Page 25 of Mac (Demented Souls #7)

E lyse woke reaching for some one that wasn't there.

She shook her head and looked at the empty spot on the bed before reaching over and finding the sheets cold.

A jolt of pain shot through her chest that he would leave in the middle of the night, without letting her know.

She stretched then sat up and twisted and stretched again.

That's when she spotted the folded piece of paper resting on the pillow beside hers.

A thasgaidh, I'm sorry you have to wake up alone. I got called in on club business and you looked so peaceful and angelic I hated to disturb you. I'll try to come back, but don't know if I'll be able to. No worries, I'll be in touch. Soon.

The note was signed with a clear M and a scribble that she assumed was the rest of his name but couldn't read.

The sadness that had ached in her chest since she'd found the bed beside her empty lifted.

It was easier to know he hadn't wanted to sneak away in the middle of the night.

That would have been a shitty, not to mention stupid move, since she knew where he lived, and it would be near impossible to get away from her.

She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as she got out of bed and forced herself to start her day.

After her shower, she poured a cup of coffee and sat down at her kitchen table with her phone as she waited for the caffeine to kickstart her brain, or the flavor of the dark, heavenly brew to trick her brain in to functioning.

She didn't care which, as long as the still sleeping organ got moving.

As she unlocked the phone, she found a message from Mac.

She read it once, then a second time before checking to see when he'd sent it.

Less than an hour before.

She felt bad that he'd lost so much sleep.

If it were her going without sleep, she'd be a holy terror to deal with, no matter how hard she tried for it not to be true.

She'd learned a long time ago that she needed at least six hours, eight was better, or her staff would encourage her to go do paperwork and leave the customers to them.

She wanted to say they were just being stupid, but it had happened often enough that she'd realized it wasn't the customers who were the issue.

It had taken a lot for her to admit that, even to herself, now she knew that unless she had to, it was best for her to hide in the office doing paperwork on the days when she hadn't had enough sleep to deal with the public.

She typed up a quick response letting him know she understood and couldn't wait to hear from him, then hit send. Taking her coffee with her, she went to get dressed. She needed to get into the shop and see what needed her attention. After two days off, there was always a stack of things waiting.

E lyse let herself into her car, started the engine and sat there with a sigh.

She waited for the AC to cool and pulled out her phone for the first time since her lunch break, which had gotten cut short because a customer had been screaming for attention and she had to go calm him down.

Now, she plugged it in for the drive home and checked for messages.

A thrill shot through her as she spotted a new message from Mac. He wished her a good day and asked about her plans for tonight. That was easy. Her only plan was to curl up with a good book, if he wasn't around. She could change her plans, or she could curl up with him and the book.

Now there was an idea that had some merit.

A shiver passed through her as she thought about seeing him.

She sent Mac a message asking what he was up to tonight then put her car in gear and headed home, her mind only paying enough attention to the road to get her where she needed to go.

The rest of her thoughts raced ahead, already home and wondering what she could make for dinner, what Mac was up to and if she would see him tonight.

As she pulled into the driveway and killed the engine, she felt a pang of regret sweep through her at the sight of Mac's empty driveway.

She wasn't sure why it bothered her, he rarely parked there.

Instead preferring to keep his motorcycle in the shelter of the garage.

Still, the place looked unchanged and unvisited since she'd left for work this morning.

Somehow, that made her miss him more than she should.

She couldn't help but wonder what had come up and how much sleep he'd ended up with.

Elyse checked the mailbox on the street then went inside, the whole time thinking about her sexy as hell neighbor.

AS she changed into more comfortable clothes her mind drifted back to the night before.

Her face heated and warmth and desire pooled low in her belly as she remembered the things they'd done and the way he'd made her scream.

That was something she'd never done before. Elyse had always been vocal in bed, one ex-boyfriend had called her demanding, and not in a good way. That's why he was an ex. But being unable to hold back her cry of release, even by biting her lip, that was new.

Her phone rang, calling her back from her memories. A glance told her it was her mother, whom she hadn't talked to in far too long.

"Hey, Mom. When did you get home?”

“A couple days ago.”

Elyse blinked and wanted to ask why they hadn’t let her know sooner but knew better. “What's up?"

"The usual. How are you doing? How's your little bookstore?"

"I'm good, Mom. The store is fine." Elyse wondered why Mom had called.

It wasn't just to check in, Mom didn't do that.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from reacting to the 'little bookshop' dig.

Mom did that on purpose. Elyse was the general manager of the largest secondhand book and media store in the state and Mom insisted on calling it a 'little bookstore'.

No matter what Elyse did, it never seemed to be enough to keep her mother off her back.

Most days Elyse didn't let it bother her, but once in a while she couldn't shake the feeling that Mom was disappointed in her. "How's Dad?"

"You're father's fine. He's out in the yard messing with the mower.

" There was that disapproving tone again.

"I keep trying to convince him he's too old to worry about it the yard and that we should just hire the teenager from down the street to mow for us, but he insists.

One of these days he's going to hurt himself messing with that old mower, then where will I be? "

Elyse rolled her eyes and wondered if bitching about Dad was why Mom had called or if she had another motivation.

Mom's calls were rarely as easy as listening to her complain about Dad.

There were usually at least four or five things Mom had to complain about, often something to do with her siblings, but not always, and it wasn't always to complain.

Sometimes Mom had another reason for calling, but there was always a reason, Elyse just wanted to figure out what today's was.

"Let him mow, it makes him happy."

"He's too old to deal with all that."

"It keeps him active, let him be." Elyse rolled her eyes and wished for what felt like the millionth time in her life that Mom wasn't so negative and judgmental.

"It's common..." her mother complained, and Elyse sighed.

And here they were at the real problem Mom had with so much.

Especially with Elyse. Elyse was too normal, too 'common' to suit Mom's social climbing aspirations.

Elyse had never understood her mother's need for social approval.

She'd always felt like she had more in common with her father, believing that she didn't care what most people thought about her, at least strangers.

People she knew were a different story. People she knew mattered more.

Though she'd learned not to put too much weight on her mother's opinions.

Partly because there was no way to please Mom, so why waste the energy trying?

Elyse spent another twenty minutes half listening to Mom before the older woman finally got to what Elyse suspected was her real reason for calling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that, Mom."

Mom sighed as if the effort of repeating herself was too much. "Have you heard from Conner recently?"

"No, not in a few weeks, why?" Elyse tried to remember the last time she'd talked to her brother. The most recent thing she could come up with was when she'd called for his birthday a couple months before.

"I should wait. It's his news to share after all." Mom had called to tell her and she most likely would, but she liked her little games. Elyse wasn't in the mood to play along.

"I'm sure he'll call when he's ready to share with me.

" Elyse rolled her eyes again. The sharp ache at the base of her skull warned her that if she didn't take something soon, she'd end up wasting her evening, and likely most of tomorrow, with a migraine that would have her hiding from light and sound until it faded.

"Well! If you don't want me to tell you," Mom huffed on the other end of the line.

Elyse closed her eyes a moment then headed to the bathroom and the medicine cabinet."Tell me or don't, Mom. If it's his business, I can wait for him," Elyse knew Mom wouldn't, "or you can tell me for him." She found the prescription bottle in the cabinet and twisted the lid off.

"Well, if you don't care that your brother asked that hoity toity girlfriend of his to marry him, then I won't bother you any longer."

"I'm sorry. I've got a massive headache coming on, Mom.

I'm going to have to go." She dry swallowed the pill while Mom sputtered and said goodbye, then said goodbye herself and hung up.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before pushing away from the bathroom sink and shuffling into the living room where she drew the curtains before lying down on the sofa and closing her eyes again.

Maybe if she relaxed a little, the meds would kick in and maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to function tomorrow.

E lyse was startled awake to find the room dark and her heart pounding.

She couldn't remember what had woken her and looked around for clues as she sat up and stretched.

Her phone chirped, making her jump, but she realized what had woken her.

She took a long, slow blink before reaching for the device.

Seeing several messages from Mom made her sigh and move on without reading them.

She had other messages and scanned them, replying to a few before she found the one from Mac.

Sorry, busy tonight. Hope you're good. What you doing?

Elyse sighed again, wondering what to say. She gave up trying to be cute or coy and just told him the truth.

Just woke up. Took a migraine pill after I got home, and it knocked me out. Hope your evening has been better.

Once she finished with the other messages, she sent a message to Conner.

I hear congrats are in order.

She scrubbed a hand over her face and tried to decide if she was hungry enough to mess with it or if she should just go to bed and back to sleep.

She wasn't all that hungry, a headache always killed her appetite, so she pushed herself to her feet and shuffled into the bedroom.

After setting her phone on the nightstand, she stripped out of her clothes and fell across the bed, asleep nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow.