“No, you’re right. I’m sorry. I got us both riled up, and maybe that was a bad idea.”
Mack’s eyes settled on her, and she couldn’t breathe. “I don’t know if it was a bad idea.”
“Neither do I.”
The admission was out of her mouth before she could think about it. Wasn’t it a bad idea? It should be. She wanted Skye, not Mack. Didn’t she? Thoughts were tumbling so fast through her brain that she could almost hear the buzz of them skittering around. None of them were soaking in, though. Her mind was sluggish, and she couldn’t tell if it was from tiredness or lust.
Mack seemed to sense her feelings. Or maybe she had the same ones? She took a deep breath and said, “I think we should both get a good night’s sleep and talk about this tomorrow when things aren’t so…charged.”
“Yeah. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We just need to talk before we do anything.”
“Yeah. We should talk.”
“But it’s late.”
“Yeah. It’s late.”
Why was she just repeating everything Mack said? What did she really think? What did she really want? Right now, she knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to strip Mack’s clothes off and see what other magical things her tongue could do besides kiss her silly. Would she still want that tomorrow, though? What about Skye? What about the life she had planned? What about her future with her fiancée?
Mack said, “Maybe I should sleep on the floor.”
“Absolutely not.” No matter what happened or didn’t happen, there was no way she wanted Mack anywhere but in their bed tonight. “I can behave.”
Mack’s laugh was accompanied by that crooked grin, and Kayla’s resolve melted like ice cream on the beach. “Not sure if I can.”
“I’ll sleep on top of the covers. Just don’t sleep on the floor, okay?”
“Anything you want, LaLa.”
Of course, Mack was the one to sleep on top of the covers, though. Ever the considerate masc. It would have been infuriating if it weren’t so damn sexy. Kayla lay down on the very edge of the mattress and switched off her bedside lamp. She listened to the rustling of sheets and pillows as Mack tried to find a comfortable position. If her body was anything like Kayla’s, it wasn’t the cold or the mattress that kept her from settling. It was the ache of need refusing to quieten down.
They didn’t say anything else as the silence of the night took over the room. It felt like they’d had their first fight instead of their first heavy make-out session. The thought stuck in her brain. Calling it the first implied there would be a second, which she shouldn’t want. After all, she was here to do this with Skye, not Mack. Was that still what she wanted? What would it meanif it wasn’t? What would it mean if it were, even though her body clearly wanted Mack? Kayla’s stomach roiled with uncertainty.
It took a long time for her to fall asleep again, but her last thought before drifting off was that she and Mack really, really needed to talk in the morning. Preferably before she saw Skye.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After their steamy make-outsession from the night before, Kayla woke up more confused than ever. Apart from the sexy fantasy that had spawned their libidos, her dreams had been full of frustrating, exhausting scenes. She had chased a car with an unknown passenger in one, and searched an endless high-rise office building for the correct highlighter in another. More than once, she had woken herself up grinding her teeth. Worst of all, for the first time since arriving in St. Lucia, she had not woken up curled into Mack’s arms. It was a distinctly unsatisfying night’s sleep.
When her eyes popped open, Kayla found Mack already out of bed, tying the laces on her running shoes. She avoided direct eye contact but still gave Kayla her trademarked crooked grin. “Morning. Ready for a workout?”
She was, but not the kind that involved running shoes. Now wasn’t any more an appropriate time for that than last night had been, however. Mack usually worked out her thoughts byrunning, so it wasn’t surprising to see her interested in a workout rather than a sit-down chat. While that wasn’t Kayla’s preferred method of sorting out details, Mack deserved the right to set the terms, so she dragged herself out of bed and into the skimpiest running shorts and tank top she owned. Was she doing that in case they ran into Skye, or was she doing it for Mack? She never did make up her mind.
Every morning, while she dressed for their jog, Kayla had mentally ticked through the bullet points of the Plan of Seduction. Her mind hadn’t gotten the memo her libido was sending, so it started up with the same routine. As if on cue, her stomach clenched at the monumental task and the limited time left. In fact, she realized with a twist of her gut that today was her last shot. They were scheduled for afternoon wedding ceremonies followed by romantic candlelit dinners on the beach. She had until two o’clock to convince Skye that she should be the one saying “I do” rather than Amy.
Mack’s overly cheery morning voice cut through her thoughts. “Ready to go?”
“Um, sure.”
Kayla winced at her own lackluster reply. Why was she feeling so weird about this now? So they’d made out, so what? Clearly Mack wasn’t ready to talk about it, and neither was she. After all, Mack knew they had come here to win Skye back. She knew about the Plan of Seduction. She seemed to be willing to continue playing along. But was that what Kayla wanted anymore? Wasn’t last night with Mack proof that she wasn’t fully committed to a lifetime with Skye? She chided herself as they skipped down the stairs from their room and toward the running path. She shouldn’t have led Mack on last night. She wanted a life with Skye. She had their future planned out and she wasn’t going to lose that future. It was the one she wanted.
Wasn’t it?
Mack eased into a slow jog to start their warmup. “So, um, things got weird last night.”
Every muscle in Kayla’s body tensed. “Yeah. It did.”
