Page 30 of Mac
The drive ended much too soon. I was enjoying the feel of Kate’s arms around my waist. It had me thinking of other ways I’d prefer to have her wrapped around me.
“Oh wow, this is gorgeous,” Kate announced as we walked down to the water’s edge.
“Let’s go sit down over there.” I grabbed hold of her hand and led her over to a large boulder.
I felt her tense slightly at the contact, but she quickly relaxed and didn’t pull her hand away. I helped her climb up the rock and sat down next to her. We were quiet for a little bit, enjoying the view.
“So, what else brought you out here, besides looking for your father?” I asked.
“Isn’t that enough?” she replied with her own question.
“Normally, I would say yes. But you started telling me a bit about your home life the other night. I had a feeling there was more you weren’t telling me.”
“Hmm…good-lookingandintuitive.”
“I knew you had been checking me out,” I joked, and she rolled her eyes.
“Oh please! You’re so cocky.”
I just winked at her, and she shook her head. “Anyway, the truth is, I’d been undecided about whether I wanted to meet Viking or not, when my living situation took a turn for the worse.”
She stopped talking, but I wanted to know more. “Continue,” I prodded.
“You don’t want to hear my whole sob story.” She tried to make a joke about it, but I could tell it wasn’t something small.
“I want to know everything about you,” I told her, shocked by my admission. I never cared to learn the small details about the chicks I hooked up with, but I did want to know more about Kate. “It sounded like your childhood was as fucked up as mine. You said your grandmother raised you…?”
“Yes…” She didn’t say anything and then, in a rush, “My mom killed herself when I was six years old.”
Jesus, that was heavy. When she didn’t say anything more, I took her hand and laced my fingers through hers. It seemed to help as she continued her story about how things got worse after her grandmother died.
I didn’t understand how people could be so cruel to their own family, but my own parents were proof that just because you were related to someone didn’t mean they would love you. When she started explaining about her friend Jonathan, I interrupted.
“So, this guy… he was just a friend?”
She looked at me, and I realized she heard the hardness in my voice. “Considering you’re hot and heavy with that Michelle girl, I don’t think you have a right to get mad.”
“There’s nothing between me and Michelle. Yeah, we used to hook up, but that’s over. Been over since I laid eyes on you.”
She didn’t look convinced but let it drop. “Anyway, after I made it clear we were just friends and would never be anything more, Jonathan and I got into a huge fight, and I drove out here.”
“And he was fine with you leaving?” I needed to know more about this Jonathan guy.
“He didn’t get a say in it. However, he has texted me a few times since I moved. At first, he tried to apologize, but lately, he’s been saying things like we are meant to be together, and he’s tired of waiting for me to come to my senses. I’ve started to ignore his texts.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Desperate guys did stupid shit. “You’ll tell me if he keeps bothering you?”
“Mac, I appreciate it, but I can handle Jonathan.”
“I know you can, but it doesn’t mean you don’t want or need help, Kate.”
She regarded me for a long second before nodding. “You know, I just realized I’ve been pouring out my heart to you, and I don’t even know your real name.”
“No one uses my name anymore, but since you shared, I’ll tell you. It’s Ryan MacIntyre.”
“Well, that explains the road name.”
Since I wanted to end this day on a better note than last time we were alone together, I stood and pulled her up along with me.
“Where we going now?”
“For a ride in the desert.”
Her eyes brightened. “I’d like that.”
I took her hand and led her to my bike. At some point, I needed to start thinking about the consequences of making Kate mine. It was inevitable, but I didn’t relish the anger Viking would unleash on me.
