Page 72 of Tempting

I fucking love this woman, even if she’s not ready to hear it yet.

I cup the back of her head in my hand, and she lifts up on her toes and brushes her lips over mine, sighing. Her whole body relaxes the minute we touch, and my ego grows every single time that happens, knowing I did that for her.

She hands me a to-go box and smiles. “For Leo.”

Like a heat-seeking missile, he walks out of his room at the first smell of food. “Did I hear for me?”

“Damn,” she murmurs. “Either these walls really are paper thin or you have the hearing of a wax moth.”

“What the fuck?” Leo asks as he takes the box and groans at the burger she got him. “What’s a fucking wax moth, Kenz?”

“The animal with the best hearing in the world,” she tells him like it’s common knowledge. My girl is a fucking sexy little genius.

I wrap her arms around my neck and lift her off her feet, not willing to share what little time we get alone with my brother. “Watch Gordie for me, man.”

“Bye Leo,” she giggles, and goddamn, that smile. I’d go to war for that smile.

“What? No dessert?” he jokes.

With one hand around her ass, I grab the bag I left next to the door earlier and carry her down the hall to her place.

“Baby, your laughter is one of my favorite sounds in the world,” I tell her as I set her down inside.

“Oh yeah?” She smiles as she sits on the couch and grabs a glass of wine from the table in front of it where she already has our dinner set up. “What’s your favorite?”

“It comes in second to the sexy little way you moan my name when you come.” I sit down next to her and press my lips behind her ear. “But it’s a close second.”

She smiles with her whole heart, and man, she’s beautiful.

I take the bag I grabbed earlier and drop it in her lap.

“I didn’t need a present, Nixon.”

“Open it,” I tell her, waiting to see her reaction, and she doesn’t disappoint.

“Did you really get me a Sinclair Hoodie?” She giggles. “Why don’t you just urinate on me and mark your territory, Nix?”

“Baby, if I thought you’d be into it, I wouldn’t say no.” I’m full of fucking shit and draw a big goddamn line at that, but Mac just shakes her head and dives back into the bag.

This time, she pulls out a matching v-neck t-shirt with my name and number on the back, which she adds to the pile before carefully pulling out the final piece. She opens the tissue paper like a kid on Christmas morning, then holds up my jersey. “Nixon... I love it.”

Yeah, Mac . . . me too.

“I thought maybe you’d want to wear that tomorrow night at the game.” This is new territory for us. We haven’t exactly gone public yet, and that jersey would be about as public as it gets.

She folds the red jersey carefully on her lap, then runs a hand over it. “Are you asking or telling?”

“Asking, Mac. This one is up to you. But I know what I want.” I’ve known what I’ve wanted for a while now. But I’m not putting added pressure on her. “Baby steps, right?”

“Uh-huh,” she whispers and looks down at the jersey again. “You called me your girlfriend earlier. In that text... you said, Leo could get his own hot girlfriend.”

“What can I say, baby? I told you I don’t share. Not even with my brothers.” I run my hand over her cheek, then cup her face. “Not you, Mac. Never you.”

“If we do this, there’s no going back,” she whispers, like the words are so powerful, she needs to give them reverence. And I think I might fall a little bit more in love with her for it.

“I don’t need an escape plan. I’m all-in, Mac. You and me.” There’s no fear or hesitation in my voice, and Mac snuggles into my hand.

“I’m scared, Nix.” Her warm eyes lock on mine, and the fear shining back guts me. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. My life has been really good for a long time, but not this good. I don’t remember the last time I was as happy as I’ve been since I came home, and I’m scared to death that I’m tempting fate or something. What happens when that shoe drops?”

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