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“God, Mack.” I didn’t know what else to say as I rested my head on his chest. It was such a relief. I knew Woody was an honorable person beneath all the shit he’d gotten himself into. We were all raised the same. I just couldn’t figure out where Woody went wrong, but it was clear that Mack had paid a debt for him and knew he needed to return the respect. Dare I hope that maybe things were going to be okay?
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“Hey, listen to me.” He lifted my face to his. “You can tell me anything. Just don’t ever take off like that and shut me out, Jonna.”
“Okay,” I agreed quietly and kissed him slowly. My heart felt so full. We’d had the perfect day and it felt like we were the only two people in the world. “Mack, can we stay here forever?”
“I wish we could, baby.” He brushed curls away from my face as he nuzzled his nose into my neck. “Ah, you always smell so good.” He inhaled again. “You smell like?.?.?.?harmony. It’s like when I hold you everything feels right in the world.”
I knew it was time. I had to let the words out or they felt like they would burst out of my chest. I placed a hand on either side of his face and waited for his eyes to meet mine. His hands softly caressed my back and I brushed my lips lightly over his.
“I love you, Mack.” I heard him take a sharp breath as his body when still.
“Jonna.” He swallowed hard but didn’t say anything more. I could feel my heart crumbling into a million pieces. He didn’t love me. Oh shit. I’d said it too soon. I’d taken a gamble and I’d lost. I pressed my face into his neck as tears of heartbreak and humiliation began to form.
“Hey.” His voice was barely a whisper. When I didn’t answer, he turned me onto my back, and I turned my face to the side.
“You love me, Jonna?” I hesitated for a moment before meeting his gaze.
“Yes, but it’s okay. You don’t have to?.?.?.” My voice cracked and trailed off as I shifted my eyes away to look at anything but him. His lips were on my neck as he kissed his way up to my mouth. Then he laced his fingers with mine while our tongues tangled together. And like always, I melted into his body as he parted my legs and lined himself up with my entrance.
“Look at me.” I opened my eyes and tried to focus on his face. Even in the dark I could still see how gorgeous he was. I could just make out his long eyelashes and full bottom lip and I even pictured the tiny gold flecks I knew were there in his brown eyes.
“There it is. That look from my girl,” he said against my ear as he entered me causing goose bumps to form all over my body. I let the tears flow from my eyes as he made slow love to me. I could feel it in his gaze, every time his lips touched mine and with each thrust of his hips. He had to love me. There was no way he couldn’t with all the tenderness he’d showed me that night. Even though he hadn’t said the words, everything felt right in my world.
Chapter Eighteen
It was almost sunset the next day by the time Mack had secured the cabin cruiser at the marina. He grabbed my hand as we took our time walking into town. My mother, father, brothers, Harley, and even Tayia and Blake came storming out of Catch.
“Jonna Lee, I can’t believe you just disappeared like that, on your birthday of all days! I was just about to send the boys out to look for you.” She planted her hands on her hips and glared at me.
“Sorry, Mama.”
“What if we’d planned a party or something?”
“Sorry, Mama,” I repeated.
“What if something had happened and we couldn’t get to you?.?.?.?” Her words came out choked as her voice trailed off.
“I’m sorry, Mama.” I stepped forward and put my arms around her, feeling like crap. She sniffled a few times as I patted her back. I looked over at everyone else gathered behind her and mouthed my apologies to them. Finally, Mama took a step back and glared at Mack.
“Who’s this?”
“Mama and Daddy, this is Mack.”
“Yeah, I know who he is.” Daddy mumbled but stepped forward to shake Mack’s hand. It was clear that Mack didn’t know what to do with himself. He didn’t smile; in fact, he looked like he was ready to bolt but was doing his best to stay put.
“Where were you?” Mama turned her focus on me.
“Mack has a boat and we spent the night on it.”
She opened her mouth to continue asking questions, but Daddy put a hand on her shoulder.
“Annie, that’s enough for now. Jonna is an adult. She can spend her birthday with whoever she likes.” He pulled Mama against his side, kissed the top of her head, and then looked at me. “Baby girl, your Mama baked a cake for you yesterday so you can understand why she was upset.”
“What kind of cake?” It was Harley who asked the question.
“Chocolate fudge cake,” Tayia answered. “I helped bake it.”
