Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“Good, thanks. You?”
“Great.” His gaze was fixed on my mouth, which made the urge to flick out my tongue and moisten them stronger. He groaned when I did and leaned forward to press his forehead to mine. “Are you trying to make me spring a boner in the Holiday Grove Community Center?”
I gripped his biceps and laughed. “I’m not not trying to?”
He looked at me, and I swore I spotted a flash of affection in his gaze a nanosecond before his lips landed on mine. The kiss was slow and hot, not chaste—more like he was claiming me in front of the town, which was, well, I didn’t know, except the kiss was damn good, and I was just tipsy enough not to care and just greedy enough to slide my tongue along his, teasing him mercilessly. “We’re going to win this, and then I’m going to take you home and show you how much I’ve missed you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “And if we lose?”
“Same, only you can show me how much you missed me. Deal?” He held out his hand, and I took it, gasping when he brought it to his lips instead of shaking it.
“You are a charming menace. A danger to every woman with a working libido.”
“You’ll get no arguments from me,” Edith trawled, and when we pulled back, the older woman was standing a few feet away, staring at us while fanning her face with her hand. “Mine might be on the fritz, but she still works.”
“Tell me I didn’t just hear that,” Mac whispered in my ear.
“Edith, what’s in the bag?”
Her eyes lit up as if she had been waiting for someone to ask. “This ol’ bag? I’ve brought more green beer,” she said with a wink before walking off.
“I’m worried,” I told Mac.
“Me too, but I thrive in the unexpected.”
I was glad one of us did because when the tournament started back up, our opponents were Lee and Nix. The brothers were competitive as hell, but it didn’t matter after we each sank two balls into the other team’s cups. “Edith,” Nix called out. “This green beer tastes suspiciously like whiskey.”
The older woman shrugged, her smile completely unapologetic. “Weird. Must’ve gotten them mixed up in my old age.” She sent Mac a wink that had Lee accusing her of collusion.
“By getting me drunker faster?” Mac asked around a snort.
Lee glared at his brother and put his game face on. Not that it mattered; Nix was horrible at Pong, and Mac and I moved to the final round.
“How are you feeling?” Mac buried his fingers in my hair as the final table was prepped.
“Good, besides being closer to drunk than sober. Damn whiskey.”
His lips kicked into a lopsided grin. “You’re doing great, Doc. I promise.”
“Thank you, Mac. So are you.” I touched his face. His lips. His jaw. “I’m sorry for avoiding you.”
“I know. I’m sorry people are assholes.”
I smiled. “Me too, but you know it only makes me admire you more for putting up with it without losing your shit.”
His smile grew. “I am pretty impressive, aren’t I?”
I smacked his rock-hard abs, and we got in position for the final game, which we won after a long battle. My legs wobbled, but my heart was free, and my smile was big. “We won!”
His grin was blinding. “Hell yeah, we did!” Then Mac stepped closer, wrapped one arm around my waist, gripped the back of my head with the other hand, and kissed the hell out of me right there in front of half of Holiday Grove.
Photographers included.
“Damn, I must be the MVP to warrant a kiss like that.” I had to joke because that kiss was sweet and sensual, and it was making me start to feel some very real things for my rock star neighbor and sometimes booty call.
Mac shook his head. “That kiss was just for me. The next one is just for you.” The heat and the promise in his eyes were unmistakable.
All I felt was white-hot anticipation.
11 MAC
I was hungry for Kayla—so goddamn hungry that my body vibrated with need. My fingertips buzzed the way they did when inspiration struck, like when the chorus of a new song just came to me. The way her hand clasped mine as we wove through the crowd at the community center was the tether that kept me from floating away. How was it possible to feel this way about a woman after only a few days?
The truth was, I didn’t know how I felt about her, but I knew that I wanted time to figure it out. “Hey, you okay?” Kayla squeezed my hand, her soft curves pressed against me, her eyes filled with concern.
“I’m good, but I’d be better if we could get back to your place. Or mine. As soon as possible.”