Page 25 of Festive Faking
Mac stepped back but didn’t go far. His ragged breathing was deafening in the silence that stretched between us.
My eyes tracked the movement of him adjusting his hard-on through the fabric of his jeans. He was completely unashamed of his physical reaction to me, and it made me weak in the knees.
Sagging against the wall, I breathed out, “What was that?”
He shrugged. “Giving you an outlet for your anger. You were about ready to burn this whole place down.”
Fuck. That kiss had blocked out the events that had come before, and I covered my mouth to muffle a frustrated scream.
Tomorrow, tongues would be wagging, talk centered around the Sullivan girl who’d returned from the big city without her manners.
Even after what he’d done to Bex, Tucker was well respected in town. A few years ago, he’d taken over for Doc Stevens, and now ran the family practice in Rust Canyon. There was no doubt I would be painted in an unfavorable light when word got aroundabout our altercation in the middle of the season’s signature event.
“Tell me one thing.” Mac ventured closer, tugging my hands away from my face.
I blew out a breath, tilting my face skyward. “What?”
“Did my distraction work?”
My gaze lowered to meet his, and I rolled my eyes, which elicited a lopsided grin from the man standing opposite me.
Holding my thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart, I admitted, “Just a little.”
“Good.” He tugged me away from the wall, looping an arm around my waist as he led me back toward the gathering. Lips brushed my ear as he teased, “Bet if we turn that private show into a public one, it’ll make everyone else forget too.”
Playfully, I smacked his chest. “Shut up.”
His laughter floated through the air. It was infectious, and pretty soon, I found myself joining in, my mood brightening.
Even as we got the evening back on track—making small talk with those who approached us and sampling foods from the various stands—I couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d seen me spiraling and hadn’t hesitated to intervene. He could’ve just as easily stepped back to let me crash and burn, but he didn’t.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why.
Chapter 10
Mac
Well, that was aneventful evening.
I’d always known Aspen was feisty, but I’d never seen her fly off the handle like that before. She had been out for blood, and part of me felt bad for the poor sucker on the receiving end of her rage. He looked like a kicked puppy, guilt written across his face, as she’d hurtled shocking accusations at him.
I wasn’t kidding about redirecting her anger. I half expected her to slap me across the face for kissing her. When she didn’t, it was the sweetest reward. The memory of her moans, as I’d pinned her to that wall, had my cock harder than the floor beneath me as sleep alluded me in the darkness of the cabin.
Fuck, my level of obsession had gotten to the point where even her breathing, audible from bed less than three feet away, was enough to turn me on.
Gripping my shaft against the ache, I bit back a groan.
Don’t be a creep. If she wakes up and catches you jerking off, it’s game over.
My hand fell to the side, and I prepared for this to be the longest night of my life.
Time ticked by at a snail’s pace as I tossed and turned. Just as I contemplated digging through my bag for a sleeping pill I’d lifted from my stepmom, a whisper-soft voice said, “I lived in this cabin until I was three.”
I stopped breathing. Was Aspen talking in her sleep?
Keeping my voice low in case she was, I replied, “Yeah?”
Sheets rustled from above. “My dad took a risk buying this land. He poured every penny he had into it, borrowing from the banks to purchase the horses. This was the only structure, so it’s where we made our home until Daddy and Mr. Atkins, Penny’s dad, built the big house with their own hands.”
