I spun around to face him. “I was just—”
“Snooping?” he asked in amusement.
“Putting this in the fridge,” I argued, lifting the bowl a little for emphasis.
“What’s that?”
“Just macaroni salad.”
“You brought food?” he asked, his eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Just a side dish,” I said as he strode toward me. “It goes with anything off the grill.”
My last word was garbled as his lips pressed to mine. I barely registered as he took the bowl from my hands and placed it on the counter behind me. I was too caught up in the feel of him, the soft scratch of his beard and his tongue sliding against mine. He tasted like beer and mint, and it was a surprisingly good pairing. I slid my hands into his hair as his fingers dug into the cheeks of my ass, and both of us groaned. It felt like it had been years since I’d last touched him. An eternity.
We stood there in the kitchen having a PG-13 make-out session until Mack suddenly ripped his mouth from mine and took a full step backward.
“What?” I asked dazedly, reaching for him again.
“Shower just shut off,” he replied, clearly frustrated as he slicked his hair back with his hands. “Kara’ll be out in a minute.”
“Then we still have a minute,” I said, taking a step toward him.
“I’m gonna need one,” he replied ruefully, backing away. He slid the heel of his hand down the erection tenting his jeans and my mouth watered.
“We could hide,” I said hopefully.
“She’s twelve, not six,” he said with a laugh. “She’d know exactly what we were up to.”
“Oh, God,” I muttered, shuddering at the thought. I remembered hearing my parents go at it when I was Kara’s age. I’d run completely out of the house and nearly vomited when I’d realized what the noises were.
“You’re lookin’ a little green,” he said, his lips twitching.
“We need to be quiet,” I said seriously. “Like, really quiet.”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” he asked, trying and failing to hold back his laughter. “She’s gonna be out here in about thirty seconds. We aren’t startin’ shit now.”
“I mean always,” I replied, starting to panic a little. Had we been too loud the other night? Is that why she’d fallen out of bed? I shuddered again.
“What’s your deal?” he asked in confusion.
“Do you think she heard us the other night?” I whispered as the bathroom door opened. I froze, then let out a breath of relief as Kara’s door closed.
“Hell, no,” he said easily. I must have looked as freaked out as I felt because he pulled me into his arms. “You mighta been outta your mind,” he murmured into my ear. “But I’m always conscious of that shit. We weren’t loud.”
“How can you be sure?” I asked.
“Number one, because I’m a parent, and I’m always aware of where my kid is and what she can hear and see me doin’,” he replied. “And number two, Kara woulda given me a ration of shit and gagged every time she saw me for at least twenty-four hours afterward.”
“She knows we’re together, though?” I asked, tipping my head back to look at him.
“Hard to miss when you come outta my room in the middle of the night,” he said, his voice laced with amusement.
“And she’s okay with it?”
“Yep,” he replied. “She said you’re way too cool for me, though.”
“That’s because I am,” I replied instantly.
“Is that right?” he asked, his fingers going to my ribs to tickle me. I jerked and snorted, trying to get away, my laughs coming out in big guffaws, and that’s how Kara found us.
“Ew,” she said, strolling into the kitchen. “Child in the room!”
“You want some of this?” Mack asked her, letting me go so he could lunge for his daughter.
Kara screamed as he wrapped his arms around her, his hand going straight into her armpit.
“Careful now,” he said breathlessly, laughing as Kara screamed and giggled. He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head before letting her go.
“I kept the shampoo off my stitches,” Kara said, tilting her head back to show them off to her dad. “Like a boss.”
“Good job, princess,” he said. “Why don’t you grab some plates and silverware. Burgers are almost done.”
“Need help?” I asked as Mack pulled condiments out of the fridge.
“Sure,” he said, shooting me a smile. “Take these to the back deck?”
I took the bottles from his hands and brought them outside to the table on their back porch. They had a nice little set-up back there, with a barbecue off to the side and an umbrella shading the table. Kara followed me outside and set out all the place settings, turning things just so.
“You guys eat out here a lot?” I asked as we went back inside.
“Every day in the summer,” she replied. “Except last year, when the bees were bad.”