Page 5 of Forged By Sacrifice

I sat down at the bar, turning away from him. He joined me on the barstool next to mine, our shoulders almost touching. The air flitting between our bodies was like when I’d done an electrical current project in high school. You could almost see the zaps of light. Zaps that I’d never had to deal with when I’d been with Jared. Jared had been smooth, sexy, calming. This was energy that spoke of riling things up versus calming them down.

“Can I help with something?” I asked Ava.

She and Eli both shook their heads. “No, we got it. The one drawback of this house is that the kitchen isn’t as large as it could be. Two cooks are about all it can take.”

“Are you sure you can qualify as a cook?” Mac asked Ava, and I wanted to be offended for my friend, but she just smiled at the virtual magnetic field sitting next to me.

“I can cook,” she said.

“But you’re slaughtering those poor tomatoes.”

Ava laughed—something she did so much more now than when I’d known her in New York. Eli had brought joy to her life. Filled her. It made me happy at the same time I knew I was never going to want that—a man filling my world. A partner like Jared had been perfect for me, moving side by side when needed, going it alone when needed, too. Even though we’d ended things, it hadn’t broken either of us.

“I’m dicing them,” Ava said.

“Is that what you call it?” Mac asked her.

She handed him the knife across the counter. He put down the margarita he’d been drinking, took the knife, and pulled the cutting board she’d been using closer to him. He started cutting the tomatoes with a much gentler hand than I’d expected, and the cuts he made were almost TV-cooking-show perfect, whereas the ones Ava had made had all been smooshed tomato guts.

It surprised me that he had such a gentle touch.

I reached for the margarita pitcher because I certainly needed a drink.

“So, Georgie, what brings you to Texas?” Mac asked, his gaze flitting toward me and away, as if he was as unsure about me as I was of him.

“I’ll tell if you tell,” I said, winking at him.

He smiled. “I’m here on vacation. Between gigs.”

“Me, too.”

He stopped his slicing to look over at me, surprise on his face. “What happened to the salon?”

“Sold it,” I responded, and even though selling the shop was what I’d wanted, my chest pulled tight, and tears hit my eyes. It had been incredibly difficult to leave behind my grandmother’s legacy. Leave behind everything I’d known with her. The people. The shop. Our home. She would have wanted it for me as much as I wanted it for myself, but it didn’t make it easier.

“Wow. I don’t know what to say to that.” Mac’s words drew me back from New York City and my old life to the present. He smiled and said, “I mean, I could ask a gazillion invasive questions, but I have a feeling Ava or Eli might gut me in my sleep if I did.”

I laughed like he’d expected me to, and when I did, his smile increased, making thoughts of Jared and the salon trail into the sunset.

“Just ignore him. He has no idea what personal boundaries are,” Eli said from where he was finishing up the spices on the meat he was going to grill for the carne asada tacos they were making.

“Look. You grow up with a father in the Navy, a grandfather in politics, and three older sisters, and you realize there is no such thing as personal boundaries,” Mac responded with a shrug that caused his shoulder to brush against mine, increasing the awareness that filtered through me.

Mac was not only tall, but he was also a wall of muscle—like a pro football player. Muscles on top of muscles, but not in a way that made you think Blowfish. Instead, it was tantalizing. His tight T-shirt did nothing to hide any of the contours of his body.

With the tomatoes done, he pushed the cutting board back toward Ava and got up to wash his hands at the sink. Eli headed for the porch and the barbecue pit, and Mac tagged along with him. I took a gulp of the margarita as I watched the two men banter back and forth on the patio.

Ava joined me, taking up the barstool Mac had vacated.

“He’s gorgeous but all swag-and-bag,” Ava said.

I felt my cheeks heat slightly at being caught gazing at them and turned to her. “Thanks for the warning, but I’m not really into anything more than swag-and-bag.”

Ava smiled at me. “Well then, swag away.” She waved a hand toward the patio.

“No,” I chuckled. “That isn’t what I meant. I mean…he’d probably totally be worth a few nights of hot, sweaty, vacation sex, but I’m definitely not looking for even that right now. Besides, I wouldn’t sleep with your and Eli’s friend. It would be…”

“Awkward,” Ava said just as I finished with, “Ill-advised.”

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