Page 21 of Mac's Vow

She sounded so unsure and Mac didn’t know what to make of it. He couldn’t get into it now either. Instead, he kissed her, needing the connection. He kept it short, aware they had an audience. Speaking of audience. Mac’s attention went back to Cameron. “How did you get in here?”

Cameron shrugged, clearly not willing to give him an answer. Mac leaned close and whispered, “Need another beating, Cam?”

His entire body shook. “Get the fuck away from me, you animal!”

“Then answer the question. Now. I’m fast losing patience with you.”

He pointed to Alyssa. “She has a spare key. I took it the last time I was here.”

Mac straightened and glanced over at Alyssa. “Where?”

Alyssa’s eyes widened. “I forgot all about it.” she headed toward the kitchen. A minute later she was back. “I keep it in a cup next to the fridge with some other miscellaneous things. It’s gone.” She frowned at Cameron. “I never told you about the spare.”

His gaze took in her appearance and he licked his lips. “You left me alone the other night and hid in your room like a child.”

“So you went snooping through my things,” she surmised, her face losing all color as she turned away from Cameron.

Mac didn’t like the direction the conversation was headed. “Give me your phone, Alyssa” he softly ordered. “I need to call Jimmy.”

She handed it to him. Mac kissed her forehead. “You might want to get some pants on too,” he murmured.

“Right,” she replied as she tugged at the shirt and frowned. “Are you sure you’ll be okay with him alone?”

Mac spared Cameron a glance. He had his head back against the couch and his eyes closed. He’d resumed his blubbering. Mac’s attention went back to Alyssa. “I’ve got this.”

“I’ll be quick,” she said as she sprinted away. Mac tapped the phone icon and pulled up Jimmy’s number, then quickly hit send. While it rang, Mac took a second to watch Alyssa disappear out of the room. Fuck, his t-shirt was cute as hell on her, but he didn’t need Cameron seeing her that way. Not to mention the police.

This wasn’t how he’d wanted their evening to go. Police would want statements. Jimmy would go into big brother mode. Mason would need to be present as well and he’d have his own set of questions. Shit, it’d be hours before he could have Alyssa to himself again. Still, Cameron might’ve done them all a favor with his little break-in. For damn sure, the timetable had just moved up. He and his father would both be behind bars soon. Mac would see to that. Then he could get back to the business of loving Alyssa.

****

Alyssa sat in Mac’s black truck and watched as the sun started to come up over the horizon. She stared out the windshield, listening to the sexy tunes of Jason Aldean on the radio, while Mac drove them back to her apartment. God, it’d been three hours of answering questions and giving their statements at the police station. Detective Mason LaFayette had pulled them into a separate room. He’d grilled her, Mac, Jimmy, and the Reece brothers. Asking all about Cameron, The Judge, and the assault. Alyssa felt wrung out. Tired clear to the bone described it well. But she was also hopeful that it was the beginning of the end for Cameron and his father. They were sick and deserved to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Thankfully, Mason seemed to agree. He was determined to have them both locked up for life for all the depraved things they’d done. It turned out The Judge had also been accepting bribes. Just one more thing to add to the list of his crimes. God, the man had no morals whatsoever. Karma had come calling though. Alyssa knew she’d sleep easier knowing they could no longer hurt another young girl.

But where did that leave her and Mac? She no longer needed his twenty-four-hour protection. Would he even want to be with her now that the threat to her safety had been eliminated? Her brain said yes. After all, he did tell her he loved her. Multiple times. But there was a part of her that still remembered him walking out of her bedroom ten years ago. She’d cried over him then. Over the relationship they’d never had. Was she about to experience a repeat? One way to find out.

Alyssa turned toward Mac. He had one hand fisted around the steering wheel, the other tapping the middle console. His black hair was a mess and he had some serious stubble. His arms were thick and powerful as he handled the truck with ease. God, he was gorgeous. She recalled how wonderful it’d been to fall asleep in those muscular arms. She’d so quickly become addicted to that secure, warm feeling.

Like ripping off a bandage, Alyssa decided to just go for it. “I love you,” she said, her voice shook and she hated it. She needed to be strong for this. No matter which way the conversation went.

His head shot toward her, a frown marring his perfectly chiseled features. “Okay,” he replied. “Why do you sound so sad about it?”

She shrugged and plucked at the strap on her purse. “You signed up to be my bodyguard, Mac. Sort of an accidental bodyguard at that.”

“Yeah?”

God, why was this so hard? “Well, the assignment is over now,” she explained. Walking the tightrope of love seriously sucked sometimes.

He was quiet for a few minutes and to Alyssa they felt like hours. Finally, he softly asked, “You think I’m just going to walk away? Is that what you want?”

She swallowed hard. The emotion seemed to be clogging her throat and damned if she could breathe. “I don’t,” she admitted. Here goes nothing. “Ireallydon’t.”

“Fuck that then,” he grumbled. “I’m not leaving, goddamn it. I’m in it for life now, Alyssa. I love you. I didn’t just fall in love with you a few days ago either. I fell for you the day you asked me to take your virginity. That’s when I lost my heart.”

Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t even try to stop them from rolling down her cheeks like a freaking flood. “I was so afraid you’d realize you were only with me because of the case. Like you’d come to your senses and want your freedom back. I haven’t forgotten that you like…variety, Mac. I’m a one-man kind of woman and I need to be with someone who feels the same way.”

He pulled into the parking lot in front of her apartment building and shut off the engine before turning in the seat to face her. “It wasn’t variety. I was trying so damn hard to forget about this sweet, brown-eyed girl. Her laughter makes me hard. Her cries make me want to slay dragons. I can’t get her out of my fucking head.”

“Oh, Mac, I was so scared I was going to have to watch you leave me again.”

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