The Mighty Quinns: Mac

It was one of those laughing fits that left her gasping and crying at the same time. She grabbed a quick breath. “It’s just—you’re going to hear this anyway if you haven’t already and maybe it best that I just said it up front.”

“Say what? That you’re a virgin?”

“I’m a virgin,” Emma shouted, throwing her arms out. She snapped her mouth shut and stared at him. “You knew?” She pressed her fingertips to her lips and waited for the humiliation to pass. She hadn’t meant to just blurt it out, but it was like an embarrassing medical condition. There was just no way to work it into the conversation.

“Yeah, I heard something about it,” he said.

Emma took a ragged breath. “I wanted you to understand. I mean, it’s best to be honest and I—”

“And you assumed I’d expect the evening to end in bed?”

“I was hoping it would,” she said. “At least that’s how I wanted to feel. But then, that kiss just—wow! I mean, my life flashed before my eyes and I couldn’t think. Or maybe I couldn’t stop thinking. I don’t know. I’m so confused.”

He frowned, then shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

She turned away from him and began to pace, following a short track across the living room. “I want to be completely up front with you. I don’t really care about dinner or talking about the book or going to see the play. I was just really hoping that you’d find me attractive enough to seduce at the end of the evening.”

“I do find you very attractive,” he murmured, reaching out to grab her hand. He pulled her back toward him, then rested his hands on her hips. “And seducing you has been on my mind a lot.”

“Before or after you found out I was a virgin?” He paused before answering and she could see the truth in his eyes. “I get it. It’s a big deal. Huge.”

“It’s just that your first time is supposed to be special,” Mac explained. “Especially if you’ve waited this long for it to happen.”

“And you can’t make it special?”

“Sure I could. But you’ll want more than a quick fix.”

“No, no, no,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I don’t want a boyfriend or a fiancé. I just want sex.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Maybe we should call an end to this now, before I make a complete fool of myself.”

He took her hand and pulled her over to the sofa, tugging her down to sit beside him. “What do you want to do, Emma? Right now.”

“I want to crawl under a rock and stay there until you forget this whole conversation,” she said.

“That’s not necessary. Let’s put aside all the talk about the...the deflowering.”

Emma groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, don’t call it that. I don’t have flowers down there that need to be picked.”

“What am I supposed to call it?”

“I don’t know. Call it...call it, the task at hand.”

“Are you interested in someone who will simply complete the task at hand, or do you want more?”

“Just the task,” she said. “Nothing more.”

“No romance, no dating, no dinner and a movie?”

Emma shook her head. “Just the task.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded.

“You’ve given me a lot to consider. I guess I’ll let you know.”

“You have to consider it? I thought men were able to just do it.” She drew a ragged breath. “Is it because you don’t find me attractive?”

Didn’t all single men love sex? And she’d assumed they weren’t very discriminating about where they got it. Was her offer that repulsive to him?

He chuckled. “No. I find you incredibly attractive, as I mentioned at the beginning.”

“Then why don’t you want to—do the task?”

He paused, as if to collect his thoughts. “Emma, you’re the kind of woman who deserves the best in life. You deserve so much more than I can give you.”

“You can’t give me a single night of mind-blowing sex? Because that’s really all I want. Just one night.”

“One night,” Mac murmured. “All right, I’ll get back to you. I promise.”

With that, he turned on his heel and walked to the front door. But Emma couldn’t leave it at that. She ran after him and grabbed his arm. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? That’s it.”

He shook his head. “No, I think you’ve taken a very sensible approach to your problem.”

“Exactly. It’s sensible. I’m Emma, the virgin librarian. You’re Mac, the handsome, itinerant pilot. It makes perfect sense.”

“Does it? I mean, what are you going to do after it’s finished? It’s kind of a life-changing event.” He met her gaze.

“That’s just it. I want it to change my life. So it isn’t my life.”

“May I ask you something?”

Emma nodded. “Yes, of course. Ask me anything.”

“We’ve established that you’re twenty-seven years old and you’re still a virgin. We’ve also established that you’re beautiful and smart and sexy. Just how is that possible? Is this some sort of religious thing?”

“No. It just happened. I’ve never dated much, never had serious boyfriends. Believe it or not, the opportunity only presented itself a few times when I was younger and I decided to turn it down. And then the years just got away from me.”

“And you want me to take care of this for you?”

“Yes, I would appreciate that. It would only be one night. Not even a full night. I mean, it could go pretty fast, I think. At least that’s what I’ve heard. And I can guarantee that it wouldn’t be horrible. I’ve done a lot of reading so I know what’s what.”

“You realize that being aware that this is your first time changes everything.”

“I’m kind of just getting that,” Emma said. “Why, though? It’s still sex.”

“There’s a lot of pressure,” Mac said.

“You mean performance anxiety? Believe me, I can relate. Is that why you’re afraid to...do the deed?”