Chapter 12 #3
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I guess…I wouldn’t want to sit there and watch you kissing a line of women. It would be…awkward. Not that I knew about this before now, but still…”
Awkward? That’s all she had to say? Awkward?
If the roles were reversed, he’d want to punch every guy that was in line to kiss her in the throat!
And he’d probably pull her from the booth before even one guy had the chance to get his lips anywhere near her!
And all she could say was how it would be awkward?
Damn. And for the life of him, Devin had no idea how he was supposed to respond.
He opted for silence because there was no way he could form a rational thought or put all the crazy shit that was spinning around in his head into words.
For her part, MacKenzie stayed silent as well.
And they stayed that way until they were in the house and began to kick off their shoes and wander aimlessly.
This? This was awkward!
“Let me ask you something,” he finally said, unable to stand it any longer. “Were you always planning to leave on Sunday? I thought we talked about this and you weren’t in a rush to leave. Now all of a sudden, you’re saying if your car was fixed, you’d be on the road! Which is it?”
She shrugged but wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“If I went to the shop right now and worked on the Mustang all night and could guarantee it was fixed, then what? And if I said I would back out of my shift in the booth, would you be staying?” And he hated the needy way he sounded, how he was reduced to almost begging.
She didn’t answer.
“MacKenzie?”
She took a shuddery breath and let it out slowly as she looked up at him. “I was always going to leave, remember?” But her voice was quiet, weak. As if it wasn’t what she wanted to do.
“But is that what you want?”
Tears filled her eyes. “It’s what I’d planned. The reason I was driving that day…it’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Again, there was no strength behind her words.
Stepping directly in front of her, Devin gently grasped her shoulders. “Is that really what you want, MacKenzie?”
“I…I don’t know,” she said sadly. “I thought it was. I had it all worked out.”
In that moment, he felt like a desperate man clinging to a life raft. “What about staying here? In Sweetbriar Ridge? You already have a job,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I know it’s probably not your dream job, but…it would be okay as a temporary one, right?”
A lone tear trailed down her cheek, and Devin reached up and cupped her beautiful face. MacKenzie turned and kissed the palm of his hand. “Devin…”
He couldn’t bear to hear it. Didn’t want to hear her say it wasn’t enough–that he wasn’t enough–and that she was leaving. So he did the only thing he could. He closed the distance between the two of them and kissed her.
Hard.
He kissed her with all the pent-up passion and frustration he was feeling. He kissed her until they both had to pull apart, mainly to breathe. And then he kissed her again. And he just kept on kissing her as they made their way clumsily to his bedroom.
As he stripped her clothes off and then peeled off his own.
As they tumbled onto the bed.
And it was well into the early morning hours before they stopped.
Beside her, Devin was asleep.
MacKenzie had never been more wide awake in her life.
What about staying here? In Sweetbriar Ridge?
It was beyond tempting. She loved it here.
Everything about the town drew her in–the people, the activities, the businesses…
and of course, Devin. But she was a realist. They were living in some sort of fantasy bubble.
They had met under unusual circumstances and then were thrust together and living together before they barely knew each other’s names.
What if she stayed and they found out it was just a physical attraction and it fizzled out fast? True, they had spent every day together for almost two weeks and had talked about anything and everything with each other. But that didn’t mean that what they had still wasn’t based on sex.
Even as she thought it, MacKenzie rejected it.
No, what she felt for Devin was real.
And it scared the hell out of her.
As for Devin…everything MacKenzie had learned about him–both from talking to him and from her interactions with everyone in town–told her he didn’t take relationships lightly.
That she was living in his home and sleeping in his bed meant he trusted her as more than a bed-buddy.
She also knew he was hard-working and well-respected by everyone in this town.
Meanwhile, she was a hot-mess with no direction.
Did he really need to have her latching on to him and messing up his world?
Not that she thought she was going to mess it up a whole lot, but…
she was nowhere near getting her shit together the way he had.
Hell, she was still struggling with what she wanted to be when she grew up.
And while Devin didn’t mind it right now, MacKenzie was certain it would start to wear on him.
He may be thirty, but he had the maturity and the handle on life of someone much older.
It was pretty damn intimidating.
So where did that leave her? In the midst of all this, she had gone and opened the door to a reconciliation with her mother. Was going to Oregon really the best thing? And should she talk to Devin about it?
She sighed. Unfortunately, she knew what she should do.
If they were meant to be, then they’d be able to handle a long-distance relationship, at least for a while.
It was painful–just thinking about leaving Devin and the new friends she’d made.
But it was important to her to at least try to get her life in order before she burdened Devin any more than she already had.
Someday he’d thank her for it.
At least she hoped he would.
Beside her, he rolled over and reached for her, murmuring her name in his sleep. It brought tears to her eyes. She snuggled closer and wrapped herself around him and simply breathed him in. His arms tightened around her and she knew she would miss this. Miss him. Miss being held by him.
“Mmm…” Devin hummed and softly kissed the top of her head. “So good.”
MacKenzie sniffled quietly as she squeezed her eyes shut. Placing a light kiss on his chest, she tried to force herself to relax.
A few more nights. That’s all they had. At least for now.
She knew he was going to go into the shop on Monday and not rest until the Mustang was running perfectly.
So if that was all she was going to allow herself, then she was going to do her best to enjoy every minute they had together.
And that meant…she had to make the most of those minutes.
Shifting slightly, she placed more tiny kisses on Devin’s chest and shoulder. He hummed his approval. Then her hands began to move over him and she heard his soft hiss of breath when she reached around and gently squeezed his ass.
“If this is a dream,” he whispered, “then I don’t want to wake up.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “What if I said this wasn’t a dream?” she teased.
He chuckled and lazily shifted them until MacKenzie was on top of him. His hand slowly skimmed down to her hips and he squeezed. “Then I’d ask what I did to deserve someone as incredible as you.”
Emotion clogged her throat. And rather than speak, she simply did her best to show him how incredible she thought he was too.