Marriage On The Cards. Susan Carlisle

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      “Then, surfing?”

      “Negative.”

      Dylan laughed. “Okay...the hot tub, then.”

      “Uh-uh...I don’t have a swimsuit.”

      “Skinny-dipping is encouraged.”

      “I never negotiate on an empty stomach. Let’s eat first and then we’ll talk.”

      * * *

      Dylan was an organized, clean cook. She would drive him nuts; her bakery was spotless, but when she baked, she was a whirlwind—a messy whirlwind.

      “You really do have a little OCD thing happening, don’t you?” Mackenzie observed Dylan cleaning the counter throughout the cooking process.

      “I guess. I just like things to be clean, organized. What’s wrong with that?” Dylan twisted the rag dry and then dropped it over the faucet.

      “We could never get married,” Mackenzie said without thinking.

       Really? You just brought up marriage?

      “Oh, yeah?” Dylan flipped over the pancakes. “Why not?”

      “Not that I was suggesting that I think that we should get married. It was just an observation...”

      “You still haven’t told me why not...”

      “In the hypothetical?”

      “If you’d like...” Dylan leaned back against the counter, crossed his arms in front of him.

      “You are obviously a neat freak. And I am...not a neat freak.”

      “I know.” Dylan smiled at her, set her heart fluttering. “I’ve seen your office, remember?”

      “That’s right.” Mackenzie nodded. “So...you see my point?”

      “No. I don’t.” Dylan put a stack of pancakes on a plate for her. “I have a maid. Problem solved.”

      Mackenzie could never imagine her life with a maid, which was yet another difference between them, but she decided to move on to a different subject. Dylan saturated her pancakes in butter and syrup, piled crispy bacon onto her plate and served her hot coffee. He ignored her calorie concerns, citing that everyone should allow themselves to have at least one cheat day a week and this was it. His logic, and the fact that he seemed to like a woman with a good appetite, encouraged her to devour the pancakes along with a second helping of bacon.

      “I really don’t normally eat like this,” Mackenzie said, looking guiltily at her near-empty plate.

      “Do you want more?” Dylan asked. “There’re a couple of pieces of bacon left.”

      Mackenzie pushed her plate away from her and cringed. “Uh-uh...no. I’ve eaten too much already.”

      Dylan had managed to charm her into complacency and all she could think of now was how many calories she had just consumed.

      “Hey...” Dylan leaned on his forearm and stared at her face. “Mackenzie...please stop beating yourself up about the food. Okay? Give yourself permission to have a little fun.”

      After they cleaned up after breakfast, Dylan convinced her that the next logical step was to step down into his hot tub.

      Mackenzie went to the guest room to change into a pair of Dylan’s boxer briefs and a T-shirt. She called to check on Hope and then quickly sent Ray an I’m OK text message before she emerged from the room wearing Dylan’s makeshift bathing suit.

      “I look ridiculous,” she complained to Dylan.

      Dylan was in his surf trunks, bare to the waist, and barefoot. “Not to me you don’t.”

      Dylan circled behind her and pulled the extra material of the T-shirt toward the back. “Here...let me tie a knot back here or the shirt will float up when you get in the water.”

      Now standing in front of her, he eyed her appreciatively. “There. Perfect.”

      Mackenzie looked down. Dylan’s adjustment to the outfit pulled the front of the shirt tight over her breasts.

      “Was that for my sake or yours?” she asked, half-teasing, half-serious.

      “Both...” Dylan wasn’t shy about admiring her with his eyes. “Definitely both.”

      She felt self-conscious walking out to Dylan’s hot tub, but once she slipped into the hot, bubbling water, Mackenzie forgot all about her silly outfit. Dylan was right—this was bliss.

      “Aaaaah.” Mackenzie sank down farther into the water.

      “Uh-huh...didn’t I tell you?” Dylan slid in beside her.

      “You did.”

      Beneath the water, Dylan reached for her hand. Pleased, she intertwined her fingers with his, dropped her head back, closed her eyes and let her mind go blissfully blank. Time moved but they didn’t. Not for a while. Not until the sun, beating down on her scalp, finally became too hot to bear. Mackenzie sighed deeply, opened her eyes and moved to the middle of the hot tub. Dylan’s interested eyes followed her every move. She leaned back and dipped her hair back into the water so she could cool off her scalp, and to slick her hair back. When she stood up and turned around, Dylan was smiling at her.

      “What?” Mackenzie asked. “Why are you grinning at me like a Cheshire cat?”

      Dylan’s eyes drifted down to her breasts. “Can’t I admire you?”

      Mackenzie followed his gaze. The wet T-shirt had molded itself to her breasts, leaving nothing to the imagination. Mackenzie immediately sunk down in the water to her neck.

      “No...” Dylan shook his head. “You’ve got to stop doing that.”

      Dylan was at her side, his arm around her waist; he kissed her as their bodies floated backward toward the side of the hot tub. Dylan lifted her into his arms, spun around and pulled her onto his lap. Then he kissed her again, his tongue taking possession of her mouth, his hand taking possession of her breast. He was already aroused; she could feel it against her thigh.

      “When I take you back upstairs, Mackenzie...” Dylan whispered sensually into her ear. “I don’t want there to be anything between us this time.”

      Mackenzie knew that Dylan was referring to the fact that she hadn’t let him take off her top when they had made love. Her body wanted Dylan again, and so did she.

      “Dylan...” Mackenzie moaned pleasurably into the sun-warmed skin on his neck. “Take me back upstairs...”

      * * *

      After they made love for a third time, Mackenzie took a shower, alone, in the guest bathroom. Dylan offered to share his shower with her, but for some reason, even after all of the lovemaking, a shower СКАЧАТЬ