Time for Love , The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 9 (4 page)

“It’s a good thing we did.” Mac held his wife against him, which Daisy suspected was critical to her remaining upright. “
Someone
had a tad bit too much champagne.”

“I had just
enough
champagne,” Maddie said with a goofy smile. “It’s put me in a
really
good mood.”

“Hush,” Mac said. “Let me get her to bed, and then I’ll give you a ride home, Daisy.”

“I’d be happy to take her,” David said.

Mac looked at David for such a long time that Daisy wondered what he was thinking. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’m going that way anyway.”

“Okay by you, Daisy?” Mac asked.

“Of course.”

“How were my babies?” Maddie asked, hiccupping softly.

“They were great. Thomas wasn’t too keen on sleeping for a while, but I think he’s out now.”

“Thank you for staying with them. I owe you.”

Daisy waved a hand in protest. “No, you don’t. Go to bed. We’ll see ourselves out.” As Mac ushered his wife upstairs, Daisy stood on wobbly legs and was grateful for the hand David placed on her elbow until she steadied herself.
 

“I just need one minute,” she said. “Be right back.” She went into the downstairs bathroom to fasten her bra and freshen up. Standing before the mirror, she was startled by the flushed, satisfied look to on face. She rested her hands on her cheeks, as if that might remove some of the color that had settled there. It didn’t work.
 

Resigned to her face giving away her heightened emotions, she returned to the family room. David had cleaned up the popcorn mess and was washing the bowl.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“One of us had to do it. Why not me?”

“Thank you.” Daisy dried the bowl and put it away, cleaned the popcorn maker and wiped up the kitchen.

David held her denim jacket for her and turned off the TV, chuckling at yet another sex scene in the movie. “They must’ve been exhausted after filming,” he said, making Daisy laugh as he opened the sliding door to the deck and gestured for her to go out ahead of him.

A motion-sensitive light came on as she went down the stairs ahead of him. He held the door to his silver sedan for her, and she sank into the buttery-soft leather with a sigh of pleasure. Everything about this evening had been a pleasure. Other than the one moment of panic, she’d gotten through her first post-attempted-rape encounter fairly well, all things considered.

She tried really hard not to think about that awful night with Truck when she’d nearly been killed in the midst of his meth-fueled rage. He’d held her down and tried to force himself on her. He’d been too stoned to finish what he’d started, but he’d left her bruised and sore and traumatized from the effort.

From the driver’s side, David reached over to take her hand. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Unpleasant memories and how they came back to haunt me tonight.”

“Only for a second, and we worked through it, right?”

“Right.” As her throat tightened with emotion, she squeezed his hand in gratitude. “Thanks for putting up with me.”
 

“It’s certainly no hardship. I like being with you.”

She turned to look at his strong profile, illuminated by the streetlights as they left Mac and Maddie’s driveway and headed for town. All too soon, he pulled up to the curb outside her house.
 

“Do you want to come in for a little while?” she asked, feeling uncertain about what would happen now that they’d kissed, among other very nice things.

“I’d love nothing more than to spend more time with you tonight, but I’m afraid of things going too far too fast.” He reached over to do that thing he did with her hair and her ear. “You’re not ready for too far too fast. And…”

“And what?” Daisy asked.

His smile faded. “There’re things about me you should know before this goes any further.”

“What kind of things?”

“The kind that might dull that shine in your eyes when you look at me.”

“Do my eyes shine when they look at you?”

As he nodded, an aura of sadness clung to him. “You won’t look at me like that anymore when I tell you what you need to know about me.”

Daisy thought about that for a moment. “I’d like to hear anything you want to tell me, but no matter what it is, I’ll never forget the extraordinary kindness and compassion you’ve shown me since one of the worst nights of my life. I’ll never forget the conversations we’ve had or your understanding tonight when I fell apart a little bit. So whatever it is, you should know I won’t forget any of that.”

“You’re very kind, Daisy, and you’re probably far too good for me.”

“That’s not true.”

“I haven’t always been an honorable person. I’ve made mistakes that have hurt people.”

Operating on instinct at this point, she reached out to him, cupping his face and turning him to look at her. “How can you say you’re not good enough for me? You’re a doctor, for goodness sake.”

“All those years of school didn’t necessarily make me a good person.”

“Did you learn from these mistakes you made?”

“Yeah,” he said, releasing a bitter laugh. “You could say I definitely learned my lesson.”

“And these things you did that hurt people, would you do them again?”

“Never.”

“Then it sounds like whatever it is you’re so ashamed of happened for a reason. It happened so you’d learn what kind of man you want to be—and what kind you don’t want to be.”

Twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, he said, “How did you get so wise?”

“A lot of hard knocks of my own, literally and figuratively.”

“I don’t want to be another of your hard knocks.”

“Then don’t be.”

“We need to talk about this stuff. You need to know what you’re getting into.”

“Can we talk about it sometime soon? Tonight has been so lovely. It doesn’t feel like a night for deep confessions.”

He smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. “It was lovely. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Thanks for keeping me company.”

“I’m going to be off-island tomorrow into Tuesday. Could I call you while I’m gone?”

Daisy hated the dismay she experienced at knowing she wouldn’t see him for a couple of days. “I’d love that.”

He pulled out his phone and programmed the number she gave him. “I put it in my favorites. See?”

“I feel very honored.” And oddly enough, she did. While still grappling with a bit of anxiety over what he felt he needed to tell her, Daisy refused to allow anything to ruin what had been a rather perfect evening.
 

“Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”

As they walked up the stairs to her front door, she was glad she’d forgotten to turn on the porch light when she left. She didn’t need her nosy neighbors checking out who was bringing her home.

Daisy used her key in the new door Mac had installed after Truck kicked hers in. It was sturdy and made her feel safe, even when she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Standing in the doorway, she was hit with a sudden bout of shyness as she wondered if David would kiss her again. She sure hoped so.

“I’ll call you,” he said.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

When he started to turn away, her hopes were dashed until he turned right back and put his arms around her. He bent his head and came toward her slowly, probably giving her time to say no. But that wasn’t the word she longed to say.
Yes
was far more like it.

What started as a soft, sweet kiss soon took a turn toward something much deeper and more carnal. By the time he pulled back from her, Daisy had her arms tight around him. His hands were on her bottom, holding her snug against his arousal. She wanted to purr from the pleasure of his embrace.

“I should go,” he whispered against her lips.

“I should let you.”

She felt rather than saw his smile as he withdrew from her with a sigh that sounded regretful.
 

“Save Tuesday night for me?”

“It’s all yours.”

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “See you then.”

She went inside and watched as he got into his car and waved when he drove off into the night. The door closed with a solid thunk, and she turned the dead bolt Mac had also installed for her. Leaning against the door, she brushed her fingertips over lips that still tingled from David’s passionate kisses.

How, she wondered, would she live until Tuesday? The thought was followed by another, this one much darker. What did he have to tell her and would it change how she felt about him?

*

Maddie sat on the edge of the bed and tried to remain upright while Mac helped to remove her top.
 

“So, David and Daisy, huh?”

“Apparently. He’s been really nice to her since that business with Truck.”

“Does she know about his track record?” he asked with a bitter edge to his voice. Mac would never forgive David for cheating on his sister, but he’d also never forget that David had saved Hailey, who would’ve died at birth without him. Maddie knew his feelings toward David were somewhat complicated, to say the least.

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”

“Maybe you should warn her.”

“Maybe I will.” With his belly right in front of her, what else was she supposed to do but dip her hands under his shirt and take a feel of her favorite washboard abs?

“What’re you up to, Madeline?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Champagne makes me horny. I had no idea!”

Chuckling, he said, “You’re not going to remember any of this in the morning.”

“I will, too!” She cupped him through his jeans. “How could I ever forget this?” Under her hand, he throbbed to life. “Mmm, look at that. You’re
so
easy, Mac McCarthy.”

“Maddie…”

“
Mac
… I wanna get naked. Let’s go. Hurry up.”

“You need to sleep it off.”

“I will sleep it off,
after
you do me. Now, get busy.”

He stared at her, seeming astounded at the blunt talk that was wildly out of character for her. Apparently, the blunt talk was having the necessary effect on him as he hardened under her hand.
 

“You’re not getting busy.”

Apparently resigned to his fate, he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the most excellent chest and belly that had captivated her from the first time she’d ever seen him shirtless. Her husband was a fine, fine looking man, and she loved him fiercely. “Hurry.” She tugged at the button to his jeans, her hands not working as well as they usually did.
 

“Whoa,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Careful with the zipper, babe.”

“You do it, then. Just hurry up!”

“You’re bossy when you’re drunk.”

“You’re bossy all the time, so now it’s my turn.” She wiggled out of her jeans and panties, pulled off her bra and tossed it across the room. It didn’t even occur to her anymore to worry about baring her obnoxiously large breasts to her husband. He loved every inch of her and never missed a chance to tell her so.

She pushed back onto the bed, raising her arms above her head and letting her legs fall open. There was a lot to be said for liquid courage, she thought, as she watched her husband’s eyes darken with lust. She loved that she could do that to him. “You’re not hurrying,” she purred.

“I’m trying to figure out who you are and what you’ve done with my shy, demure wife.”

“Are you complaining?”

He came down on top of her, settling into the V of her legs. “Not even kinda.”

“Good,” she said, smiling as she dragged him into a kiss designed to show him how badly she wanted him.

“I need to stock up on champagne,” he said, making her snort rather inelegantly with laughter.
 

“The champagne is only part of it.”

“What’s the other part?” he asked, looking down at her with love and desire.

“You.” She reached up to comb her fingers through his dark hair. “I look at you, and I want you. You walked into the restaurant tonight, and my heart skipped a happy beat because there you were. My guy, coming to find me because he can’t stand to spend even one night out without me.”

“Maddie…”

“I like to pretend I’m mad when you crash girls’ night, but I’m never mad. I’m always thrilled to see you, because there’s never a time I wouldn’t rather be with you than with anyone else.”

 
“You humble me, Madeline.” His words were a low rumble against her ear as he slid into her, hard and hot and exquisitely perfect. Always so perfect.

In the back of her mind, something nagged at her, but she was too caught up in him to stop to think about what it might be. She was forgetting something. Whatever it was, she’d worry about it later. Right now, she had far more pressing concerns as his control snapped, and he took her on a hard, fast thrill ride.