Just My Type (2 page)
Mac seemed to freeze. And stop breathing. His eyes were locked on hers and she felt a current zing between them. She’d never touched him like that. They’d held hands, even hugged before, and she’d touched his arms, back, shoulder, even face once, but never his chest, or stomach, or lower.
“Sara?” His voice was definitely hoarse.
“Mac.”
“Move your hand.”
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Erin Nicholas
She slid it downward and Mac shot back, tipping his chair onto its back legs and throwing him off-balance enough that he stumbled to his feet, knocking the chair over.
“Damn, Sara!” he swore. Straightening to his full height and glaring down at her he demanded, “What the hell was that?”
She blinked at him, trying for innocence. “You said…”
“I didn’t mean
that
!” he snapped.
“Well, why not?
I
certainly wouldn’t mind doing it.” He gaped at her and she almost laughed. She’d never seen Mac flabbergasted like this.
“You wouldn’t
mind
doing what exactly?”
Maybe he thought—or hoped—she was talking about something else. She had to make this clear.
“Putting my hand on your…”
“
Okay
,” he interrupted, throwing up his hands. “Enough. You’re obviously drunk.” Instead of looking up and arguing his statement, Sara’s eyes found the object of conversation almost right in front of her. And
it
looked interested in what she was proposing.
Mac had an erection. Right there. Front and center. Unmistakable.
“You sure you’re not interested?” She looked directly at the tent in his pants.
He quickly righted the chair, sat and dropped his napkin in his lap. “Knock it off.”
“What? You’re telling me you’ve never thought of it? Ever?”
“Of having your hand down my pants at your brother’s wedding? No, I can honestly say I haven’t.” He wouldn’t look at her.
“So when have you thought about having my hand down your pants?” He opened his mouth, shut it, shifted in his chair, frowned. “Stop it.” She scooted her chair closer. “Mac, honestly. Have you ever thought of us together?”
“Sure. We’re together all the time at Sam’s, at the center and the hospital.” He still wasn’t making eye contact.
Sara touched his knee and he nearly jumped out of his chair again. She smiled. She was no dummy.
She had a master’s degree in psychology and was a licensed social worker in Nebraska. She studied people.
She’d watched the two people she knew best—her sister, Jessica, and her brother, Sam—fall in love with their spouses. She’d seen the effect that intense attraction had on people and how they acted until they admitted the attraction and did something about it.
“I’m talking about naked, you and me.”
“Of course not,” he answered quickly. Too quickly. He was scowling again. “You’re a kid, like a sister to me.”
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Just My Type
He was lying. He had to be lying. Before she could think it out any further and potentially chicken out, Sara slid from her chair to Mac’s lap, cupped the back of his head in both hands and kissed him with all she had.
Damn it
.
Mac realized he should have seen this coming. But a man could only be expected to be so intelligent when most of his brain cells were saying things like
yes
and
take her
and recalling all of the ways he had imagined her hands on him. And vice versa.
Sara’s kiss started off as a point to prove, he knew, but it didn’t matter that at first it was only lip to lip. It was the whole thing—the warm, satiny feel of her, the way her butt fit perfectly against his groin, how great she smelled and how delicious she tasted and how incredible she sounded when she sighed, then moaned when his hands went to her hips and his lips opened, deepening the kiss.
He couldn’t help it. This was Sara. To hell with the idea she had been like a little sister to him for the past thirteen years, to hell with the fact she was twelve years younger than he was. To hell with the fact he was way too wild for her, to hell with the fact she was his best friend’s baby sister and that this was Sam’s wedding.
It was that last thought that made him finally use more than four brain cells and pull back.
He held her at arm’s length and watched as she pressed her lips together, tried to focus her eyes and sucked in a long pull of air to try to catch her breath.
God, she was beautiful. And
she’d
just kissed
him
.
He’d always been afraid he’d do that before she got herself safely married to someone else. However, doing it at her brother’s—his best friend’s—wedding was
not
cool.
Son of a bitch.
He stood swiftly and put her on her feet, slowly taking his hands from her, when in actuality he wanted more. Much, much more.
“You need to go…somewhere else.”
She blinked at him. “No.”
“Yes. Now.”
“Doug might find me.”
“Well, Sam’s about to find
me
,
so get scarce.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw her brother coming toward them. “Ladies’ room.”
“Good choice.” Sam couldn’t follow her in there.
Neither could Mac. He somehow kept his eyes from following Sara out of the ballroom. It didn’t matter. Sam had seen what led up to her exit.
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Erin Nicholas
“What the hell, Mac?” were Sam Bradford’s first words to his friend.
Mac held up his hands. “Hang on, get the whole story, Sam.” Sam raised both eyebrows. “I’m waiting. About ten seconds.”
“She kissed me, Sam. And it was all just a ruse to get that Doug guy to leave her alone.” Sam didn’t look convinced. “You couldn’t tell him to leave her alone?”
“I did.”
“Did it work?”
“Seemed to.”
“So what’s with the kissing?”
Sam wasn’t totally pissed. Mac had seen Sam totally pissed and this wasn’t it. He definitely wasn’t happy, though. He was giving Mac the benefit of the doubt, but it wouldn’t last forever.
It would have been helpful if Mac’s brain had been working at full capacity, but a large part of it was still firmly on Sara. How she felt in his arms, how she’d been the aggressor, how good she was with her tongue. And how she’d gotten so good at that.
Damn.
“She thought maybe he’d call her tomorrow or something. I don’t know, man. I’m innocent here.” Sam snorted. And it wasn’t in amusement. “You haven’t been innocent where a woman’s concerned since you were fourteen, Mac.”
He couldn’t argue that and Sam was
not
in the mood to argue, so Mac kept quiet on that point. “I was helping Sara out. I haven’t been able to say no to that girl since I met her.” Which was true and damned annoying.
“Where is she?” Sam asked, looking around.
When Sara wanted to avoid her siblings and their ire, she was quite good. Mac let himself quirk a quick smile as Sam looked away, but was fully composed when his friend again turned his attention on him.
“Ladies’ room,” Mac said. “I think it’s time I took her home.” Sam looked at him for a long five seconds. Then said, “I don’t think so.”
“Excuse me?” Mac was surprised. There had been many occasions when Sam had
asked
Mac to take care of Sara, see her home, take something to her and so on.
“I think she can get home without you tonight, Mac.”
There was something serious in his tone and voice. Which sucked. Anytime, but especially on the night when he was getting married, and all should have been happy.
Mac leaned in close and slapped Sam’s upper arm. “Pull your head out of your ass, Sam. I’m not doin’ anything to your sister. Not now, not ever. Got it?” Sam stared at him. Then gave him a brief, short nod. “Got it.” 12
Just My Type
To be sure, Mac added, “You have my word.”
“Tell her too,” Sam said shortly.
“She doesn’t…”
“I saw that kiss, Mac. That was…” Sam drew a deep breath and shook his head, “…not something I want to see ever again. Make sure Sara knows there’s nothing going on. Now or ever.” Mac wished he could take such a deep breath, but suddenly he felt like something was pushing in directly over his sternum. “Dammit, Sam. It’s fine.”
“Make sure.”
Mac couldn’t quite meet his friend’s eyes when he said, “I will.” Sam slapped his shoulder in return. “I trust you.”
He might as well have slugged him in the stomach. Yes, Sam could trust him to be sure nothing happened between him and Sara, but Mac already had a ton of thoughts and dreams about Sara to feel plenty guilty about. And that hadn’t started tonight.
Oh, boy, this was it.
Sara stared at her reflection in the mirror and oscillated between praying Sam wouldn’t hurt Mac and praying that whatever he did he’d hurry up. She wanted to pick right up where they’d left off.
Mac’s hands had certainly felt the material of her dress. Specifically the material over her butt and hips, but he hadn’t felt as much of her as she’d hoped or wanted. Similarly she’d felt some of him, particularly the magnificent erection that had pressed nicely against her as she sat on his lap.
The woman staring back at her was someone new. This woman looked happy and even a bit triumphant. Sara was a naturally happy and optimistic person. She saw the bright side, looked at glasses as half-full and all of that.
The woman in the mirror was
happy
. A happy that Sara had only seen on other people. Like Jessica and Sam. And their spouses, Ben and Danika. Sara had never been in love before. She’d been in love with Mac for years, but to be truly, fully, utterly in love it had to be reciprocated. Until tonight she hadn’t been sure of that part.
Now
, she knew. Mac had kissed her back. No question about it. He’d been aroused, he’d wanted her too, he’d done it in spite of his objections to the time and place.
He loved her too.
Her world was complete.
This was perfect movie-love-story stuff.
She pulled open the door to the ladies’ room. Whatever Sam had to say to Mac would not take this long. If it did she’d have to rescue Mac. She had much better uses for him.
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Erin Nicholas
She stepped back into the reception, immediately searching for Mac. She always did that. In any room, at any event she knew he’d be, the first thing she did was look for him. Even if she didn’t immediately go to him, she always knew where he was. This time it felt different. Now she could look for him without hiding it. She could look for him, knowing he wanted her to find him. She could look for him because she was supposed to be
with
him and everyone could know.
The chairs where they’d been sitting were empty, but Mac’s jacket was still hung around the back of his. None of the occupied barstools held him. Ben and Jessica sat with Kevin and Dooley—Sam’s other groomsmen and Mac’s best friends in the world—but no Mac. She even found her brother, dancing with Danika, and rolled her eyes. They were married now. They needed to go home if they were going to act like that. Of course, if Dani was within six feet of him, Sam wouldn’t notice a tornado ripping through the building. Then Sara smiled. On Mac’s lap she couldn’t have cared less about the fact that they were in public or that other people were around and might see. Good for Sam and Danika. They had each other.
Their lives were going in a new direction. She was happy for them. She was. Just like she was happy for her sister and Ben. Jessica was six weeks pregnant with their first baby and even though it meant she’d blown lunch off with Sara—a lunch they’d had every Wednesday for the past year—to shop for baby furniture, Sara was happy for her sister. Now Jessica would have someone new to boss around. That could only be a good thing for everyone.
Sara had other things to concentrate on anyway. Like making her own new life. With Mac.
So where was he? She was ready to get started.
Bathroom? Possibly. She knew he hadn’t left. For one thing, he would have made sure she got back into the room and with their friends before he left. Then he would have tried to talk her into leaving when he did. Even before
the kiss
, as she had termed it in her mind, Mac was always asking her if she needed a ride, if she needed a drink, if she needed anything. He never left anywhere without making sure she had a ride and knowing who it was with. So he was still here, she was sure.
She decided to wait in the hallway for him. If she could catch him alone, outside of the hotel ballroom she had a better chance of getting another kiss. The fewer eyes and interruptions the better.
The wide hallway had a high ceiling hung with several elaborate chandeliers and evenly spaced enormous mirrors in ornate gold frames on the walls. It was deserted and very quiet. There was another party of some kind going on in the ballroom several doors down, and muted music that increased then decreased as the doors opened and shut came from both that room and Sam’s wedding reception, but the plush carpet and padded benches along the walls between the tall potted plants absorbed a lot of the sound.
Sara waited for a few minutes on the bench straight across from the men’s room, but finally realized he wasn’t coming out. He was either sick, or not in there.
Maybe he had left.
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Just My Type
His jacket was still here, but it was a rental. He certainly wasn’t in the habit of wearing a jacket, so could have easily forgotten he had one to keep track of. Besides, someone would gather it and return it for him if he left it behind.
Well, she wasn’t going back into the reception until she knew he was definitely in there. If one of the others got a hold of her, they wouldn’t let her be out here alone for long and they definitely would not let her go out into the parking lot alone to look for his car. But she knew right where it was parked. She’d ridden to the reception in it with Mac, Kevin and Dooley.
