Speaking of Love (Perfect Kisses) (15 page)

“I was feeling restless, Mac. Would you like me to elaborate?”

Mac stared at him, her eyes wide.

“Well, I’m ready to go outside now,” Brandy said. “Who’s with me?”

“Um…” Rick was still looking at Mac, willing her to make up some reason why she needed to stay inside, and needed him to stay with her.

“We’ll all go,” Mac said. “I feel cooped up. Why don’t we go for a walk?” She breezed by Rick and grabbed her coat. “We could probably all use some cooling off.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

A walk was a terrible idea.

It was bad enough fighting off Jeremy, who was trying to get Mac to slip in the snow so he could catch her, and it was another thing watching Brandy paw all over Rick.

Mac had tried to do the right thing with Rick last night, stopping them before they went too far. She’d been thinking about Brandy. Well, it looked like Rick had been thinking about her, too. Or at least
now
he was.

That wasn’t fair. Her brain was on auto-snippy again.

By the time they made it back to the cabin, Mac’s hands were freezing and she had a headache. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on her bed and sleep it off until Sunday morning.

“Billiards tourney!” Jeremy exclaimed. “Battle of the sexes or mixed teams?”

“Mixed!” Brandy beamed, slithering out of her coat like a Bond Girl. “Rick and I will take you two on!”

“Let me check the fire first,” Rick said, kneeling in front of the hearth, “then I’ll be right down.”

“Mac?” Brandy asked, twirling her ponytail around her fingers. “You coming?”

It was the last thing she wanted to do, but Mac pressed her lips together and feigned gusto. “Sure,” she said.

Mac was better at pool than Brandy, but she was sure Brandy
looked
better at it. She seemed to take over the whole table when she stretched her lean body across it, her silky hair tumbling over her shoulder. Mac even caught Jeremy ogling. Although, that made her much less queasy than seeing the same out of Rick. But maybe she was only imagining Rick’s eyes on her cousin. What did she expect? Brandy was stately and elegant and a friggin’ brick house compared to Mac.

“You boys thirsty?” Brandy asked, massaging a cube of blue chalk onto the end of her cue stick.

“I am,” Jeremy said, racking up the balls for their next game.

“Sure,” Rick said. “Need any help?”

“No, no, you stay right here.” She touched his arm before she swung her hair and hopped upstairs.

It did not escape Mac’s attention that no one had bothered to ask her if she happened to be thirsty. What also didn’t escape her notice was that she was being mentally catty to her own cousin about the man she herself had set Brandy up with. While Rick and Jeremy were discussing the rules of the next game, Mac leaned against the pool table and looked at the clock on the wall. Ugh. Was this day never going to end?

“Here you go.” Brandy appeared at the foot of the stairs with two tall glasses containing some kind of frothy pink concoction.

“What is it?” Jeremy asked, as he was handed the first glass.

“It’s a Brandy Special,” she said, sidling up to Rick and placing the glass in his hand. “Try it.” She smiled brightly.

Rick took a sip. “Mmm.” He nodded. “Strawberry.”

“Do you like it?”

“Mhmm.” He nodded again and took another sip.

“This is completely kick-ass,” Jeremy said. “Do you work at a bar? I’ve never had anything like this.”

Brandy lifted her chin and laughed, leaning against the pool table. “It’s my very own invention. You want another?”

“Immediately!”

Brandy swiveled around to Rick. More than half of his glass was still full. “Are you ready for your second?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Rick took another drink. “Almost.”

Jeremy chuckled. “She’s a keeper,” he said, pointing at her then at Rick. He continued his thought via the band Looking Glass, singing into the end of his pool stick: “
Brandy…you’re a fine girl…what a goooood wife you will be…”

“Wife?” Brandy giggled lightly and walked past him, swatting his arm. “Whatever.” She stood next to Rick. “Wife.” She laughed again. “Whatever, right?”

Rick looked down at her and returned her smile. “It’s a good song,” he said.

At that, Jeremy grabbed his stick mic again and repeated the first lines of the chorus. Apparently, this was just too tempting for Rick, because he joined in the last line: “
Yeah, your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea…
”

Brandy squealed and clapped, then wound her arms around Rick’s waist. Rick was still laughing when his hand patted her back.

Mac froze in place, staring helplessly at the scene unfolding before her eyes.

Probably feeling Mac’s gaze on him, Rick looked at her.

“I—” she began.

“Babe,” Jeremy cut in between them. “Hand me the chalk.”

…

“I’m going to put one last log on the fire for the night,” Rick said. “Unless anyone wants to stay up?”

The pool tournament was over, and it seemed as though everyone had run out of steam. Rick, for one, was more than happy to put the evening out of its misery. They were all gathered in the kitchen, finishing their evening beverages.

“I’m good,” Jeremy said, putting his mug beside the sink. “I saw the DVD collection downstairs. I was thinking of watching some classic
Star Trek
for a while. Anyone else?”

“Help yourself,” Rick said. He looked at Brandy. “You?”

She covered a wide yawn with one hand. “I think I’m ready to go upstairs.”

“I’m out, too,” Rick said. “Night, Jeremy.” He looked at Mac, who was washing glasses at the sink. “Are you—”

“You coming down, babe?” Jeremy said.

“Mac doesn’t like sci-fi,” Rick said automatically.

“What?” Jeremy scratched his head.

“She doesn’t like science fiction TV shows.” Rick looked at Mac. “Do you?”

Mac looked at him for a moment then away. “They’re okay,” she said, running a towel around the outside of a glass. “Jer, I’ll be down in a minute. I have to put these things away.”

“I’ll help,” Rick said, taking the glass. When he turned to put it away, Brandy was eyeing him from the stairs.

“I think they want to be alone,” she whispered, nodding toward Mac and Jeremy.

Rick tasted bile at the back of his throat.

“Night, cuz,” Brandy sing-songed.

“Good night, Brandy,” Mac replied.

It was quiet for a few minutes as they washed and rinsed.

“We need to talk,” Rick finally said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

“Why?” Mac was staring at the bubbles in the sink.

He took a glass from her to rinse. “Because…we haven’t been alone all day. Don’t you think we should talk?”

Mac lowered the glass she was washing and glanced at him. “Yeah, I do.” She sounded tentative, but at least she wasn’t shutting him out. “About last night,” she began. “I’m sorry.”

“About which part?” Rick asked, bracing himself for her answer.

“Um…” Still looking down, she rested her hand between them on the edge of the sink. “The stopping part,” she said in a quiet voice.

Rick released the breath he was holding and rested his hand next to hers. Their pinkie fingers were almost touching. “So am I.”

“It wasn’t fair,” Mac continued.

Rick turned to face her, leaning against the side of the sink. “Care to tell me what happened?” he asked.

“I freaked out,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. “Because of—”

“Rick? Will you bring me up an extra blanket, pretty please?” The sound came from upstairs, fourth floor. They both lifted their chins in that direction.

“Speak of the devil…” he heard Mac mutter under her breath. “Sounds like you’re needed,” she said clearly, as she yanked the drain out of the sink.

“I think this conversation is more important than a blanket,” Rick said, touching her finger then sliding his hand over hers.

Mac looked down at their hands, flipping hers over so they were palm to palm. “So do I,” she whispered, inching forward, almost close enough to tuck herself under his chin.

“Rick…?”

Mac stepped back and rolled her eyes. “Brandy is why I stopped us, Rick,” Mac said, sliding her hand out from his and picking up a dishtowel.

He looked at her, feeling confused again. “What?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, she’s my cousin and she came here to be with you…and…we shouldn’t have—”

Another call from upstairs cut her off.

“Oh, for the love of all that is holy.” Mac unleashed a growl. “Please, go up there, already. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

Rick had no intention of leaving before he got some real answers. But Mac was already backing way. “Are you sure?” he asked, completely unsatisfied.

“I’m going downstairs to Jeremy anyway,” Mac said, setting the last glass on the drying rack. “See you in the morning.”

Rick watched in silence as she disappeared down the stairs, leaving him alone in the kitchen. Why did it always feel like one step forward and two steps back with Mackenzie? First, it was their mutual attraction. Well, that was settled. But then it wasn’t. And next, even after they promised to communicate better, he was in the dark again.

As he turned off the lights, he racked his brain. He didn’t understand what Mac had meant. She’d said that she’d freaked out and stopped them because of Brandy. But why? Was she jealous of Brandy? Was she trying to make him jealous of Jeremy? Or was she trying to tell him something else completely? There was an explanation; he just didn’t know what it was yet. All he knew was, he’d had enough. He was a newspaperman. Prying information out of sources was his specialty. And he would pin Mackenzie down to the ground the next morning in front of everyone if that’s what it took to get her to spill.

His head continued to whirl as he climbed the stairs.

The light from Brandy’s bedroom cut into the darkness of the fourth floor hall. Rick heard her humming as he hesitated before stepping through the open door. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, her long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. She was in an over-sized T-shirt that hit her mid-thigh. Rick wasn’t sure if she was wearing anything else.

“You asked for another blanket,” he stated, and then displayed the requested item in case she needed further explanation as to why he was there.

“Thank you,” she said. Her hair was down now, hanging over her shoulders.

Rick took two steps into the room, just far enough to place the blanket on the foot of the bed.

“It looks cozy,” Brandy said. Slowly she uncrossed and re-crossed her legs.

“Um, yeah.” Rick said. “It should be.”

When he took one step back, Brandy pulled in her knees, slid off the bed, and padded across the hardwood floor.

“Today was fun,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Yeah.” Rick nodded. “If we get up early tomorrow, we can—”

She cut him off with a hard kiss.

Rick was too stunned to react immediately. Her mouth and her body, tall and firm and pressed against him, were making his head swim. But after a single tick of the clock, he pulled back.

“Good night,” he said, reaching behind him to take her hands off his body.

Brandy blinked up at him, a pout on her mouth, looking baffled.

“Good night,” Rick repeated as he backed up toward her bedroom door. “See you in the morning.” A part of his brain was wondering why he was fool enough to leave this woman, but the vast majority of it knew exactly why.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morning—before Mac, Brandy, and Jeremy were to leave for the airport—started out as a quiet one. Quiet for Mac, that is. She’d slept in. When she eventually padded downstairs in her thick socks and a bathrobe from the back of the bathroom door, she ran into Rick, who was just coming in from outside.

“Hi,” she said, taking a mug and walking toward the fireplace.

“Good morning.”

“You went for another run?” The question was redundant, as he was clearly wearing sweats, running shoes, and his cheeks were red and he was out of breath.

“Yeah.” He grabbed a bottle of water. “How did you sleep?”

“Pretty good,” she said. “Once I finally made it to my room.”

“You and Jeremy were up late?”

Her mug slipped between her fingers. She gripped it before it fell. “No, no, I didn’t mean…” She trailed off, turning her back to the warm fire. She hated the fact that she got completely tongue-tied when she was nervous. She hated worse that she was speechless in front of Rick. That had to change.

“It’s funny, ya know,” she said, practically to herself.

Rick unzipped his coat and peeled it off. “What’s funny?”

“I’m a debate coach, my life revolves around words, I’ve given speeches in front of hundreds of people…and yet I still can’t seem to talk to you.”

Rick chuckled and walked toward her. “In the newspaper business, that’s what we call irony.”

“Well, in the real world, we call it unacceptable.” Mac leaned against the back of the couch. “And I call it cowardly.”

“Careful,” Rick said, leaning on the couch next to her. “That’s Mackenzie Simms you’re talking about.”

She smiled, already feeling more comfortable in his presence. “Obviously, I haven’t talked to Brandy. She needs to know, Rick, before anything happens.” She paused and waited for Rick to nod. After he did, she went on. “So I’ve decided to just do it on the plane ride home. It’s a ninety-minute flight. That’s enough time, don’t you think?”

Rick’s brow wrinkled. “Um, I’m not sure I follow.”

Mac mentally slapped herself. Again with the half communications. She was getting tired of her own elusiveness. She’d be better off to say everything at once, no interruptions.

“Morning!”

They both jumped when Brandy bounced into the room.

“Kinzy. Rick.” She smiled, grabbed a mug, and perched on a stool.

Mac flashed an apologetic look toward Rick then pushed herself away from the couch. “Want some eggs?” she asked, pulling a frying pan out of a drawer. When Rick walked up behind Brandy, a picture of last night’s dream suddenly flashed before Mac’s eyes. Only it hadn’t been Mac kissing Rick, it had been her cousin.

“You can’t make eggs,” Brandy said, reaching for the pan. “Here, let me.”

“Have you checked in at work?” Mac said to her, keeping a firm grasp on the handle of the pan, unsure yet if she was about to use it as a weapon. “You asked me to remind you first thing this morning.”

“Oh, thanks!” Brandy grabbed her cell. “Be right back.”

Mac placed the frying pan on the stove and turned on the flame. “I do know how to scramble eggs,” she said to Rick.

“You don’t have to. I know you don’t like to cook.”

“I don’t mind. If you want some.”

“Sure. Thank you. Can I help?” He moved to the fridge.

Mac smiled at him. Oh, why hadn’t she realized what an amazing man he was weeks ago? Under the current circumstances, it would be tremendously inappropriate to follow her instincts, walk over, throw her arms around him and—

“About that,” Rick suddenly said, pulling out a carton of eggs.

“About what?” Mac asked, blinking back a very vivid image in her mind. “We weren’t talking.”

He looked confused. After a moment, he seemed to realize something and shook his head. “Sorry.” A little smile appeared on his lips. “I guess I was thinking, and thought we were—”

“Talking?” Mac inserted.

Rick laughed and ran his free hand though his hair. “Yeah. And other things.”

She leaned against the counter. “In your mind, what were we just doing?”

Rick lowered his chin and let out a quiet laugh, making Mac’s heart flutter.

“I’ll take some of those,” Jeremy said, lumbering into the kitchen. He took a seat at the bar where Brandy had been and ran his hands over his face, making a rather ape-like noise. “Are you making enough for everyone?” he asked.

As Mac regarded the two men, the contrast between Jeremy and Rick couldn’t have been greater. She’d never appreciated Rick more.

Rick was holding the open egg carton in front of her. “So, Mac, have you thought any more about what we discussed the other night?”

Mac stared at him, hand hovering over the eggs, unsure what she should say. How could Rick bring up this subject in front of Jeremy when she hadn’t even had two seconds to talk to Brandy?

“About the event at the park,” Rick continued. Mac blew out her held breath. “I called the paper last night and e-mailed the ad. It’s ready to run online today and then in the paper tomorrow through Thursday. I just need you to say the word for it to go live.”

Mac lowered the spatula and looked at him. “
You
wrote it?”

“It’s my job.” He took a beat before adding a bit softer, “Of course I wrote your ad, Mac.”

…

“What ad?” Brandy asked as she came back into the room, carrying a silver cell phone.

“About Lincoln Park,” Rick said, taking the empty shells as Mac cracked them, making sure he touched her hand every time. “There’s going to be a demonstration.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to use that term,” Mac said, sending him a look.

Rick couldn’t help laughing. “You’re right. A
friendly gathering
.” He turned to the others to explain. “Since the city council is voting on Thursday night about selling part of the park to a developer, we think it would be a great idea to have a…a friendly gathering earlier that day, get the town out to the park.”

“It was
your
idea,” Mac said.

Rick looked at her while she whisked the eggs. “But I’m not the one who can do it,” he said. “You’re the orator, you’re the one who is going to get Franklin to rally behind you. I’m just running a piece to advertise it. The rest is up to you.”

“You’re really going to give a speech?” Brandy asked.

“That’s the plan.” A sly, little grin appeared on Mac’s lips as she gazed off into the distance.

Rick loved seeing the gleam in her eyes. He could tell she was already strategizing.

“Cool,” Brandy said. “I’ll have to come for moral support. Are you giving a speech, too?” she asked Rick.

He shook his head. “No way.” He gestured at Mac, who was scooping scrambled eggs onto a plate. “That’s
her
world. I’ll count myself lucky to just be in the audience, watching the magic.”

When Rick heard Mac’s quiet laugh, he smiled.

“What makes you think one speech will do any good?” Jeremy asked. Rick stared at him, wanting to punch him in the face. “A company big enough to buy up a whole park must be pretty powerful.”

“It’s my father’s company,” Rick couldn’t help saying. He hesitated, feeling the desire to say more, to show Mac exactly where his loyalties lay. “And when the council votes on Thursday, he’s going to lose.”

When Mac looked at him, her excited grin was back. That was reward enough. For now.

“You can tell me all about it on the flight home,” Brandy said to Mac, before gasping and whirling around to Rick. “Oh! Or I can drive home with you. I can help you plan your end of it, the publicity.” She tugged at his sleeve. “How fun would
that
be?”

Yeah, that was just what he needed—or not. Five more hours of Brandy. Not that she wasn’t a nice person; he simply knew that nothing romantic would ever happen between them. Not as long as Mackenzie Simms or any cloned versions of Mackenzie Simms walked the planet.

“Sorry, but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Rick said, trying not to come across as too harsh, although there was a certain amount of firmness he was attempting to convey. “It’s a five hour drive back to Franklin, and I have to stop for work along the way. Thanks, though.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “In fact, the taxi to the airport is going to be here soon.”

“Are you packed?” Mac asked Jeremy, who replied with a grunt. “You?” she asked Brandy.

Without the slightest twinge of guilt, Rick hoped that Brandy would be spending their last hour up in her room and out of his hair, leaving him alone with Mac. Well, not totally alone. But by the way Jeremy was hovering over his plate, he was in a food coma anyway.

“You’ll eat this before you go?” Mac said, handing Rick a plate of eggs. They looked a little pitiful, but he took them with a big smile.

“Thanks.” He sat on the stool next to Jeremy and began eating. A side of hot sauce might help.

“You’ll drive safely,” Mac said, running the pan under hot water.

Rick smiled. “I will.”

He already missed the sight of her. Spending every waking minute of the last two days in her company made it nearly impossible to consider the idea of not seeing her until Thursday at Lincoln Park.

“Well, I better get dressed,” Mac said. She went to leave but then turned back and pointed at him. “You got the tire on your truck completely fixed, right?”

Rick laughed. “Yes.”

“And the gas tank is full and everything?”

He laughed again. “Yes, and everything.”

“Jeez, Mac,” Brandy said, reaching for her cell when it started chirping. “You sound like a nagging girlfriend.” Phone to her ear, she backed up into the living room.

“I wish you were coming with me, Mac.” He hadn’t meant to say them, the soft words just spilled out of Rick’s mouth in a rush. But Mac kept walking. He didn’t know if she’d even heard him. When Jeremy scraped his fork across his plate, Rick gritted his teeth.

…

Mac felt like it was best to wait until the plane had reached its cruising altitude before she talked about anything serious with Brandy. Maybe she was stalling, or maybe she was hoping her cousin would fall instantly in love with the curly-haired man on the other side of the aisle, and bringing up Rick would be a moot point.

No such luck; the curly-haired man turned out to be enamored with his iPad and never gave Brandy a second glance, which irritated Mac. What was equally irritating was Jeremy continuously bumping Mac’s seat from his place right behind her.

“So, are you working tomorrow?” Mac asked Brandy, after the pilot announced that it was now safe to play Words with Friends.

Brandy flipped a page of the glossy magazine on her lap. “Not until the afternoon. Stretch out my weekend a little longer.”

“That’s nice,” Mac said with a smile, thinking. “The, uh, sweater you were wearing last night was really cute.”
Nice, just ease into the conversation
.

“Thanks. It was new.” Brandy grinned and flipped another page. “Bought especially for the occasion.”

“Huh.”

Okay, what next? Maybe something like:
Sorry, Brandy, that I didn’t realize it a week ago…but I’m pretty sure Rick is the man of my dreams, and would you mind terribly backing off completely?

Why not? Just say it, straight out. Subtlety probably wouldn’t work with Brandy, anyway. And Mac was not about to leave an inch for miscommunication.

Mac looked out the window at the pearly morning clouds, thought of Rick, and smiled.

After a deep breath of preparation, she turned to Brandy. “So,” she began, tapping her hand, a clue that she wanted to talk.

Brandy took the hint and closed the magazine. “So?”

Stay strong, Simms. Eye on the prize.

“So, um, s-sorry…about cutting your weekend short.”
Coward
. “You know, because of the storm—
Jeremy
!” Mac whipped around and stuck her head between the two seats to glare at him. “Would you mind not grinding your knee into my back?” She gestured at the vacant seat next to him. “Spread out
that
way.”

But Jeremy was wearing ear buds and thumbing through the free Sky Mall mag. Mac huffed and sat back in her seat.

“What do you mean?” Brandy asked.

Mac sighed, already feeling exasperated, and they hadn’t even gotten to the subject yet. “Well, you going all that way out to the cabin for just one day.” She shrugged. “Not really worth the effort, right?”

“I had the best time, Kinz.”

“You did?”

Brandy looked surprised. “Didn’t you?”

Mac’s mind wandered to Rick’s hand on the sides of her neck, the loving look in his eye when they were together. “It…had its moments,” she couldn’t help saying.

“The weather was perfect,” Brandy continued, “the cabin’s a dream, and Rick was a complete gentleman.”

“Yeah,” Mac said. “He prides himself on his etiquette. He’s a natural host.”

Well, at least they were talking about Rick now. Only a few words, a few more seconds, and it would all be out there.

“Not just that,” Brandy said. “I mean, even when we kissed, he didn’t try to take advantage of me. Complete gentleman.”

Mac stared at her cousin.

“Kissed?” she managed to say. “When?”

“Last night. He came up to”—Brandy lowered her eyes, demurely—“tuck me in.”

“In your room? Last night?”

“It was pretty amazing.”

“Rick kissed you?” Mac repeated, making sure she’d heard correctly. “Last night?”

Brandy was smiling now. “I swear, I felt it all the way through my nighty.”

Mac felt ill. The image of Rick and Brandy together. Last night. Kissing up in that private bedroom. Brandy wearing something probably impossibly skimpy. And impossibly irresistible…to Rick, evidently.