Page 1 of Mac (Demented Souls #7)

E very muscle ached as Mac eased his bike into his driveway then into the garage.

A package on his front step caught his attention and made him frown as the garage door slowly lowered.

He cut the engine, swung out of his seat and let himself into the house, leaving his helmet on the dryer on his way through.

Curiosity got the best of Mac and he fetched the box from the front porch.

He couldn't remember ordering, anything.

Not to be delivered here. He ordered things all the time for the shop, but he had them delivered there.

He only had personal orders delivered to the house, but that wasn't all that often.

That didn't mean he hadn't ordered it. He'd been known to order things and forget they were coming until they arrived.

taking the box back to the kitchen he grabbed a knife from the magnetic rack on the wall beside the stove and sliced the tape.

Folding back the flaps, he stared down at the pink striped box inside for several minutes, stunned.

This couldn't be his package. Never in his life had he ordered from this company.

He knew the name, of course he did. No full-grown American male in the twenty first century didn't. But he'd never imagined ordering from them.

This had to be some kind of mistake. Confusion filled him.

He froze for the space of several breaths, staring down at the pink stripes of two shades covering the box inside a box.

He flipped the flap closed and took a look at the label.

The address was right, but the name wasn't. A second look told him the address wasn't right either.

It was close, but not quite right. Staring at the box, it took him a moment to realize it wasn't his address, but the one next door.

Now he felt like an idiot for not checking it sooner.

But who expects a package left on their doorstep to be for someone else?

With a sigh, he folded the box closed and headed for the door.

He trudged across his yard and driveway and into the one next door, trying to calm his breathing.

He'd seen the woman next door several times.

He'd never seen a man over there, but that didn't mean there wasn't one.

Mac was the first to admit, he'd watched her from a far, noticed she was understatedly sexy, but had never had a reason to speak with her.

He loved his house and the neighborhood, but he valued his privacy here and assumed the same of his neighbors.

Now though, he couldn't just drop the box on her step.

No, he had to explain and apologize about opening it.

Knocking on the door, Mac forced himself to keep breathing normally.

He was a grown man and not a young one. As he waited, he couldn't help but wonder if she was home.

A glance over to the garage on the far side of her house from his, told him her car was in the driveway, so maybe she was home. He knocked again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

A voice was muffled by the door and a moment later it opened, revealing a woman dressed in an oversized t-shirt that fell to mid-thigh and shorts that stopped about an inch below the hem of her shirt revealing long, well-tanned legs.

She wore flip flops with bright blue toenails.

He stood enchanted a moment, unable to remember why he was there.

"Can I help you?"

Her voice called him back to the present.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm Mac, I live next door.

" He gave a vague movement toward his house.

"This was on my step when I got home, and I didn't realize it wasn't mine until after I'd opened it.

" He lifted the box. "I stopped as soon as I saw the box inside, I didn't even open that.

" He held it out for her and let her take it.

She glanced down at the box in his hand.Color rushed to her face. "Oh." She took the box. "Thanks, I guess." She turned and set it on something inside before turning back to him.

"I'm sorry about that. I promise, I didn't check the label first and I didn't look inside once I saw the box. I hope you don't think badly of me."

"No. no, thank you for bringing it over." Some of the color started to fade from her cheeks. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm good, thanks. I'm just glad you were here so I could give it to you and explain.

" He stepped back, wishing for once he was wearing something other than his usual cowboy boots, jeans and the t-shirt he wore beneath the uniform shirt that all his mechanics wore.

At least he wasn't wearing his kutte, mostly because he didn't normally wear it to work.

The shop was a greasy mess and while he didn't mind a little dirt, his kutte and colors were more than a little special, he hated getting them that kind of dirty.

"I'm glad I was too. Thank you for bringing it and telling me what happened." She smiled and he wanted to move closer, to say something but he didn't know what.

He backed away, inching toward his house. "Have a good night."

"You too."

He turned and went across the space dividing them.

Stepping back into his house, he leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath.

He could only hope he'd kept a blank face and hadn't let her see how incredibly hot he found her.

The last thing he needed was for her husband or boyfriend to come over accusing him of going through her mail, or worse, her lingerie.

Because what else did women order from Victoria's Secret ?

They might have more than underwear but how would he know that?

Once he'd caught his breath, and tamed his errant dick, he went back to what he'd been thinking about when he'd pulled into the yard. Dinner and putting his feet up for a bit.