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“Sarah, can you get us some strong black coffee?” I asked Sarah as she walked by.
She gave me a brief nod and Mac laughed, loudly.
“You know that doesn’t actually work right?” he said.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t try, or at least hang out until we can have this conversation.”
“I like the way you think,” he said as the dessert and the coffee arrived.
“Food helps, right?” I asked as I took a bite of the lava cake.
“Hey! I thought you weren’t going to have any of this?” he teased.
“Do you want me sober or not?” I countered.
“Sarah!” Mac yelled a little too loudly for the atmosphere.
“Shhhhh,” I said to him and he just laughed.
“What? We’re the only people still here. I don’t think Eli, Rachel or Sarah will care.”
“Did we shut the place down?”
I looked around the room and sure enough, Mac and I were the only ones still sitting inside. I immediately felt bad as I was sure we were keeping them working later than they wanted to be.
“Well, when two people are getting to know each other and are having a good time talking, eating, and drinking, time flies. At least that’s what I have found out when I’m with you. And I promise it isn’t the excellent wine talking when I say I’ve never enjoyed a meal as much as I do when I’m with you,” he said.
“Even when you’re with your family?”
“They can’t hold a candle to you. Plus, they’re my family, that really doesn’t count. Can you say you’re having as much fun with me as you do with your sisters?”
“The type of fun I have with my sister isn't nearly the same type of fun I want to have with you.”
I immediately put my hands over my mouth as I realized what I had said. I could feel myself blushing and quickly took another bite of the lava cake to hide my embarrassment. Mac didn’t say anything but took a sip of his wine and leaned back in his chair.
“You have no idea how much your words mean to me. I thought for the longest time that you saw me as nothing more than a mentor and a big brother,” he said.
“I never thought of you as a big brother. Well, I tried to, but it never worked,” I said and blushed again.
“Hope, I’m sorry,” he said and leaned forward in his chair. “I should stop asking you these questions. I want to know, I want to know everything about you, but not when you’re not yourself. Not when I’m worried the alcohol is causing your tongue to be looser than it normally would be,” he said.
I appreciated his concern for me and while I had been drinking, I wasn’t saying anything that I didn’t want to say or I didn’t want him to know. The thought crossed my mind that I could be unwaveringly honest with him and then blame it on the alcohol, but he had said he wouldn’t lie to me, and I wanted to do the same.
“As fun and easy as it would be to say it’s the alcohol’s fault, I promise, everything I’m saying is because I want to. You bring out my need to be honest, brutally honest in some cases, and in a way I’ve never been with a guy before. You have a way about you, MacKinlay, that is as dangerous as it is sexy,” I said.
“That might be the most flattering thing anyone has ever said to me, and the sexiest,” he said.
“Well, isn’t that a lovely compliment. Let’s see what else we can say to each other.”
Chapter 19
Mac
It was much later when we left the restaurant and I walked Hope home. I had no idea how she had convinced me to walk back to her place and not take a cab. I was sure it had something to do with the fact that she asked, and I was willing to do whatever I could to spend a few more minutes with her. The night was cool and crisp but not cold and the thought of taking her hand in mine as we strolled down the almost deserted streets of New York sounded like the perfect end to the evening
I was still in a bit of shock over how much we had flirted and been honest with each other over dinner. Even if she said it wasn’t, I was sure the alcohol had a bit to do with it, but I was glad she did. It had helped me say what I had wanted to say to her for a while and it allowed us to express our feelings in a way that was both refreshing and exciting.
My attraction to her only grew the longer we were together, something that I didn’t think was possible. I thought I knew who she was, what she was like, but I found out even more about her tonight. Like that she is an excellent flirt and could turn me on with a look or even a few words. Though the woman could simply walk into the room and I would want her.
