Page 64 of My Dearest Mackenzie

“He was looking for a reason to see me celebrate.”

The pair had discussed a few business items while we all ate Thai takeout, and then after a few jokes and laughs, Corey was gone.

“Come,” Mack said now, grabbing our glasses of red wine.

We walked toward the tree and stood looking at the view.

“To more,” Mack proposed.

“To more,” I agreed, not knowing what more looked like and not ready to discuss it.

Taking the stem of my glass and his, Mack set them down and snatched me for an embrace. Cupping my cheeks with his palms, he kissed me. With the fireplace roaring and our lips fused we slid to the floor. Not a man in his forties and a woman in her late thirties, but young lovers, getting to know one another’s bodies and hot spots.

I realized we were on the rug again, my back warm from the fire as Mack slowly pulled my blouse over my head, a button popping and rolling onto the floor. I felt the warmth of Mack’s palm graze up my side as he held me close and continued to kiss me senseless. My hand flitted under his Henley and traversed his skin.

We stayed like that for a while until I couldn’t take it and ripped off Mack’s shirt, bringing my mouth to his nipple and sucking. A moan barreled up his throat as his head tipped back, and I continued my course, flipping him over and making my way down the rest of his body. I made quick work of his belt and pants, shrugging them down with his boxer briefs. All olive skin and muscles, from the V to his length on display, and I couldn’t wait to get my mouth on him. His hips rose, beckoning me, and I slid my tongue down his hardness. All it took was one more moan and I began to work him harder, using my mouth and hand. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced in my life. With the flames flickering and the tree twinkling and Mack’s groaning, it was beautiful and sensual in equal parts.

I felt Mack’s hand come to the top of my head. “Frances, I want to be inside you.”

He urged me to slide up his body and made quite the show out of flipping me back over and running his tongue over my bra, the heat seeping through the lace and my nipple immediately hardening.

Before I could say I want you, Mack was grazing my core, the stubble of his five o’clock shadow tickling my thighs. It didn’t take long before I was coming apart with his mouth on me and I couldn’t even find a moment to be embarrassed by how I was rubbing myself all over his face, splintering into a million pieces.

“Mack, please,” I whimpered, and he didn’t make me wait, quickly slithering up my body and gently pushing into me.

Our mouths fused, our tastes mingling and bodies melding as one, and I was pretty sure if this was the more, I wanted it all.

“I think we’ve spent more time on the floor than anywhere else in the last twenty-four hours,” I joked, my mouth brushing against his hard chest.

“We can do something about that,” Mack said, taking my hand and pulling me up with him, leading me toward the bedroom.

A few weeks later, I jumped into a rideshare with Mack’s suit and my dress, sharing a garment bag in a way I’d dreamt about but never thought was a reality. We still hadn’t made any progress on any permanent moving decisions, but we were spending an adequate amount of time between one another’s places. Mostly his.

Flurries fell against the darkening sky, and I smiled to myself. My life felt a tiny bit magical, and I was allowing myself to live in it. My therapist had told me a week ago that I was permitted to enjoy love and life, whatever life meant to me. When I thought about it, I hadn’t enjoyed much other than work since I lost the baby.

Bringing myself back to the present, with December twenty-fifth only a few days away, it was looking as if it might be a white Christmas. I remembered being a little girl and wishing for snow every year. Paps would tell me to write to the North Pole and ask for a winter wonderland. I fell for it until I was about ten years old, and then I started to watch the weather report.

It was amazing to me how much of an optimist Paps continued to be after being shunned by Rosie’s family. Made me love him a little more. I believed he never blamed Milly for the actions of her parents. She was a young girl in a time when you didn’t speak up to your parents. This made me miss him a little more…and made me proud of myself for telling my parents how I felt. When I’d said no to Thanksgiving dinner and I finally let them know they’d never supported me when Jeremy left, it felt incredible. Milly never got to experience that kind of independence. Throwing open the car door, I stepped out into the dampening night.

I was thinking of the strong woman I’d never have a chance to meet when I was greeted by Mack’s doorman, wearing a Santa hat and smiling at me. He held the elevator for me, saying Mack was expecting me and wishing us a Merry Everything. I didn’t know if the last part was because Mack was Jewish, or he was being politically correct to everyone. Either way, I liked it. It had been gracious of Mack to decorate for both holidays inside his apartment, welcoming me into his life, but I had no idea in what capacity.

“Well, hello there,” the man in question said as I exited the elevator.

I couldn’t help the way my heart sped up and a shiver ran down my spine. The possibility of a happy ending was my kryptonite, and while I questioned what this was, I’d rather ride the high.

“Hi,” I said, breathless, and Mack grabbed the garment bag, pulling me in for a kiss.

“Come on, let’s see if we can have some fun before the party…”

“Grrr,” I growled. “I have to get ready, and I don’t want to be late…meeting your friends for the first time.”

Mack nodded and snatched me in for a quick kiss, this one with tongue, and I almost rethought my stand on being tardy.

Taking the bag and unzipping it, Mack whistled at my red sequined dress…

“You haven’t seen it on yet,” I declared with a wink. There was something about Mack that allowed me to joke freely.

“I was whistling at the service. I don’t know why I didn’t switch my business sooner. I like having you hand-deliver my clothes.”

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