I let out a slight audible gasp. The muscles between my legs instinctively tightened.
“Well, you said you weren’t gonna hold back. I guess you weren’t kidding.”
“I’m not gonna pretend, no. I’m not gonna lie to you about my feelings. I’m not going to hide the fact that I want to make love to you more than anything.”
His phone vibrated, disrupting the tension.
He looked down. “Shit. It’s Torrie. I’d better take this in case it has to do with Jonah.”
“No problem.”
I listened as he spoke to her. His ex’s calling in the middle of our moment was a timely reminder that being with Mack would always mean having to deal with Torrie being in the picture.
He put the phone back in his pocket. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It had nothing to do with Jonah. She wanted to confirm what time the winter festival was this weekend.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She’s gonna be there?”
“Yeah. She wants to go, apparently.”
I tried to make light of it. “Well, that’s one sure dunk in the tank for you.”
He chuckled. “You can bet on that.”
The following Thursday afternoon, Mack was parked outside of the school waiting for me at five; my staff meeting had run late.
He’d had to cancel seeing me the previous two days because Torrie got unexpectedly called out of town for a work-related emergency. Since Jonah had to stay with him, there was no way for us to spend time together after school. He’d been extremely apologetic, even though I’d told him it really wasn’t necessary to be sorry about something he couldn’t control.
When I entered the car, he looked morose. “I’m so fucking sorry, Frankie.”
“I told you, it’s fine.”
He looked around to make sure no one had spotted us before driving off.
“No, it’s not fine. We only have this week. This time has been like a gift, and I just lost two whole days with you. Now, we just have tonight.”
Jonah’s weekend with Mack started on Friday afternoons through Sunday evening. So, aside from the fact that I’d see him at the winter festival on Saturday, tonight would be it.
“We’ll make the most of it.” I smiled.
“I’ve been dying to see you,” he said.
The words were at the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell him that I’d thought of nothing but him for the past two days, but I needed to be careful. I didn’t want to give him false hope, because admittedly, I was still torn about what was going to happen once Victor returned. This limbo wasn’t really fair to either of them, but I vowed not to let my confusion ruin tonight. It was my one night with Mack, and I needed to focus on the moment.
I finally answered him, “You’ve been on my mind, too. A lot.”
Mack was dressed to the nines in a fitted, collared shirt and formal trousers.
Looking him up and down, I said, “You’re so dressed up.”
“I have a surprise for you. But you need to stop at home and change into something nice.”
“You’re taking me to my condo?”
He sensed my apprehension. “Yes, but I’ll wait in the car for you.”
Once at my house and not wanting to waste time, I’d never gotten dressed so fast in my life. My pulse raced with excitement as I threw on a red dress and matching heels. Glancing over at a picture of Victor and me in our bedroom, I tried not to let the guilt seep in. I reminded myself that even Victor wanted me to use this time away to figure things out. Going out with Mack tonight was part of that process.
Mack’s eyes widened when I returned to the car. “Fuck, you look gorgeous. I’ve always loved you in red. It accentuates your hair.”
“Thank you.” My skin felt hot from the compliment. “So, you won’t tell me where we’re going?”
“Like I said, it’s a surprise.”
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the Hyatt Regency hotel that overlooked the Charles River.
“We’re going to The Spinnaker.” He smiled.
The Spinnaker was a restaurant situated on the top floor of the hotel. It was known for its rotating floor, which spun around ever so slowly while patrons gazed out at different views of the city. Back in college, we’d gone there once to celebrate acing our respective final exams. Mack had racked up a huge bill on his father’s credit card and vowed to deal with the repercussions later. We’d had so much fun that night.
We made our way to the top of the hotel, only—to our shock—there was nothing there anymore. A cleaning person was vacuuming a rug, but the doors that once led into the famous restaurant were locked.