The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(26)

Mac bit so hard on his tongue to stop himself from protesting that he drew blood. Was Annie actually asking someone out in front of him? This was a new low, and one that he could not handle.

‘I … uh…’ The man blushed to the tips of his ears as he stammered, ‘I’m attending a wedding.’

‘Oh, wonderful! I will see you there, then,’ she said with a smug smile at Mac before Elliot slipped away into the manager’s office once again.

Mac didn’t have time to dwell on that little interaction for too long before Annie had his hand and was tugging him down the hallway.

‘What—’

‘Shh…’ She took a hard left down the first hallway with guest rooms. ‘It’ll be easier for us to take a little look around ourselves,’ she whispered.

‘You know you’re insane, right?’

She stopped and turned to glare at him. ‘I just want everything to go right and— What was that?’

‘What was what?’

‘Shh!’

‘Annie, I swear to God if you shush me one more time—’

Before he could finish his threat, Annie had his hand again and had pulled him into the closest utility closet. It was pitch-black inside and smelled like lemon Pledge.

‘Annie—’

A single finger met his lips but, to her credit, she didn’t shush him. And he was too distracted by the feel of her skin on his mouth to do anything but stand in shocked silence. He didn’t give a shit what was out in that hallway. If it kept him stuck in this dark closet with Annie, it could stay out there forever.

Voices drifted in through the doorway.

‘I’m just nervous about tomorrow.’

‘But you are head over heels for that man.’

‘I’m not worried about Logan or marriage. It’s the wedding part. It’s a big event. I want it to go well and everyone to have a good time.’

Mac knew he recognized that voice. Jeanie was in the hall with someone, and Annie didn’t want her to know they were here looking for Estelle. Hence the closet hiding place.

‘You’re the bride. All you have to worry about is saying yes. Leave everything else to the rest of us.’

‘Thanks, Mom. Have you seen Aunt Dot? She’s supposed to have my something old…’

A door down the hall opened and the voices faded as they went into the room.

Annie was standing so close that he felt her sigh of relief on his cheek. She let her finger fall from his lips and he wanted to grab it and put it back.

‘I told you,’ she hissed, snapping him out of his standing-too-close-to-Annie stupor.

‘You told me what?’

‘Jeanie is stressed about tomorrow and it’s our job to make sure that’s not the case.’

‘I don’t think her mom meant that we’re responsible for a missing-persons search. I think she was talking about wardrobe malfunctions and drunk-uncle situations.’

Annie huffed, and even though it was dark he could picture her rolling her eyes at him.

‘We need to go.’ She lifted a hand to find the doorknob but in the cramped space ended up fumbling against his arm and his stomach. He grabbed her wrist before she could grab anything more … personal.

‘Don’t you ever rest?’ he asked instead of dwelling on where he’d like Annie’s hands to wander.

‘I’ll rest when I’m dead.’

‘Annie.’

‘Mac.’

He tugged a little on her wrist and to his surprise she leaned into him, her cheek pressed right over his heart.

‘Your heart is beating really fast,’ she whispered.

‘I know.’

Still, she didn’t move. For one agonizingly perfect minute, she didn’t move. She just pressed her face against him and let him twine his fingers with hers. Her breathing slowed and her body relaxed against his. He took a risk and planted a chaste kiss on the top of her head. The soft sigh she let out at the contact was everything he’d dreamed about in the past eleven years.

But like everything else with Annie, it didn’t last.

‘I’m sorry I hurt you,’ he murmured.

Annie pulled away. ‘You didn’t hurt me.’

‘Christ, Annie, will you just accept my apology? I fucked up, okay? We had one perfect month together and then I ruined it. Can we move on, please?’

She was fumbling for the doorknob again.

‘I don’t need your apology, Mac. Because I’m fine. We hung out for one month like a million years ago and it really doesn’t matter to me anymore. Where the hell is the doorknob?’ She groaned in frustration.

‘If it doesn’t matter, then why are you pissed at me all the time?’

‘Did it ever occur to you that I simply don’t like you?’

‘Ha! Okay, sure, darling. You and I and everyone else in this town know the way you look at me.’

‘Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.’ She punctuated each word with a kick to the door.

Mac sighed and turned the knob. Annie spilled out, almost landing face-down on the hallway floor. As he blinked in the suddenly bright light, she glared up at him from the carpet. He reached out a hand to help her up, but she ignored it.

‘I will find Estelle myself,’ she said, getting upright and storming down the hallway.