If Not for You

Part 10

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Mac chuckled as he watched Emily, "You should see your face; you look like a kid in a candy store!"

Emily, her eyes wide, mouth grinning from ear to ear, was moving from one display to another. She tentatively touched the displays after glancing at Mac for an okay sign.

"You have the neatest stuff! I love this puzzle box; I could spend hours with this! Oh look, isn't that…" and on she went about the rooms where Mac had set up displays of things of intrigue which was his passion.

"How about a glass of wine while you run around like a kid?" He asked as they headed to the kitchen. He was pleased to see the lights shined within her as she asked and identified various items most people would not be able to.

She nodded, "Wine sounds good."

"White or red?"

Thinking for a moment she asked for a red.

"Red wine it is." He opened a cupboard and picked up a bottle, holding it up for her.

"Oh! Montrose Cabernet Sauvignon! That's one of my favorite red!"

Mac smiled; they had much in common.

Opening the bottle was effortless and in a minute, she was holding a glass of red.

"Delicious." She said as she took a sip.

"Feel free to roam about. I'm going to start dinner." He was taking a drink as well.

"You sure you don't need help? Cutting? Slicing? Wait…that sounds like some of my cases."

Mac chuckled as he let the implication sank in. "No, I'm fine. And it'll be ready in no time."

"You're sure?" She asked again.

Mac looked at her, "Yes! Get lost! Oh, there's no panic buttons in the rooms but I'm sure if you yell loud enough I can find you."

"Such an excellent host!" Emily raised her glass to him and walked away.

Mac watched her as she began to meander her way to the living room, stopping and studying his collections, her eyes were large and wide, her mouth was shaped into an 'O'. Mac grinned as he took a sip of his wine and then turned around and headed for the 'fridge.

Ten minutes later, Emily's nose began to twitch; she smelled Thai food. The aroma of various exotic spices wafted through the rooms and her stomach reacted hungrily to them.

As she turned towards where she had entered, she saw Mac leaning against the door frame. He had shed the jacket, his bowtie hung loosely around the shirt collar which was unbuttoned at the throat. He couldn't look anymore dashing and handsome than if he was fully suited earlier.

"I see you found me." She said softly, her eyes still feasting on him.

"That's because you left a trail of lavender and rose and all I had to do was to follow it."

Emily blushed lightly, "I'm glad it's my perfume and not stinky sweat!"

Mac chuckled, "Me too. And speaking of scent, dinner is ready."

"Already? Wow, either it's take out or you're the fastest cook!"

"Neither."

He led her back to the kitchen where he sat her in one of the bar stools facing a large counter. Emily's eyes were feasting on the dishes displayed before her.

There were five different Thai dishes including one of her favorites; Pad Thai noodles, this one was cooked with giant shrimps. The others, Mac pointed to her, were Suki; a Thai hot pot, Som tam; Thai salad, Massaman curry, and for dessert, Khanom mo keang; a sweet baked pudding containing coconut milk, eggs, palm sugar and flour, sprinkled with sweet fried onions.

Emily couldn't believe the feast in front of her. "Mac, you didn't make all of these in the span of ten minutes, I didn't hear a doorbell ring so it couldn't be take-out and it certainly didn't look like frozen dinner. So, tell me how this is possible?"

Mac was putting portions of the dishes on her plate as he explained, "My housekeeper, Mrs. Nguyen is Thai and this is all she cooks for her family; authentic Thai cuisine. I had suggested to her that she should open a Thai restaurant but she shook her head and laughingly told me that she only cooks for her family."

"You are lucky, this is absolutely delicious!" She said with her mouth full.

"I know. And every week, when she comes over to clean, she would bring food like this. She is always griping about how thin I look and that she wanted to fatten me up."

"She sounds like a great lady! I'm going to have to borrow her permanently!" She spooned more curry into her Pad Thai noodles.

"You'll be fattened up in no time. How are you going to chase the baddies?" He teased.

She shook her head, "I have a high metabolism. And Thai foods are not really fatty and I could eat this every night!"

As they ate, they began to talk more about their teams and the cases they had dealt with. Mac was thoroughly engrossed with Emily and her animated discussion of her team. It was only when she talked about her supervisor that she slowed in her description of SSAIC Aaron Hotchner.

He had not met the man personally but he had heard of him from other LEOs who were involved with the homeland terrorists attack a couple of years ago.

Surprisingly, they realized they had eaten almost all the dishes that were laid out, and two bottles of wine.

Then Emily realized it was past midnight; time for Cinderella to go home.

"Mac, it's getting late. Could you call for a cab?" She asked.

Shaking his head, "I don't think so. Emily, I'm not going to let you get into a cab all by yourself and dressed to the nines. And since I'm in no shape to drive, why don't you spend the night here?"

Emily's eyes widened, "I…but I don't have a change of clothes."

"I'm sure I have some T-shirts and sweats you can wear. It'll be slightly big but doable. And I also have a guest room ready with new toiletries; you have nothing to worry about that."

Emily smiled hesitantly and yawned suddenly. "I guess that's my answer. You sure you don't mind?"

"Come on, I'll show you to your room."

He held out his hand, Emily readily grabbed it. She liked the pressure and warmth his hand felt.

Mac was pleased that Emily didn't hesitate and he gave her hand a light squeeze before walking down a hallway and to the left a door.

Opening it, he continued leading her and stopped in the center of the bedroom.

Emily looked around her and smiled; it was a simply decorated bedroom with a queen-sized bed, nightstand and a three-drawer dresser.

"The bathroom is across from this room. Sorry but there's only one so you'll be sharing it with me."

Emily nodded, "Okay. So…about night clothes?"

"Ah yes, I'll be right back." He left her in the room.

Less than two minutes, he was back with a T-shirt and sweat pants. "As my guest, you have first dibs to the bathroom. I'm going to go change out of my penguin suit."

"Thanks Mac!"

"Um, I usually make some tea before heading to bed, so if you want to you can join me in the kitchen."

Emily tilted her head, "I think I will. Thank you again."

"Don't mention it! I'll see you later." He nodded to her and left.

Emily headed to the bathroom. She looked around the small room and smiled; it was typically masculine décor with Hunter Green as the main color. It was neat and tidy.

She reached her back and began unzipping her dress when it snagged on what she figured was the fabric. Tugging hard, it wouldn't budge.

"Great! I can't sleep in this!" She gave it one more tug but it had not moved, in fact she felt the zipper was lodged deeper into the cloth.

As the waistline was snug against her, she couldn't slide it around so she could get a better grasp or could she slide it over her head. Feeling frustrated, she opened the bathroom door in search of Mac's bedroom.

Emily knocked on his door feeling embarrassed but at this moment, she wanted to get comfortable.

"Emily?" she heard his voice on the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I need your help with this dress."

"Okay," he said as he opened the door.

Emily's eyes widened as she was staring at a wide expense of bare chest.

He was in the process of removing his shirt when he heard the knock.

"Emily?" he saw her gaze and something fuzzy came unbidden in the pits of his stomach, as well as his boys were feeling it too.

"Oh, I…my zipper is stuck, could you help?" She turned around before he replied.

Mac began to tug at the snagged material and saw that it was loosening a little. He tried to concentrate on the zipper but his eyes couldn't help but going back up to the top part of her back which was bare. Her skin looked silken smooth; he wanted to touch her skin, just to confirm his curiosity.

"Any progress?" Emily asked a moment later, a hand holding the front of her dress.

"No, it's stuck…wait, I felt it slacked a little. Hang in there."

Giving a hard tug, the zipper finally slid down and revealed to Mac more bare back, all the way down to below her hips and the twin dimples above her buttocks. And red lacy underwear.

He thought they were the most delicious dimples he had ever seen.

"Mac?" Emily had felt a cool air touching her lower bare back; he must have managed to free the snag. But he had not said anything.

"Mac?" She called to him softly and jerked suddenly when she felt his hands on her bare skin. She felt his callused fingers slowly running down her back and rubbing gently on her skin. Instantly, her heart began beating fast. She was enjoying his touch, sending tingles and little electric sparks.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed his fingers touching her bare skin.

Then another sensation touched her skin, on her shoulder. His lips.

He was tenderly kissing her! It felt so erotic.

More sensation; his smooth bare chest was now against her bare back!

"Emily," he uttered softly as he continued his butterfly kisses on her soft and smooth skin.

Envious of his attention on her skin, she wanted to feel his lips on hers. She moved to turn around and face him.

His hands on her shoulders as he gazed at her face; so beautiful.

Emily put her free hand on his bare chest and slowly began caressing the skin covering the muscles she could feel underneath.

Mac gasped as he closed his eyes and enjoyed her hand on his skin.

He felt something else on him. Opening his eyes, he saw that she had leaned in and was tenderly kissing his chest.

He wanted to taste her lips so he tipped her chin and kissed her. He almost grinned when he heard her sighed in contentment.

As they continued to kiss, she wanted to feel more bare skin, so both hands on his shoulders began to push the shirt which was still hung loosely on him down and helped him slide his shirt down his arms. He stepped back to give her more room to move the shirt off and instead, her dress slid completely down from her, pooling around her feet.

She was now only clad in that sexy low hip girly boxer. Mac thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen!

…End of Part 10…

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Lizzie