Page 45 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Now
‘H ey, there you are.’ Logan came up behind her while she was grabbing her strappy heels from where she'd left them under the table.
‘Hey. Everything okay?’ Annie said, glancing around the room for Mac, afraid her plans were written all over her face.
‘I wanted to thank you,’ Logan said. ‘For everything, but mostly for tracking down Nana today.’
‘She told you, huh?’
Logan rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, it came up while she was giving Jeanie that nightmare of a nightgown.’
Annie laughed. ‘Be careful with that thing. I hear it’s a family heirloom and it’s lucky.’
‘That thing isn’t getting anywhere near Jeanie tonight,’ he said. ‘But thank you, really. That gingerbread house was amazing, and I know a lot of this day happened because of you.’
He wrapped her in his arms and gave her a big squeeze.
Annie squeezed back. ‘I love you, you know,’ she said.
‘Yeah, I know. I love you, too.’
‘My turn!’ Jeanie said, coming up behind them and giving Annie her own big hug. ‘Thank you for finding Nana,’ she said, ‘although I'm not super excited you brought her back with that nightgown.’
Annie winced. ‘Yeah, sorry about that. I couldn’t get her to part with it.’
Mac slid up to the table with both their coats over his arm and his face flushed, as though he’d been running around to find them and make it back in time before Annie changed her mind.
‘Are you two leaving?’ Jeanie asked.
‘I… Well, I thought things seemed to be winding down…’
‘Definitely! Thank you for everything!’ Jeanie said. ‘You should take off. You did an incredible job!’ Her smirk made it clear she knew exactly what was going on here.
Logan, on the other hand, looked back and forth between Annie and Mac like he was confused about why they would be leaving together.
‘Come on,’ Jeanie said, tugging him by his arm. ‘We’ve got more guests to thank.’ She pulled him away and left Mac and Annie face to face. Annie was sure there were a million reasons she shouldn't go home with him, or at least there had been and now suddenly she couldn't remember any of them.
‘Ready?’ Mac asked.
Ready was not something Annie thought she’d ever be around Mac, but she grabbed her coat from his arm and started her way toward the door. His hand pressed to the small of her back and heat frizzed up her spine.
Outside the barn, groups of guests were huddled around several firepits, snuggled under cozy blankets with cups of hot drinks in their hands. Kira and Bennett were back from wherever they’d gone, looking happy and rosy-cheeked.
But Mac didn’t let her get waylaid, his steady hand guiding her toward the cars.
‘Are you two leaving?’ Kira called from her spot by the fire.
‘We have to check on the kittens!’ Annie called back.
‘Is that what we're calling it now?’ Kira said with a laugh. ‘Enjoy!’
‘Worried about being the topic of town gossip tomorrow?’ Mac asked, leading her toward his car.
‘Not particularly,’ Annie said, pulling her coat tighter around her. She had her strappy heels in her hand and a pair of boots on her feet to trudge through the snow. ‘Just don’t embarrass me.’
Last time at least no one knew what had happened between her and Mac. She didn’t know if she could handle it if it was town news this time.
Mac turned to face her. ‘I don’t intend to,’ he said.
‘And what do you intend to do?’
Mac stepped closer until her back was pressed against the side of his car. His breath was hot on her neck, his hands tracing the curves of her hips.
‘I thought we’d start with a kiss,’ he said, and Annie realized that even with all their fooling around the past two days they hadn’t kissed. It had been over a decade since they had, and suddenly, she wanted that more than anything. She stared at Mac in the moonlight, caught in his gaze, waiting .
But he didn’t make her wait long. His mouth was on hers before she could second-guess it. And once it was there it was like it had never left. Kissing Mac was the most natural thing she'd ever done.
His lips were insistent and hot, pressed to hers in the cold night.
Years of heartbreak melted away. She let her hands slip into his hair and his grip tightened on her hips.
Soon his tongue was sliding against hers, urgent and wanting.
He pressed her harder against the car, his hands roving over the dips and curves of her body, like he couldn’t wait to get her inside before he touched every part of her, like he had to do it now.
‘This damn dress,’ he growled into her mouth, lifting one of her legs and pushing the dress up over her thigh, wedging himself there. Annie clung to him, her hands fisted in his suit jacket, years of tension and hurt and longing finally surging to the surface.
‘Mac,’ she gasped as he pushed against her, sending sparks of pleasure through her body.
‘I’ve wanted you for so long. I’ve wanted you forever,’ he said, sucking the delicate skin of her neck, her ear.
It wasn't until they heard boots crunching in the snow toward them that Annie paused, pressing her hands against Mac's chest.
‘We can’t do this here,’ she hissed. ‘We have to go.’
Mac blinked like he was returning to reality, only now realizing they were in a snowy field between parked cars.
The night sky was cold and dark behind his head.
‘We have to go,’ Annie said again.
He kissed her again one more time, quickly, and when he pulled back his face was lit up like the stars.
‘Yeah, okay, let’s go.’ He went around to the driver side while Annie got in. Luckily, they weren’t blocked in by anyone and were able to maneuver out of the field pretty easily. Annie snuck a peek at him in the driver seat, and he glanced back with a smile.
‘Don’t chicken out now, Annabelle,’ he said, putting a hand on her thigh. He left it there, tracing little circles with his fingers.
‘I’m not chickening out,’ she said as his fingers inched higher.
‘Are you really not wearing panties?’
Annie swallowed hard. ‘I told you I can’t with this dress.’
‘Show me.’
Annie’s heart rate ratcheted up, her pulse quickening, her blood turning molten hot.
‘I can’t. You’ll drive off the road and kill us both.’
Mac let out a low chuckle and Annie wasn't sure how she had resisted him for this long, because right now she felt like she couldn’t wait another second.
‘Okay, then I won’t look.’
Annie made no such promise and watched as Mac pulled up her dress little by little, his fingers tugging up the fabric while his eyes stayed on the road. When the hem was high enough, he slipped his hand under her dress, and she gasped at the sensation of his skin on hers.
That hand traveled up her thigh until it met the crease between her leg and her hip. The place where Mac discovered she was not lying.
‘Jesus, Annie,’ he rumbled ‘Completely bare.’
Annie’s whimper echoed through the car. She didn’t look at Mac's face, couldn't meet his eye, but she kept her focus on his hand. His hand that had now found the apex of her thighs, one finger dipping down to where she was wet and aching. She squirmed in her seat.
‘Spread your legs for me,’ Mac rasped.
And she did. Didn’t even fight about it. Didn’t even want to fight about it. It was nice to not have to think about it, to not worry about what the next step should be. She just did it.
And was rewarded with Mac’s fingers on her clit. She grabbed onto his forearm. He pressed harder, his fingers making tight circles, winding her up.
‘I’ve dreamed about this,’ he groaned.
‘You dreamed this exact thing?’ she asked, incredulous even in her pleasure.
‘Annie, I’ve dreamed about having you in every possible way,’ he said, quickening his pace.
Annie’s head dropped back on the seat, her legs beginning to tremble as they made their way down dark back roads to Mac’s house.
She was close. Pleasure building as Mac increased his speed and pressure. Close, so close. Her back arched against the seat, feet scrambling for purchase.
‘ Mac… ’
‘We’re here,’ he said, pulling his hand from her dress.
Annie spun to face him, eyes wide. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, shock and frustration spiraling through her.
‘We’re here,’ he repeated, flashing that obnoxious smirk.
‘I was almost there! You need to keep going.’
He chuckled. ‘Now, Annie, if you’re going to fuck me like you hate me, I had to give you a little more ammunition,’ he said before stepping out of the car.
What the hell just happened?
She sat there in disbelief staring at him walking to the house. She almost considered calling an Uber and getting the hell out of here. Then she looked down, saw her dress hiked halfway up her thighs, thought about how Mac’s hand had felt there, and she really only had one choice.
Follow him in and fuck his brains out.