Page 76 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘I don’t want to ruin your big year of adventure by being the thing holding you back. If the point is for you to get away from Dream Harbor, I can’t have you calling here all the time.’
She was right. He knew she was. He knew if they tried to keep this relationship going while he was gone, he would always be looking back.
His arms were wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her closer wanting to feel the full length of her body against the full length of his.
‘Okay, postcards it is,’ he agreed, kissing her deeper until she was moaning again, her hands clinging to his shoulders.
‘What about other guys?’ he said, coming up for air.
‘You can see as many other guys as you’d like,’ Annie said with a smile.
‘Noted,’ he said dryly, and Annie laughed.
‘And what about you? Will you be seeing other guys while I’m gone?’ He shouldn’t have asked but he couldn’t help himself. At this moment, with Annie in his arms, he absolutely hated the idea of her seeing other guys, even though he knew it was insane to expect her not to.
‘How about this?’ Annie said. ‘If either of us gets serious with someone while you’re gone, we’ll be honest about it. Non-serious things don’t need to be reported.’
‘Is kissing a serious thing?’ he asked, working his way down her neck.
‘Probably not…’
‘What about kissing here?’ he asked, exploring places he hadn’t gotten a chance to the first time around.
Annie gasped. Another sound he’d remember all year.
‘That’s a bit more serious.’
Mac smiled. ‘Good to know.’
Annie tugged him up by his hair. ‘I want you to do what you need to do, okay? Don’t spend your time thinking about me.’
‘I can’t promise that. There's no way I can stop thinking about you, Annabelle,’ he said, planting a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.
‘Okay, fine,’ she agreed, like he was really putting her out. The big smile on her face told him otherwise. ‘You can think about me the whole time you’re away.’
‘Deal,’ he said.
‘Iwillmiss you while you're gone,’ she said, ‘but I’m excited for you.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, kissing her again. He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her but that seemed unfair to say now. He would save it for when he got back.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Now
‘So much for being the big spoon,’ Mac said, tugging Annie’s arm tighter around his waist. Her fingers flexed, pressing into his skin. He could feel her groan rumble through his back, and he laughed.
‘Damn it,’ she said, pulling away.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked, rolling over to face her. ‘That was cozy.’
Annie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and Mac thought this was his favorite morning in a long time.
‘What time is it?’ she asked and Mac glanced at his alarm clock.
‘Just after six,’ he said. Thanks to the tilt of the Earth that made December so grim in the Northern Hemisphere, it was still dark in his bedroom, although the streetlights hitting the snow outside gave the room an eerie glow. Hecould make out Annie’s gentle smile and her sleepy eyes, her gaze soft. For now, she wasn’t scowling at him.
He liked it a lot.
