Try - The Complete Romance Series (11 page)

We made it to the restaurant just in time
to catch our reservation; I left my car with the valet and Mackenzie brought
her flowers with her as I led her into the warm restaurant. The smells were
amazing—as they had been years before when Joanne and I had visited. From the
moment we walked in it was like we’d stepped through some kind of magical door
into a totally different place, somewhere that had never even heard of Chicago.
The hostess led us to our table and a second later the waiter was there to take
our drink order.

“I think I should probably just stick to
wine,” Mackenzie said, glancing over the menu quickly.

“Same for both of us,” I told the waiter.
I turned my attention onto the menu for a moment to give Mack a moment to get
into her comfort zone. I could see her glancing around the busy dining room
every so often as she read through the menu, and once I saw her shake her head
a bit as if she couldn’t quite believe where she was. Girl and The Goat wasn’t
one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, but it was one of the better
mid-priced ones, and I was looking forward to seeing what Mackenzie thought of
everything they had to offer.

“It all sounds so good,” Mackenzie told me
when I looked up from the menu. “I have no idea how to decide.”

“Why don’t we both order something from
each section, and then we can compare and figure out what we like best?”

“That sounds like the best plan,”
Mackenzie admitted; but I could see the doubt on her face—she could tell that
the items on the menu were not exactly cheap.

“I told you, I’m treating. Don’t even
think about what something costs. Just think of what sounds the most like
something you want to try.”

By the time the waiter came back with our
wine, Mackenzie had settled into her seat and lost the doubtful, nervous look
on her face. “Are we ready to order?”

“I think we’re going to go for the obvious
solution to the problem of too many good things to choose from,” I told the
waiter. “We’re going to each order something from each section and share it—is
that okay?”

“Absolutely,” the man said. I could
practically see the dollar signs flashing in front of his eyes and reminded
myself that the guy was living off of the tips he could make. I’d tip him at
least twenty percent at the end of the night, as long as he didn’t do anything
to screw the evening with my date up.

“Would you like to go first, Mack?” She
looked startled for a second but then recovered again.

“I can do that,” she said, pressing her
lips together and looking down at the menu. “I would love to try the roasted
beets, the seared scallops…” Mackenzie looked at me, for a second uncertain
again, and I nodded to encourage her. “The beef short ribs, and the goat
satay.” She put the menu aside.

“And for you, sir?” the waiter turned to
me after nodding his approval of Mackenzie’s choices.

“I think I’ll have the chickpea fritter,
Hamachi crudo, the pork shank, and the wood-fired oysters.” I glanced over the
menu again. “Could we also have the bread with the brown butter?”

“Excellent choices,” the waiter told me.
He offered to bring us another glass or two of different wines to pair with our
plates and I checked with Mackenzie before agreeing to it; I didn’t want her to
feel pressured into getting drunk, especially with a movie after the meal.

I’d been a little worried that the second
date wouldn’t go as well as the first—that somehow, Mackenzie and I would have
nothing to talk about; but as soon as the waiter left we were off and running,
talking about our lives, our weeks at work. “I have to admit, I was a bit
flustered when I got home,” Mackenzie told me. “There was an incident with one
of my patients.”

“What happened?” I tried to see if
remember if she’d looked like she’d been hurt when I’d picked her up, and to
see any sign of it on her face, but Mackenzie looked just as gorgeous as I’d
ever seen her: absolutely fresh, cute, beautiful.

“It’s not really a great thing to mention
at a dinner table,” Mackenzie said, grinning at me wryly. “But one of the
parents decided the best way to give her son plenty of energy for his session
was a ton of sugar.”

“Oh god,” I said, groaning. I’d seen a few
soccer games that left the rails from kids getting sick to their stomachs after
their parents had given
them
sodas and candy. “Let me
guess.”

“All over the place,” Mackenzie said,
nodding slowly. “More importantly, all over
me
.
I literally ran to the shower as soon as I walked into my apartment and
scrubbed myself twice to try and make sure I wouldn’t smell like someone had
gotten sick all over me.”

“I would never have guessed,” I told her.
As we talked, our food started arriving and it was every bit as good as I’d
remembered; I was even more pleased to see Mackenzie seriously eating—not just
picking at her food. We traded plates and tried all of the dishes we’d ordered,
talking about everything from the freak warm spell we were supposed to get in a
few days to the blizzard that was supposed to follow it, the most recent Bulls game
and the crazy state of local politics. By the time we left the restaurant to go
to the movie theater, we were both so full that we agreed the only way we’d
possibly be able to stay awake was to pick a comedy.

Mackenzie picked a movie with Seth Rogan in
it and we went straight in, finding a good pair of seats towards the back of
the theater. “Are you sure you don’t want a bag of popcorn?” I asked her,
grinning.

“Oh god, I’d explode,” Mackenzie said,
laughing and shaking her head. “As it is I’m surprised I managed to eat as much
as I did!”

“I helped,” I pointed out. “And if you do
get hungry again, I’m happy to visit the concession stand.”

“I don’t think I’ll be hungry again until
next week,” Mack told me. “Now I may get you to get me one of those frozen coke
slushies later on if you’re really willing.”

“I want this to be the perfect date,” I
said. “If that means you need a frozen Coke, then I will get you a frozen
Coke.”

The lights went down eventually, and the
movie started; but within about twenty minutes, we both knew that it wasn’t
going to be as funny as the posters outside had claimed. Mackenzie slipped her
hand into mine and we started whispering to each other in the dark, each of us
talking about ways that they could improve the movie.

I leaned in and turned Mackenzie’s face
towards mine. “Since we’re not exactly watching the movie anyway,” I murmured,
barely brushing my lips against hers. “What do you think?” Mackenzie chuckled
quietly and brought her mouth up to mine. We started out just kissing, but I
felt her beginning to warm up, and even though it was a public place—there were
at least a dozen rows of people in front of us—I started letting my hands
wander a little bit, getting a feel for the curves of her body. Ever since our
last date, this was what I’d been thinking of. I nibbled at her bottom lip and
slipped my hand up along her thigh just a little bit, feeling the warmth of her
skin through the softness of her tights.

We kept making out until the movie was
over and the lights came up; only the sound of the people leaving the theater
snapped us out of it. I could feel the heat pooling in my groin. “Landon’s at
his grandparents’ house for a sleepover,” I told her, panting a little bit.

“Is he?” Mackenzie’s eyes were bright in
the light of the theater.

“Do you want to go to your place or mine?”

Mackenzie considered for a moment. “Mine.
Let’s go back to my place.”

Chapter Five - Mackenzie

I felt a little nervous when I unlocked
the door to my apartment to let Patrick in; it had been a while since I’d been
with anyone—and I hadn’t been with very many guys in the first place. The
minute we were through the door, Patrick closed it behind us and wrapped his
arms around me, leaning in to kiss me hungrily. His hands wandered all over my
body, touching me everywhere, exploring every curve. After a moment or two I
started to feel the heat building up inside of me again, every nerve in my body
tingling; I started kissing back, letting my hands roam over Patrick’s back,
his shoulders, feeling the way his muscles rippled and moved. I pressed my body
against his, moaning as he cupped my breasts through my clothes and gave them a
careful squeeze.

Patrick started leading me away from the
door slowly and I broke away from his lips panting. I was already soaking wet—I
could feel the heat throbbing in my core, the tightness in my hips; I wanted
him so, so badly. “I—I need you to go slow,” I told Patrick breathlessly. “It’s
been a while.” Patrick smiled down at me, one of his thumbs brushing against
one of my hardened nipples.

“Me too,” he admitted. “I am fine with
going slow.” My heart was racing with a mixture of nervousness and the need to
feel Patrick’s body up against mine, to feel him inside of me. I grabbed his
hand and led him towards my bedroom, pushing the door open and reaching for the
light switch blindly. He wrapped his arms around me again, pulling me close,
and I shivered as Patrick’s hand found the zipper at my back and started
tugging it down. I fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, breaking away from
his lips just long enough to actually look at them before Patrick claimed my
mouth with his again; somehow I managed to get one button undone, and then the
next one.

Patrick slid my dress down over my
shoulders, and our arms tangled up as he started guiding the fabric down over
my body, even while I continued to struggle with getting his shirt unbuttoned.
I felt my dress fall to the floor, and kicked my feet free of it, stepping out
of the heels I’d put on. Patrick pulled back, and I blushed as he looked at me
from head to toe slowly, his gaze pausing at my breasts, my hips, and my legs.
“You are so, so beautiful Mackenzie,” he told me, looking into my eyes.
“God—I’m a lucky man tonight.” He tugged his shirt off and tossed it aside, and
I pulled the undershirt free of his jeans, kissing him quickly on the lips
until I managed to get the silky material up to his chest.

Our clothes fell to the floor bit by bit,
and in a matter of minutes I was completely naked, inches away from my bed, and
Patrick stepped back once more to look me over slowly. I squirmed a little bit,
resisting the impulse to cross my arms over my chest or cover myself with my
hands. While he was busy staring at me, I took advantage of the situation to
take in every inch of him: broad shoulders, muscled chest,
the
flat stomach with the washboard abs. He wasn’t hairy—just a little bit of hair
around his nipples, a dark line of it leading from his navel down to his thick,
hard cock. I licked my lips as I looked at his erection; it had been a long
time since I’d been with someone, but I thought Patrick might be bigger than
any of the few guys I had slept with before. I gave myself a shake and felt
self-conscious again. Patrick met my gaze once more, his hands coming up to cup
my bare breasts, his thumbs rubbing slowly over by nipples. “Why are you
blushing?” he asked me, smiling a little bit.

“You’re staring at me,” I pointed out,
smiling myself.

“Because you are the most gorgeous woman
I’ve seen in years—maybe my whole life,” Patrick said. I blushed even harder.
Patrick rolled my nipples between his fingers slowly, sending crackling jolts
of sensation through my body even as his lips descended on mine. I shivered
against him, exploring his body with my hands, touching him everywhere except
his hard cock until finally it was the only part of him in my reach I hadn’t
touched. I wrapped my hand around the heat and hardness of Patrick’s erection
and he groaned against my lips as I started to stroke him slowly.

Patrick pulled back from my lips and dipped
his head down, bringing one of my breasts up to his mouth. I moaned as he
latched onto my nipple, sucking and licking, his hand kneading and massaging my
other breast. He pressed me back until I started to tumble onto the bed,
gasping. Patrick steadied me as I went down, covering my body with his own,
caressing me everywhere as he kissed me again and again. I wrapped my arms
around his shoulders, writhing as Patrick’s hand slipped down between my legs.
I felt his fingers brush against the slick folds of my labia and a little moan
left my lips, my hips pushing down for better contact. “Mm,” Patrick murmured,
his mouth against my neck, brushing up to my ear. “You’re already so wet…god,
I’ve dreamed of this.”

I squirmed as Patrick’s fingers worked,
rubbing and stroking me slowly. He barely missed my clit with his fingertips,
teasing me. I kissed his face, his neck, along his shoulders, my hips moving to
get better contact. I trembled as I got more and more turned on by the moment,
rubbing against Patrick’s body, against his fingers, hungry—starving—for more.
He nibbled along my throat, his mouth dipping down to my breasts again, and I
lost all track of time as he worshipped my breasts with his lips and tongue,
kissing and sucking and licking, sending crackling electric pleasure through my
body that I hadn’t felt in years.

He began rocking his hips, rubbing the
heat and hardness of his cock against my thigh even as he worked me with his
fingers. Two fingers slid inside of me while Patrick’s thumb swirled around my
clit, and I cried out, arching up off of the bed, my hands tightening on his
back. “You’re so tight,” Patrick murmured, panting. “It’s going to feel so good
to be inside you Mack…fuck.” His fingers wriggled and twisted inside of me,
brushing against my inner walls, and all I could do was gasp and shiver and
moan, my body moving with a will of its own.