Innocent Temptation

Chapter Twelve: Jealous??

AIRA loved the days she volunteered at the animal shelter, but today was different. The shelter was buzzing with excitement—mostly because of the unexpected guest who had just walked in. Turned out, to her utter dismay which she didn't want to accept, the other women flocked to Mac for the same reason she had in the past— of course, she doesn’t do that anymore. But right now she was not liking how Ginny, Riya and Rita’s younger sister that she’d brought with her were looking at Mac like they hadn’t seen a man before.

Riya in particular looked smitten when she saw Mac, who was now standing near the backroom as he helped her to put the boxes of cat food up on the shelf. His large frame dominated the small space and there was no hiding the fact how his muscles flexed every time he moved his arms. He looked like he didn’t belong, yet somehow, he was impossible to ignore.

She peered from the other room and saw Riya practically drooling over Mac. Her voice was high pitched and she was giggling, something that Aira hadn’t seen her do in the last five days she has been coming here. And her own friend Ginny looked flushed when Mac had complimented her. She had leaned too close, if someone asked Aira, when she had offered him coffee. And Riya’s younger sister Kylie was too much with all the sneaky pictures she was clicking of Mac and his biceps.

Aira felt a pang of annoyance shoot through her. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn’t help it. They didn’t know the first thing about Mac, and yet they were acting like he was some celebrity, fawning over him like they haven’t seen a well built man before. And what was so fascinating, he had muscled built and was tall and wide like a mountain but that doesn’t mean that they need to swoon over him like this. Where’s the self respect!

“I bet you spend half your day in the gym,” Kylie giggled. “Can you open a coconut with your biceps?”

Aira rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Oh, please. He’s not that great.”

Cara, tugged at her hand, pulling Aira’s attention gaze from her uncle to the little girl. “Auntie Aira, I want one.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the kittens in the enclosure.

“Ask your uncle. He is a little busy over there,” Aira muttered, shooting daggers at Riya as she subtly touched his arm.

“Unc—” Before Cara could call out to her Uncle, Aira stopped her and asked, “Want to a play a game, munchkin?”

“A game?” Cara asked.

With a wicked gleam in her blue eyes, Aira crouched down beside Cara and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Yup. Let’s play a game with your uncle.” Cara looked at where her Uncle stood. “It’s very easy. All you have to do is go to your uncle and call him ‘Daddy.’”

Cara frowned, confused. “But he’s not my daddy. He’s Uncle Mac.”

“I know,” Aira said, barely containing her grin. “But it’ll be funny, trust me.”

Cara grinned, giving her a toothy smile before she started to walk toward her uncle. She looked over her shoulder at Aira but Aira quickly waved her to go on. She followed the little girl with her eyes, biting back her laughter as Cara marched straight to where Mac stood with the other three women.

Her small voice cut through the murmur of flirtatious chatter as Cara said, “Daddy! Can we take the kitty home?”

As Cara’s innocent voice rang out, loud and clear, the entire room froze. Mac’s eyes widened in surprise, and the other women stared at him, their expressions shifting from flirtatious to downright confused. Riya took a step back, her hand dropping from where it was touching his arm and Kylie stopped clicking pictures of him. Aira had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud, but then Mac’s eyes came to her and she had to quickly look away.

She heard his deep voice as he said, “Cara, I’m not—”

But Cara was on a roll, tugging at his hand insistently. “Please, Daddy! I promise I’ll take care of it!”

Riya sounded unsure as she murmured, “I didn’t know you have a daughter?”

Ginny started to explain but Aira yelled,

“Ginny! Riya! Can you help me with this?” Not giving Ginny or Mac a chance to explain, she watched in satisfaction when both the girls cane over to her where she stood between the mewling cats. And Kylie excused herself with an obvious lie that she had to make a call.

But before Aira could take in a relieved breath, Cara brought Mac into the room too and Aira heard her still going on with their so called ‘game’. “Daddy, get me kitty, please.”

She could feel his eyes on her but Aira ignored him as she busied herself petting a brown furred puppy. But even as she tried hard to, she couldn't ignore him and her eyes went to him as he knelt before his niece and said, “Cara, you know I’m your uncle, right?” His voice was gentle yet firm, and Aira hated herself for liking it and how it made her feel.

Cara nodded. “I know.” And then her eyes came to Aira and the innocent little girl pointed at her as she said, “But Aunt Aira said it would be funny!”

Mac’s head whipped up, his eyes narrowing at Aira, who tried hard to seem busy as she felt her cheeks burning pink when Ginny gave her a look that was too close to conveying that her friend knew what Aira was feeling. So she was thankful when Joey and Dan made their entry.

“We are back!” Joey yelled from the front.

Aira rushed out, taking the opportunity. Dan and Greg had gone to the old manor to check out the place for the stranded kittens as the children from the neighborhood had told them that they had seen two kittens there.

Now, Dan was holding a black ball of fur who blinked at them with grey eyes before it disappeared back under the blanket he was holding it in. “Let me have it. I’ll take care of it,” Aira said, carefully taking the blanket with the kitten from him.

“I’ll come with you,” Greg said, following behind her to the small backyard where they bathed the animals and had other cleaning supplies for the shelter including a washing machine and a washbasin for the pans.

As they went to the back, they had to pass by Mac who happened to be standing there and now glaring at her. It wasn’t that big of a deal, she thought to herself thinking he was still upset at her because she’d taught Cara to call him Daddy, not understanding that this time his displeasure had other reasons.

“Uncle, kitty!”

Mac looked down at his niece, reluctantly taking his eyes off Aira and the man who was walking too close to her for his liking. “Cara, we already have a dog. Remember Ceaser?”

Aira, overhearing, couldn’t help but smile as she paused at the backdoor and said, “Cara, you can stay and play with the kittens for a bit, I’ll take you home with me when I get free.”

Cara’s disappointment melted into joy as she rushed off to play with a tiny grey kitten that she had been fascinated with since she had entered the shelter. Mac stood up and said, “I’ll stay.”

Aira frowned at him. “You don't have to. I’ll bring her home.”

“I am staying.” He said in a voice that didn't invite any discussion, so Aira just shrugged and left him there.

But Mac couldn’t help and watch her as she took care of the black kitten in her arms. A few times, he had to stop himself from throwing Greg over the low wall in the backyard because the man couldn't keep his hands to himself.

He watched as the kitten clung to her and because it was wet from its recent bath, her white dress got wet. But even as he tried to control himself, he couldn’t when he saw Greg’s hands reaching for the kitten and almost touching Aira where they shouldn’t. “Aira!”

Startled, Aira let out a gasp and the kitten buried herself between her breàsts as she tried to hide. “Mac, why are you shouting?”

Not finding a valid reason for his outburst, he said the first thing that came to his mind. “Ginny just left and the other two girls left with Joey, let’s go, I’ll walk you home.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll walk her home,” Greg said from her side as he held open a dry towel for the kitten.

“No need. We are neighbors, I can do it.”

Greg frowned, then asked, “Oh, you’re Macalister.”

“Mac,” Mac responded, his voice cold.

Aira looked between the two men and then decided to step in as Mac looked like he was about to blow up for some reason. “Why don't you take Cara home? It will take me some time.”

“Why?” He questioned, his eyes once again going over her head. “Are you going to spend time alone with him?”

Taken aback, Aira stared at him and then replied, “No. Because Mrs Weaver is not here and she asked me to close up in here for the night as Ginny had to leave early.”

“Let Greg here do that.”

“No.” She bypassed him and told Greg to dry the kitten and feed her. “I’ll bring the cage.”

Mac followed after her. “What do you mean you have to close up? You can’t stay here all alone.”

“Then, I’ll ask Greg to stay with me.”

He scoffed, making a disgusting sound like he tasted something foul. “If you want to spend time with him why don’t you do it at a nice place instead of an animal shelter?”

Aira paused, let out a deep breath and faced him. “Mac.”

“What?”

“If you don't have anything to say, just leave.”

For a long moment, he stared at her and then raked his fingers through his dark hair. He said, “You have known that guy for what, five days, how can you trust him?”

“Greg?” Aira almost laughed. “He is the nicest gentleman.”

Mac gritted his teeth and took a step back from her before he grabbed her by the arms and shook some sense into her. Crossing his arms over his big chest, he glared at him. She asked, “Are you going to stand there and keep staring at me?” he didn't answer. “Well… suit yourself.”

“It gets pretty quiet after dark and for a small town no one ventures on this side. It could be dangerous for you to walk alone.”

“I can take care of myself and I told you Greg is here so you don't have to worry.”

He muttered something under his breath, but Aira was done with the conversation. She opened the door of the store room where they kept the food and the new cages, and left him standing there. Turning the lights on, she admitted to herself that she was glad he was here. As much as she had told herself that she will be fine on her own when Greg had offered to stay back with her, it had filled her with uneasiness born of that night in Paris. It was not that she didn’t trust Greg, or she didn’t believe her own words when she called him a gentleman, it was the fact that she was still unable to trust men.

“Uncle Mac!”

Aira arched a brow at him, waiting for him to leave as he was making it hard for her to focus on anything else with his larger than life presence. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing, when he pushed back from the wall and walked to the room where Cara was having fun with all the kittens. And despite herself, she watched him go, noticing his broad back and the way he carried his huge hulking frame. She curled her fingers against the itch to map out his arms and trace the veins that were visible on his forearms.

With a shake of her head for her own wayward thoughts, she looked for the small cages for the new kitten. She spied them sitting on top of the cupboards, so she dragged an old ladder from the corner to reach them. She tested it for its sturdiness before she started to climb. Because of her short height she had to climb up to fourth rung to properly reach the top of the cupboard and grab one of the cages. Unlike what she thought it wasn’t as light in weight as she'd have liked it to be, so with one hand grabbing the cage and another gripping the ladder she was kind of having difficulty descending.

She was so busy trying to balance herself that when she heard Cara’s excited squeal, accompanied with a loud barking she lost her balance as she startled.

“Oh, no.” A mortifying yelp left her lips and the cage dropped to the floor with a loud clatter. She tried to hold on to the ladder but the old wood only managed to scratch her palms with the splinters and Aira closed her eyes, submitting to her faith to fall down on the hard floor.

But before she could hit the ground, strong arms grabbed her, pulling her upright with an effortless swoop. Not for the first time, she found herself pressed against Mac’s wide chest, his grip tight and protective. The world spun for a moment and when she looked up, their faces were just inches apart. His eyes, normally so guarded, flickered with something she couldn’t quite place—concern, fear, maybe something deeper. Her heart pounded in her chest, their breaths mingling in the close space.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice low, sending a shiver down her spine.

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A. Gupta

Next update tomorrow morning. IST: 12:00PM.