He pulled up outside her place, cutting the engine of his truck as Brock stepped outside and turned to look at something on the porch. Mac hopped out and grabbed his bag, still feeling a little weird about walking up to April’s place with a bag of clothes for the morning.
“Hey, Mac, how was the hike today?” Brock asked.
“Terrible. They thought there wouldn’t be bugs. They wanted to cut it short, so we finished early.”
Brock narrowed his gaze and shook his head. “Are you telling me the people who arranged to go on a hike didn’t know there would be bugs on the trail?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why they came here. They said they would try camping out one night in a tent. I informed them there would be bugs at the campgrounds. They were shocked the groundskeepers didn’t deal with bugs and make sure campers weren’t inconvenienced.”
Brock shook his head. “You’re kidding me?”
“Nope. At least they gave me a tip.”
“Dang, that’s unbelievable.”
“What’s unbelievable?” Ethan asked as he stepped outside.
Brock turned and threw his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Mac. “The group he took on the hike were upset there were bugs on the trail.”
Ethan threw back his head, laughter spilling out. “You are lying!”
Mac chuckled. “No. They were like, ‘OMG, bugs. Ewww,’ and we had to end the hike early.”
April came out, her eyebrows pinched together until she saw him, and her smile spread. “Hey.”
Heat rushed up his chest to his face. The feelings he had for this woman were nearly overwhelming. “Hey.”
“What’s so funny?” April asked.
Ethan started talking, but laughter ate his words so Brock took over. “The people on the hike with Mac were afraid of bugs.”
April waved her hand in front of her face as a large flying insect came close. Her eyebrows pinched together, and she shook her head. “What?”
Mac moved to her and took her hand. He just needed to be close to her. It was like she made the world magical. Intellectually he knew she didn’t, but feelings overrode everything. “They didn’t like bugs and wanted the hike to be over.”
Laughter bubbled up, and April shook her head. “Oh my, that’s wild. Like they didn’t know there would be bugs?”
“Nope. They were unaware bugs would be around. When I asked if they’d sprayed their shoes to prevent ticks, they gave me a curious look. They thought I meant tick as in an involuntary movement, not a bug.”
All three of them stared at him, their mouths open in shock. It was weird that they’d come out here without being prepared, but it was even stranger that they hadn’t known bugs existed in the wild.
“What kind of bugs?” April asked.
“It was everything. First, we saw bees, then mosquitoes, and also those big flies. There were some other bugs, too. Then we were walking, and one of the big web spinners had built a huge web. It was beautiful, with a little moisture on it and the sun behind it, highlighting the design. That was what did them in.”
Ethan whistled low under his breath. “That would do it.”
Brock shook his head in disbelief. “I just can’t understand how they didn’t know.”
Mac shrugged. “Yep. That was the end of the hike as far as they were concerned. So how is it going here?”
“Not too many spiders, but we got the alarm installed, and we’re looking at where to put the cameras so we have an idea where to hang them when they’re delivered.”
Mac nodded. “That’s good. I can help if you need.”
“I think we’ve got it all done,” Brock said.
Ethan chuckled. “Remember that rescue we had to go on where the people didn’t want to cross the river?”
Brock nodded, his eyes scrunching as he laughed. “Yeah. Thank goodness it wasn’t too serious of a rescue. They panicked because they thought there were sharks in the river.”
“Sharks?” Mac asked.
“Yeah.” Ethan nodded and shook his head. “We had to spend about an hour calming them down and convincing them there weren’t any sharks in the water.”
“Sharks? Wow,” April said.
“How did they think there were sharks in a river so far from the ocean?” Mac asked.
“No clue. But people don’t know how nature works. I’m glad you didn’t have any real trouble with them running off or anything,” Ethan said.
“Yeah, it would have been traumatic for them if they’d gotten lost.”
“We’ll get out of your hair in just a bit.” Ethan handed April the new set of keys. “We’ll be here in a few days to put in the cameras.
“Thank you so much. I feel better already.”
“If you need anything, you know where I am, and you have our phone numbers,” Brock said.
“Thank you again. You’ve all been so great. I really appreciate it.”
The guys left, and they headed inside. Mac’s stomach twisted as his nerves increased. He was alone with April and wanted to have sex with her again, but he wasn’t going to push it. She’d been through enough and didn’t need some jerk forcing her into having sex.
She glanced around, her face scrunched up, before she turned to him and smiled. “Are you hungry?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“How about we order a pizza. Do they have delivery here?”
“It would be faster for us to pick up a pizza at the store that we bake ourselves.”
“Oh, that sounds fun. That would give us something to do to take my mind off everything.”
He pulled her close and held her to him. “Let’s go grab a pizza and some other snacks. Then we can watch TV until you’re tired enough to sleep.”
“Thank you. I feel better with the alarm and with you being here.”
He met her gaze, and heat rushed up his chest to his face. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to scare her off. It was probably best if he didn’t tell her everything he was thinking.
Before meeting April, he’d thought he understood dating and women, but this was like an explosion of emotions in his brain. He felt things for her that he’d never felt before. Being with April was life-changing and he really liked what she did for him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
April felt secure setting the alarm. Myrna’s place had new locks, and the cameras would be installed soon. She would be safe. Having Mac at her side was even better.
“What kind of pizza do you want?” Mac asked.
“I like supreme. What about you?”
“As long as it doesn’t have pineapples, I’m good.”
“Wait, what?” April stopped walking, and Mac paused beside his car, then turned to face her.
“You like pineapple on pizza?”
She nodded, and he rolled his eyes. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”
“If you want a pizza with pineapple, we’ll order two. I just can’t get into pineapples on pizza.”
“It’s one of my favorites,” April said.
“I totally get that. And I’ll even support you in your pizza quest, but I won’t eat any of it.”