Hometown Love (Love on the North Shore #2)(54)

He watched Jessie re-clip her bra and almost touched his chin to make sure there was no drool there. After the pizza guy promised to be there in twenty minutes, he tossed the phone aside and watched Jessie collect her pants and sweater.

“Something wrong?” She pressed the sweater against her chest. “You’re staring at me.”

With a little tug, he pulled the sweater away. “I like what I see.” Her uncovered skin called out to him and he ran his fingers down her flat stomach. Her muscles tensed, but he continued downward, only stopping where lace met skin. When she’d stripped off her clothes, her choice of underwear had left him speechless. He’d expected something more along the lines of cotton panties and a plain bra, not the black lacy matching set. “Whenever we’re alone, you should go around just like this.”

“I only picked up a few sets last week, but the next time I’m at the mall, I’ll get a few more.”

She’d picked them out for him. Such a simple thing shouldn’t mean that much, yet it did. He ex-wife had never done anything with him in mind. If she went shopping for new clothes, it hadn’t been because she wanted to look good for him, but because she wanted to impress everyone else around her.


Taking Jessie in his arms, he pulled her against him. “I can’t wait for the fashion show. Make sure you get red.”

Jessie kissed the skin over his racing heart, then grabbed her sweater back. “Maybe you should consider getting dressed, too, unless you plan on greeting the delivery person like that.”

“Good idea because if I do, he’ll never deliver another pizza here again.” Mack released Jessie and grabbed a pair of jeans from a drawer.

“And if they send Theresa, we’ll never get her to leave,” Jessie added, referring to the one female delivery person the restaurant employed.

Disappointment descended on him when she pulled her sweater on depriving him of the view. No question about it, once the movie was done, the damn thing was history. That, of course, was assuming it even made it that long. There was a good chance he’d rip the thing off again once they’d eaten. “Trust me. There’s only one woman in this town I want hanging around, and it is not Theresa O’Leary.”

Jessie bent down and grabbed her leggings, and he couldn’t deny himself. The skin on her backside screamed touch me!

He pressed his palms against the warm flesh and then slid his hands up and over her hips before returning to where he started.

“Mack, stop.” Her words came out on a ragged breath. “We don’t have time.” She straightened, but remained with her back to him.

Ignoring her words, he pulled her back against him as his other hand disappeared under her sweater. “Are you sure?” He teased her nipple with his fingers.

“Positive.” Her answers sounded more like a moan than a statement. “Later, I promise.” She pulled his hand and he removed it.

Before he let her go, he kissed the side of her neck. “I’m holding you to that.”



***



The pizza box remained open, half of it gone. A raging fire filled the room with heat, and Mack stretched out on the couch with his head in Jessie’s lap. On the television screen, the movie’s hero shot his way out of captivity and hot-wired a car. Soon, he had half a dozen bad guys chasing him through the streets of New York. While the action scene was designed to build the audience’s adrenaline, utter calm radiated inside Mack. He sat in his own home with the woman he loved; not much could make it a better night.

“I’d forgotten about this chase scene.” Jessie’s fingers ran through his hair the movements almost hypnotizing. “I haven’t been to New York in a long time.”

His gaze drifted to her face. “I was there in June when I dropped Grace off to see Bethany. Next time we go, come with us. We can stay and do some sightseeing while Grace visits her mom.” At the thought of his ex-wife, he remembered that he needed to prepare Jessie. “Bethany might be at Grace’s birthday party next weekend.” He watched for any sign that his news bothered her.

“Makes sense.”

He picked up on the disappointment in her voice, but otherwise she took the news well.

“It wasn’t the original plan. Grace was supposed to spend the following weekend with Bethany, but the school has its annual picnic scheduled for then. Grace doesn’t want to miss that.”

To the best of his knowledge, the night Bethany had picked Grace up had been the first and only time she and Jessie had met. While Bethany had shared with him her thoughts on Jessie and her friendship with Grace, Jessie had kept her opinions locked away.

“None of the kids ever want to miss that. I remember being disappointed when I started sixth grade and could no longer go.”

“It doesn’t bother you that Bethany will be around?” In a reverse situation, he’d be less accepting.

Jessie’s hand left his hair and her fingertips brushed his cheek over the facial hair that had grown in since the morning. “She is Grace’s mother. She has more right than me to be there.”

In one motion he sat up and switched off the television. “You’ve acted like more of a mother to Grace than Bethany ever does. You belong there just as much because we both love you.”

“And I’ll be there regardless of who else is because I love both of you.” She kissed him, a mere touch of her lips against his.