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Mac pulled the headphones from his ears and slammed his palm against a button on the side of the forge. The roar of the flame stopped, leaving just the sound of the blower as the light inside the structure waned.
“You don’t need to stop working.” Maggie clutched her backpack in front of her stomach like a shield.
“Don’t want the metal to overheat or I can’t use it.”
“I could come back later. Audrey was going to give me a trim. I could go in and do that first so you can keep working—”
“I already turned the propane off.”
Maggie bit back her apology because Mac was already frowning at her. Even without the hammer in his hands, she was still fighting against the urge to plaster herself to his damp body. Maybe she should cut back on the soy products. Clearly her hormones were having their own version of a Florida spring break vacation.
“I got you something,” Maggie said and held up her backpack. “I saw it today and thought of you and how nice you were to make me that knife—”
“Dagger.”
“—and that I hadn’t adequately thanked you for standing up for Shay.”
“So you brought me a toddler backpack?” Mac eyed the brown pleather while the corner of his mouth hitched up in a potential smile. It was lethal.
Maggie looked down at her hands, holding the bag out like an offering.
“Oh.” She pulled it back to her chest before opening the top and fishing out the small box. “No, this.”
The box was small and delicate in Mac’s wide palms. One at a time, he wiped each hand down the legs of his jeans to rid them of sweat and turned the box over and over in his hands.
“This is—”
“It’s a Lego blacksmith set.” Maggie said. It was achingly hard to keep her body still when she wanted to jump up and down like a kid on Christmas morning. “See the armor and the tools? And the chicken? I’m not sure why the set included a chicken, but I thought you might like it.”
“Where did you find it?” Mac asked, meeting her eyes with his dark ones.
“There was a stall in the mall. The owner uses actual Lego bricks to make their own sets, and this one made me think of you.”
Mac opened the box and removed a tiny yellow figure with a brown hood draped over its plastic head. Tiny dots of black showed a stubbled beard and mustache, just like Mac’s. He pulled out a tiny silver sword with divots all down the blade. Mac pushed the sword into the gloved hand of the blacksmith figurine.
“It’s not super accurate, since I’ve never seen you forge in a sleeveless shirt,” Maggie pointed to the yellow arms of the figurine.
“It’s important to wear as much coverage as possible in all natural fabrics. I wear cotton or a leather apron. Non-natural fabrics can melt into your skin when hit by sparks. I have some nasty scars to prove it.” He continued to turn the figure over and over in his hands. “When did you go to the mall?”
“Today. I needed some new clothes. I dress like a preteen, so Audrey and I went and depleted my bank account on new sports bras and frilly underwear.” Maggie blushed when she realized what she’d said. “Anyway, I saw that and thought you’d like it. I don’t even know if you like Legos, but I thought—”
“I love it.” Mac said and pinned her in place with his stare. “No one’s ever… I used to collect and build Lego kits all the time. This is amazing.”
“I’m glad.” Maggie said and looked down at her feet to avoid his eyes. “I wanted you to know I’m grateful. For the blade and for what you did the other day. It meant a lot to me. And to Shay.”
She looked up again to find that Mac had stepped into her personal space, his chest centimeters from hers. Before she could move away, his thick arms came up and around her body, pulling her in flush for a hug. His chest was warm, damp from sweat, and he smelled like flame and metal and a hint of pine. Maggie let her hands come up to hug him back.
CHAPTER TEN
Maggiedidn’tknowifit was the throngs of teenagers or the sundress that made her more anxious. She should have realized suggesting miniature golf on a sunny Saturday would include a crush of people and a breeze that threatened to flash everyone in her vicinity. Maggie had planned to wear the dress with a long-sleeve shirt underneath, but she had plans for her bare shoulders today. Dean would see her all dressed up, she’d shiver from the cold, and he’d gallantly offer her his sweater or sweatshirt or something.
Audrey’s car turned into the parking lot and Maggie waved as her friend, her friend’s boyfriend, her friend’s boyfriend’s brother, and Dean all piled out of the vehicle. This time she and Dean were crashing Audrey and Cal’s date, but miniature golf had been too good an idea to pass up. There were so many ways romance novels could turn this activity into a winner, and Maggie was determined not to let them slip away. She was zero for two on classic tropes, but this time things had to go in her favor. Right?
“You look amazing!” Audrey said into her ear as she wrapped Maggie up in her standard greeting hug. “I love the dress.”
She looked around Audrey’s slender body to wave at Cal and Mac. The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, dark hair gleaming under the sun. Dean glowed next to them.
“Hi guys,” Maggie waved.
