Page 81 of Finding You

He loved that blush. “Well…that was rather…acrobatic. I know I downed a glass before coming back in here.”

“So that’s what took you so long…”

Rather than answer, he nodded and drank his juice.

Devin watched as MacKenzie stretched–the sheet dropping to her waist and baring her breasts–and he almost climbed back in the bed with her. He was just about to reach for the button on his jeans when she kicked the blankets off and rose from the bed.

Spectacular.

Before he could form a simple word, she was picking up her clothes and putting them back on.

That was a damn shame.

Shaking his head to clear it, he turned and went in search of his own shirt and finished getting dressed again. When he turned around, MacKenzie was fully dressed and re-making the bed. “You don’t have to do that.”

She shrugged. “I know. But I made it earlier and you know I hate leaving an unmade bed behind. Now I can relax.”

Laughing, he walked around the bed to her and hugged her. “Yeah. I do know that about you. And as much as I want to say it’s weird, I can’t because I feel the exact same way.”

“You’re the first guy I’ve ever met who feels like that,” she said softly, her arms around his waist, holding him just as tightly as he was holding her.

The alarm sounded on her phone and he silently cursed it. Slowly, he disentangled himself from her and took a step back. And hated the sad look on her face as he did it.

“So…yeah,” she said, smoothing a hand over her hair. “That was my reminder to get on the road.” She laughed softly. “Of course, I set that before you reminded me I’m having breakfast with the girls. I still can’t believe I forgot about that.”

“You’ve had a lot on your mind,” he said solemnly before letting out a long breath. “Why don’t we look around and make sure you didn’t forget anything?”

And now she looked even sadder. “Oh. Uh, sure. Okay.”

Reaching out, Devin cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly before stepping away again. “It’s all good. I’ll go meet with my accountant, you’ll go meet Ashlynn, and then you’ll come and see me before you get on the road. Right?”

Her eyes shone brightly with unshed tears and Devin’s heart actually ached. She didn’t say a word, just nodded.

It took all of five minutes to walk around and confirm that she hadn’t left anything behind. And as much as it killed him, he had to leave before he made a complete fool out of himself. Turning, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed his keys. “Tell Ashlynn and everyone that I said, hey!”

And he was out the door without waiting for her response.

“Surprise!”

She had a vague sense of déjà vu. “Um…”

Ashlynn walked toward MacKenzie looking frazzled and completely not like herself. “Good morning! Are you all ready to hit the road?”

Frowning, she glanced around. “Um…yeah.” Then, because she was thoroughly confused, she asked, “I don’t understand what’s going on. I honestly don’t remember us making breakfast plans like this. It feels like we did all this yesterday.”

“We did,” Jade confirmed. “But we realized we did it all wrong.”

“There was a wrong way to say goodbye?” MacKenzie asked, confused.

Avery walked by with a platter of baked goods. “It would seem so.”

Ashlynn frowned after her before returning her attention to MacKenzie. “So…yeah…we did it all wrong and it felt like a bummer. We decided to try it again and send you off feeling happy and cheery instead of sad with chocolate icing all over your face.”

“It would have been nice if someone could have pointed that outbeforeI walked out the door,” she murmured.

“Coffee’s ready!” Jade called out before walking over with a tray. “My mom’s manning the counter, but she said to wish you good luck.”

“Thanks.” Everyone took a cup and then began helping themselves to the cakes and pastries, but no one looked overly thrilled. “I really hate that you’ve all gone through this much trouble. I was totally fine with how everything went yesterday. I know you all have busy lives…”

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