Mac rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn tired, pissed off, and horny as hell.
He’d barely slept, which explained his grumpy mood, but there was nothing he could do about that. And as for the other situation—he glanced down at his aching dick—a hot shower and a handful of conditioner should just about do it.
Christ. What the hell was wrong with him? It was as if time rolled back and he was seventeen all over again.
He thought of Boston and scowled.
She’d blown him off like yesterday’s news.
She’d politely asked him to take his hands off of her—which he did—and then she’d told him to move his “fucking” car or she was going to drive her BMW across Steven Edwards’s lawn.
Something in her eyes told him that she would do it too.
What the hell? Everyone knew that Steven Edwards was anal about his grass, and the fact that she was willing to drive across it told Mac just how badly she wanted to get away from him.
That’s what stuck in his craw this morning. He wasn’t being an asshole, but shit, he’d never had a woman bail on him like that. He was the one who left. The one who made the rules. The one who didn’t want a commitment.
Christ, even he’d never done an escape in the middle of the night. There’d never been the need because he had always been clear on the rules. He was up-front about that shit.
Mackenzie stared at his reflection in the mirror as he turned on the shower. He was a good-looking guy, there was no way around it, but he was more than just a pretty face. In fact, his looks were the least interesting thing about him as far as he was concerned, mostly because he was the spitting image of his father.
He was so much more than the bastard had ever been. Mac was smart, graduated with honors, and was on track to become a partner at the architectural firm he worked for in New York City. He was driven, dedicated, and when it came to the ladies, he was candid and honest.
He showed them a good time between the sheets and out of them, but when it came to anything else, he wasn’t signing up for it.
So what was it about this Lily that had his interest?
She was gorgeous, but she wasn’t his usual cup of tea. He’d always been attracted to leggy, athletic, brunettes—Lily was curvy and blond. Which was why New Year’s Eve had been such a surprise. She’d opened up that cab door and something in her eyes got to him.
It had been instant. Hot.
Their connection had been undeniable, and that night had been one he’d thought of a lot over the last few months. Never had he been with a woman who’d responded so…naturally to him, without any reservations at all. It had been as if she’d known what he was going to do before he did.
The hot water sprayed over his head and did nothing to temper the ache in his groin or the fantasies that played out in his head. He hadn’t said a word to Jake the day before even though he’d been dying to know her story—he’d just listened to a few casual conversations. He knew that Lily was a St. Clare, of the Boston St. Clares, and that she was a close friend of Jake’s.
But that’s all he knew because he refused to dig deeper and ask the questions he wanted answers to. He had no idea why she was in Crystal Lake or what her deal was. He only knew that she wanted nothing to do with him and she was obviously embarrassed that they’d spent the night together.
Subsequently, Mac’s mood didn’t improve a bit, and he was still pissed off when he arrived back at the Edwardses’ an hour after he’d rolled his ass out of bed.
It was Saturday of the long weekend, and they were taking the boat out to Pot-a-hock Island—Jake, Raine, Mac, Cain, and Maggie—another annual tradition, and with the sun shining high in the sky, it promised to be a great day. It was nothing more than a big party with hundreds of boats heading out to the island. There would be music and good times and fireworks.
Usually Mac looked forward to catching up with old friends—especially those of the female persuasion. Hell, he’d already had more than a dozen text messages from a few of them. But this year?
This year, things just didn’t feel the same, and he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly had changed.
Mac strode across the dock and spied Jake and Raine near the boat, anchored a few feet away. The two of them melted into each other as if they were one person, Jake’s hand buried in Raine’s hair as his other palm cupped her butt intimately. Mac glanced away, feeling as if he were witnessing something he had no right to see, a private moment between two of his best friends—two of his best friends who were now together.
Shit, was that it?
Sometimes he felt as if he was spinning his wheels when everyone else was moving forward. Cain had Maggie and a baby on the way. Raine and Jake had finally moved past all the bullshit and gotten together.
And Mac…
He shoved his hands through his hair and rolled his shoulders, clearing his throat so the two lovebirds knew they weren’t alone.
Mac was fine just where he was, dammit.
“You stick your tongue down her throat again and I just may throw up,” he said with a grin as he moved forward.
Jake snorted. “Whatever, Draper. You bring the beer and burgers?”
Mac set his cooler down and nodded. “You bring your mama’s potato salad?”
Raine jumped into the boat, her slim figure barely covered by a deep-blue bikini top and cutoff jean shorts. “We’ve got it,” she said. “Along with hot dogs and the portable grill.”
Mac glanced around. “Where’s Cain and Maggie?”
Raine shook her head and made an exaggerated sad face. “They’re not coming. Maggie wasn’t feeling well and Cain didn’t want to leave her alone.” She shrugged. “It’s just the four of us.”
That got Mac’s attention.
“The four of us? Who else is joining?”
His heart began to beat faster as he pulled his aviators down over his eyes and skimmed the beach behind him. He didn’t see anyone.
“Lily,” Jake answered.
Jake hopped off the boat and strode toward Mac, though he too was looking behind Mackenzie.
“You didn’t get a chance to meet her yesterday,” Jake said, “other than when you went to move your car.”
“The blond.”
Jake nodded, his eyes narrowed. “Yeah. The blond.”
Mac didn’t much care for the warning in his buddy’s voice. “You trying to tell me something, Edwards?”
“No,” Jake said, a slow grin creeping over his face. Funny, the grin didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“She’s a good friend is all and…”
“And?” Mac said, his eyebrows arched in question.
Raine stepped between the two of them, her hand on Jake as she planted a kiss on his lips. “Jake thinks that Lily is some fragile creature.” Raine tweaked Jake’s nose. “What he doesn’t know is that she’s a big girl and can look after herself. Besides…” She glanced at Mac. “It’s not as if she’d go for someone like Mac anyway.”
Okay, that pissed him off. What was with the tag-team thing the two of them had going on?
“And why would you say that?” he asked, trying his damnedest to not let his irritation show.
“Because you’re a player and she’s not.”
He stared at his two friends for several moments, not really knowing what to say. Partly because it was true and partly because he was pissed off and didn’t want them to know it.
“Whatever,” he muttered and shoved past Jake and Raine. He doubted Boston would come, not after the way she’d hightailed it out of the barbecue yesterday.
He’d just reached the boat when he heard Jake.
“Jesus, Lily. What did you do? Buy out the bakery?”
Mac glanced back and dammit if his heart rate didn’t spike when he caught sight of her. Maybe he should have thought more about the impact she had on him, but he didn’t. He drank her in, grateful that his glasses hid the covert moves his eyes were doing.
“Would you be surprised if I told you that I stayed up all night and baked this myself?”
“I’d be more than surprised,” Jake shot back. “Domesticity isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
“Screw you, Edwards,” she said with a smile, turning to Raine as she set down a large red, white, and blue beach bag brimming with containers. The two women nodded to each other but there were no girly hugs or anything like that. Lily smiled, said hello, and gazed down the dock at Mac.
Her long, blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she sported large, black sunglasses that hid half of her face. Coupled with the short, yellow-and-white sundress that fell a few inches above her knees, plain white flip-flops on her feet, and the barest hint of gloss on her lips, she looked a hell of a lot younger than…Christ, he didn’t even know her age, but he was guessing late twenties.
Though at the moment she looked like every teenage boy’s dream.
She lifted her chin and gave a half nod toward him, a sort of fuck you, and heat pooled low in Mac’s gut, burning up his skin until his jaw clenched tight. Her body language said “you don’t scare me” and “you don’t matter,” but if that were true, she would remove those damn sunglasses.
A smile curved his lips and a jolt went through him when her chin inched up a little higher.
She was challenging him.
A fresh shot of adrenaline rushed through him, and Mackenzie pulled off his aviators as he walked toward the three of them.
Boston had no idea who she was wrangling with.
He stopped a few inches away, and his smile widened when he caught sight of the throbbing pulse at her neck.
She had no idea at all.
“This is a surprise,” he said softly, his eyes piercing the dark glasses on her face. A smattering of small freckles danced across the bridge of her nose, so pale, you’d miss them if you weren’t looking.
“Really?” she answered. “You don’t look surprised.”
“No?” Mac shoved his hands into the front pockets of his faded navy board shorts. “What exactly do I look like?”
“You really want me to answer that?” she shot back.
Mac shrugged, enjoying the color that slowly flushed up her cheeks.
“Only if you have something nice to say.”
“That would be a stretch,” she replied, not missing a beat.
“Am I missing something?” Jake said with a frown. “Do you guys know each other?”
Lily opened her mouth, but Mac beat her to the punch.
“Nope,” he said with a grin. “At least not until yesterday. Isn’t that right…Boston?”
Her mouth thinned a bit. Score one for Draper.
“Don’t call me that,” she said softly.
“I like it,” Mac shot back.
“You would,” she retorted.
For a moment there was silence, and then Raine let out a long, slow whistle. “Wow. This is gonna be fun.”
Mac turned and headed back toward the boat. “Got that right.”
Suddenly it was as if the clouds parted and the sun shone on everything in his sight. The tension across his shoulders dissipated and not one single muscle or bone ached. All was right with his world.
He saw the way Boston’s pulse still ran…the way she let her tongue glide across those pouty, full lips—a nervous gesture, no doubt about it.
She wanted him to think that he didn’t matter. That New Year’s Eve didn’t matter. That the way she’d responded to his touch didn’t matter.
Mac hopped into the boat. It mattered.
It mattered a lot.
He knew when a woman wanted him.
He pulled his aviators down over his eyes and turned back to the dock, a grin on his face, legs crossed casually as he leaned against the wheel. The grin faded when he spied a tall man just behind Lily. A tall man who had his hands on her as if they belonged there.
His eyes narrowed on the dark-haired newcomer. A guy he recognized. What the hell was Blair Hubber doing here?
Jake strode toward the boat and shrugged when Mac raised his eyebrows.
“What’s he doing here?” Mac asked carefully. The guy was doorknob. Or at least he used to be, though Mackenzie hadn’t seen him in years.
Jake shrugged. “Apparently Lily asked him to come along. They’ve been hanging out a bit.”
Mac stood a little straighter. Boston was involved with Hubber?
“What the hell does she see in a guy like him?” he said without thinking.
Jake rounded on him sharply. “Why do you care, Draper?”
“I don’t.” But he did. “It’s Hubber though. He’s the guy who ratted us out on the whole Ronald McDonald thing. Or did you forget that?” His jaw tightened. His father had kicked Mac’s ass but good over the stolen statue.
“Come on, Mac. That was what? Fifteen years ago? We were kids.”
“I still think he’s a doorknob.”
“Yeah, well, the doorknob is now our mayor.”
“Really?” Mac murmured as he watched Raine, Lily, and Blair make their way down the dock. Lily’s chin was still up and those damn glasses were still in place.
Mac stood back and shook the hand offered to him by Blair. It was true that Hubber no longer wore his jeans halfway down his ass and his metalhead hair was long gone, but still…
“Mackenzie,” Blair exclaimed. “Good to see you.”
“Same,” Mac replied, his eyes on Lily as she walked past him without a word. The woman’s silence said something. It said that either the she was truly embarrassed about their hot night together, or it said that Mac pushed her buttons.
He was guessing she didn’t like her buttons pushed, and judging from the heat in her cheeks and the way her chest rose and fell, he was willing to bet that it was door number two.
For the first time in forever, it seemed Mackenzie Draper had found a woman who challenged him.
A woman he wanted to get to know—he glanced toward Hubber—regardless of the fact she’d dragged the mayor along for the day.
And the thing of it was, Boston thought she had the upper hand. She thought that she could hide behind those glasses and Blair Hubber. She thought that she could hide behind that cool persona and the cold front that came with it. But he knew it was nothing but a mask.
Mackenzie was used to masks because he wore one every single day. He was used to hiding. Hell, he was the king of that shit.
But more importantly, Mackenzie Draper was used to winning.