CHAPTER TEN

SADIE

Mack finishes with his last client at eight and is able to get out of work early. He insists on picking me up, which is oddly sweet and something I’m not altogether used to.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve dated nice guys before. It’s that most of them were nice to a degree and then they stopped putting in the effort. With Mack it doesn’t seem like this is effort. This feels like a natural part of who he is.

At his house, he introduces me to Charlie, who is even cuter than his pictures. The big cat takes possession of my lap as I sit on the couch and wait for Mack to take a fast shower and change. I almost offered to scrub his back, but we were both hungry and he asked me if I could call in an order for Chinese while he showered.

Looking around Mack’s living room while I stroke Charlie’s soft white and black fur, I can’t help comparing his place to my apartment. There really is no comparison. This is a nice home while I live in a cramped little apartment that I don’t clean nearly often enough.

Going further down a rabbit hole I shouldn’t, I think about the fact that Mack has a good career that he loves.

Unlike me.

And that he no doubt has all aspects of his life together while I’m woefully flying through life by the seat of my pants and more often than not getting my butt burned.

I really don’t bring much to this relationship.

Snapping my head upright, I give myself a shake that sends poor Charlie jumping off my lap in a panic. I’m bringing myself, and that’s what matters. I can make him happy. Plus, the matchmakers set us up so we’re meant to be together.

I don’t know if I’m trying to convince myself or what. Whatever it is, it works marginally well.

Mack’s smile when he comes into the living room and sees me works far better at pushing my doubts aside.

“Get the order in?” he asks, sitting down on the couch beside me.

I’ve been noticing that he has a habit of talking louder than necessary at times, and I wonder if that’s from needing to speak over the noise of the tattoo gun. It’s not a huge deal, just a little startling when I’m not expecting it.

“Yeah, should be here any minute.”

“Then I guess we have time for this,” he says, cupping my chin and lowering his mouth to mine.

His lips move gently over mine at first before becoming bolder as I kiss him back.

Soon I’m in his lap with my arms wrapped around his neck and his hand cupping my breast as his thumb swirls around my nipple.

The doorbell rings, drawing a regretful sigh from him and a needy whine from me. I untangle my arms from his neck and slide off his lap. Mack heads for the door while I trail behind him. I should probably offer to go halves on the food.

In the kitchen, Mack unpacks the brown delivery bag as I dig in my purse for my wallet.

“Everything okay?” he asks, pausing with a white carton that looks tiny in his big hand.

“Oh, yeah, just getting my share of the bill.” I hesitate after grabbing a twenty and then get a ten out as well. We did order a lot of food.

Mack waves that away. “This is a date and I’m paying.”

Feeling stubborn, I slap the money down on the granite countertop. “I’m the one who suggested dinner. I should at least pay half.”

Setting the container down, Mack comes around the counter and wraps his arms around me. “Sadie, when you’re with me, you pay for nothing. I want to take care of you.” He lowers his face and runs his nose along my jaw up to my ear, his breath warm on my skin. “In all ways.”

My core tightens up at that, as do my nipples.

A tiny part of me wants to protest. I’m twenty-eight, I can take care of myself. It’s something I’ve been doing since I moved out of my parents’ house at nineteen.

The bigger part of me positively melts at his words. The idea of being cared for and adored is very appealing. To be cherished and loved is something I’ve longed for and why I envy Yvonne’s relationship with Henry.

Turning my head, I capture his lips in a kiss, my tongue darting between his parted lips to stroke along his. Big, warm hands cup my face, the fingers slipping into the hair on either side of my ears. Our mouths move slowly and tenderly as the kiss stays sweet instead of dipping into lustful territory.

He breaks the kiss first, his eyes locking on my face and filled with swirling emotions. In them I see that he’s serious in his desire to care for me along with something else, something much more intense. Mack’s eyelashes lower, concealing his expressive eyes from me before I can put a name to the emotion in his gaze.

“Grab a plate and dig in. Chinese is never the same once it gets cold.”

A very good point.

We carry our loaded plates into the living room and camp out on the floor in front of the couch. Mack doesn’t trust himself not to make a mess of his furniture and considering all the food on our plates, I don’t trust myself either.

Mack turns the TV on and we go with a rerun of a sitcom we both enjoy. I notice the closed captioning is on. “That’s weird. It’s not a foreign language show.”

“I can never figure out how to turn it off.”

Laughing, I look at him, rather pleased that there’s something he can’t do that I can help him with. “Hand me the remote and I’ll take it off for you.”

“Nah, I don’t mind. Plus it’s good for watching K-dramas.”

My mouth drops. “I love those!”

Once that’s been discovered, we quickly change over to watch one.

After finishing off our food, we move onto the couch and I snuggle up next to Mack’s big body, loving how perfectly we fit together. “I really like this,” I comment while running my hand along his wide chest.

He smiles. “Me too.”

“I know you didn’t want to rush things, and we kinda did yesterday.”

“Kinda?” he chuckles, the vibrations moving through me where I’m pressed to him.

Playfully, I tickle his ribs. “You know what I mean. It’s nice spending time with you and getting to know you better.” I blow out a breath. “I have a confession. I’ve liked you for a long time, but you never seemed interested.”

Dark brows dip in puzzlement. “I’ve always liked you, too. You think I give discounts to everyone?” His brows lift and he grins. “Everyone and their friends,” he teases, reminding me of how often I’ve brought Yvonne along with me to get a tattoo too.

I squirm in guilt thinking about that. “I never realized that was your way of showing your interest. Or the phone number.” Then I brighten. “And to think we were perfect matches all along and it took the matchmakers setting us up for us to get together.”

“Life can be crazy like that,” Mack says softly, his hand angling my face up for a kiss.

Pulling back, he licks his lips. “Do you want to go back to the bedroom? You know, since we’re taking this slow?”

I shove at his chest and laugh. “Slow and steady, that’s us.”

Mack grabs our plates to dump into the kitchen sink since he doesn’t trust Charlie not to make a mess if we leave them here. When he returns, we head upstairs, except he takes me into the bathroom instead of his bedroom.

Rummaging around under his dual vanity, he produces a toothbrush still in its packaging and hands it to me. It makes me wonder how many overnight guests he has.

He gets to work brushing his teeth and I push myself up on the vanity between the two sinks and casually swing my legs. “Got any tampons?”

Continuing to brush with the water running, he ignores that. When he turns the water off, he gives me a smile. I lean forward and use a finger to wipe away the smear of white toothpaste in the corner of his mouth.

“Do you have people over frequently?” I’m not jealous. He had a life before me just like I did. But I need to make certain we’re on the same page here when it comes to dating and relationships.

His lips dip down in a fast frown. “I’m not really into parties.”

I shake my head. “No, I mean people who spend the night.”

Mack shrugs and hands me the toothpaste in a clear hint that I ignore. “My parents visit now and then. Normally, I go and visit them on the holidays.”

Either he’s being deliberately dense or he really isn’t getting what I’m asking.

“No, Mack. People over who sleep in your bed. Women.”

Light dawns in his eyes and he lets out a deep chuckle. “Not in a long time.”