His mouth tightened. “I don’t—”
“Do it. Don’t argue. I can practically see them spinning. You can’t be the hero if you faint dead away.”
His eyes promising retribution yet laced with a little gratitude, he complied. She could see his white knuckles as he fisted his hands on the table. He drew in one deep breath, then another.
His eyes popped open. “Closing my eyes makes it worse.”
“We shouldn’t be here.”
“I could use the calories,” he said simply.
That shut her up as nothing else could have. “Fine. Eat up, then I’ll drive you home.”
“Over my dead body.”
Then Brenda was back with iced tea and biscuits. Rissa grabbed one and buttered it, then handed it over.
Mackey took it, but he kept his smile easy for Brenda. “So meat loaf is the special tonight?”
“It is.”
“We’ll have two orders.”
Brenda left.
Mackey practically inhaled the first biscuit, while she fixed him a second.
“What, are you my mother now?”
“That woman,” Rissa muttered, “deserves a medal. You must have taken twenty years off her life with your exploits—and that was just in high school.”
He finished the second biscuit in three bites, then grinned. “I probably do still owe her some apologies.”
“You owe me one, too,” came a male voice from behind her.
She looked up to see Ian.
“Hogging all the glory like that,” Ian said easily, settling into the booth beside her. Then he leaned forward and spoke quietly. “What the hell, Mackey? You haven’t been out of the hospital that long.”
Across from her, Mackey shrugged. “The kid was in trouble. I was there. I knew what to do.”
Ian sighed and glanced at her. “Is he hurt?”
Before she could answer, Mackey intervened. “What? Am I suddenly mute? Hello? I’m right here. I’m fine. End of story.”
Ian glanced back at her.
She shook her head once.
Ian nodded. “Yeah. Sure you are.” He glanced across toward the kitchen and grinned. “Excuse me while I go kiss the cook.” He rose from the booth and tapped the table. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Mackey’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t go anywhere,” he mocked, wagging his head. “Ow.”
“You deserve that. Sit still.”
“Yes, Mom.” He sounded like a disgruntled boy.
Rissa grinned in spite of herself.
Man, she had a gorgeous smile, Mackey thought. He focused on that so he wouldn’t throw up. His head was still spinning like a top, and nausea threatened. He took a few slow breaths and stared at one spot on the tabletop.
“We should go,” Rissa said.
He didn’t dare shake his head. “We should not.” But he took his iced tea glass and held the coolness of it against his forehead.
“Mackey, don’t be a hero.”
He found a smile. “Can’t help myself, Sugar.” His head was clearing some, so he looked at her. Damned if the sight of her wasn’t a tonic. “You got some face on you there, Red.”
She did a double-take, then frowned. “Don’t flirt with me. It won’t help.”
“Helps me,” he said. “Beautiful woman sitting right across the table? I’d have to be dead a week not to react.”
She opened her mouth for a retort, but just then Ian slid back into the booth beside her. “Change of menu. Scarlett’s fixing you a steak with the works. My own organic beef, I might add.”
“Works for me, dude.”
“So, hero…did you hurt anything?”
Mackey cast a sideways glance at Rissa. “No.”
“He’s lying,” she said. “He’s dizzy as all get-out.”
“Was,” Mackey corrected, narrowing his eyes. “Squealer.”
She smiled in triumph. “If you weren’t suffering from testosterone poisoning…”
He caught Ian’s grin. “What?”
His friend shook his head. “Nothing.” His mouth quirked. “Just noting the irony.”
Mackey chuckled. “I told the knucklehead kid I used to be him.”
Ian’s eyes lit. “You were worse. And there was no grown Mackey around to save your ass. It was up to us.”
“I didn’t need saving often.”
A shout of laughter from his friend. “Sure—except remember the time you decided you could do the Tarzan swing across an electric line?”
Mackey had to chuckle. “Man, my dad tanned my butt for that.”
“I could barely sit down the next day myself.”
“So what happens around here when someone’s in a jam? You have to get help from Johnson City, no EMS here?”
“Nope,” Ian responded. “I mean, neighbors pitch in, but…it’s not good enough.”
“No volunteer fire department, even?”
“An unofficial one, but little gear and one ancient water truck.”
“Maybe I could help with that while I’m here. I have some connections,” Mackey said. “I even have a buddy from the Teams who’s a firefighter in Tennessee now.”
What was he doing? But realistically, if he didn’t leave, what else did he have to do while he was waiting out his recuperation? He was surprised at how energized he felt.
At that moment, their steaks arrived, and Mackey got too busy eating to think of much else.
“Hey, cuz,” City Girl said when they were nearly done eating.
Rissa’s greeting was only a nod. She was aware of Mackey’s scrutiny, Ian’s, too.
But she didn’t give a rat’s patootie.
“She adores me,” Scarlett said. “Any day now I expect a big wet one, right on the lips.”
The others chuckled.
Rissa’s chest was tight. The camaraderie should be hers. Ian had been her friend first.
And Mackey…didn’t matter. He was temporary.
Ruby broke in. “Leave her alone, Scarlett. Rissa’s putting up Mackey so you and Ian can keep pussyfooting around instead of getting married like you know you want to. Give the girl a break.”
Scarlett’s discomfort brightened her day. Ruby would still take her side. City Girl hadn’t pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes.
Then Scarlett stuck her tongue out at Rissa and crossed her eyes.
Despite herself, a laugh burst from Rissa.
All right, all right. It went both ways. “Food was good. You’re still a pain in the ass.” She turned to Mackey. “You ready?” Without waiting for his answer, she walked off.
“See? She adores me,” Scarlett was saying behind her back.
Rissa shook her head and stalked across the dining room.
Mackey lingered to praise the meal.
Suck-up.
He soon caught up, however. “Hey, Red—wait up. We’re in my truck, remember?”
“It’s not that far to walk.”
He snorted. “It’s ten miles if it’s an inch, Hard Case.” He pulled the keys from the front pocket of the jeans covering his very fine behind and molding to his long, lean legs.
She snagged them from his fingers. “I’m driving.”
“The hell you are.” His hand shot out, but she tucked them in her palm, hiding it behind her back.
He kept coming, and the next thing she knew, her back was plastered against the driver’s door, and his very sexy body was pressed against hers.
“We can make this hard…” His warm breath whispered over her hair and down her jawline, teasing the flesh of her throat and making every nerve quiver. “Or we can make it easy…” His voice brushed over her ear like rough velvet.
Then his lips grazed a spot so sensitive her nipples immediately went erect. She barely stifled a moan.
But his body was reacting, too. His impressive bulge pushed into the vee of her thighs, and she thanked the genetics that had made her tall enough to fit them together so exactly right. All she’d have to do was lift one leg, wrap
it around his sincerely sexy backside and—
He latched on to her throat with teeth that grazed her skin so gently, a small scream broke through.
“God.” His oath was a fervent prayer.
Then his tongue inscribed one tiny circle from between his lips.
Rissa’s knees gave way.
Mackey grabbed her. Wrapped his arms tight around her, shoved one knee between her legs and molded their bodies together so close that she could easily imagine what this would feel like, skin to skin.
Her pelvis rocked, curling her groin into his as a moan worked its way up her throat.
“Hey, you two. Get a room.” Ian’s cheerful voice called out.
Snapped back to reality, they scrambled apart, both breathing hard, both shocked at the violence of their need.
Then Mackey snagged the keys from her grasp.
And grinned.
But his eyes didn’t match his carefree grin.
They glowed as hot as molten coals.
The night air smacked some sense into her, thank goodness. Mackey was a player. Always had been. He’d been photographed with half the hot women in Hollywood and had probably nailed quite a few more.
Not that Rissa had a problem with being nailed. She liked sex. A lot. She didn’t get nearly as many chances to indulge as she would like—she was too particular about her partners.
She would be in the hands of an expert, for sure, and there was something to be said for a man who knew his way around a woman’s body.
That Mackey did was not in doubt.
But he was also a friend—or she hoped he would be, now that he surely no longer saw her as his buddy’s kid sister.
Her lips curved at that. She’d had ample evidence that his eyes were now fully open to the fact that she was a grown woman.
Best of all, he was temporary. Here and gone in a matter of days, maybe a couple of weeks. Ian had asked her to let him help around the ranch. With her back turned to Mackey she patted one hand over her heart. Zowie. There were many definitions of the word help.
“Come on, Hollywood.” She cast a teasing, sideways glance over the hood. “Time for bed.”
His eyes widened as he met her gaze.
Then his mouth curved. “Why, yes, ma’am.”
Well, well, well… Mackey didn’t mind the silence as he drove them back to the ranch. There was silence, and there was…silence. Pulsating with expectation. Ripe with need. The air in the cab was nearly visible with the heat exuding from the two of them.
Little Clary? Uh, no. That little redheaded sprite with gangly arms and legs and fire engine braids was gone.
In her place was one very hot redhead whose voluptuous curves fit up against him just right, as though each of their bodies could be painted over the other’s like a living coat of steaming sex.
Damn. He was still hard. He tried to adjust himself surreptitiously to get some comfort.
But she caught the movement, and her eyes locked onto where he still gripped himself through his jeans.
And she smiled. “Remember the bluff?”
Hoo yah. The spot where more than one horny young couple had gone to get away from prying eyes?
“Hadn’t thought about it in years.”
She looked at him. “Want to think about it now?”
Holy hell. Mackey wasn’t sure if he should send up apologies to his missing buddy for wanting Jackson’s kid sister or fall to his knees and thank his lucky stars that apparently this sexy woman beside him had a sense of adventure, too.
Then he recalled her on the roof with him, ready to charge out and rescue both him and the kid.
Damn. She was an Amazon, for sure. In all the best ways.
“A bed would be more comfortable.”
She sighed. “I forgot. You’re old.”
His head whipped around to catch the play of her smile.
“Not that old.” And he made the next turn, headed for the back road to the bluff, which he remembered with surprising ease.
Beside him, Rissa laughed.
Damned if he didn’t feel like celebrating himself.
Rissa hoped she sounded more steady than she felt. She’d heard about the bluff, but there had never been anyone in her own high school days that she’d wanted to go with, not that she hadn’t had an invitation or two once her skinny frame finally started filling out her senior year.
But she knew that Mackey and his buddies had all spent copious time there. Now it was her turn to go with the wildest boy in town.
Her insides quivered, but not from fear.
She’d probably explode the second he put his hands on her, and he’d know that she didn’t get to indulge nearly as often as he did.
Was he jaded? Would this be from simple lack of other opportunity? After all, he’d been photographed with some of the hottest women in Hollywood.
Then they arrived at the bluff, and suddenly she couldn’t move from her seat.
“Second thoughts?”
She swallowed. “Have you—”
“Have I what? Are you okay?”
Have you really had sex with all those beautiful women?
Oh, good grief. Why should she care? What difference did it make that she was as much muscle as curves, that her hands were callused and her fingernails kept short and unpainted?
“Have you got any protection?” Good save.
She would not yield to insecurity. She would make demands of him. All kinds of them. Wicked, delicious demands.
And if she said it enough she’d begin to believe it.
“I, uh…my duffel is back at the ranch. I’ve only got one in my wallet.”
Only one. “I’m on the pill, and I’m clean, but…”
He arched one eyebrow. “But what? You think I’m not, is that it?” He shook his head and glanced away. “Because you’ve seen the pictures, and I’m obviously so busy whoring around that I could be carrying any number of diseases?”
She didn’t know where the anger was coming from. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.” He huffed out a breath. “Not that it’s any of your business who I’m screwing around with, but a lot of those photos are staged. I wouldn’t go to bed with half those women if they paid me. I just happen to have looks and a reputation they want to use for publicity purposes, and I get benefits, too.” His eyes narrowed. “But not the ones you’re thinking of. It’s just part of the business, tit for tat.”
She didn’t censor herself. “Don’t you hate that?”
His laugh was hollow as he stared out the windshield. “It doesn’t mean anything.” His jaw flexed. “Nothing does,” he added so softly she wondered if she’d heard right. She wished she could see his eyes.
“I’m sorry. It is none of my business.” And she felt terrible that she’d caused such a drastic switch in the mood.
But she wasn’t ready to go home yet. She popped open her door and reached for his hand. “Come with me. Bet you haven’t seen real stars since you left Texas.”
He didn’t move at first, then finally exhaled in a gust. “The stars are even clearer in Afghanistan, high up in the mountains.”
As he looked at her, she thought she could see stories swirling.
And maybe pain.
Then she realized that for all that Mackey was considered a player in high school and now, in between he’d lived a very dangerous existence as a SEAL. There was no telling what he’d been through there, but there were depths to him that hadn’t existed in the wild boy.
She wondered what part those depths played in the Mackey who was with her now. There had always been an essential loneliness to him, she was just now recognizing. Maybe he could use a friend more than he needed someone to get naked with.
People were so blasted complicated—none more so, it seemed, than the man with her now.
She got out of the car and resolved to stop thinking for a bit. She walked to the edge of the bluff and waited to see if he would follow.
She
walked away, and Mackey watched the sultry, unconscious sway of her hips, wondering if he’d ever met a woman like her. One minute she was Cousin Crankypants, the next she displayed a fierce valor.
Then she was almost a girl, one who’d tried to bluff her way through sexual nonchalance and failed miserably.
She glanced back, her hand outstretched again. “I apologize,” said yet another face of her. “I shouldn’t have assumed that you were a playboy, no matter—”
“Of course you’d believe it. You’re supposed to. It’s a cynical, scheming world I live in, Rissa. Millions are dropped at the turn of a dime to create fantasies.” He looked away from her. “To con the normal, the trusting. To make money on the backs of others’ dreams.”
Somehow her hand had wound up in his. It wasn’t small but instead strong, but for all that there was a slender femininity to it she probably didn’t recognize.
“So why do you stay there?”
A question he’d asked himself many times without a real answer.
“I’m good at it.”
“At lying to other people?”
Urgency rose to excuse himself, to clear his name of that blight. He’d believed in something once. In his teammates. And earlier, in the Four Horsemen, even if their activities had seldom been as noble as the Teams.
“I guess so, but I don’t think of it that way—the stunts, I mean. They’re…challenges.” Seeing her forehead crinkle, he tried again. “It’s me against the forces of nature, see. How do I do something no one else has managed? How do I pit my body and brains against the laws of the natural world and do something I shouldn’t be able to pull off?”
“Why are you so in love with taking risks, Mackey? Why do you fight life?”
His chest went tight. Discomfort grew to something more, something he couldn’t—wouldn’t tolerate. Choking him, making him want to charge into the night and—
He banished all of it the quickest way he could think of.
He grabbed her. Forced away the raw urge to howl. When her body slammed into his, the agony was shoved aside. Its chokehold broke, and he started breathing again, but damned if his eyes didn’t burn and—
Desperately he dug one hand into that hair he’d been wanting to touch since the moment he’d seen her again. Took her mouth in savage need, using the advantage of her surprised O to slide his tongue inside and seize her. Claim her, possess—
Texas Wild: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Book 2 Page 6