Blake
Wiping his sweat with the bottom of his shirt after running the fifteen-mile circuit of Mud on the Rocks, Blake focused on lowering his heart rate as he walked around the exterior perimeter of the gym.
While on his run he couldn’t help but grin at what he—and Colton—had built. Word was spreading fast and registration had already surpassed his expectations for the first year. He and Colton worked hard, physically and mentally, to get this project up and running in record time.
It helped having connections, and brothers with friends who weren’t afraid to get dirty. Rachael’s husband Jake was a huge asset. His landscape crew provided a lot of the muscle, as did Luke’s firefighter buddies and Graham’s mechanics.
Blake and Colton were limited in the friend department, returning to Rocky Harbor less than a year ago, but everyone rallied together and helped spread the word.
Of course it didn’t hurt when Sage lined up a photographer friend to take pictures of them working—sans the shirts, she’d ordered—and posted them all over Facebook and the website she was working on for them.
Modesty wasn’t in his vocabulary, but Blake wasn’t a cocky bastard either. In his line of work he couldn’t help but be in shape. Although he looked like a scrawny scarecrow standing next to Luke and Colton. Hell, even Captain America looked skinny next to the Hulk.
After a long workweek that seemed to never end—the weekends being his busiest times at Rock the Gym—Blake was grateful for a sunny Monday. And if he’d heard correctly, there was a feisty brunette who also had the afternoon off.
Blake headed inside, downed a bottle of water, and hit the showers in the locker room. Clean and dressed in a pair of old jeans and a Rock the Gym shirt, he grabbed his keys and called out to Colton.
“Text me if you need anything.”
“Stay out of trouble.”
“Not if I can help it.” Sliding on his shades, he unlocked his truck and whistled during the entire drive to Main Street. Not finding any good spots, he pulled around behind the shops into the parking lot.
Mackenzie sat on one of the benches, her back to him, facing the ocean. The slight ocean breeze blew the wisps of her hair that had come free from her ponytail, leaving her long neck naked and exposed. She appeared deep in thought and didn’t even so much as twitch when he sat next to her.
“Headache?”
“What?” She jumped, coming free from her trance, her face pale, dark circles cupping her eyes. “Don’t sneak up on people. It’s rude.”
“I hardly call that sneaking. If you didn’t hear my truck, my door slamming, or see me plop myself next to you, I’d say you’re off in la-la land.”
Mackenzie scowled and flipped him off.
“Grouchy much?”
“Not until a second ago.”
Blake laughed and scooted closer, brushing his thighs against hers. “Ever go riding?”
“What?” Mackenzie’s color had returned, as had her attitude. “Riding what?”
He raised an eyebrow, ready with a quick retort, but she held up her hand.
“That wasn’t seriously a pickup line, was it? Because if it was, you suck at it.”
“I can hold my own when I want to pick up a woman, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. Just asking a friend if she wants to go out riding. Four-wheeling.”
“Friend? We hardly know each other.”
“Our mouths have been acquainted, I’d say that’s something.”
Red flooded her cheeks and she inched away from him. “You shouldn’t take advantage of a woman when she isn’t feeling well.”
“How are you feeling today?” If her head still hurt from her fall last week he’d scoop her up in his arms and bring her to the doctor’s.
“Well enough to know better.”
“As disappointed as I am, I’d still like to take you riding. Hard to do much kissing with helmets on, but we can pull over as often as needed if you’d like. Come on. Let’s go.” He stood and held out his hand for her.
“I’m not going riding with you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
“’Fraid of getting a little mud on you? I didn’t pin you to be a princess.”
“Just because I don’t want to go riding through the woods on an ATV doesn’t mean I’m scared or a princess. Besides, I’m busy.”
“Moping?”
“Hey.” Mackenzie jumped to her feet and Blake hid his grin. She was so easy to get a rise out of. “I don’t mope.” She poked him in the chest.
“I didn’t peg you for the boring stay-at-home type either. Need to work on your needlepoint? Maybe play with your herd of cats? Do your laundry?”
Her finger pushed deeper into his chest and she scrunched up her face and gritted her teeth. He’d obviously struck a nerve.
“Fine. I’ll go, cowboy. But you better keep your slick hands to yourself.” She turned on her heels and marched into the back door to her shop, her delicious ass and long, toned legs taunting him in a skimpy pair of denim shorts.
Blake jogged after her. “Not that I want them covered up, but you’ll want to put some jeans on those sexy legs of yours. Something old and grungy,” he called up the stairs to what he presumed to be her apartment. Tempting as it was to follow her up, he didn’t want to push his luck.
A few minutes later she stomped down the stairs in a pair of ripped jeans that should have looked slovenly but only made his mouth water. She pushed past him and he checked out her ass, rounded and cupped perfectly with worn denim.
He opened the passenger side door for her and waited as she climbed up and got buckled in. “You ever been before? Four-wheeling?” Blake asked when he slid into the driver’s seat and backed out of the lot.
“No.”
“How long have you lived in Maine?”
“My entire life.”
“City girl?” He changed the radio to a rock station.
“No.”
“Country girl?” He flipped the channel to a Brad Paisley song.
“No.”
“I don’t remember seeing you at school growing up, so I take it you’re not from around here?”
“Yeah.”
This wasn’t how he envisioned his afternoon. From the few times he’d been with Mackenzie or watched her from afar, she was always full of life, smiling and laughing. It was what attracted him to her in the first place. He didn’t deal well with brooding females. Too much work. They sucked the fun out of everything.
If she was still miserable at the end of their adventure he’d let her go, end the chase. No woman was worth that much effort. He didn’t push and sat back and listened to Brad sing about a country girl as he drove out to his mom’s house.
“I went to Rocky Harbor elementary school up until fourth grade. My mom cleaned houses in town and befriended Benny, Maggie’s housekeeper. Mom would drop me off at school and pick me up at the end of the day. Things went downhill when Liam, Maggie’s brother, got sick. Long story. Anyway, in fifth grade Mom made me switch schools and go to Arundel. That’s where I grew up.”
“There are some good riding trails in Arundel. We can ride through if you want.”
“Okay.”
“You have brothers, right?” He remembered Maggie saying something about it once.
“Three older brothers.”
“And they didn’t have four-wheelers?”
“We, uh, couldn’t afford things like that.” She rolled down her window and closed her eyes as the breeze caressed her face.
“We weren’t rolling in the dough either. If Graham and Luke didn’t like to tinker with junk we probably never would have any toys. Graham found an old Yamaha on Craigslist one year and somehow got it running. After that, we were hooked. It wasn’t until we were adults that we bought real machines.” Blake turned on to his mother’s road, the dirt kicking up behind them. Mackenzie rolled up her window. “Luke’s machines, really. He bought one for him and Dad to ride around on and the rest of us would fight over them when we came home. I added a few to the collection when I came home this winter. Can’t live in Maine and not be outside, you know?”
“I guess. I’m more of a beach person. I run. Bike ride. Not much time for anything else.”
“If you had the time, what would you like to do?”
“I haven’t thought about it. Haven’t had time.”
“Well, let’s make a Bucket List. Four-wheeling can be on the top.” He pulled to a stop in front of the barn and grinned. “You’re going to be begging me to bring you all the time after this.”
“I highly doubt it, cowboy.”
“Mom will have my ass if we don’t stop in to say hello before we take off.”
“Oh. Okay. I don’t want to intrude.”
Funny. Mackenzie had been to his mom’s place before. She fit in with the entire Riley clan, but today there was en edge to her voice, and she fidgeted as if nervous.
“She’ll yell at me for forgetting my manners and for being rude if we don’t check in.” Blake took the keys out of the ignition and opened his door.
“I can hardly picture your mother yelling,” Mackenzie said over her shoulder as she hopped out of the truck.
“And if she’s watching from the window right now she’ll ground me for a week for not helping you out of my truck.”
“A bit over-dramatic, are we?”
“You’ve met Doreen.”
“And she’s the sweetest, kindest person I’ve ever met.”
“She is until you break one of her cardinal rules.”
“I suppose you’ve broken them all.”
Blake grinned and lowered his sunglasses. “Not all, but a few.” He pushed his shades back up the bridge of his nose and placed his hand on Mackenzie’s lower back, guiding her up the path to the back door.
“What brings this welcome surprise?” Doreen stood in the open doorway, her arms outstretched, ready for her expected hugs.
“Hey, Ma. Mack and I are going four-wheeling. Feel like coming?” He squeezed his mom tight and kissed her cheek.
“I haven’t been on one of those machines since your father passed away. Hi, sweetheart. It’s lovely to see you again.” Doreen hugged Mackenzie and kissed both her cheeks. “You’re looking beautiful as always. Are you sure you’re up for a ride with this one?” She shook her head in a motherly way that said she didn’t know what to expect with her child.
“Maybe I’ll hang out with you instead. It smells awesome in here.”
Doreen led her into the kitchen and stopped Mackenzie when she bent down to untie her sneakers. “Keep your shoes on. If I know my son, he’s watching the clock, anxious to get out into the woods with a beautiful woman.”
Blake smirked and did not deny his mother’s accurate perception.
“Oh, it’s not like that. We’re just friends. I’ve never been on a four-wheeler and he offered to bring me for a ride.”
“Isn’t that nice of him.” Doreen looked over her shoulder at Blake, who smiled innocently at his mom. “Why don’t I fix you something to eat before going out? And let me pack you a snack and some water bottles. I’m always nervous the boys will break down or get stranded and not have any food.”
“I didn’t even ask if you’ve had lunch.” Blake’s hormones had taken over and neglected to think about anything but being with Mackenzie.
“I’m not really hungry.” Mackenzie shook her head.
“It’s nearly two. You need to put food in your belly or one quick gust of wind will knock you off your machine. Sit. I’ll whip up some tuna salad sandwiches.”
Blake cringed. “Tuna breath?” He didn’t mean to say it out loud but he didn’t want to knock Mackenzie out with his breath.
The devil appeared in her eyes and her grin grew wide. “I like mine with extra onions. I’ll help chop.”
It was nearly three before he and Mackenzie left his mother’s kitchen and made their way out to the barn. He’d snuck off to the guest bathroom and brushed his teeth and swished with an extra capful of mouthwash before leaving. He didn’t care if Mackenzie ate a raw onion as if it was an apple, he’d bet his Polaris she’d still taste sweet as chocolate.
“For all I know you could be a serial killer waiting for the opportunity to drive me out to the middle of the woods and slice up my body and bury me in a shallow grave, never to be found until a pack of stray dogs or a lonely hunter discovers my bones this fall.” Mackenzie fiddled with the helmet before shoving it on her head.
“My mom knows we’re going out. She’d rat me out.”
“Unless she’s in on it. Mother-son murder scheme.”
“She is loyal to a fault.”
“If you kill me I’ll come back and haunt you for the rest of your life. I’ll make your life a living hell.”
“Deal. Now, do you want to ride on the back of my machine or drive your own?” Blake studied her, tall and thin dressed in light worn denim and a tight T-shirt that accentuated her tiny waist and generous chest, the helmet making her look like a sexy biker chick. She nibbled her bottom lip and looked from his Polaris 550 with the one-up seat in the back to the smaller Honda 350.
He wasn’t planning on going too rough with her the first time out. Unless…his gut tightened and he felt a shift in the front of his jeans. Better to keep his focus on the machines between his legs and not the woman he wanted there.
“Is it hard?”
Oh. So. Very. Hard. “Uh, yeah.” Blake shifted his stance and breathed in deep. Damn, he wanted her. Against the barn wall. On the floor. On the back of his ATV.
“If I take my own machine I can get away easier when you try to kill me.”
“True. It would be safer.”
“But I don’t know how to ride and I’d probably get lost trying to escape and then I’d die of starvation or I’d get eaten by a bear or something.”
“Another good point.” Damn, she was cute. Nervous and sexy and funny and snarky. Just his type. If he had one.
“I’ll ride with you, then. But no funny business.”
There was nothing funny about what was happening in his pants right now. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to lift his leg up to straddle the machine with his jeans so tight.
“I’m going to…I’ll be right back.” He left the barn and walked around back, adjusting himself and taking in the warm summer air as he tried to calm down the churning inside his chest.
It was pure lust, that was all. Mackenzie was right, he didn’t know a thing about her other than that she was a close friend to his sister-in-law and all of his brothers and sisters loved her. He knew she had a gorgeous laugh—although he had yet to be the one to make her laugh—skin soft as the talcum sand on the Siesta Key in Florida, and rich chocolate eyes that were as smooth and as velvety sweet as her lips.
Thinking about her wasn’t going to help the situation in his pants any. After a quick lap around the barn he returned to the scene of the disturbance and groaned. Mackenzie, her head covered in Rachael’s light blue riding helmet, sat on the back of his ATV, her long legs resting close to where his would be.
Maybe once he felt the roar of the machine under him and they got a little dirt on their skin his mind would focus on something other than sex.
Hell, he hadn’t even thought much about sex, just Mackenzie’s mouth. Imagining her naked and what she’d taste like…
Nope. Not gonna go there.
“Too scared to ride your own machine?” He needed to taunt her and not fantasize about her.
“I figured I could concentrate on our surroundings instead of learning how to drive. It’s just as easy to shove you off and run you over if things get hairy.”
Blake laughed. “I’ll be sure to hold on tight.” He checked the gas gauge again and reached down for the bag of snacks his mother packed. “You’re going to have to stand up so I can put the food in the compartment under your seat.” He gestured to her ass.
Mackenzie slid forward. Blake leaned over her and tried not to breathe in her vanilla scent as he placed the goods in the compartment. Once he closed it, he patted the seat. “You can scoot back now.”
She squirmed back and held on to the armrests, and he did all he could not to moan at the sight of her wiggling tush. Blake grabbed his helmet from the workbench and smirked at Mackenzie before straddling the ATV.
“Hold on tight, Mack, wouldn’t want you to fall off and get run over.” He winked and put on his helmet, then gunned the engine.
“I’m not a truck!” she shouted over the engine.
He barked out a laugh and just to be an ass, he gunned the ATV out of the barn. She grasped on to his shoulders, then dropped her hands to his waist. If he’d gone slow, she’d have realized she could’ve held on to the armrests, but he preferred her pressed up against his back, holding on to him for security.
Once they were on the trails, he took it easy, turning his head every now and then to ask if she was okay, if she wanted him to go faster, slower. They rode for a few miles on nicely groomed trails before making the trek up some rugged ones that would take them out to Hidden Pond.
Her body slid against his, her breasts hammering into his back as she grabbed tight to his shirt, her hands slipping toward his hips and coming dangerously close to his crotch. They needed to pull over and either get some breathing space between them or do something about the sexual tension building up. Blake turned the ATV off and removed his helmet.
“This is a good place to stretch your legs.” He tossed his leg over the ATV awkwardly and offered his hand to Mackenzie. She took off her helmet and tossed her head back and forth like a woman in one of those shampoo commercials from the eighties. Her face tipped up in a look of ecstasy and her fingers pulled through her long, dark hair.
“That was fun.” The smile that had been missing all morning returned and she slapped her helmet in his offered hand and jumped off on the other side.
“You want to try your hand at driving?”
“Nah. I like riding in the back. Although you should have told me to wear a sports bra. That last trail was pretty rocky. My puppies did not enjoy being bounced around.” She cupped her breasts in her hands and his knees buckled.
“Looks like you needed to stretch more than I did.” She tossed him a wink and walked toward the pond.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” He came up next to her, their elbows bumping.
“Taking a break? It was your idea.”
“Taunting me.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mackenzie shrugged and slipped her hands in her jeans pockets, rocking back on her heels. “I’ve never been here before. What lake is this?”
Blake shook his head in confusion. “Hidden Pond.”
“Oh. I’ve heard about the restaurant and inn. Are they close by?”
“We’ll pass them on our way out.”
“Cool.”
Cool? That was it? The seductive hair thing, the cupping of her breasts, and the flirtatious wink and all she could say was cool?
“Mack.”
“Mackenzie.”
“What’s wrong with Mack?”
“I’ve already told you.”
“And you have to know no one in their right mind would ever confuse you for a man.” Blake licked his lips and dropped his gaze from her eyes to her chest, where the nipples seemed to pucker under his scrutiny, before returning it back to her face. He watched her swallow deeply.
Yes, she was as affected by their sexual chemistry as much as he was, but she was fighting it and he wanted to plunge head first into it.
“Why don’t you like me?”
“I don’t not like you.” She looked away, her stance no longer comfortable.
“Liar.” Blake stepped in front of her and gripped her hips, yanking her towards him. “You throw off more signals than a deer during rutting season.”
“You’re comparing me to an animal?”
“A deer. They’re nice.”
“And you shoot them.”
“I’m not going to shoot you.”
“That’s good.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth and she did that swallowing thing again, her long, slender throat unable to hide what was going on under her skin.
“But I am going to kiss you.”
“Are you asking?” she whispered.
“No.” Blake pulled her bottom lip between his and sipped her sweetness. She tasted like a combination of the iced tea they had earlier, salt, and a touch of her trademark vanilla.
She surprised him by not pulling away but leaning into the kiss, deepening it until he had to pull back for air.
“Mack,” he murmured into her mouth and plunged his hands in her hair, massaging her scalp, then moving them down toward her butt. He cupped her cheeks in his hand and pulled her against him, his hardness pushing into her skin.
“If we have sex,” she said between breaths.
“Not if.”
“If we do,” she continued. “It’s just sex.”
“What else would it be?” He feathered kisses across her jaw and down her neck that had tempted him for so long.
“Just sex.”
“Mm,” he agreed, his hands moving to her front, cupping and massaging her breasts.
Hers had made their way between his jeans and his butt. He liked them there.
The sound of another four-wheeler had them dropping their hands and jumping back. Mackenzie’s eyes were dark with lust, her lips swollen, wet and red. She licked them, then bit her bottom lip.
“Damn. You’re hot.”
“Like a deer?” She smirked.
Blake cursed and scrubbed his hands across his face. “You’re killing me.”
“Better than you chopping me up and burying me in the woods.”
“I’d like to do plenty with your body, and chopping you up and burying you are nowhere close to what’s on my agenda. Now, burying myself in—” The ATVs came around the bend and skidded to a stop in front of them.
“I knew I’d find you here.” Rachael took off her helmet and grinned. Jake pulled up next to her and nodded a greeting.
“Where are you guys heading?”
“Just around. Mom told us you and Mackenzie were out here so we figured we’d join you. Unless we’re interrupting something.”
“Yeah, you are,” Blake growled.
“No, you’re not.” Mackenzie laughed.
“Well, then. Let’s go.” Rachael strapped on her helmet, but not before Blake caught wind of her wicked grin.
Brat, he mouthed to her and picked up Mackenzie’s helmet, then put on his own.
The four of them rode the trails, stopping for water and snack breaks every now and then, not returning until the sun started to dip beyond the horizon.
“Staying for dinner?” Rachael asked after they put the four-wheelers away.
“Oh, no. This was sort of an unplanned trip. I don’t want to impose. I should get back home.”
“Yeah, we’re staying for dinner,” Blake said behind Mackenzie.
She turned to him. “I don’t want to be rude.”
“Rude would be leaving. Knowing my mom, she’s been working on a feast ever since we showed up this afternoon. And since Jake and Rach are here, yeah, there will be enough to feed an army.”
“I’m a mess.”
Blake looked her over. A light layer of dust covered her from head to toe, and her face was filthy. “You look hot.”
“You said that before.”
“So I must be telling the truth.”
“Stop your bickering and come eat. We’re all dirty. It’s nothing Mom isn’t used to. You can get cleaned up upstairs.” Rachael tugged Mackenzie’s hand and they went inside, leaving Blake and Jake on the porch.
“So you and Kenzie, huh?”
“Maybe.”
“Bout freakin’ time.”