The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(17)

‘As long as you promise not to gaze at me longingly all night.’

‘Ha! Who says I was doing it longingly?’

‘I could sense that, too.’ She was smiling now, even though her eyes were still closed.

‘No more staring,’ he promised as he pulled a blanket over her.

‘Goodnight, Annie.’

‘Goodnight, Mac,’ she murmured, snuggling down into the blanket. It was then that he realized she was still holding his stuffed polar bear.

Of course she was.

He pulled his own blanket over himself and turned away from Annie to avoid any more embarrassing staring incidents.

And that was how Mac had his first sleepover with a girl, and he honestly didn’t know if it was love or lust taking root, but it was definitely one of the two.

Or maybe both.











Chapter Nine





Now


Mac had insisted on driving them to the Y to look for Nana in his big, dumb vehicle that was some kind of half truck, half SUV monstrosity and older than both of them. Vintage was what he called it when she’d commented on it. A vintage Ford Bronco, he’d informed her like she was supposed to be impressed.

She was not.

And the only reason Annie allowed it was because she was out of gas. Again. She hadn’t had time in between everything else she was doing to stop and fill her tank, but she could have. She would have this morning, if Mac wasn’t being so pushy and insisting that he be the one to drive.

‘I still think it would have made more sense for us to split up,’ Annie grumbled, jumping down from the truck.

‘You asked for my help, so you’re getting it,’ Mac said with a sweep of his hands, like he was some kind of prize in a game show.

Annie scowled. ‘Whatever. Let’s just go in and find Estelle. She's probably at one of her classes and forgot to let everybody know.’

Annie strode across the parking lot to the front doors of the Dream Harbor YMCA with Mac trailing along behind her. She really didn't know what had possessed her to include him in this little search. For the three years since he’d been back in town, she’d done everything in her power to avoid time alone with him. She’d been busy, she’d been uninterested, she’d been down-right mean. Anything to protect herself from him. And look at her now, spending the morning with Mac like it was fine, like they were friends.

But when she went out to her car and that damn gas light was on, she didn't have much of a choice. Right?

Right. She needed to find Logan's grandmother, and fast, because she had plenty of other things on her to-do list and no time to do them. She rubbed the spot on the back of her neck that tightened up when she was stressed. The last few weeks had put a giant baseball-sized knot there. She dug her fingers in, trying in vain to loosen it up.

‘What’s the matter with your neck?’ Mac asked as they went through the automatic doors. The lobby of the Y smelled like sneakers and cleaning solution.

‘Nothing’s wrong with my neck and, if something was wrong with my neck, it would not be any of your business.’

‘My mistake,’ Mac said. ‘I thought you told Logan we would be friends for the weekend. And friends check in with each other.’

Annie bit back a scoff. ‘I told Logan I would be on my best behavior. I said absolutely nothing about being your friend.’

She ignored the flicker of hurt on Mac’s face and continued her power walk to the front desk. She didn’t have time for Mac’s feelings. Just like he had never had time for hers.

‘Hello,’ she said in her friendliest voice. ‘We are here for the seniors’ aerobics class.’

The woman behind the desk had a short-cropped haircut that Annie wished she could pull off and a look that said she was not in the mood to deal with anyone’s antics.

‘That class is for members sixty-five and older,’ she said, glancing over Annie's shoulder at where Mac was standing, not even trying to look elderly. So much for being helpful.

‘Oh, of course!’ Annie said, scrambling for another idea. She wasn’t expecting such high security at the Y. ‘We are actually here to—’

‘We’re here for a membership,’ Mac interjected. ‘And maybe some information on classes that would be more age-appropriate for us.’ He flashed the woman behind the desk his most dazzling smile. It made Annie want to punch him in the face, but surprisingly it worked on the no-nonsense Y employee.

‘In that case,’ she said, no longer speaking to Annie, ‘let me get you some forms.’

She hustled into the back office to round up the paperwork and Annie turned to glare at Mac.

‘Now what are we going to do?’

Mac shrugged. ‘Apparently get a gym membership,’ he said.

‘That’s the last thing I want,’ Annie said, causing his mouth to tip into a smile.

‘How about you sneak off to the pool area and I will keep our new friend busy with plenty of membership questions,’ he whispered, giving Annie’s shoulder a gentle nudge. She was about to argue but that was actually a good idea. She hurried off to the pool before the woman returned with clipboards and pens, glancing only once over her shoulder at where Mac was now explaining that Annie had to take off but that he was very interested in the Platinum package.