Page 35 of Finding You

Daring a glance over her shoulder, MacKenzie couldn’t help but look at him again. Nope. Nothing casual about it. She missed the look that exchanged between her two new friends. It didn’t matter how hot the kiss was between her and Devin, he’d pulled back and pretty much sprinted from the room as if his feet were on fire. And the fact that he hadn’t mentioned it at all told her he wanted to forget it.

Then what was the hot stare about?

“You know, now that I think of it, Devin is a pretty good kisser,” Avery said, and MacKenzie’s head spun back around.

“What?” she cried.

Avery nodded. “It was a while ago–long before Leo–but yeah. I’ve kissed Devin. It was pretty hot.”

So many thoughts raced through MacKenzie’s mind.

“Hell, I bet if you asked a lot of girls in this room, they’ve kissed Devin,” Ashlynn added.

Why? Why on earth were they telling her this? So Devin was a player? The type of guy who kissed like a damn dream and ruined you for any other kiss ever? Great. Got it.

She tried to look uninterested and noticed the song was coming to an end. Devin had moved over to join a bunch of the guys at a table in the corner. Swallowing hard with disappointment, she didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she murmured, “I’m going to grab a drink.”

At the bar, she had more than one guy offer to pay for her beer, but she passed. No need to get anyone’s hopes up. Making her way through the crowd, she sat down at the table the girls had claimed earlier and wanted to pout.

“Here’s the thing…”

MacKenzie almost jumped out of her skin at Ashlynn’s voice in her ear. Her hand flew up over her heart as she tried to calm down.

“Devin’s lived here his whole life. He’s dated a lot of girls because…well…look at him. He’s freaking hot! Any single girl in town would love to be in your shoes.”

A headache was building behind her right eye and she wanted to tell Ashlynn to shut up because she didn’t want to hear any more about how great Devin was or about his love life.

“But…” Avery chimed in, now sitting on MacKenzie’s other side, “there have always been two places Devinneverbrings a woman–his business or his home.”

MacKenzie looked at them both in confusion until they nodded at her. “But…”

“It’s not like he doesn’t allow women in his shop,” Ashlynn clarified. “It’s more like he doesn’t let anyone hang out or…visit him there.”

“But I’m not hanging out or visiting. I’m working for him,” MacKenzie stated, still feeling confused. “And the only reason I’m staying with him is because The Cozy Corner and The Sweet Briar were booked up, along with all the area hotels. It’s not like Devinwantsme to be there.”

Avery shook her head. “You’ve met enough of the people here in town to know if it really bothered him, he could have found you a place to stay. Everyone in Sweetbriar Ridge would take in someone in need. You’re staying at Devin’s because he wants you there.”

That was really what MacKenzie had hoped for, but was afraid to really let herself believe. “It doesn’t matter. We kissed and…”

“And Devin’s a nice guy who probably thought he was going to scare you off or that he’d acted inappropriately. The man has manners. They all do here in town. Trust me,” Ashlynn said. “I’ve traveled around a bit and there aren’t any better men than the ones here. They were raised right and know how to treat a woman.”

“Okay, okay, we get it,” Avery interrupted. “But that doesn’t mean the men from outside of Sweetbriar Ridge are all bad. I mean…just ask Ashlynn. Reid isn’t from around here, and according to her, he does just fine.” She gave a sassy grin and a wink to make sure they all knew what she meant.

MacKenzie wanted to groan. This was all a little TMI for her.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Ashlynn asked.

Wait. What?

“We may not have known each other very long, but it’s obvious you’re crazy about him and he’s been staring over here at you since he walked through the door. And we won’t even get into that hot little display the two of you put on while you were bowling. That tells me the feeling is mutual,” Ashlynn reasoned. “So…my question remains.”

MacKenzie’s first thought was how she wanted to drag Devin back to his house and have her way with him. But that was totally out of her comfort zone.

“You’re thinking way too hard about this,” Avery said after a long silence. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“It’s not going to go anywhere,” MacKenzie admitted sadly. “Once my car is fixed, I’m leaving. Or…after the festival. The more I hear about it, the more I really want to be here for that. But I don’t want to impose on Devin for much more than that.”

Without a word, Ashlynn got up and walked away. It was fine. All the fun from earlier had worn off and now all MacKenzie felt was disappointment. Devin was here, but so was half the town of Sweetbriar Ridge and amongst them, a lot of single women. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that if he wanted to, Devin could have any one of them.

---