Sophie Pembroke – Marriage On The Cards: Marry Me, Mackenzie! / A Proposal Worth Millions / Heart Surgeon, Hero...Husband? (страница 21)

“To first kisses.” Dylan made the toast.

“First kisses?” Mackenzie didn’t take a drink.

“Yeah...tonight was our first real kiss. I don’t remember much from the wedding, but I do remember that you wouldn’t let me kiss you.”

“Oh...I’d forgotten about that.” Not sure she wanted to repeat that toast, she took a sip of the wine instead. “Good wine.”

Night had fallen and they practically had the beach to themselves. There was a party just kicking in to high gear several houses down, but none of the partygoers had wandered down to their small stretch of beach.

It took a second full glass of wine, but Mackenzie no longer felt the least bit awkward or embarrassed.

“Killer view, Dylan...”

“I like it...” Dylan nodded, his eyes focused straight ahead.

By the third glass, Mackenzie had kicked off her shoes, dug her toes in the sand, and she felt all swirly and dreamy like buttercream frosting atop a cupcake. By the fourth glass, Mackenzie was flat on her back, loose as a goose, admiring the stars.

“You’re not going to be able to drive home now,” Dylan noted.

“That’s true,” Mackenzie agreed nonchalantly.

Dylan finished his fourth glass of wine. They had finished the bottle. “And I’m not going to be able to drive you home.”

“That’s also true...”

“So...you’ll have to spend the night.”

Mackenzie giggled. “And here I thought I was too old for a sleepover.”

Mackenzie was obviously three sheets to the wind and he was buzzed. It was time to get off the beach. Dylan helped Mackenzie stand up, helped her get steady on her feet and walked up the stairs behind her just in case she tipped backward. Back in the kitchen, Mackenzie folded her arms and laid her head down on the island.

“Come on...” Dylan said kindly. “I’ll get you set up in the spare room.”

Dylan made sure she had everything she needed for a comfortable night: new toothbrush, toothpaste, a comfortable bed...privacy. He even brought her the top of his pajamas to wear so she wouldn’t have to sleep in her clothes. Languid and carefree from the wine, Mackenzie finished in the bathroom, tossed the decorative pillows onto the floor and rolled herself into bed. She sighed happily and snuggled into the downy pillows. Alone, in the dark, her mind drifted back to Dylan’s kisses. Her body undoubtedly wanted more and more and more. But did she?

The next morning, she had the answer to that self-imposed question. Slightly hungover, and a little bit headachy, Mackenzie brushed her teeth and then, still in Dylan’s pajama top, she left the guest bedroom. The house was quiet as she headed up to Dylan’s third-floor master suite. Other than the unmade, empty bed, the room was spotless. The man really was a total neat freak. Her chronic messiness would drive him nuts! Mackenzie stood in the doorway for a moment, rethinking the soundness of her plan. Perhaps she should just turn around, sprint back to her room and catapult herself back into bed.

And she almost did, but then she heard a toilet flush and Dylan appeared, wearing the bottom half of the pajama set, stripped bare above the waist, hair mussed, scratching his chest hair. He didn’t notice her as he walked sleepily back to his bed and flopped backward. Mackenzie, frozen to the spot, had been trying, since she had awakened, to formulate her best pitch line, and she had decided on, Dylan—would you make love to me?

“Dylan...?”

Surprised by her voice, Dylan bolted upright. “Geez...you scared the crap out of me, Mackenzie.” Dylan collapsed back into his fortress of pillows.

“Sorry...”

“Don’t worry about it...” Dylan yawned and stretched.

It took him a minute to focus his eyes and really get a look at Mackenzie. Standing shyly in his doorway, hands in the fig-leaf position, she was filling out his pajama top in a way that made his body stand at attention. He pushed himself into a sitting position and casually pulled the covers over the lower half of his body. He had to force himself not to stare at her legs; Mackenzie had really sexy, curvy legs.

“Are you hungry?” Dylan asked after he cleared his throat.

He needed to get her out of his bedroom. The last thing he wanted to do was go too far too fast and run her off the way he almost did last night.

“No.” Mackenzie tugged on the bottom of the pajama top to cover more of her legs. “I mean...yes. I am. But no.”

Dylan half smiled, half laughed at her odd response. “Say what?”

Mackenzie twisted her fingers together, losing faith in the sanity of her plan. She had been trying to keep things simple and uncomplicated with Dylan back in her life; what she was about to propose was a first-class ticket to complicated.

“Yes, I am hungry...but no, that’s not the reason I’m here. In your bedroom...”

“I’m listening...” Dylan was intrigued...and hopeful. Perhaps Mackenzie didn’t need to leave his bedroom after all.

“I was wondering...how you would feel about—” she shifted weight from one leg to the other “—actually, what I’m trying to ask is...do you want to...make love to me?”

“Yes.” Dylan took her up on her offer in record time.

“Yes?” Her voice had jumped an octave.

“Yes.” He nodded. “I would...like to make love to you.”

The man had said yes, which is what she wanted, right? But now she wished she could press Rewind and take back the offer. This couldn’t be a good idea, could it? Sex complicated everything. And this situation was already complicated enough.

“Come join me...” Dylan peeled back the covers on the empty side of the bed.

Instead of taking the sane and safe option, she walked slowly toward him.

“You look really good in my pajamas...” It was a genius idea to lend her the top of his favorite pair.

Dylan found Mackenzie’s nervous smile endearing. He had been used to women who were sexually confident, even aggressive at times. This was a nice change. When Mackenzie reached the side of the bed, she quickly slid beneath the covers and pulled them up to her chin. The tips of her fingers were white from gripping the covers so tightly.

“Did you know—” Dylan turned on his side, kept his hands to himself “—that most men are really nervous about sleeping with a woman for the first time?”

“Is that true or are you just making that up to make me feel better...?”

“I’m not making it up...it’s true.”

Mackenzie loosened her death grip on the covers. “Are you nervous now?”

“Yeah,” Dylan admitted. “Sure I am...”

“Why?”

“Because...there’s a lot pressure on a guy to perform, women just don’t get it. We’re always worried about are we big enough, are we hard enough, are we going to last? Not to mention the pressure of trying to give a woman multiple orgasms when it’s hard enough just to figure out how to give her one. And trust me, all guys know that our performance, good or bad, is going to be discussed, and dissected, at length with their friends. I’m telling you...it’s a lot of pressure to be on the guy end of things.”

His attempt to make Mackenzie feel more comfortable with him must have worked, because she put her arms on top of the covers. They were still pinned tightly to her sides, completely blocking him from her body, but it was progress.

Dylan reached over, tucked her hair behind her ear and then lightly rested his hand on her arm. “We don’t have to do this, Mackenzie. It’s okay to change your mind.”

“No!” Mackenzie protested. “I want to do it. I’m rusty, okay? And I would think,” Mackenzie snapped, “that with all your vast experience, you’d know how to get the ball rolling. Aren’t you the one with the bachelor pad and models-slash-actresses prancing about half-naked? I made the first move, why can’t you make the—”

Dylan’s kiss cut off the rest of her words. She liked the minty taste of his tongue; she liked the masculine smell of his skin—no cologne, just Dylan’s natural scent. By the time Dylan ended the kiss, Mackenzie no longer felt like complaining. She wanted less talking and more kissing.

“Here...” Dylan tugged on the covers that were still pinned down with her arms. “Let me get closer to you.”

Once he managed to coax the covers out of her control, Dylan pressed his body into hers. She continued to lay on her back, stiff and unmoving, when he wrapped his arm around her and draped his leg over her thigh. Dylan made a pleasurable noise as he nuzzled her neck.

“Aren’t we supposed to do this after...?”

“Relax...” Dylan whispered near her ear.

Relax. Relax. Just relax!

“Open your eyes, Mackenzie...” Dylan was admiring her pretty face.

She opened her eyes; it was embarrassing. She only made love in the dark with her eyes closed. And now Dylan wanted them open?

“You have the most amazing eyes... Have I ever told you that before?”

She shook her head. She liked his eyes, too. In the soft morning light, they looked mossy green with flecks of gold around the irises.

He ran his fingers lightly over her lips. “Soft lips.”

Those two simple words were followed by a kiss. Once he started kissing her again, he didn’t stop. He seemed to enjoy the taste and the feel of her mouth. And she found herself responding to this gentle seduction. He wasn’t in a hurry; he wasn’t just going through the motions to get to the end zone as fast as he could. Dylan was making her feel special, beautiful...cherished. At first, she was a passive partner, timid and unsure. But his kisses started to change that and she began to touch his body—the hair on his chest, his biceps.