Epilogue after this and we're done. :-)

Chapter 10

Mac's POV

He was right, of course. Most men had an interest in me from the second we stepped into the club. Some were able to keep their distance and only showed their interest in the form of winks and lopsided smiles. Others were as subtle as a hippopotamus at Christmas making zero attempts to respect the man who had his arm around my waist.

After an hour it was clear my intention was to keep away from every single one of them other than Eric, the groundskeeper who politely asked me to dance. The rest of the evening was traded between canoodling at a small table at the rear of the bar and swaying on the dance floor.

"I just realized something." Harm had pulled our chairs closer together, his effort to make conversation easier above the musing thumping around us. His hand had dropped down to my knee which he squeezed gently.

"What's that?"

"This is our first date."

I glance out at the dancefloor and then over to him. We sorta went from zero to a billion in the span of a few days and it hadn't really occurred to me that we hadn't exactly gone out. Going grocery shopping in town didn't count and neither did popcorn and movies in the cottage. "It is, isn't it?"

"Kinda always figured with you it'd be dinner and dancing or dinner and a movie." He leans in closer, enough so that I could feel his breath on my neck. The hand that was squeezing my knee has come up slightly to tease the exposed skin where my skirt had ridden up. "I'm still jealous but it's thrilling that they know you're coming home with me tonight."

"Oh, well I don't know about that. Bob over there seems interested." I motion towards the bartender, a seventy year old balding man that waves at me each time I make eye contact. Bob is also gay, has a boyfriend named Chuck and lives in an apartment above the bar.

"If you prefer Bob…" Harm pretends to get up but a gentle tug on his tie brings him even closer than before.

"Take me home." I whisper and when he looks at me I see Harm's eyes darken.

"What about New Years?" My internal clock tells me we have about an hour before the clock strikes twelve and when it does, I prefer to kiss him in the privacy of the bungalow than a crowded and smokey bar.

"We don't need a crowd to celebrate."

He grins and hurries to the bar, dropping more than enough cash to cover our tab. Before long Harm's behind the wheel of a Range Rover, navigating it back to our home.

Harm's POV

The temperature had dipped a little making the evening so pleasant it was easy to sit out on the back porch and wait for the fireworks by firelight.

Mac's still wearing that dress and I don't know what it is about the amber hues of the fire but when they reflect on her face, she's the most beautiful creature on Earth.

"Here." She suspiciously eyes the flute with bubbly liquid that I hand her but doesn't question the contents. Clearly, I would never give her alcohol and Mac knows this. Instead I'vd filled the glass with sparkling apple juice. "How much longer?"

Mac looks to the skies and smiles like there's a secret only she's privy to. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One…Happy New Year."

I set my glass on a small table, pull Mac to her feet and gently cup her face in my hands. "Happy New Year, Sarah." Her lips are soft, warm and welcoming. It feels so damned good to kiss her and hold her and feel her body responding to mine. I've always loved the Marine even when at her most infuriating. But I'm in love with the woman beneath the uniform.

This time the fireworks are brighter, bigger and I hold her in my arms as we watch the dazzling colors and patterns break overhead. "Auld Lang Syne" plays on the TV and as Mac turns her arms snake around my neck, mine circles her waist.

We sway gently and I'm in awe of how well we fit together, like a puzzle with all its pieces in place. To think that I could have missed out on all of this for a meaningless holiday romp is a little unsettling. I'm not that young jet jock anymore, the one with a girl in every port and a few waiting back home.

That scares me.

This scares me because I know I'll never care for a single human being more than I do her.

"What's wrong?" I snap out of my thoughts and glance down.

Her eyes are filled with worry and I mentally kick myself when I speak. "I don't wanna get married."

"Okay?" Mac slips out of my arms and the instant lack of contact makes me feel like the World has crumbled at my feet. "Were you planning on asking tonight?" She seems a little relieved and I don't know what to make of it.

"No but…this, us it's. After all these days, I don't want anyone else and that's a little-"

"Terrifying?" She smiles and it's the knowing kind that I find cute and annoying all at once. "I don't want anyone else either and yeah, that is a little terrifying."

"You ruined me for other women, Mac." I circle around her, step into her waiting embrace and grin when she effortlessly pulls close. "I want more than just a few days of warm beaches and hot sex. I just can't promise you forever right now."

"I wasn't expecting you to drop on one knee and propose. I would have said 'no.'"

Ouch. Why does it hurt me to hear that? Maybe it's the thought of rejection from her that makes my heart ache. "Why?"

"I have a mountain to climb with my Article 32 and given everything with John and Chris…It wouldn't be fair to you." She's afraid of the scuttlebutt that would spread like wildfire and her character would take another hit. "I don't want to lose you, I think…I know it would kill me."

"You're never gonna lose me, Sarah. We take it slow when we go back home. Dinner, dates, nights where we share stupidly embarrassing childhood memories."

She chuckles and I imagine the wheels in her head churning over my adolescent antics. "Are sleepovers still allowed?" Mac takes my hand when the fireworks finally begin to die down.

I'm led into the house, following her blindly when she takes a left towards the bedrooms. Mac turns around and my mouth waters as I stare at her partially open back and the three straps I know will undo most of that dress. I kiss each shoulder, the crook of her neck as my fingers work to uncinch her dress. "Yeah sleepovers are acceptable."

With one pull, the dress slides off her body and she's left in nothing more than heels and a black lace thong that makes me painfully hard. She may not be ready for me to drop on one need and propose but. "There's other things I could do on one knee."

"Oh?" She turns and my fingers latch to the tiny waistband of her thong pulling them down her slender legs. Mac watches as I come to one knee, lean forward and slip my tongue between her folds. Her hands on my shoulders prevent her from falling. She makes a sound that is a cross between a moan and a purr and I realize I could die happy this very moment.