The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

“I’m…I’m going to be alright.” She paused. “So, Lily seems real nice.”

Mac stared at Becca a few seconds longer, but he wasn’t going to call her out on a deflection. He new she wasn’t ready to talk about stuff, and this wasn’t really the place either.

“She is.”

“So would she be considered your girlfriend?”

Okay, he was all for letting the deflection slide, but man, he wasn’t real up on discussing his personal life with his sister. Jesus, just the day before his mother had asked if he wanted to bring Lily for dinner one night. He’d politely refused because he wasn’t ready to mix his family and Boston—not yet anyway.

Then why the hell am I in this canoe race with Lily and Liam?

“She’s a friend,” he answered tightly. He didn’t want them making assumptions on stuff he wasn’t even sure about.

“Liam likes her a lot. He says that she’s given him a few art lessons and that she”—Becca paused—“smells real nice.”

Well, Mac couldn’t fault his nephew there.

“Draper, if you don’t get your canoe in the water, you’re never going to have a chance to win.”

Mac glanced over to Jake. “Whatever, Edwards. You’ve never managed to beat me before.”

Jake had his arm around Raine and kissed her on the nose before flipping Mackenzie the bird. “I’ve never had such a pretty copilot either.”

“Do you want me to make something for dinner?”

“No,” he said sharply, glancing at Becca. “I have no idea how long the race will take, but when it’s over, I’ll drop Liam off, and then Lily and I are heading back to the cottage.”

She frowned. “But it’s Saturday night. I just thought that maybe a barbecue would be fun. You don’t need to get your damn panties in a knot.” She took a step back. “What’s your problem anyway?”

“My problem?” That thing that had been buzzing in his head for the last few weeks suddenly sharpened into something hot and angry. He glared at his sister. “My problem is that my private life is private. I don’t need to bring Lily by for dinner or hang out with you guys in the backyard and talk about the good ol’ days because we both know there weren’t any. Why are you so interested in getting to know her anyway?”

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“Does it really surprise you that I want to get to know the woman you’re spending so much time with?”

Mac didn’t care that Mrs. Avery and her husband were staring at him, or that old man Lawrence was frowning at him either. He just wanted everyone to leave him the hell alone. Was it childish? Maybe. But he didn’t give a rat’s ass.

“I think, Becca, that instead of focusing on me, you should be getting your shit together. I don’t think you need to be worrying about family dinners that would suck or nice relaxed barbecues that we both know would never happen. You’ve got a kid and you’re on your own, so maybe a job might be something to think about. That sounds like a brilliant fucking idea to me. I’m gone after Labor Day, so this thing with me and Lily St. Clare has an expiration date. Your mess of a life doesn’t.”

Becca’s face whitened, and as soon as the words left his mouth, Mac wanted to snatch them back.

“You’re an asshole, Mackenzie. A complete and utter asshole.”

He stared into his sister’s eyes, saw the pain he’d caused, and suddenly his anger left as quickly as it had come. What the hell was wrong with him? This was supposed to be a fun, relaxed day.

“Jesus, Becca. I know,” he said roughly. “Family genetics.” Her bottom lip trembled, and Mac cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”

It was barely noon and already the day was crap. Could it get any worse?

Becca glanced around, and Mac was suddenly aware that a lot of people were listening in on the Draper family drama. She gave him a hard look and then turned and left, weaving through the crowd until he couldn’t see her anymore.

He glanced over to Jake who was staring at him—his expression unreadable—and then when he turned toward his canoe, big blue eyes caught him. They caught him hard.

Lily held his gaze for several seconds and then motioned for Liam to follow her into the canoe.

Shit.

It was obvious to him that she’d heard everything, and he was guessing she wasn’t real happy with the exchange.