Page 23 of Homecoming Heartbreaker

“It’s late, Molly. Time to pack it up,” Mack told her, stepping into her office.

Irritation bubbled; she wasn’t a child who needed to have her hours regulated. “I’m very capable of deciding when my workday should end, Holloway.”

Mack sent her a sour look and dragged his hand through his thick hair. “Dammit, Mol, do you have to fight me on everything?” Mack muttered. “You have dark stripes under your eyes, you look pale and any fool can see that you are shattered. You need a good meal and a solid night’s sleep. That’s all I meant, for God’s sake.”

Molly grimaced and dropped down to sit on the edge of her two-seater couch. Resting her elbows on her knees, she sent Mack an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

Mack sat down in the wingback chair opposite her. He leaned forward and placed his big hands on her knees, and Molly felt lust and need and want flow through her body, instantly reviving her. How did he do that? And why was he the only one who could?

“Molly, look at me.”

Molly lifted her eyes to connect with his, the deepest, darkest black, mysterious and rather wonderful. Mack squeezed her knees, his fingertips digging into her skin under the skirt of her figure-hugging dress. “In case nobody has said this to you lately, and I doubt they have, thank you for all your hard work and your dedication to this place. I have no doubt that Moonlight Ridge would be in a more precarious position if you weren’t here, Curls.”

Until Mack said the words, Molly hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear them. Telling herself not to let him see how deeply his words affected her, she looked away.

There had been a lot of talk when Jameson installed her as his second in charge, Molly told him. “A lot of people thought the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree,” she added.

“Jameson raised us to take responsibility for our individual choices. Your dad’s choices were his own.”

As were hers.

“Besides, you’re an orange, not an apple. Or, judging by your prickly attitude, a cactus,” Mack commented. The flash of humor in his eyes, and the way his mouth lifted up at the corners, told her he was teasing and she remembered that, back when he was young and fun, Mack used to mess with her.

When they were much older, he took his teasing to their lovemaking, and, despite how young she’d been, it had always been a fun and loving experience.

Strange that Mack at eighteen was still the best lover she’d ever had. At thirty-three and having had some time to hone those skills, he’d be, she had no doubt, freaking amazing.

Her panties felt warm and a little damp and her nipples pushed against the lace barrier of her bra. Yep, he still could set her blood on fire.

“What were you thinking about just now?” Mack asked, lifting his hands off her knees and leaning back in his chair. He rested his hands against his flat stomach, curiosity on his face.

Molly rewound and remembered her concerns about Moonlight Ridge. She could discuss her plans for the resort with Mack; it was a subject they had in common. And it would help her to ignore her insane sexual attraction to this infuriatingly sexy man.

“I was thinking about what we could do to improve the place.”

“That’s why I stopped by. I’ve been thinking about your top ideas and the easiest one to begin with is updating the rooms. We can get started immediately by repainting the suites and updating the linens.”

Yes! She was grateful. It was a start but so much more needed to be done.

“That’s a great start...” Molly’s words trailed off.

“But?”

“But we still need to get to get a lot of people here, fast. Our bookings are down for the summer and we won’t cover costs if we don’t do something.”

“Yeah, I realized that.” Mack rubbed his jaw. “My brothers and I could give the resort a cash injection if it needed it.”

So he’d considered that option, too. Molly was pleased to know he was prepared to part with his cash, that he would do anything to keep Moonlight Ridge going. But as nice as that would be, it wasn’t a long-term solution, as she told him. “We need guests, Mack. That’s what must change. We need feet through the door.”

“Let me look at the finances and see how much more money we can release to throw at a marketing campaign. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make sense of the bookkeeping system. It’s a goddamn mess.”

Molly sympathized. “I know. Do you want some help?”

Mack nodded. “I’d like that. Do you want some help finessing your marketing ideas?”

There was so much history between them, so much pain, but she had to put that away and concentrate on what was important and that was saving Moonlight Ridge. “Yeah, we can do that.”

Mack stared at her for a minute, maybe two, before standing up and placing one hand on the arm of her couch and looming over her. His penetrating eyes searched her face and, lifting his other hand, he swiped his thumb across her bottom lip. “I want my friend back, Molly. The friend I lost because I was young, dumb and an ass. And that means facing what I did and how I did it. And then I look at you and all I want is to kiss you senseless and strip you naked.”

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