The warm cadence of his voice, the grip of his hand, the clear regret in his eyes… She hated how freaking good-looking this man was, even at the pinnacle of prickish behavior. Cassidy swallowed and tried to regain her hand again, but he wouldn’t let go. “So you have, now go.”
“Nope. I need you to forgive me.”
“Fuck you.”
He grinned. “That’s one way to accept my apology.” His eyes skated over her, making it clear to her he pleasantly recalled what lay beneath her gardening slacks and Oxford shirt. “My preferred choice.”
The fluttering in her stomach kicked off again at the sight of his grin, and she audibly gasped, slapping a hand to her abdomen.
Mac raised an eyebrow, his eyes assessing her knowingly, lingering on the telltale tips of her nipples pressing against her shirt. “You good?”
“Gas,” she snapped. His eyes flicked up to hers in surprise. “You give me indigestion, what can I say?”
He frowned, the humor fading. “I mean it; I didn’t—”
With a vicious yank, she was free of his grasp and therefore, the current that ran from him to her whenever he touched her. Glaring at him, she parroted words back to him from days ago, “I’m not your priest, Mac; don’t want to hear it, and I’m not gonna tell you whatyouwant to hear.”
Mac stared, stunned.
“So, leave me the hell alone,” she pleaded, taking a step back.
His eyes narrowed.
Cassidy took a few more cautious steps back and implored once more, “Go.”
“Tell me why you aren’t wearing your rings.”
At the door, she stopped and looked back, perplexed. What the hell did he care about her rings? And why was he only now noticing? Deciding he hadn’t earned any truths from her, she answered, “I don’t exactly deserve to wear them, do I?”
Of course, it wasn’t a lie, either.
Mac stepped up on the porch, his nostrils flaring with the flash of anger passing over his eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Taking another step away from him, she walked backward into the glass with a slight rebound, mirroring what her heart did at both his expression and his words. “You’re all kinds of wrong.”
Tilting his head, fixing her with a heated stare, he pointed out, “Wasn’t me who strolled up in the middle of the night looking for something. Twice. And I don’t recall hearing complaints while I was fucking you.” He held up a hand to forestall her words. “How I handled afterward, yeah, I was a shit, and I own it. You didn’t deserve it. But don’t pretend everything that went before wasn’t fucking awesome because it was, and itwasn’t wrong.”
Cassidy’s cheeks burned. It was the most she’d heard Mac speak; it was a downright speech. And he was right. It’d been incredible, and she knew it, and she’d obsessed over it for days. She was standing in front of him with her body yearning for his touch, her mind replaying those moments even though it would have killed her to admit how right he was. He didn’t need to know how much she’d been affected by him.
So she merely asked, “Finished with your oration?”
“Fuck’s sake,” he mumbled irritably.
“What do you want? For me to make you feel better for making me feel bad? Fine, feel better.” She pulled the door open. “You’re absolved.”
Mac sighed heavily, lifting his hands to his head and pushing his fingers through his dark hair. “Jesus Christ, sweetheart, you’re a fucking stubborn woman.”
“Goodbye, Mac,” she sighed. She crossed the threshold.
“One more question.”
Cassidy groaned, rolling her eyes skyward before turning to face him.
“Why haven’t you been at work?”
An ironic smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she remembered his original question. “My god, what I wouldn’t give to have your ego.”
He had the grace to look down. “That’s not—”