Moving down the hallway, he heard a soft humming, and a sort of sizzling sound. And…a deluge of spices, something delicious, hit him. Someone was cooking in the kitchen? So the intruder was just making themself right at home.
As he stepped around the corner, he froze at the sight in front of him.
Adeline was in the kitchen, wearing a skimpy little…dress? Lingerie? He didn’t know what the scrap of material was, but she wore it well. The pink dress thing had skinny straps, the color bright against her darker skin, and showed off the most perfect ass he’d ever seen. And she was humming to herself as soft music played and she swayed her hips in the most sensual, free way he’d ever seen.
Oh, hell. He felt like he was the intruder, knew he needed to let her know he was here. “Adeline.”
She let out a scream and whirled to face him, spatula held up like a weapon. Then she froze. “Mac? What…are you doing here?” She blinked those big brown eyes at him.
“Derek told me I could use this place for the next two days.”
She winced and let out a nervous laugh. “Ah, well, Madison told me I could use it.”
Derek’s wife. “They clearly made a scheduling error.” Though he was disappointed to have to leave, he took a step back. “I’ll get out of your hair.” Seeing her jarred him, especially since he’d been more or less obsessing about her the last couple months. Hoping for little peeks of her around town even though it was torture of the best kind. And now she was standing in front of him, her breasts spilling out of the dress, his fantasy come to life.
She shook her head slightly, her big curls swishing softly against her shoulders. “No, it’s late, and the weather is awful.”
“It’s only nine o’clock.”
“The rain…” She trailed off and then looked down as if suddenly realizing what she was wearing, because she cleared her throat. “Ah, hold on.” She turned off the stovetop and hurried from the room.
When she did, he got a glimpse of a lot of skin and a hint of her ass as the little dress thingy flared out.
His muscles seized up as his awareness of her heightened. He’d always been attracted to her. From the moment she’d shown up to tutor one of his brothers. But damn, seeing her like this? He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to shake away the lust surging through him.
Less than a minute later she was back, wearing a big sweater with a sparkly heart in the middle and yoga pants. “We should probably call Derek and Madison and find out what happened. Or at least let them know.”
“I promise, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just head out.” He hadn’t even gotten settled in, though he was disappointed. He’d been looking forward to the time alone here.
A boom of thunder clapped overhead and they both stilled for a moment as the windows rattled.
She shook her head as she returned to the stove. “The rain is getting worse and I just got a tornado alert on my phone.” As if to mirror her words, his own phone buzzed with the standard alert, announcing that a tornado had been seen in the area. “You shouldn’t be on the roads with this weather. There are probably trees down too.” She spoke as if it was already a done deal.
She was right, he knew that. But he didn’t want to invade her space when she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to be around him. He glanced around the kitchen, studiously not staring at her. “Smells good.”
“It is good, and I’ve got plenty to share. Seriously, there are two bedrooms. Go put your bag in the spare one. It’s the first one on the right down the hall. I took the bigger bedroom.” She grinned slightly and that smile did something to his insides—namely, made him forget how to breathe. “To be fair, I didn’t know you were coming.”
The situation was so weird and she was being so nice to him. As if she hadn’t been avoiding him for months. And…he really didn’t want to drive home. Not because of the storm, but because he wanted to spend time with her.
In that moment, he decided he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He simply nodded and backtracked to the foyer, grabbing his duffel and doing as she said.
As he stepped into the spare bedroom, thunder shook the entire house and he figured they might need to get some candles in case they lost power. He texted Derek to let him know about the double-booking and to ask where the emergency kit was.
Mac couldn’t shake the surreal feeling as he stepped back into the kitchen to find Adeline scooping whatever she’d cooked into two white scalloped bowls.
“I’m going to top mine with a fried egg. You want one?” she asked.
He glanced at the bowl of rice and beans and looked up at the sliced avocado on the cutting board. “Yeah, thank you. This looks delicious. What is it?”
“A modified version of my mom’s huevos rancheros—I don’t include the corn tortilla and I don’t make my own salsa.” She laughed lightly, the sound wrapping around him. “I use the store-bought kind,” she said as if confessing a secret. “My mom used to make this for me all the time. I’ve never quite perfected the spices she used on the rice, but it’s pretty close.”
“She used to?”
“Yeah, she died.” She didn’t look at him, didn’t offer up any more details, but he saw the way her jaw flexed slightly as she cracked an egg into the pan.
Mac recognized the sharp bite of pain in her words, something he understood all too well, having lost both his parents at a relatively young age. So he didn’t push.
Before he could think of something to say, she continued. “I’ve got an open bottle of wine over there. I’m not sure if you drink wine, but you’re welcome to have some. And there are a couple beers in the fridge. Derek’s, I’m sure.”
He shook his head as he stepped farther into the kitchen. “I don’t drink at all, so I’m good.”
She paused and glanced over at him. “You don’t drink alcohol?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I’ve got water and tea in the fridge.”
“I’ve got a cooler out in my Bronco. I wasn’t going to haul it in until the morning.” He’d planned to get here and crash.
“Did you eat before leaving Verona Bay?”
He laughed lightly as he leaned against a countertop. “Does gas station beef jerky count?”
She looked at him again, her brown eyes widening in horror. “No, it most certainly does not.”
Being this close to her was doing something to his senses—namely sending them into overload.
Pushing up, he searched around for silverware and set the little table by the window overlooking the lake. The blinds were open but it was too dark out to see much. If he squinted, he could just make out the lake beyond the sheets of rain falling.
“The flashes of lightning are kind of wild. They’ve been lighting up the lake. It’s cool to see,” she said.
He turned away from the window. “I texted Derek and let him know about the mishap. I also told him about the thunderstorm. He told me where all the spare candles are, so I’ll grab them and set them up.”
“Good idea, because I didn’t even think of that… Do you mind if I drink, by the way? If it’ll bother you, I don’t mind putting the wine up.”