Page 31 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

‘So I can change.’

Mac stared at her. ‘Annie I was just face to face with your?—’

‘Do not finish that sentence.’

Mac let out a low laugh of disbelief.

‘Turn around,’ Annie insisted.

He shook his head but complied, turning to face the wall.

‘Just because we did that ,’ Annie said, ‘doesn't mean anything else changes between us.’

‘Oh, really?’ Mac said, addressing the wall.

‘Yeah, really. We were only blowing off some steam, relieving tension. It was basically like doing yoga or going for a run.’

Mac scoffed. ‘Wow, Annabelle, you sure know how to make a guy feel good.’

Annie pulled the shirt over her head, relieved to be out of her sweater and bra. It had been an incredibly long day and Mac’s shirt was soft and worn and smelled just like him.

‘I’m not here to make you feel good.’ She said it to remind herself as much as him.

Mac snorted. ‘Well, joke’s on you because that made me feel pretty darn good.’

Annie felt the heat rise to her cheeks and was glad Mac was still facing the wall. She was sure her face would give away exactly what she was feeling. And what she was feeling was highly ill-advised.

‘And it sure sounded like it made you feel good, too,’ he said, running a hand through his hair. Annie took the opportunity to really l ook at him. She spent a lot of time avoiding looking directly at Mac. It was always far too dangerous.

But now here she was in his bed, wearing his clothes, and looking at him seemed like the least of her worries.

She took in the breadth of his shoulders and the flex of his forearms as he stood there.

Waiting for her. She took pleasure in the fact that his hair was a mess because of her fingers, and she wondered if he was still as hard as he was while he was going down on her.

God, what was she doing here?

‘I should probably go,’ she said, snapping out of it.

Mac turned around. ‘You sure?’ he asked. ‘You’re welcome to stay the night. I’ll sleep in the guest room.’

Sometimes Annie thought about that day at the Christmas market when Mac asked her to hang out and she wondered what would have happened if she had said no.

Maybe she would have been able to have a healthy, lasting relationship in the eleven years since then.

Maybe she wouldn’t still be caught up in some stupid teenage fantasy.

This moment felt similar to that one, like there was a fork in the road and Annie's life would change entirely depending on which path she took.

She should go home. She’d gotten what she came for. She got her orgasm. She got Mac wanting her. If she left now they could maybe go on as friends. Or something similar. People that got along, at least.

Mac was watching her from his place propped up against the wall. He looked tired, too, and maybe Annie was tired of punishing him.

‘It’s probably cold outside,’ she whispered.

‘It definitely is,’ he said with a knowing smile. ‘And it’s still snowing.’

‘And it’s late,’ she murmured.

‘Really late.’

‘So maybe I’ll just sleep for a bit?’ Annie whispered, and Mac’s smile grew but he didn’t say anything. He nodded and headed for the door.

‘Where are you going?’

‘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 Mac was nice 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.