A Perfect Chance (9 page)

He turned me in his arms so my face rested on his bare chest. He held me close until my tears ran dry. I was so close to achieving it all. The thought registered and then buzzed through me, relighting the hope that had previously been a tiny flicker on a wick. The spark grew until light reappeared.

I leant up, gazing in wonder at Mace. Twice now he'd created the spark I'd been struggling with for so long. My eyes roamed his face, absorbing the laughter lines around his mouth. I was sure they hadn't been used enough recently. I settled my gaze on his eyes. He peered at me in earnest, as if urging me to have faith and belief in myself. I smiled, my skin tight from my dried tears. "Thank you."

His eyes warmed, his taut body relaxing around mine. "Anytime, baby."

I relaxed back on his chest and enjoyed the slowing beat of his heart. Mace was the king of the poker face when it suited him, but his once fast heart rate that had now slowed to a normal pace was enough for me to know that he was affected by what we'd shared.

Content, I pressed a kiss against his chest. My lips twitched when his muscles bunched. I made to do it again but was interrupted by a loud banging on the front door. A moment later, I heard a key fumbling in the lock. I froze, my breaths coming heavy.

Immediately, Mace sprang into action, but instead of diving for clothes or the door, ready to attack, he shifted me around and cupped my face in his large palms.

"Breathe, Lena. Count and breathe." My eyes glued to his, I did as instructed, remembering to count, remembering to hold, and finally exhaling. Fuzziness had threatened my vision, but already it was clearing. Mace had my full focus.

The door opening and closing made me jump. The only thing stopping me from darting out of bed and finding someplace to hide was Mace's apologetic face. It piqued my interest enough to stop me from hyperventilating.

"I need to apologise. She has a habit of doing this." He reached out and grabbed his T-shirt from the side of the bed. "Here, put this on." Footsteps made their way through to what I thought was the kitchen.

"Mace. Holy crap, I need to pee. Mace!" a woman hollered, seemingly distressed and in need of the bathroom.

Mace groaned and planted a kiss on my lips. "You stay here and then I'll come back and explain everything, okay?" I nodded. "It's Jo, my sister-in-law. She has a habit of stopping by unannounced and bringing me meals to put in my freezer."

I grinned at that.

"It's not bloody funny. She's not even that great a cook." He jumped off the bed, grabbed a pair of shorts and stepped into them before he threw me a smile He then headed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

After a few moments, I heard running feet, a door slam, followed by the flushing of the toilet a short while later. I relaxed a little. I'd discovered Jo was Mace's younger brother's wife. I'd never met Liam, but I'd already heard stories of what Mace and Liam had got up to in their youth. I'd heard stories about Jo too. Knowing she was family to Mace calmed my racing pulse. While she was a stranger to me, Mace loved Liam and his family. It made the thought of meeting her easier to swallow.

The door creaked open, drawing my gaze. Mace stood in the open doorway carrying a child. My heart warmed, pulling an easy smile from my lips.

"This is Abi," Mace said, stepping towards me. I climbed off the bed and stood, Mace's tee hitting me midthigh. "Say hi to Lena, Abi." His lips pressed against her cheek and he blew a small raspberry against it, causing her to release a beautiful giggle.

"Hi, Abi." Lifting my hand, I gave a small wave.

Still smiling, she looked over at me and made a combination of cute sounds before she wriggled in his arms. Mace placed her on the floor and walked around her to stand next to me. It was funny how a baby didn't bring forth anxiety. Their innocence was too wonderfully pure for that.

"You good?"

I looked up at him and grinned. "Yep. She's beautiful."

A little squeal drew our attention back to Abi, who'd manoeuvred off her bum and proceeded to do a crab-like crawl towards us.

"Holy shit! She's crawling." Mace moved to sit on the floor and I joined him. I didn't know who to keep my eyes on: a mesmerised Mace or the grinning baby giggling in delight as she made the cutest and most bizarre crawl towards us that I'd ever seen before.

"Knock, knock," a woman's voice came from the open doorway. Immediately, Mace took my hand in his and squeezed reassuringly. "Is it okay if I come in?"

I looked up at the woman standing in the doorway. A friendly smile and bright eyes greeted me. Warmth surrounded this woman. I could immediately understand why Mace loved her like a sister. She raised her brows towards me, making me realise she was waiting for permission.

I may have melted a little at the gesture. It could only mean Mace had spoken to her about me.

"Lena, right? I'm Jo. I see you've already met Abi." Her eyes flicked to her daughter, who'd made her way to her Uncle Mace, pulled herself to her feet, and latched on to him. She was bouncing delightedly up and down on his outstretched legs.

I looked at Mace, expecting his focus to be on his niece. Instead, his gaze roamed my face, waiting for my reaction. He pulled my hand, still clasped in his, to his lips and kissed it.

My melting moment turned into something so much more extreme. This man was dangerously perfect.

Glancing back at Jo, who remained patiently waiting, I offered her a genuine smile. "Yep, I'm Lena. Come and tell us about your beautiful daughter crawling. It's a new development?"

Jo grinned, stepped into the room, and sat on the floor before us. "Yes. Isn't she amazing? But bloody hell, she moves so damn fast."

Mace's hand in mine loosened a little, and I knew he’d relaxed just as I had.

"What's with the crab-leg thingie?" Mace asked. I watched in amusement as Abi grabbed his hair and tugged him towards her. She opened her mouth, attempting to clamp it around his nose.

I laughed at the antics. This was a completely different side of Mace, one I imagined only his family ever saw. Butterflies broke free in my stomach, happiness pooling in my chest that I was lucky enough to see him this way.

"She started a few days ago. If you'd been by, you would have known." I watched their exchange, amused at Jo lifting her brow in challenge.

Frowning at her, Mace harrumphed.

She ignored him and continued, "She's so bleeding fast. I swear she could enter some sort of crawling competition or something."

"But why's her leg doing that?"

I wasn't quite sure if he was simply bemused or genuinely concerned. 

"Don't you bloody start. Liam freaked out too. It's normal and adorable. Back me up, Lena."

I nodded in agreement. "It is pretty cute."

"So she doesn't need those braces like Forrest Gump had then or anything?"

I couldn't hold back the snort from escaping when I realised he was deadly serious.

He turned at my reaction. "What?" I simply shook my head at him but quickly laughed when Jo leaned forward and smacked him around the head.

"You're such a jerk, Mace." She stood, picking up Abi as she did so. "Come on. I'll put the kettle on." She eyed my clothing and grinned. "Perhaps you want to freshen up too." Her smile grew wider as my face heated. She left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving me to groan in embarrassment.

Mace laughed as he stood, pulling me up with him. "What?" He looked down at me, a relaxed smile on his lips.

"Great first impression for meeting your family." I gestured to my lack of clothing.

"You look hot." Tugging me into his arms, Mace lowered his head and kissed me, his hands settling on my arse and pulling me tightly against him.

Reluctantly I removed myself from him, too aware of his sister-in-law in the next room. "I don't think Jo's interested in me being hot, Mace."

"She'll love you. I'm sure she's already halfway there."

I stepped around him, ready to leave the room and dash to the spare room to grab my clothes. "I'd hardly go that far," I replied.

"Babe." I turned and looked at him, my hand resting on the door handle. "Trust me, yeah?"

Sighing, there was nothing I could do but agree and hope he was right. I nodded and opened the door.

"And, Lena." I gazed over my shoulder at him, watching his bright smile transform his face into something sinfully handsome. "You did great. I'm proud of you."

A grin appeared on my face and tears sprang to my eyes. I took the compliment and headed to make myself presentable, allowing myself to revel in the small victory of meeting someone new, without warning, and most importantly, keeping my shit together.

I may have even done a small fist pump and booty dance when the bedroom door closed.

Chapter Nine

MACE

"So…?"

I hadn't even taken a full step into the kitchen before the questioning began. Not that I was surprised. Jo was not known for keeping her thoughts to herself.

When I'd first headed out to see her after she'd dashed into my home, all but thrown Abi into my arms, and then peed, I'd had the briefest of moments to explain that Lena was here and remind her of Lena's phobia. I'd already shared a bit with both Liam and Jo over the past few weeks, just in case they met. It meant that she knew enough to tread carefully.

Her trailed-off question was no doubt in relation to Lena being half-dressed in my T-shirt, and in my bedroom. I hadn't shared my feelings with either Jo or my brother. Seemed like the cat was out of the bag.

I walked straight past her and pulled mugs out from the cabinet to make the coffee, studiously avoiding eye contact. Not that I expected it to make the slightest bit of difference.

"Something you've been holding back, Mace?" I didn't even need to look at her to know she wore a shit-eating grin.

I headed for the storage cupboard and pulled out the high chair for Abi, just one of the many pieces of child paraphernalia I kept around the place. I set it up, took Abi from Jo, and strapped my niece in the seat. After I planted a kiss on her head, I retrieved a few toys for her.

"Stop bloody ignoring me. She's going to be out any second, and you know I'll keep this up with her here unless you give me something."

I sighed, knowing she wasn't kidding. "It's new."

"How new?"

"As in last night, new."

"Holy shit, really?"

I nodded.

"So has this been building between the two of you?" she asked while her head was in the fridge, slightly muffled by her moving the out-of-date crap in there around.

"Since the day I met her," I admitted, surprising myself.

A thud followed by a groaned, "Fuck," came from the fridge. Jo pulled herself away, rubbing her head and looking hard at me.

I snorted. "Need an ice pack?"

She scowled. "No, I bloody don't. Arse." She stepped towards me, her fridge tidying forgotten. "What do you mean since you met her? How long have you known her?"

I gave a one-shoulder shrug. "A few years." Shit, I sounded like a fucking pussy.

"And you've chosen now to do something about it?" She shook her head at me; I couldn't quite work out if it was in wonder or jest. "Why?"

I turned my back to her and made our coffees, giving myself time to think. There was no real answer to her question. It wasn't planned. Despite that, she was a temptation, one last night I could no longer ignore. "Things just changed last night."

"What about her… illness?" Trust Jo to say it as it was.

I looked over my shoulder at her and frowned. "She’s not ill." I shook my head. "She went through a whole heap of shit, and she's finally dealing with it."

I finished the coffee and handed Jo hers then placed mine and Lena's on the table before sitting.

Sitting opposite me, Jo reached out and touched my hand. I raised my head and looked at her smiling face. "This is good. She seems great. You need a bit of sunshine in your life, honey."

Quirking my brow at her, I couldn't hold back my eye-roll. "Sunshine? Really?"

"Hey"—she flicked my arm—"you know what I mean. Unicorns that fart rainbows, mind-blowing oral sex, tit rubs, and smiles." She grinned, knowing full well that her words would make me look at her in disgust. I promptly did so.

"Please, Jo, do me a favour and never say shit like that to me again." I shook my head. "That shit just ain't right."

Laughing loudly, Jo looked far too pleased with herself and her ability to make me squirm. Once her laughter died down, she sobered, looking at me in earnest. "But she's making you happy, right? Making you smile?"

I swallowed, never one to share feelings and shit. Jo knew this, but she was the only one who was able to nag me enough to get some answers from me. I closed my eyes and nodded. "She's fucking perfect. I didn't think I could care about someone again like this after Abigail. But fuck, she's—" I opened my eyes and cut myself off, my eyes landing on Lena in the doorway.

Watery eyes stared back at me, and when I took her in fully, lust slammed into me. A sexy, nervous smile lifted her lips. Her pert tits were encased in a tight top that allowed me to take full advantage of their roundness.

"I made you a coffee, Lena." I pulled out the seat next to me and indicated she should come and sit. I had no idea how much she'd heard of me pouring my heart out, but it seemed enough. Lena nodded and blinked rapidly before she headed over to me. As soon as she sat, I rested my arm on the back of her chair and stroked my thumb over the exposed skin at the base of her neck.

The scrape of Jo's mug brought my attention to her. Her coffee was lifted to her lips, her eyes flicking between the two of us. Despite the positioning of her mug, I saw the trace of a grin on her face. After taking a sip, she put her drink down. "So, Lena." I held back my groan, wondering what the hell she was going to say. I never quite knew with my crazy-arse sister-in-law. "Do you cook?"

I had nothing. No idea where she was going with this.

Staring at Jo in confusion, I turned to Lena, sure my face mirrored my nonplussed thoughts.