Chapter 49
GEORGIA
Four orgasms and a nap later, we were in Mac’s bed. We lay on our sides facing each other. Naked. The house was quiet. His bed was warm. Cozy. Like we were in our own little world.
Mac had proven himself the gentleman, or not a gentleman with all the inventive ways he’d fucked me and pleasured me.
I hadn’t minded that he’d come first downstairs.
It was oddly flattering that I’d made him come quickly.
He’d been so into me–well, literally and figuratively–that he couldn’t control himself.
I loved it. It made me feel sexy and pretty.
He reached out, tucked my hair back behind my ear. “What are you thinking about?”
His voice was deep, but soft. It wasn’t laced with frustration or moodiness. It wasn’t gravelly with need. This was Mac, pure and simple.
I didn’t want to go over why I hadn’t felt either sexy or pretty lately. Sure, makeup and being nicely dressed gave the outward appearance of success and poise and all the things I learned doing pageants. But it didn’t make you feel attractive.
Eons ago, the dresses my mother put me in for pageants were never my style. Lots of yellows and sherbet colors with flounces and sequins had been in play. I looked horrible in yellow, but it stood out up on stage when in a line with other contestants.
Then, because of Art, I felt rejected. Being kicked to the curb for a younger, slimmer woman made me feel unattractive. Unwanted. Sad. Lost. Worthless.
No, I didn’t want to tell him any of that. So I redirected far, far away from all of that. To Mac himself.
“That I know everything about Andy–”
Mac grinned. “He doesn’t know a stranger.”
“–but I don’t know all that much about you.”
“What do you want to know?” His hand moved to lazily slide over my hip, as if he couldn’t stop touching me. In fact, he didn’t even look me in the eye, but watched the path of his fingers.
“How come you never got married? I mean, you’re a catch.”
That had his gaze meeting mine. “A catch?”
“You’re the fire chief. Obviously, you’re smart, fit, interested in helping others.”
“I can’t say that I haven’t dated,” he said. “A few times serious, but then Tracy had Andy and I became a dad overnight.”
“And?”
“And,” he continued. “Not every woman wants someone else’s kid.”
“True.” Usually this scenario was reversed, where the woman had a child and a man wasn’t interested in the extra baggage. “It’s just… you’re you and–”
“What are you getting at, GG?”
“GG? You sound like Andy.”
He shook his head. “GG is short for Gorgeous Georgia.”
And I melted. Right then and there.
Especially when he followed it up by a gentle kiss.
“I haven’t found the right woman yet, that’s all.”
Lordy, that hurt. I was naked and in his bed, my pussy sore from being fucked six ways to Sunday. And he hadn’t found the right woman yet.
Sure, I was temporary. A week or two fling. Fun.
I pasted on a smile because I’d been caught with my guard down. Orgasms did that to a girl. I belonged at the James Inn, not here in Mac’s cozy, big bed without a six-year-old chaperone. Savoring something that wasn’t really mine.
I cleared my throat.
“Your work makes it kinda hard to do that. Everyone I talk to raves about you,” I told him.
He was well known in Hunter Valley. Needless to say, he met many people through the emergency calls he went on.
He knew the hospital employees, I was sure.
At least the emergency department. The police department.
Everyone at Andy’s school. The older crowd who were friends with Drew.
Everyone.
“Well, it sure as hell keeps me busy,” he said.
“Did you always live here?”
“Born and raised.”
“Did you ever want to work for a bigger department? I mean, a big city where there’s all kinds of action.”
He reached for a curl, pulled on it and let it go.
“Nah. I don’t need have any interest in going anywhere else. Maybe the beach for a break from winter, but Hunter Valley has everything I could ever want.”
That smile stayed right on my face. Because what he wanted was in Hunter Valley and that didn’t mean me. I was leaving in a week, or whenever the project was done. Bradley could get me a flight out of here whenever I needed.
“This place is growing on me,” I said, trying to be light and neutral. And it was true. Hunter Valley was an amazing town. I’d met such nice people. “Even the snow.”
I could see staying. But I had no job after next week. I was only contracted for this role and then I’d be gone. Easy. Tidy.
Except until it wasn’t.
“Even the snow? I’m glad to hear that,” Mac said, cupping my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. That didn’t stop. At least while he was kissing me, I didn’t have to fake smile.