The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(60)

‘Is kissing a serious thing?’ he asked, working his way down her neck.

‘Probably not…’

‘What about kissing here?’ he asked, exploring places he hadn’t gotten a chance to the first time around.

Annie gasped. Another sound he’d remember all year.

‘That’s a bit more serious.’

Mac smiled. ‘Good to know.’

Annie tugged him up by his hair. ‘I want you to do what you need to do, okay? Don’t spend your time thinking about me.’

‘I can’t promise that. There's no way I can stop thinking about you, Annabelle,’ he said, planting a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.

‘Okay, fine,’ she agreed, like he was really putting her out. The big smile on her face told him otherwise. ‘You can think about me the whole time you’re away.’

‘Deal,’ he said.

‘I will miss you while you're gone,’ she said, ‘but I’m excited for you.’

‘Thanks,’ he said, kissing her again. He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her but that seemed unfair to say now. He would save it for when he got back.











Chapter Twenty-Eight





Now


‘So much for being the big spoon,’ Mac said, tugging Annie’s arm tighter around his waist. Her fingers flexed, pressing into his skin. He could feel her groan rumble through his back, and he laughed.

‘Damn it,’ she said, pulling away.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked, rolling over to face her. ‘That was cozy.’

Annie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and Mac thought this was his favorite morning in a long time.

‘What time is it?’ she asked and Mac glanced at his alarm clock.

‘Just after six,’ he said. Thanks to the tilt of the Earth that made December so grim in the Northern Hemisphere, it was still dark in his bedroom, although the streetlights hitting the snow outside gave the room an eerie glow. He could make out Annie’s gentle smile and her sleepy eyes, her gaze soft. For now, she wasn’t scowling at him.

He liked it a lot.

‘We should check on the kittens,’ she said, even as she pulled the blankets up higher around her shoulders, clearly not intending to get up anytime soon.

‘Already did.’ Mac pointed to the side of the bed where he’d brought up the box in the middle of the night. ‘Got worried about them downstairs all alone,’ he explained.

Annie bit down on another smile.

‘You really have to stop doing that,’ she said.

‘Doing what?’

‘Being sweet.’

‘I am sweet.’

That caused a little crease to form between Annie’s eyebrows. She still didn’t believe him. She still wanted to cling to her image of him as the villain.

‘What do you think of me now?’ he asked, echoing the question they’d asked each other all those years ago.

Annie sighed. ‘I’m not really sure anymore.’

He’d take it. Anything was better than her thinking of him as the asshole who broke her heart.

‘Okay, biggest fear,’ he asked instead.

‘That I like this a little too much,’ she admitted, and hope flared in Mac’s chest. ‘What about you? Biggest fear?’

‘That you’ll never forgive me.’

The crease between her eyebrows deepened.

‘What do you think of me now?’ she asked.

Mac paused, taking her in, her bedhead and her sleepy face peeking out above his covers. He needed to get this exactly right.

‘I think you’re just as bright as when I left. I think you hold this town and your friends and your family together. I think you are still an over-achiever, but I think it’s made your dreams come true and I think you’re even more beautiful than the last time we did this.’

Annie held his gaze, not speaking, and Mac felt the world stand still as he waited. He’d wait for Annie forever.

‘That was pretty good,’ she said, after so long that Mac thought maybe she’d never answer. He couldn't help but chuckle. She was never going to make this easy for him but he didn't deserve easy so that was okay.

‘Favorite movie?’ she said.

‘The Muppet Christmas Carol,’ he said without missing a beat. Annie’s laugh filled the quiet room.

‘That cannot possibly still be your favorite movie,’ she said.

‘It absolutely can!’ he countered.

‘You’re ridiculous,’ she said, her nose crinkled in disbelief.

‘So, what’s yours, then? Has it changed in the past eleven years?’

‘It’s been a while since I’ve even had time to watch a movie,’ she said. ‘All I really seem to have the bandwidth for at the end of the day is reality TV.’

‘Really? And you're going to make fun of me for loving the Muppets?’

‘There's something relaxing about watching other people blow up their lives!’

At some point she’d reached out a hand beneath the blankets and was toying with the gold chain he still wore around his neck.

‘What was the best place you lived?’ she asked, her finger still looped through his necklace. He willed her to tug him closer.