Page 47 of Inviting Trouble
She waited until she got all the way to the archway connecting the dining room to the living room, where a sprig of mistletoe hung. “Here it is.”
“Where?”
She pointed up.
He looked and then his gaze locked on hers for a brief tension-filled moment. She licked her lips. His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Her pulse thrummed through her.
He looked over his shoulder in case anyone was watching. They weren’t. When he turned back, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him as she’d longed to do from the moment he’d walked in. His fingers speared through her hair, his mouth rough on hers. The heat was back and she gloried in it.
“Park?” a masculine voice called.
Park jerked away and turned, tucking Mad behind him. She peeked around him. It was Ty coming right for them. She swallowed. Ty had a quick temper and was fiercely protective of her. Park was his best friend.
“Mad?” Ty asked, closing the distance between them.
She stepped out from behind Park. “Hey, what’s up?”
Ty turned to Park. “What the hell are you doing to my sister?”
Park put his hands up. “Nothing.”
“We’re together,” Mad said.
“We—” Park started before Ty grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up close.
“You don’t mess around with Mad,” Ty growled.
“Ty, let him go,” Mad said. “I want to mess around with him.”
Ty let go and shoved Park back. “You know the deal.”
“What deal?” Mad asked, looking between the two men.
Park straightened his shirt, his jaw clenched tight.
“Not her,” Ty said.
Park’s lips formed a flat line. She waited for him to tell Ty to fuck off or put his arm around her or something, but he did none of that. Instead he nodded once. “I know.” He left, his stride stiff, back to the cheerful festivities of their family.
Ty turned to follow him when Mad smacked his shoulder. “What the hell, Ty! This doesn’t concern you.”
“Park understands,” Ty said and left.
She wanted to kick both men. Smash their heads together. But they were gone, having come to some kind of understanding that affected her yet shutting her out.
She ripped the mistletoe off the ceiling and threw it.
Chapter Twelve
Mad drove back to Clover Park with Hailey, Charlotte, and Lauren the day after Christmas. Hailey was at the wheel of her orange Mini Cooper convertible, Mad in the passenger seat, and Charlotte and Lauren in the backseat. The car reeked of peppermint because all of them were sucking on candy canes. They’d taken Hailey’s car because it was the newest and, therefore, the least likely to break down on the long drive to Maine and back. Carrie and Ally were sharing a ride in Carrie’s old Toyota, named Ollie, which Carrie had an unnatural faith in. The car was at least ten years old.
“So now that we’re away from the guys, spill,” Charlotte said over the sound of Hailey’s Harry Connick Jr. Christmas playlist.
Hailey immediately turned down the volume. The car was heavy with quiet expectation. Girl-talk time. Everyone in the car knew they meant Mad. She was the only one who’d had an agenda going into this wedding.
“Not much to tell,” Mad said, which earned her a poke in the shoulder. She turned to see Lauren grinning at her, teeth tinged with pink from the candy cane.
