“Yeah, uh, anyway…” he trailed off, pulling his hand back.

Christine stared at him, wondering what in the hell was going on. Not ten minutes earlier he was too afraid to have dinner with her and all of a sudden he introduced himself. What was up with that?

“I’m sorry, but are you kidding me right now?” she asked.

“What? No,” Mac argued. “Look, I didn’t know what to say when you asked me to dinner. I still have no idea why you’d want to go out with me when you could probably have any man you wanted. At the same time I realized I’d be stupid not to give it a shot.”

“Give it a shot.” Christine rolled the words around in her mouth, trying them out. Attempting to find a good flavor for the words.

She couldn’t do it.

“I get it,” she finally said. “You know I’m a single mom so you figure I put out, right? An easy lay because no one wants to screw the pregnant woman or the woman with a young kid so I’m probably desperate for sex. Is that it? Because I’ll tell you, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I-”

His lips were on hers before she could say another word. She protested at first, trying to push him away, but he wouldn’t let her go. She contemplated kneeing him, but then his tongue brushed her lips and a rumble slipped from his throat.

Christine lost the fight.

Her arms wound around his neck, drawing him closer, as her lips parted beneath his intrusive tongue. He tasted like mint with a hint of coffee. His tongue stroked her delicately, like he was taking his time with her, cherishing her. She hadn’t felt like someone was interested in her in far too long. So long that she wasn’t sure she’d ever stop kissing him.

He pulled back slowly, as though he didn’t want to break their contact. Christine knew the feeling. She hoped they’d stay locked together forever.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, still close enough that she could feel his breath on her lips.

Christine shook her head, partially to clear the effect of his kiss and partially to disagree with him. “It’s fine. Really.”

Mac grinned at her. “You have no objection to random strangers kissing you in a parking lot. We might need to talk about that.”

She laughed at his teasing, grateful he didn’t hold her earlier outburst against her. Of course, he also never refuted her accusations either.

“As for what you said before,” Mac began, “well, you asked me out, but sleeping with you was not what I was hoping for. I mean, eventually, maybe, but not on a first date, or second, or even a third. I don’t have a rule about when I need to sleep with someone. And the whole single mom thing… I was raised by a single mom. I’d never do anything to take away from how hard you work.”

Christine had no idea how she’d found the one man who respected her for what she was doing. He didn’t know her situation, but he didn’t judge her. She appreciated the hell out of him for that. So maybe… “Does that mean you’ve reconsidered dinner?”