Always Loving You (Danvers #6)(54)
When she started rubbing wide circles on his leg, he quickly set his glass back down. Looking adorably rattled, he asked, “Er—baby, what’re you doing?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
His hand dropped to cover hers, squeezing it lightly. “I mean, what’s going on with this hand?”
Giving him a wicked smile, she said, “Ohhh, nothing much. You look so good tonight that I need to be touching some part of you so that I’ll know that you’re real.”
She looked at him in fascination as he appeared to blush. Mac was a gorgeous, hot hunk of man, and she’d always assumed that he was well aware of that fact. Emma was right about one thing: the men at Danvers, Mac included, did have the cocky-walk thing going on. Was it possible that after all the years of her refusing to take their relationship past a friendship, he was insecure about her feelings toward him? Could he actually doubt that she thought he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen? Had she ever told him that? God, she couldn’t remember now. She knew he’d caught her ogling his body on more than one occasion, but she should make sure that he knew, shouldn’t she?
Clearing his throat, he said, “I think that should be my line, shouldn’t it?”
Taking a deep breath, she locked her eyes with his as she began, “Mac, aside from my brothers, you’re the most incredible man I’ve ever known. I know it’s not cool to say, but you’re beautiful to me. Handsome just isn’t a good enough word to describe you. When you walk into a room, my heart skips a beat and then speeds up to double time. Even when I was scared of my own shadow, I wanted you. You were gorgeous as a teenager, and it’s only gotten better. I could sit and stare at you for hours and never grow tired of it. I’ve never desired anyone but you . . . always you.”
She watched the emotions flicker in Mac’s expressive eyes as she talked—seeing first surprise, then happiness, followed by desire. “Avie—I,” he began just as their server returned with their plates. Ava wanted to turn around and roll her eyes at him for intruding on their intimate moment, but maybe it was for the best. Did she really want to have a heart-to-heart with Mac in the middle of a restaurant? They had all night for that. Right now they could return to their fun, easy flirting and enjoy their meal. This was her first real date, and she didn’t want to miss a single moment of it.
Mac had ordered the lobster for himself and suggested she try the shrimp. She speared a juicy morsel on her fork and leaned over to offer it to him. With eyes smoldering, he opened his lips and allowed her to feed him. He closed his teeth on her fork, pulling it playfully before releasing it. When he offered her a bite of his lobster, she made a show of taking the morsel and then flicking her tongue against his fork before releasing it. His eyes were riveted on her mouth as she swallowed the bite. “I’m going to visit with Ella and the baby tomorrow night. Would you like to go with me?” she asked as he finally returned his attention back to his plate.
Nodding in agreement, he said, “Yeah, I’d like that. Declan says that they haven’t slept in days. Maybe you and I could manage to hold the fort down while they take a nap. Do you know anything about babies?”
Alarmed, Ava shook her head frantically. “The only thing I know is that you’re supposed to give them back immediately if they start crying or smelling funny.”
Mac chuckled. “Yeah, that’s been my experience too. Aren’t they supposed to mostly sleep at first, though?”
“I have no idea,” Ava admitted. “Maybe we should Google it.”
Taking a sip of his wine, Mac said, “Here’s what we’ll do. If the baby is asleep, and I mean really out of it, we offer to give them an hour to sleep. If she’s awake or sleeping, but restless, then we keep our mouths shut. I feel bad about it, but they’d probably rather lose some sleep than have us mess the kid up.”
Beaming her approval at Mac’s logic, Ava agreed with him. “That’s a good idea. We also need to find out how much mileage she has on the diaper she’s wearing first. If the time’s almost up and she’s due for a change, then she might suddenly wake up freaking out.”
“And the milk thing,” Mac added, “don’t forget that. They suddenly start raising holy hell when it’s time to eat again. Shit, there’s a lot to consider here, isn’t there?”
“Maybe I could make a checklist before we go in?” Ava suggested. “That way we don’t forget anything. We could get in there, get scared, and forget to ask some important questions.”
Mac lifted a hand, clicking his finger at her. “Good idea, baby. We’re likely to freeze up under pressure. Let’s go through the whole list in the car right before we go in. That way we’ll at least remember to cover the important points. And there’s no shame in just backing down if we’re not sure, agreed?”
Ava raised her glass and clicked it against his. “Absolutely. Sounds like a plan.” Having finished her meal, she let her hand return to his thigh. She knew she shouldn’t, as she’d never done anything like it before, but she couldn’t resist. In a way, this was like a sexual milestone, and she wanted to reach it. Her hand moved upward and covered the bulge in his pants. His eyes widened and his leg jerked, causing the china on the table to shake. Oops, had she grabbed him a little too hard? Had he flinched in pain or pleasure? Biting her lip, she looked at him in concern, wondering if she had messed up her foray into public groping. Crap, according to Cosmopolitan, there was no such thing as a wrong touch where a man’s penis was concerned. She was still a little unsure of the whole ball-tugging thing, though, and she didn’t think that was possible to do while he was wearing pants anyway. She had planned to save that move for later on. “Um . . . did I hurt you?” she asked, feeling embarrassed.