Hometown Love (Love on the North Shore #2)(60)

His statement brought to mind someone else’s feelings and unease sneaked through her stomach. She didn’t blame Bethany for wanting Mack back if that was, indeed, what she’d meant by her comment, but Jessie didn’t have any intention of breaking things off just because his ex-wife wished Mack was still hers.

“You okay?” Mack’s hand paused.

Jessie cleared Bethany’s expression from her mind. “Yeah, why?” No, she wasn’t one hundred percent okay, but Mack didn’t need to know about her and Bethany’s conversation.

Switching his hand to the other breast he caressed that one too. “You’re stiff all of a sudden.”

Forget about Bethany. She’s just being a bitch.

Determined to enjoy their time together, she inserted her hand between their bodies and ran it down the length of him. “I’m not the only one,” she said, her boldness taking her by surprise. In fact, a lot of the things she’d done lately had surprised her, and she loved it. For the first time, she felt not only sexy and desired, but also part of something besides her own immediate family.



He groaned despite his best efforts. All she had to do was touch him and he wanted to carry her upstairs. Who would’ve thought Jessica Quinn, the skinny girl from high school, would be able to do that? Definitely not him—or any of the other guys in town since she’d stayed single for so long. A fact he’d be forever grateful for. Just thinking about what might have happened if Tony or Striker had asked her out before he’d moved back turned his blood to ice.


“And whose fault is that?” He let his free hand wander down her stomach and inside the front of her jeans, then down more so that he could touch her through the cotton panties she wore.

“Mine?” Her voice came out half question/half moan, and he pushed her panties off to the side so that he could touch her skin.

“Damn right. Now what should we do about it?” So far they’d only been intimate when Grace wasn’t in the house, but that didn’t seem like a permanent solution.

Jessie’s breathing became ragged. “We can’t do anything, can we?”

“As long we’re not too loud and we lock the door, we’re good.”

She sucked in a deep breath when he touched her again. “Are you sure?” She sounded like she’d run a whole marathon.

“Positive,” he said, his lips inches from her ear.

Satisfied with his answer, she wiggled away from him then stood. Her sweater remained bunched up under her breasts, and her cheeks were flush as her chest rose and fell. Without so much as a single word, she held out her hand.

Unlike in the past, she gave him the control, that one little action signaling just how much she trusted him whether she realized it or not. In no time, he had them naked and in his bed. But before they could take things any further, his cell phone rang. At first he ignored it. He wasn’t expecting any calls, Grace was safely tucked into bed, Jessie was in his arms, and it wasn’t the ringtone he’d set for work.

After several rings, it stopped—only to start up again.

“Maybe you should get that.”

He tore his mouth away from her neck. “They can leave a message.”

Again, the phone stopped and he moved from the sensitive skin on her neck back to her lips, his hands teasing her the way another part of his body wanted to.

The third time the phone rang, she pulled his hand away and broke free from his kiss. “It must be important, Mack.”

With a grunt, he grabbed the phone. Someone better be dying. “Hello.” His voice came out as a growl.

“Hi, Mack. It’s Bethany.”

His ex-wife’s voice sent a litany of curses through his head. “Now’s not a good time.” He should’ve turned the ringer off then she could’ve called all night and they never would’ve heard it.

“My car broke down. Can you pick me up at the garage? I wouldn’t have called, but they can’t fix it tonight.”

“I’m with Jessie. Take a bus, Bethany.” Bethany was a grown woman. She should be able to handle her current problem.

“I don’t think there are any around here.”

Mack pinched the bridge of his nose. “What about a taxi?”

Jessie’s hand touched his arm. “What’s the matter?”

Mack moved the phone away from his mouth. “Bethany’s car broke down, and she wants a ride.”

Jessie rolled her lips together. “You should go get her. It is late.”

“She can call a taxi.”

“Would you want me taking a taxi this late at night?”

No.

“You’d never forgive yourself if something happened to her. Go get her and I’ll stay here with Grace.” Jessie climbed off the bed and grabbed her clothes.

Fuck, Jessie was right. He put the phone near his mouth again. “What’s the damn address?” Mack wrote down the information and ended the call. “This sucks.” He tossed the phone onto the nightstand but didn’t get dressed.

Instead, he watched Jessie pull on her panties, plain blues ones tonight, nothing like the lacy thong she’d worn for him before. Not that it mattered. His body burned to be joined with her regardless of what she was or wasn’t wearing. He contemplated finishing what they’d started and letting Bethany wait.