Chapter 21
BECK
I envisioned myself squatting down in front of her, eye to eye, and confessing everything.
But imagining her look of horror, realizing I’d just ruined our friendship, prompted my legs to finally work.
Retreating back to the bed, I vowed no more talk of relationships or people changing, so for the next twenty minutes, we kept the conversation light.
Safe.
The festival. O’Malley’s future. Her parents’ condo hunt.
Mae worked out the kinks of making and delivering pastries here and wondered if there might be other establishments, inns and bed and breakfasts that might want to order too.
She nearly spilled her wine twice, her hands flailing around in excitement over the idea.
I loved seeing her like this.
“What are you smiling about?”
You.
“Nothing in particular. Definitely not at the state of our wine.”
My glass was empty. The bottle was empty.
Mae sighed dramatically.
“Fine. Ugh.” She stood. “I could have slept in that chair.”
“I wasn’t kicking you out.”
She put her empty glass on the dresser. “I’m out too. A sign from the universe that we should get some sleep.”
I got up from the bed. “What time does the universe think we should get going tomorrow? The supplier is meeting us at nine.”
Mae thought about it. “We have to get downstairs for breakfast. So maybe ready to leave by eight which gives us forty-five minutes to eat and head out?”
“Works for me.”
She opened the adjoining door, said “good night” as she had a thousand times before, and disappeared through the door.
I stood there, wanting to close mine and get some sleep.
But I also wanted to call her back. Tell her, despite the empty wine bottle, it didn’t matter to me how tired we’d be tomorrow. That I wanted her to stay.
Idiot. Why are you tormenting yourself this way?
Instead, I lifted my t-shirt and tossed it on the dresser, reaching over with my other hand to close the door, when Mae’s whipped open.
“I almost forget to tell…”
Whatever she was about to say was lost. Mae’s eyes dipped down to my chest before flying back up to my face. I could easily break the tension with a quip about not having to pretend to forget to tell me something. That she could admit she secretly wanted to see me undressed.
But the words stuck in my mouth.
I wasn’t the only one frozen in place.
“Mae.”
Having no idea what I was about to say, I was fairly certain I’d just given myself away. My voice was thick, unnatural. Filled with a need for this woman unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
She blinked, wide-eyed and as beautiful as ever. Evening gown, sweats and a tee… didn’t matter. If it were any other woman, I’d have kissed her by now. The signs were all there. But… this was Mae.
I had to be sure.
Just when I was about to do that, her lips parted in a telltale sign, coupled with the way she looked at me, and her silence… she wanted me to kiss her.
And I was more than happy to oblige.
I took the one step necessary to close the distance between us, reached behind her head and pulled Mae toward me.
“Beck.” Her hands shot out, I thought to push me away, but instead lay on my bare chest, as if to brace herself. She would need it.
Bringing my head down, I captured her lips in mine.
They were softer, tasted better and fit more perfectly in mine than I ever could have imagined. Her hands moved from my chest to my shoulders, Mae gripping me as if to hold me in place. As if I was going anywhere.
Tongues tangling, the kiss was frantic and urgent, as if neither of us could get enough.
I am kissing Mae.
Surely this was a dream, and I’d wake up any second. Instead, a soft moan that I would hear in every one of my dreams from this day forward came from her mouth.
I’d paid dearly for all the times I’d kissed the wrong women. But if it taught me one thing, it was… when it came to Mae, I would never, ever waste a second.
I would kiss her until she forgot every man before me.
And until the only thing she remembered was us.
My hands moved to the back of her head, pressing Mae against me, leveraging the closeness of our bodies to deepen the kiss. She tilted her head, giving me full access, one I took advantage of, ensuring every moment would be a memorable one.
If we were a cartoon, stars and hearts would surround us, the moment exactly as I dreamt it would be… and more. I could kiss Mae all night.
We fit perfectly together.
Too perfectly.
I pulled away. Not because I wanted to, but because this was getting all too real.
“If I don’t stop now, Mae,” I murmured, wondering if she could hear the shakiness in my voice, “I’m not gonna be able to.”
She stepped back, our arms falling away.
I was struggling to breathe, regretting ending the kiss. But I hadn’t been lying. That kiss had escalated to something more so fucking quickly.
“What have we done?”
I hated how stricken she looked, as if Mae already regretted it.
“I’m pretty sure we kissed.”
Her smile was back, thank God. “Really? Is that what that’s called?”
I smiled back, hoping to reassure her we could be… us. Mae and Beck. That it wasn’t the end of anything, but maybe the start of one.
“I don’t know… I can’t believe we did that.”
“Do you regret it?”
She blinked. “No. I mean, I don’t know.” Mae let out a breath. “I think I should go to bed.”
I wanted to disagree, but rushing something as complicated as… that wasn’t a great idea.
“Agreed.”
“Alright then. Good night,” she said, taking another step back.
As much as neither of us wanted this to be awkward, there was no escaping the fact that it was awkward as hell. “Good night, Mae,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. Casual.
I stepped away from the door frame, winked like I might have done even without the kiss, as we closed the doors at the same time.
But I didn’t move from that spot. Instead I stared at it, seeing us as if I were watching a movie with Mae and me as the main characters.
That was… incredible. Earth-shattering. Perfect.
If I had any doubts, they weren’t about our chemistry. Mae deserved more than Mathieu, and I was certainly a step above that French asshole, but I was nowhere close to perfect for her.
I was a loaded gun with no safety, just waiting for the wrong moment to go off. The smart move would be to walk away now, before either of us got hurt. But standing there, heart pounding like a fucking drum in my ears, all I wanted was to tear that door back open and finish what we started.