Page 1 of Mac
CHAPTER1
Every muscle ached as Mac eased his bike into his driveway then into the garage.A package on his front step caught his attention and made him frown as the garage door slowly lowered.He cut the engine, swung out of his seat and let himself into the house, leaving his helmet on the dryer on his way through.Curiosity got the best of Mac and he fetched the box from the front porch.He couldn't remember ordering, anything.Not to be delivered here.He ordered things all the time for the shop, but he had them delivered there.He only had personal orders delivered to the house, but that wasn't all that often.
That didn't mean he hadn't ordered it.He'd been known to order things and forget they were coming until they arrived.taking the box back to the kitchen he grabbed a knife from the magnetic rack on the wall beside the stove and sliced the tape.Folding back the flaps, he stared down at the pink striped box inside for several minutes, stunned.This couldn't be his package.Never in his life had he ordered from this company.He knew the name, of course he did.No full-grown American male in the twenty first century didn't.But he'd never imagined ordering from them.
This had to be some kind of mistake.Confusion filled him.He froze for the space of several breaths, staring down at the pink stripes of two shades covering the box inside a box.He flipped the flap closed and took a look at the label.The address was right, but the name wasn't.A second look told him the address wasn't right either.It was close, but not quite right.Staring at the box, it took him a moment to realize it wasn't his address, but the one next door.Now he felt like an idiot for not checking it sooner.But who expects a package left on their doorstep to be for someone else?
With a sigh, he folded the box closed and headed for the door.
He trudged across his yard and driveway and into the one next door, trying to calm his breathing.He'd seen the woman next door several times.He'd never seen a man over there, but that didn't mean there wasn't one.Mac was the first to admit, he'd watched her from a far, noticed she was understatedly sexy, but had never had a reason to speak with her.He loved his house and the neighborhood, but he valued his privacy here and assumed the same of his neighbors.Now though, he couldn't just drop the box on her step.No, he had to explain and apologize about opening it.
Knocking on the door, Mac forced himself to keep breathing normally.He was a grown man and not a young one.As he waited, he couldn't help but wonder if she was home.A glance over to the garage on the far side of her house from his, told him her car was in the driveway, so maybe she was home.He knocked again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
A voice was muffled by the door and a moment later it opened, revealing a woman dressed in an oversized t-shirt that fell to mid-thigh and shorts that stopped about an inch below the hem of her shirt revealing long, well-tanned legs.She wore flip flops with bright blue toenails.He stood enchanted a moment, unable to remember why he was there.
"Can I help you?"
Her voice called him back to the present.
"Oh.I'm sorry.I'm Mac, I live next door."He gave a vague movement toward his house."This was on my step when I got home, and I didn't realize it wasn't mine until after I'd opened it."He lifted the box."I stopped as soon as I saw the box inside, I didn't even open that."He held it out for her and let her take it.
She glanced down at the box in his hand.Color rushed to her face."Oh."She took the box."Thanks, I guess."She turned and set it on something inside before turning back to him.
"I'm sorry about that.I promise, I didn't check the label first and I didn't look inside once I saw the box.I hope you don't think badly of me."
"No.no, thank you for bringing it over."Some of the color started to fade from her cheeks."Can I get you something to drink?"
"No, I'm good, thanks.I'm just glad you were here so I could give it to you and explain."He stepped back, wishing for once he was wearing something other than his usual cowboy boots, jeans and the t-shirt he wore beneath the uniform shirt that all his mechanics wore.At least he wasn't wearing his kutte, mostly because he didn't normally wear it to work.The shop was a greasy mess and while he didn't mind a little dirt, his kutte and colors were more than a little special, he hated getting them that kind of dirty.
"I'm glad I was too.Thank you for bringing it and telling me what happened."She smiled and he wanted to move closer, to say something but he didn't know what.
He backed away, inching toward his house."Have a good night."
"You too."
He turned and went across the space dividing them.Stepping back into his house, he leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath.He could only hope he'd kept a blank face and hadn't let her see how incredibly hot he found her.The last thing he needed was for her husband or boyfriend to come over accusing him of going through her mail, or worse, her lingerie.Because what else did women order fromVictoria's Secret?They might have more than underwear but how would he know that?
Once he'd caught his breath, and tamed his errant dick, he went back to what he'd been thinking about when he'd pulled into the yard.Dinner and putting his feet up for a bit.
CHAPTER2
Elyse watched her neighbor walk away, wondering why she'd never spoken to him before.She'd noticed him several times.Especially as he came and went on that motorcycle of his.But now she wished she'd talked to him sooner.His voice held just a hint of an accent she hadn't heardenough of to be able to guess where he was from.Now she couldn't help but wonder.
Picking up the box he'd brought over she carried it into the bedroom and started unpacking as she tried to remember if she'd ever seen a woman at his place.She didn't think so, and something told her she would have remembered if she had.Mac he'd said his name was, she couldn't help but notice him.And it wasn't just the loud motorcycle.He might be older than her, she thought he was, but she had no way of guessing how much, not that it mattered at her age.Unless he was old enough to be her dad, she didn't care.The only reason old enough to be her dad would matter was because she thought it would be a little weird.
One by one she pulled out the items she'd ordered, making sure there were the right ones, then she tossed them all in the laundry basket.They needed to get washed before she put them on.A smile curved her lips as she wondered if she'd be able to wear any of them, at least the first time, without thinking about the sexy rumble of her neighbor's voice and that strange accent.
Shaking her head, she packed up all the packaging and headed for the kitchen.It was time to find something for dinner, and she'd spent most of the day on her feet, as they'd worked on moving the science fiction section in the shop.Now they throbbed and she couldn't wait to kick back and put them up for a while.
But first, she needed food, mostly because if she didn't eat before sitting down, she wouldn't get up to eat.She'd done that too many times to make that mistake again.
Later that evening, Elyse had eaten and dealt with the kitchen, then curled up in her recliner with a good book.She'd turned the radio on for company but soon lost track of what was playing as she'd lost herself in the story unfolding in the pages in her hand.The rumble of a motorcycle drew her back to the present and prompted her to look up just in time to catch a glimpse of Mac, lit by the streetlights as he rode away.She wondered for a moment where he was going.a glance at the clock told her it was almost nine.She frowned; was there something wrong to make him go out at this hour?No,she reminded herself.Not everyone was a home body like she was.Some people didn't come home, change into comfy clothes and stay put for the night.
He probably had a real life.Maybe even a girlfriend.That's where he was headed, she decided.To his girlfriend's.An odd pang in her chest made her frown and for just a moment she wished he'd been coming over here.That she was his girlfriend.Then she dismissed the idea as the silly notion it was and went back to her book.
CHAPTER3
