Chapter 21

I stop readingand close the diary. I’m not sure if I will be able to continue. There is only the last entry left to read, the one that changes everything.

“Mack, what’s wrong?” Dean asks as he sits and massages my shoulders.

I reach back to cover his hands with mine and lean into his chest. “I’m nervous to continue, knowing it ends with Rose’s death.” I wipe at a wayward tear with my fingers.

Dean wraps his arm around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder. “Don’t you want to know what happened on her last day?”

“Yeah,” I whisper.

“Do you want me to read it?” Dean offers.

I let out a sigh. “No. I’ll be okay. Let’s eat and then we’ll read about the fourteenth.”

“Okay.” Dean reaches for the picnic hamper. “Cheese or ham?”

“Ham, please.”

I take the sandwich from Dean and sit resting my chin on my drawn-up knees, looking further along the beach while I ate. There is another couple who are playing Frisbee with two children as a dog runs circles around them. I hear the children giggling from where I sit.

“They look happy,” Dean comments, following my gaze.

“I want that one day. To be part of a family unit that vacations at the beach.” Holding Dean’s gaze, I continue, “Don”t you? Or do you enjoy being a single guy?” Even as I ask the question I know that I’m getting far more personal than a lot of people would prefer, but I’m really interested in how he sees his future.

Instead of ignoring me, Dean caresses down the side of my face before tracing his fingers over my lips. “Until I met you, Mack, I never even thought that far ahead, now that’s all I’m doing.” He smiles. “Yes, I see that family down the beach as being us one day, except,” he smirks, “I kind of see maybe four or five kids running around with two dogs.”

My eyes widen before amusement lights my face. “Four or five kids, huh?”

“Well, I guess six would be okay too.” He laughs as I poke him in the chest. “You like that idea as much as I do,” he suggests and catches my prodding finger. He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses my palm before closing my fingers over the kiss. “One day, Mack.”

I search his eyes and happy with what I see, I turn back to look at the ocean as I finish the sandwich, and then dusting the crumbs from my lap, I turn and kneel between Dean’s legs.

I wiggle my brows as I move closer. Dean’s eyes widen when I reach for the bottom of his T-shirt. “I need distracting for a few minutes, and I want to have a closer look at the tattoo I keep catching glimpses of.”

He grins. “Mack.” I climb onto his lap and manage to pull the T-shirt over his head. Dean doesn’t protest too much.

“Mmm, nice.” It’s my turn to grin.

I kiss him on the lips before I crawl out of his lap and around to the back of him.

On his back, from one shoulder to the other, spreads an eagle. It’s magnificent, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I reach out and start to trace the wings with my fingers. Dean breaks out in goosebumps as I move closer and start kissing my way across the wingspan.

“Mack,” Dean hisses. “We have a diary to finish,” he whispers, his voice tight with tension.

I smirk, knowing exactly what I’m doing to him, but I give him peace by crawling back around to the front of him, unable to miss the bulge in his lap. “Your eagle is amazing.”

He smiles. “I drew up the design and the tattoo artist did an excellent job of transferring it onto my skin.”

“That he did. The design is amazing. You’re really talented, but you knew that already.”

“Hearing it out of your mouth makes it all the more real.”

“You have an amazing talent, one that I’ve always been envious of…tell me about one of your projects. You’re favorite one.”

“That’s an easy one.” He grins. “It’s one that I did for a paranormal graphic novel. My artwork is some of the best that I’ve ever done in that book. It was gothic, but detailed. I gained a lot more work after that book, which is still doing well in sales. I’ll have to treat you to a copy as soon as I can.”

“I’d love that.” I become wistful. “Let’s finish the diary.”

I quickly kiss him and scoot back between his legs.

“Thank you for taking my mind off Rose and Jacob for a short while.”

“If you carry on wiggling that bottom where you’re wiggling it, you’re going to get more of a distraction than I think you’d planned for.”

“That really is a tempting offer. I’ve always wanted to make out on the beach. We’ll have to take a rain check for when it’s dark.” I turn my head, laughing when I look into Dean’s lust-filled expression. “Fun’s over…for now.” I reach for the diary.