Page 101 of Here & There

Mac chuckles softly. But when he sees the tear slipping down my cheek, he pockets the notes.

“Why did you keep those?” I whisper.

Mac catches the tear with his thumb, brushing it sideways. “Because you wrote them. They made me smile every morning,” he says. “Youmake me smile, Shelby, and I don’t really smile at all.”

I trap his hand in mine, closing my eyes. “It’s too good, Mac,” I whisper, pressing the side of his hand to my cheek. “You’retoo good and I’m so scared. I’m not the kind of girl who gets to have it all.”

Mac cups my face in his hands. He smells of rain and the sea, woodsmoke and trees. “You are,” he says. “You know why?”

“No,” I whisper.

“Because you’re my girl.” Mac’s strong, thick fingers slide into my hair. “And my girl gets to have it all.”

He kneads behind my ears with his thumbs, his pupils widening, the tenor of his voice and touch huskier now. Deeper. “I’m crazy about you, Shelby. In case you can’t tell.”

And just like that, I no longer care if this doesn’t turn out to be real. I don’t care about anything except getting as close to Mac as humanly possible. I wrap my arms around his neck, slide my hands into his hair, and say, “I’m crazy about you, Mac.”

He tips my head back then and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is electric, shooting stars straight through my veins. My legs buckle as he pulls me against him, my whole body loses its ability to stand on its own. But Mac’s there to catch me, his arms encircling me, keeping me safe.

He deepens the kiss then, and it’s so deep, so probing, his tongue so needy as it finds mine that I feel like that poster I had on my wall when I went through thatX-Filesphase.

I want to believe.

Jessica wouldn’t watch that show with me; she acted like it was dorky, but I think she was scared. Well, I’m scared now too, but I don’t care. I’ll take whatever Mac has to give.

“I want to come home,” I whisper into his neck as he clutches me against him.

He tucks my head into his neck; my face in my hair; his heart beating a rhythm against my temple. “Good,” he whispers. “That’s good.”

He doesn’t let me go. I don’t know how long we stay like that, Mac holding me up. Or maybe us holding each other up. But at some point, a door clicks open, and a short intake of breath sounds behind us.

“Oh my goodness!” Diane says, frozen at the office door.

Mac and I don’t jump apart this time. It’s like we don’t want to let go again ever. I lean my forehead against his thick chest and laugh softly.

“I’m sorry, Diane,” Mac says, his voice gruff but kind. “I’ll be taking Shelby home now.”

I want to jump his bones. I want to jump his bones while I’m packing up my things. I want to jump his bones the minute we get into his truck and his hand slides over my knee in a proprietary, exploratory grasp before he even turns on the ignition.

“Goddamn,” Mac whispers, kneading my thigh like he can’t believe he’s touching me.

When I meet his eye, he looks at me with this expression that reaches in and plucks at my very heart.

“Goddamn,” he says again before gripping my jaw. His hand is so big it only takes the one. The other, he slides down my throat, his thumb at my pulse.

Then a shadow passes outside. It’s Ben, and Mac has to roll down the window to chat. I lean back on the seat, heart thudding, wondering if Ben will notice Mac’s hand back on my thigh. I don’t know why it matters. It just does. Like this is real now.

“Maybe we should have stayed at the inn,” Mac says when we pull into his driveway. “Nate’s home, and it’s a Saturday…”

I laugh, but he told me Nate’s been home alone since the morning when he went to visit his dad. Neither of us wants to abandon him all day; plus I very badly want to see Nate. He was despondent when I ran into him leaving with Lana yesterday. He even let me give him a hug.

I reach for my door handle but turn back to Mac. “Are you sure about this, Mac? I’m here for two months. That’s a long time for a houseguest.”

I expect him to roll his eyes and tell me to get out of the car, but he says, “Five weeks.”

“What?”

“Oysterfest is in five weeks. You’re going home after that, right? Some client meeting? Jurassic Client?”

---