“Good Girl”
“Help yourselves to the food, guys,” Noah says, handing us a plate each when we walk back outside.
After piling our plates, we take a seat and start eating. “Damn, this is good,” I say as I finish my last mouthful.
“I’m not just a pretty face, Mac,” Noah replies with a grin.
“I never said you had a pretty face,” I retort, poking my tongue out.
He chuckles, shaking his head. “So how have you been? We haven’t had many shifts together lately,” Noah asks, handing us a beer each and sitting down opposite us.
I quirk a brow when Daniel slides his hand on my thigh.
“I’m good. I’ve been working split shifts, so it’s been a little hectic. Besides, it’s not like you’ve been keeping in contact.” Daniel’s fingers flex on my leg.
Shit! Foot meet mouth.
Noah’s eyes shift over to Daniel’s hand on my lap before glancing back to me, his eyes filled with amusement at Daniel’s possessive behavior.
Fuck, this is awkward. Penis number one meet penis number four. Seriously, kill me now!
“Well, we’re here now, aren’t we,” he replies, bringing his beer bottle to his mouth but doesn’t even try to hide his smirk.
Two can play at this game. I put my hand over Daniel’s, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Sure are.”
Suddenly, there are a new round of welcomes being called out. I look up towards the house and see a gorgeous blonde-haired supermodel-esque woman walking toward us. She looks like she’s just walked off the Victoria’s Secret runway and into Noah’s backyard. Daniel and Noah stop talking as she gets closer to us.
“Nikki,” Daniel says warmly, the smile on his face unmistakable.
“Hey, Nix, didn’t think you’d make it,” Noah says, standing up to kiss the mystery woman on her cheek.
Daniel also stands and the woman’s face softens as she looks over at him, wrapping her hands around his shoulders and giving him a long hug. Her eyes shift toward me, and she smirks, sizing me up in a way that sets my blood to boiling. I purse my lips together and try to rein in this unfamiliar attack of the green-eyed monster I seem to be having.
Daniel turns back to me as he pulls away from the embrace. “Mac, this is Nikki, my—”
“Ex-girlfriend is the word you’re looking for, D,” Noah says gleefully.
“Yeah, my ex-girlfriend from college,” he says, returning to my side.
“Hi,” she says sweetly. I scan her from head to toe, clenching my teeth as I imagine all the different scenes in which her mouth would have been on Daniel. Get outta my head!
“Hey, I’m Mac. Daniel’s girlfriend,” I say without stuttering or choking on the words. Girlfriend? Holy crap!
Out of the corner of my eye I catch Daniel’s head jerk my way, his eyes wide.
“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised. “You didn’t mention you were dating again, Dan.” Oh she’s good. They keep in touch? What is this, freaking Sex in the City?
Thankfully, Daniel recovers quickly. “Ah, yeah. It’s been about six weeks now. Isn’t that right, gorgeous?”
“Mmm hmm,” I nod in agreement, stuffing my mouth with food to stop myself from humping Daniel’s leg and claiming him as mine. I sneak a glance at Noah who leans back in his chair, his arms crossed, watching us like it’s a spectator sport.
“How’s work, Dan?” she asks, standing in front of us. A saccharin sweet smile gracing her lips as she all but ignores me.
“Busy, but good. We’ve had a good year so far. And how about you? How are your parents doing since the move?”
“They’re loving it. They said to say hi. Mom still asks after you, of course.” She sneaks a look at me, giving me a sympathetic look that tells me she totally knows what she’s doing.
“That’s great, Nik. Tell them I said hello too,” he replies, a full toothed grin filling his face. I look at him and recognize the soft look in his eyes. It’s the same way he looks at me when we’re lying in bed after screwing the hell out of each other. Dammit! I’m jealous.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m shifting my chair towards Daniel’s, putting my hand on his lap and leaning in close to his ear. “I don’t know whether to jump you or smack the bitch. What do you suggest?”
He swings his head towards me, his face a mirror of confusion until I see what I’ve said register in his eyes. “Hey, now. Put the green-eyed monster away, Mac. It was a long time ago, and we’re just friends now. The only woman I’m interested in is looking straight at me.”
I zone out, mesmerized by his eyes, the lines of his jaw, those curved lips that are so nice to kiss…
“Mac, did you hear me?”
“Whaa… What? Sorry, I was too busy thinking about all the other uses for that mouth of yours,” I say with a sly grin. I’m totally oblivious to the people around us. I can hear Nikki chatting with Noah somewhere in the distance, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the beautiful man in front of me.
When I realize that our lips are now only licking distance away from each other, suddenly the whole situation becomes clear to me. And just like that, I’m back in the game.
“It’s a shame really,” he says, sweeping my cheek with the back of his fingers so gently that I barely feel them touch, but I don’t miss the heat. “I was just saying how I’d love to bend you over this table and not stop until I’m buried deep inside you. You’d be screaming my name so loud that everyone in Chicago would know you’re mine.”
My body is suddenly on board with his excellent suggestion. “Damn,” I whisper, my brain filled with naked images of Daniel pounding me on the table in front of everyone, Nikki included. Now that would be one way to show her he’s mine. What is this man doing to me?
“Just as I thought. Can’t wait to get you home and naked again,” he says, kissing me quickly again before grabbing my hand and placing it back in his lap again.
The green-eyed goddess curls up in a ball and goes back to sleep.
I keep my jealousy at bay for the rest of the afternoon. Without leaving Daniel’s side, I have some interesting conversations with Gary and Louise, and even The Mini Walking Dildo who I find out is not single at the moment, much to my disappointment. Kate would have been all over that like a tomcat in heat.
Louise invites us over for dinner and Daniel accepts without hesitation. Maybe he’s decided that steam rolling me is the way to avoid another Mac freak out. Quick learner, that man of mine is.
After saying our goodbyes a few hours later, Daniel and I drive back to his apartment.
“Thanks for coming tonight, gorgeous,” Daniel says, putting his hand on my denim clad thigh and squeezing gently.
“I had a great time. Once I got over myself, anyway,” I reply honestly.
“Look, Mac, I know this is not something you normally do, and I’m kind of guilty for throwing you into this BBQ head first. But you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You were perfect.” He grasps my hand and lifts it to his mouth before lowering it back to his lap. “Bathroom freak outs and jealousy included,” he adds with a smirk.
“So, talking about my little jealous streak, what’s the deal with you and Nikki? You still seem friendly, and Noah kept shooting me knowing looks all night.”
“It’s the typical story. We dated right through high school. Then, when I left for college, we broke up. She wanted to do the long distance thing, but I said it was unfair to both of us. When I came back to town, she wanted to try again, so we did. But it wasn’t the same; we just didn’t want the same things anymore, and our lives were going in different directions. To be honest, I knew deep down she wasn’t the one. That was about three years ago.”
“But you’re still friends, and her parents still ask about you?” There’s no disguising the caution in my voice.
“We hardly see each other, but our parents are still friends to this day. I haven’t seen her in over a year.”
I’m stuck between feeling like a jealous idiot and a giddy teenager who’s just found out her crush likes her too. “Oh,” is all I can say.
“Oh,” he replies with a grin. “But seeing you all jealous and worked up was hot as hell, Mac.”
“Ohhh,” I say, understanding where this conversation is going.
“Yeah, oh. Now you know how I feel when I think about you with Noah, or Sean, or Zander.”
“But I was never ‘not dating’ them. It was always just sex.”
“Are you sure about that, Mac?”
I snap my head towards him. “Of course I’m sure. What’s that supposed to mean?” I try to stamp down my annoyance at his insinuation.
“What did Zander give you? If Sean gave you dominance, and Noah was to pass the time, what about Zander? What need did he fulfil?”
“Why are you asking me now? I thought we were past all this.”
“We are. We were. I just…need to know.”
“But why?”
“So I can prove I can be everything you need and more. So that you can realize how much I want you in every way possible, and can stop freaking out. I don’t want you to walk on eggshells around me just because you’re scared I’m going to leave.”
“Daniel…” He tightens his grip on the steering wheel, and it hits me that it’s not the time for questions. He needs answers to help him understand why I do what I do, or rather, why I did what I did.
“We’ve talked about this? Do we need to talk about it again?” I say quietly.
“I don’t know,” he answers stoically.
Now that’s got my back up. “Fine, you want to know, I’ll tell you!”
“No…. no. I don’t want to know, but it’s always there, Mac. Just like how you didn’t like Nikki touching me tonight, I can’t stand the thought of another man touching you either, or being inside you. It’s driving me insane.”
That certainly explains things. He’s rendered me speechless, which is an achievement considering I never shut up.
“You’re worth more than any of them,” I whisper, staring out the window into the darkness.
Without warning, Daniel steers the car into a lookout on the side of the road and turns off the car. Turning toward me, we stare at each other, his intense gaze boring into mine. I recognize the look in his eye. It’s the epitome of unadulterated passion. The look that makes me weak at the knees and wet between the legs with one small glance.
It’s the look that tells me that all he can think about right now is having me, owning me, consuming me.
I snap, unable to hold back. I undo my safety belt and throw myself at him, straddling him in the driver’s seat. Our mouths smash together and we’re a tangle of arms, lips, teeth and tongues, my hands gripping his biceps as he plunders my mouth. His hands grip my hair, angling my head perfectly for his taking. Hot damn!
Jealous Daniel mixed with jealous Mac is like an atomic bomb for sexual tension, and in his car, in a lookout near the lake, we’re about to detonate.