dinner at her house at least once a month, most of them had groaned. But Raine knew it had been all for show since they all adored the older woman.
While Raine loved their dinner nights at Momma K.’s, she had secretly wanted some more time alone with Mac, which was ridiculous since they had been together from Friday night until Saturday morning. He had been unusually quiet before he’d left after their run. She hadn’t heard from him until Sunda
y afternoon when he sent her a text asking her if she wanted to ride over to Momma K.’s with him.
Mac: Want to ride over with me tonight?
Raine: Yes, please.
Mac: Wear something a little warmer. We’re going on Betsy.
Raine grinned, excited at the fact that Mac was taking her on his motorcycle. He had a sleek, shiny black Triumph that was his baby. Or more aptly, his Betsy, as he called it. Raine wasn’t sure what compelled her to tease him, but she felt her fingers continue to type flirtatiously.
Raine: So no miniskirt and crotchless panties, then? You’re such a party pooper. :)
Mac: Woman. You’d better watch yourself.
Raine smiled.
Mac: Be ready at 6:00. We’ll take the scenic route to Momma K.’s.
Raine: See you then.
Raine threw her phone down on the couch and stood up, feeling antsy. She felt like a teenage girl who had just been asked to prom, for God’s sake. It was just a motorcycle ride. Big deal.
But the image of her, arms wrapped around Mac, her body pressed against the back of his hard one made her feel decidedly . . . tingly.
She clearly had to get a grip. Especially since she had four hours until he was due to pick her up.
Four. Hours.
She slumped back down onto her couch. What was she going to do with herself? She had already finished her lesson plans for the next month and a half. She didn’t want to lie around watching television.
Raine peered outside. She could go down to the beach. Granted, today was considerably windier and it was only in the mid 70’s, which was considered cold in Florida, so it wouldn’t be too conducive to lying out on the beach. Maybe a walk? Yes. That’s it. She could take a nice stroll on the beach and-
Her phone chimed to indicate an incoming text. Walking over to the couch, she saw it was from Mac, again.