by RC Boldt
Foster looked at him oddly. “You worried about that?”
“Raine’s a very attractive woman.”
“And?” Foster prompted, making Mac feel as though he were missing something.
“And he’s a guy,” Mac spoke slowly.
Foster stared at him for a long moment before throwing his head back in a loud laugh. Finally, after catching his breath, he shook his head at Mac.
“Oh, man. You’ve got it bad,” he finished with another laugh.
Before Mac could reply, squeals of excitement came from Laney and Tate as they ran toward Adam who had just walked in with Raine.
Oh, shit.
Mac felt like he was in fear of swallowing his tongue just looking at her. Raine was wearing a dress, but it wasn’t just any dress. This was a dress. It was dark, emerald green and wrapped around her body, accentuating her narrow waist and luscious curves. It was a dress that made him want to slide his hands over it and trace the outline of her body.
But he couldn’t. Because they were a secret. He was a secret.
And he hated that shit with a passion.
“THAT WAS WHEN she finally told me that she had ‘possibly sat on a spatula.’ And it was still up there.” Adam was regaling everyone at the table with tales from his last rotation in gynecology.
“What the hell?” Foster made a face. “That’s nasty.”
Adam nodded. “Tell me about it. It took myself, two nurses and a lot of pushing from the woman to get that sucker out of her.” He shuddered at the memory.
Zach raised his beer as a toast. “And that, right there, is why I’m thankful I went into teaching.”
“Here, here,” Lawson agreed, clinking his beer against Zach’s.
“Wait a minute,” Adam held up a hand before turning to Raine. “I believe a certain someone had an experience with sex toy in her classroom her first year of teaching.” He raised his eyebrows at her.
Raine groaned. “Oh, no. That was one of the most awkward things I’ve experienced. Ever.” She covered her face with her hands. “Don’t make me retell it.”
Adam laughed. “But you’re the only one who can retell it best.”
Laney nodded. “This is true.” She turned to the others. “This is a classic story.”
Adam nudged Raine and Mac felt himself tense at witnessing the touch.
“Fine,” Raine let out a resigned sigh. Leaning forward, her eyes lit up in amusement. “I had only been teaching about four months at the time and the students knew the morning routine was to come in and put their backpacks in their cubbies and do their morning work.
“On this particular morning, one student, Janie, had been back at her cubbie and there seemed to be about four other students crowded around her, whispering. I asked them what they were doing and one of the responses was, ‘Miss Thompson, come and see Janie’s cool toy! It moves!’
“I don’t think I had ever moved so quickly before, but I made it over to them and saw them fawning over what appeared to be an . . . adult toy. So, instantly, I told everyone to freeze, grabbed the hand sanitizer and a gallon ziplock bag -because this thing was a monster- and disinfected everyone’s hands after Janie dropped the toy into the bag.
“I asked her where she had gotten her “new toy” and she told me she had found it in her mom’s room,” Raine paused for a moment. “Then, while they were at P.E., I had to make the phone call to Janie’s mother.”
Collective groans sounded around the table.
Raine held up a hand. “Wait, it gets better. I didn’t tell you the mother’s last name.”
Mac swore he even felt himself leaning forward in anticipation as she continued the story.
“I called Mrs. Wilds to inform her that her daughter had brought in a very personal item of hers to school.”
“Mrs. Wilds?” Zach laughed in disbelief. He turned to Lawson, who was shaking his head in laughter. “How did we never hear this story before?”
Raine continued. “So, when I tell her that Janie brought in a very personal item to school, the woman immediately says, ‘Oh, no! Not the purple one!’”
Mac burst into laughter with the rest of them.
Foster looked like he was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “Raine, you’ve got to be a magnet for the craziest shit happening to you at work.”
“Well,” Raine continued with a wry smile. “She never did come to any parent-teacher conferences. She always sent a note saying that she was aware of Janie’s grades, thanking me for sending home bi-weekly progress reports so that she could keep up to date on her daughter’s progress.
“I, on the other hand, am scarred for life from ever considering owning a large purple vibrating dildo,” she sighed dramatically, eyes dancing with mischief.
Mac’s head fell back with laughter, his shoulders shaking. Tate was leaned back in her chair, holding her stomach.
“Oh, my cheeks hurt. My cheeks hurt,” Laney complained, rubbing them, still giggling.
“And that is why I insisted Raine retell that story,” Adam nudged her shoulder with his.
Could the guy not keep his damn hands to himself?
Someone had just gotten up to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Adam and Raine instantly turned to one another and started laughing.
Tate shot them a confused look. “What’s so funny?”
Raine flashed her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I haven’t heard this song in forever and it just reminded me of something we’ve always said since high school.”
Adam interjected. “Raine broke up with me our senior year in high school to date none other than the captain of the football team.” With a meaningful look toward Raine, he smirked. “Needless to say, she came running back to me after their third date.”
“Did he try and make it to home plate?” Lawson asked, immediately getting swatted by Tate. “What? That’s what guys do in high school. Geez,” he leaned away from her when she went to swat him again.
“No, he didn’t try anything like that,” Raine answered. “We were in his car and this exact song came on the radio and I began to sing along to it.”
Mac watched as her eyes sparkled with laughter at the memory of it.
“Of course, I had to at least attempt all the different voices in the song and not even halfway through it, he turned the radio off, turned the car around and brought me back home. He told me I was just too “quirky” for him.
“Of course, I call Adam, here, and he instantly tells me . . .” she trailed off, gesturing for Adam to finish the story.
“To forget about him because if someone doesn’t attempt all the voices of Bohemian Rhapsody right along with you, they suck and you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life,” Adam finished with a mock serious nod.
“And that was the end of my relationship with the captain,” Raine finished.
“And then you two got back together?” Tate prompted which made Adam shake his head.
“No, sadly,” Adam answered, looking at Raine adoringly. “By then, we’d realized how things truly were.” Mac’s brows furrowed at that cryptic response.
“But,” Adam continued, “we agreed to marry each other if we hadn’t met ‘the one’ by our thirtieth birthdays. Mine was in March and someone’s is coming up soon.”
“Aww, that’s so cute,” gushed Tate.
Yeah. So fucking cute.
“I could totally see Raine as a doctor’s wife,” Laney sighed. “The only problem with that idea, you guys, is that Adam’s-”
“Hasn’t proposed yet,” Foster interrupted his her, a strange look passing between him and his sister.
Why the hell did Mac feel like he was continually missing something crucial when it came to Raine and Adam?
THEY ALL FILED out of the bar later that night, the girls giggling as they walked arm in arm ahead of the guys. Raine was in the middle, her arms linked with Laney and Tate as they sang “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” completely out of tune.
She could hear the
mumbles and low talk from the guys behind them. If it weren’t for the fact that Mac wasn’t the only one behind her, she would’ve put a little more sass and hip action into her walking. But there was Zach, Lawson, and Foster to think about and that was just, well . . . eww. Adam didn’t really count, of course. It wasn’t like any of her hip action could entice him even on a good day.
When they arrived at the parking lot, Raine traded hugs with Laney and Tate and said her goodbyes to the others. Mac had given her a brief wave and gotten on his bike by the time she and Adam had unlocked his car.
Adam paused at opening the door to the car, looking at something over her shoulder. When she turned around, she noticed that Mac was still sitting on his motorcycle, idling, helmet on and was holding what she had come to think of as her helmet in his hands.
“Go to him, Raine,” Adam told her, quietly.
She turned to him. “But . . .”
He shook his head at her. “Raine. Go. Tell him how you feel,” he gave her a wistful smile. “Be brave. Be brave for some of us who don’t have the courage.”
Holding his gaze for a moment, she finally nodded. “I love you, you know.”
“I know you do, sweetie. I love you right back.”
She turned away from Adam to walk to the man who would soon know he had her heart.
And quite possibly a part of her soul, too.
MAC’S HEART HAD been in his throat as he watched and waited to see if Raine would come to him. When she had turned and began walking toward him, he had nearly collapsed in relief. It had been utter torture to see her with another man who seemed to know her so well and had the liberty of touching her at will.
He lifted the visor on his helmet as she neared him and reached for her helmet. She looked at him, a bit unsure.
“Um, this might end up being a bit of an indecent ride home,” she gave a little laugh, gesturing to her dress. “Good thing it’s in the dark, right?”
Mac’s eyes closed. Shit. He was an insensitive prick. He hadn’t even considered her attire.
He opened his eyes to meet hers. “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t even think about that.” He looked away for a moment before his gaze found hers again.
“I just couldn’t wait to have you close to me,” he told her, his voice husky.
“We’ll just have to make due with a little more leg action than normal, then,” she said softly. She pulled on and fastened the helmet before placing her hands on his back to brace herself to mount the bike. He couldn’t hold back a slight groan at the flash of thigh as Raine’s dress rode up her toned legs.
When she linked her arms around his midsection, Mac closed his eyes to relish the feel of her body against him, of her holding him tightly. Nudging up the kickstand with his shoe, he put the Triumph in gear and they zipped through the streets of the historic downtown area and up Centre Street toward Fletcher Avenue.
The combination of the scent of the salty ocean, the warm night air, and the feel of Raine’s body against his made him wonder if he had just found his own special version of nirvana. He felt her hands flatten against his chest and one slid down slowly to where he was already impossibly hard.
God, what this woman did to him.
He pulled into his driveway, parking the bike beneath the beach home’s stilts. Turning off the engine, he put the kickstand down and removed his helmet before grabbing her stray hand that had been driving him insane the last half of a mile home.
He turned his head, his voice nearly a growl. “You need to get off this bike right now before the neighbors end up getting a show.”
When she didn’t immediately move, but stayed silent as if she were considering it, Mac groaned.
“Raine,” his voice was rough.
She scrambled off the bike, removing the helmet and trying to tug the hem of her dress back down as she stood before him on the pavement. Her hair was tousled and she was looking up at him with such desire that it took his breath away.
He pulled her to him for a quick, gentle kiss and then grabbed her hand. “Time for us to get inside.”
She sputtered. “But, wait, I kind of . . .”
He continued to lead her up the stairs to the door.
“No, Raine.”
He put his key in the door to unlock it and pushed it open, all but hauling her inside. Setting their helmets down on the entryway table, he toed off his shoes as she unstrapped hers and set them on the mat by the door.
Raine closed the door behind her and leaned against it, hands on her hips.
“What do you mean, no? What if I wanted to?” she sounded incensed.
God, she was even more breathtaking when she was angry, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling.
“Because I don’t share and I certainly don’t want anyone else seeing you like this,” his fingers ran over her cheeks, dusting the faintest touch over her breasts, causing her nipples to harden, and down to her waist which he finally gripped in both hands.
Bringing her body against his own, he nuzzled the spot just beneath her ear where it met her neck before placing a kiss there, loving the shiver that it induced.
“Do you have any idea how hard it was to be around you tonight and not touch you? To try and act like I didn’t want to taste your lips? To act like I haven’t tasted you here,” his fingers had slid beneath her dress and now pressed against the front of her panties.
“Like I haven’t felt just how hot and tight you are,” his long finger slid under the lacy fabric of her thong, entering her easily.
“Fuck, Raine,” his voice came out raspy. “You’re so fucking wet.”
His finger moved in and out before he added another, causing her to gasp loudly. “That’s it. Let me hear you, how much you want it,” he continued moving his fingers inside her.
“Is this what you want, Raine?”
She moaned and her hand cupped him where he was straining against his pants. “I want this. I want you,” her voice sounded throaty.
Those words pushed him over the edge. Ripping her panties off her, he pulled a condom from his pocket because -well, wishful thinking- laid it on the table and made to unfasten his pants when her hands stopped him.
“Wait,” she told him quietly. “Let me. Please.”
She took over and pulled down the zipper, pushing down his pants and boxer briefs at once and removing his socks. Steering him so that they had changed positions and his back was against the door, she knelt down before him.
“Raine, I-” He started to speak but cut off when her mouth slid over him, his head thrown back against the door at the feel of her warm, wet mouth sliding over his cock. Her mouth worked over him, taking as much of him in her mouth as she could, her tongue swirling around the tip.
His hands flexed and fisted at his sides. When she grasped his cock in her hand, sliding her hand up and down and swiped her tongue along the base, he felt his whole body jerk. He gently pulled her back up to him, kissing her, feeling like he was nearly devouring her.
Bending to quickly scoop her up in his hold, enjoying the little surprised squeal she gave out, he walked them to his bedroom. Setting her down, he tore off his polo before his hands reached for the hem of her dress to slowly working it up her body. Tossing the dress aside, he unfastened and discarded her bra.
Gliding his hands over her breasts, he cupped them, running his thumbs over her peaked nipples. As he ran his tongue over one nipple and then the other, Mac reveled in the way her fingers ran over his short hair, her hands holding his head tightly to her.
Pulling back only to lift her onto the bed, he climbed over her, his body covering hers. He grabbed a condom from the bedside table and slid it on, feeling his hands shaking as he did so. Braced above her, he caressed the side of her face reverently, thumb gliding over her lips.
“I love,” you, he wanted to say. “Your lips,” he whispered instead.
Coward.
For some reason, Mac held back from actually saying the words. Words that he would utter for th
e very first time to anyone.
So, instead, he showed her.
WOW.
That was the only word she could think of to express what had happened between her and Mac last night. Just, wow.
She could hear him in the kitchen, probably making some coffee and humming along to some Ed Sheeran song. Smiling, she rolled over in the bed and hugged his pillow to her.
She felt like things had really changed between them. Raine sighed to herself. The way he had been with her last night had seemed like he had actually . . . made love to her.
She could do this, Raine encouraged herself. She could tell him she loved him.
Slipping off the bed, she found his polo from last night on the floor. She pulled it over her head and pushed her arms through, bringing the collar up to breathe in the scent of Mac; a mixture of his body wash, cologne and his own musky scent.
Walking down the hall toward the kitchen, she found him with his back to her at the counter wearing only a beat up pair of gym shorts, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Raine walked up to his back, sliding her hands around him, pressing a kiss to his spine.
“Morning,” she murmured, her lips moving against his back.
“Morning.” His hand covered hers on his chest, making her sigh happily. They stood there for a long moment just taking pleasure in each other’s touch.
Finally, Mac spoke quietly. “Coffee?”
“Please,” she murmured against his back, not wanting to release her hold of him.
“Might be kind of difficult to drink it from that position.” His voice was laced with humor.
Giving a resigned sigh, Raine let go of him and leaned her back on the island. Mac reached for the mug he had already set out, poured her coffee and added a bit of agave to sweeten it just the way she preferred before turning to hand it to her.
He seemed to falter when he saw what she was wearing, his gaze traveling over her in what felt like a caress. Mac handed her the coffee, eyes hot with desire.
“I could definitely get used to this look,” he gestured to her wearing nothing but his shirt. “Think you might take it into consideration?”