Page 23 of Tempting

I put down my drink, no longer thirsty. “I wasn’t planning on it. But thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Always were more like your mother than me...” he murmurs as I head back to the table, waiting for Mac and Easton as they walk off the dance floor. “You ready to head home?”

Easton looks between us and shakes his head. “Touch her and die, Sinclair.”

“I’m shaking, Hayes. Seriously. Terrified.” I drop my hand to Mac’s back and enjoy her sweet giggles. And man, does that sound do something to me.

Something her brother doesn’t need to know.

“Yes. I’m ready to go,” Mackenzie inserts herself, ignoring the testosterone flying between Easton and me. We’re both joking... to an extent, but I have no fucking doubt he’d eviscerate me for her if he felt like he had to. I’d do the same for the twins. “Tell Lindy I’ll see her later, E.”

He drops a kiss on the top of her head. “You should stop by this week. Let’s try to do dinner before the season starts.”

“I’ll figure it out with Lindy.” She smiles, clearly dismissing him and grabs her purse.

No sooner does Easton walk away than I see Dr. Dick zeroing in on us. “Dick at six o’clock,” I whisper in her ear, and peals of laughter slip past Mac’s lips.

“Come with me.” I press her forward and guide us through the glass doors out onto the covered terrace and into the shadows. The storm has set in, and the warm rain is coming down in fat drops.

“Do you think he’ll follow us,” she asks as she glances around my body crowding her into the shadows.

“What’s his deal, Mac? Is he hitting on you?” I run a finger through her hair and push the soft locks over her freckled shoulder. “Does he want to be one of those hookups you don’t have time for?”

“Don’t make fun of me, Nixon Sinclair.” Her eyes hold mine as she refuses to back down. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be so focused on one thing that you just don’t make time for any others.”

The air between us crackles while rain pounds down around us, forcing us together under the small overhang.

“I might just understand more than you realize, Mac. But not making time for something like a relationship doesn’t mean I can’t make time for other things.” I drag my fingers over her soft skin and stop at her hip. “Tell me something, Mac. How long has it been since your last hookup?”

She licks her lips and looks away. Something I’m noticing this woman does often. “Can’t we just say that it’s been too long and be done with it?”

“Look at me, Mackenzie.”

Her doe eyes snap right back up to mine.

“So it’s been years since a man touched your skin?” I tower over her and plant a hand against the wall, forcing her attention my way... and damn, it’s almost too easy to get lost in this woman. In her intoxicating scent. In the way she shivers and moves closer while I drag my nose up the length of her neck. Fucking delicious. “Tasted you?”

Her teeth press down into her pillowy bottom lip as she clutches my shirt in her fists. “I don’t have time for a relationship, Nixon.”

“Good, because I’m not asking for a relationship.” I bunch the silk fabric of her dress in my hand but don’t move a fucking inch. “I’m not looking the do the dating thing.”

“Then what are you wanting to do, Nix?” she breathes out as barely an inch separates our mouths.

“I want to taste your come on my tongue.”

Her pink lips form the sweetest O.

“I want to hear you scream my name as you’re coming on my cock.” I’m practically shaking with the need to fuck Mackenzie Hayes in a way I’ve never needed anything before. “I want to remind you just how incredible sex can be.”

Kenzie’s eyes widen as she purses her lips.

“Tell me you want that too, Mac. Tell me you’re good without labels or expectations. Tell me you want what I’m proposing.”

She traces the lines of my face with the tips of her fingers. “Not a relationship.”

I suck her finger between my lips, and a pretty hum builds behind hers.

“Not a relationship. Just two friends, who are already fake dating, helping each other out. And when one of us stops needing or wanting help, we stop. Still friends.”

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