Page 74 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘The guest room.’
‘No,’ Annie said, taking a sharp turn down the wrong path.
Mac froze. ‘No?’
‘No.’ Annie held his gaze, laying it all on the line again, just like the last time. Just like the last time Mac held her heart and tossed it away. ‘Sleep here with me. Please.’
‘Annie, I?—’
‘Just for tonight, Mac, please,’ she said again, and he wavered. She could see it on his face. The indecision, the questions about what this meant. But Annie didn’t want to think about what this meant. She just wanted Mac next to her.
‘That’s what you want?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I just want a break. With you. Okay?’
Mac nodded ‘Okay, Annie.’
He didn't ask her to turn around as he pulled the shirt over his head, and he grinned when he caught her looking.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘I’ll sleep with clothes on tonight. I don’t want to find you gazing at me longingly.’
Annie rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her, happy for a break in the tension. ‘I will try my best not to stare at you all night.’
‘Good,’ he said, shucking his jeans with the same lack of embarrassment as he did his shirt. ‘I wouldn't want anything to change between us. You know, just because of this…’ he said, gesturing to his body.
Annie bit down a smile. He looked damn good standing there in only his underwear, but that wasn’t the reason she felt everything shifting beneath her feet.
She’d let her defenses down today. She’d let Mac be nice to her. Or maybe she’d finally noticed that Macwasnice to her, that he took care of her, that he knew her even after all this time.
But the way he looked in his underwear didn’t hurt, either.
‘Get in the bed,’ she said. ‘I’m tired.’ She laid back in the pillows, tugging up the blankets so she could crawl under. Mac came around to her side of the bed and lifted the blanket, tucking it around her. He leaned down, a hand on either side of her head, the mattress dipping beneath his weight. Annie held her breath. She was surrounded by him, his heat, his scent, his stupid muscle-y arms, that damn way he kept looking at her. It was too much. If he kissed her right now, she knew she’d be lost. She’d give him everything again and be left to pick up the pieces when it didn’t work out.
But he didn’t kiss her, he just smiled and tucked the hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing along her cheek.
She let her eyes fall closed and bit back a whimper of protest when Mac stood up. She listened to the sound of him getting ready for bed and tried not to think about the consequences of what she’d done. Of what she was currently still doing.
The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was Mac crawling into bed next to her. He pulled her close, tucking her against him.
‘I get to be the big spoon this time,’ he whispered, and Annie fell asleep with a smile.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Then
‘Was it okay?’ he asked. ‘I mean, did you… I mean, was it…’
Annie smiled from her place next to him on the pillow. ‘It was perfect,’ she said.
He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. ‘So, no big regrets?’
‘Nope, no regrets. What about you? You haven’t actually gotten a good look at my feet. They might be gnarly.’
Mac laughed and it felt good. A whole other kind of release to be in bed with Annie naked and laughing. He thought it might be the best moment of his entire life. His legs were tangled up with hers under the blanket and her fingers toyed with the chain around his neck.
‘Annie, you could have the gnarliest feet in the world and I would not care.’
She ran a toe along the back side of his calf. ‘You sure you don’t want to check?’ she said with a mischievous smile.
