AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m dizzy. Overwhelmed. Totally loving every minute of this and knowing I’m not supposed to.
When the helmet comes off, I run my fingers through my hair and bite my lip at the messy, flattened rat’s nest I feel. I must look like a mess.
Another low noise escapes the back of Mac’s throat. I feel it in my bones. When he speaks, his voice is deep and dark and sinful. “You keep biting your lip like that and I’m going to have to tug it free myself. And I might use my own teeth to do it.”
I freeze, my bottom lip releasing. Then my eyes climb up to Mac’s and I see a look that is so far from sweet it’s not even funny. I didn’t know eyes could hold so much heat. My mouth goes dry and my lips part, and Mac lets out a short huff as he shakes his head.
“Next time you have a date playing pool with my dad, you call me first, all right?” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet, then slides a hand into his jacket’s breast pocket for a pen. I watch those wicked, beautiful hands write a phone number on the back of a receipt with neat, tight handwriting. Then he hands it to me, his eyes lingering on mine while I take the paper.
“Trina?” Mac says, arching his brows.
“Yeah?”
“You’ll call me?”
“Um, yeah,” I answer, because what else am I going to say?
Mac rewards me with a curl of his lips. “Good girl.”
Heat gushes through me at those two little, not-so-innocent words.
Now, I’m not a girl. I’m very much a woman. And I’ve never had a man say good girl to me in a way that makes everything inside me clench…until today. When Mac says it, it feels like a reward. Like he’s been waiting for me to agree to call him his whole life, and I just made his day. Like he’d like to say good girl to me again…and again…and again.
He sticks the spare helmet in one of the cases attached to his bike, gives me a little salute and a wink, then gets on the motorcycle and drives away.
I just stand there, hearing the words “good girl” playing in my head on repeat, feeling the imprint of his back against my chest and the brush of his fingers against my skin, wishing he’d made good on his promise to bite my lower lip himself.
Then the café door bangs open and my mother stands in the doorway. “Trina. Who in the world was that?” Her eyes are wide as she glances at Mac’s disappearing shape, then swings her gaze to me.
Her eyes are full of mischief, and all I can do is groan.
Looks like I’m not escaping a Lottie Inquisition after all.
CHAPTER 3
Candice
My sister looks flushed. My mother looks delighted. They walk to the display counter together and Trina gives me a pleading look.
“Coffee?” I ask.
“Please.” She glances at her kids, who are sitting at one of the tables. There’s a half-eaten muffin between them. Toby is playing a game on a tablet while Katie quietly works her way through a coloring book. Trina shifts her gaze to our mother. “Where’s the cat?”
“At the house, in the spare bedroom, with a litter box, a scratching post, food, and water. The vet said he’s healthy, and we gave him his first round of shots. No microchip, didn’t match any of the missing posters, likely a stray. But enough about the cat. Who was that man?”
I fight a smile just as the café door opens and my own man strides through. Blake is a movie star in the outside world, but in Heart’s Cove, he’s just Blake. He gives me a broad smile before glancing at my sister’s face, then changing course to hook an arm around my mother’s shoulders. “Lottie, you’re looking lovely this morning. Did you change your hair?”
“Oh, stop it.” She swats at Blake’s chest. “You know I haven’t.”
He winks at me, then gently directs my mother toward the kids’ table…and away from Trina.
My sister lets out a long sigh and leans against the counter. “I think I just fell in love with Blake for that.”
I laugh. “He’s surprisingly perceptive.”
She looks back at me. “How’s the house design going?”
“The architects are taking their time responding to our comments,” I answer. “They have this ultra-modern vision, but both Blake and I want something a bit more subtle. I think it’ll take a while to get the plans approved.” I glance at my sister. “But I heard back from the construction manager at my house, and it looks like they’ll have the last of the fire and smoke damage fixed up within three weeks. You’ll be able to move in before the start of the school year.”
