The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

“What?” He tore his eyes from Lily and looked down at Raine.

“You look pissed off.”

“I am.”

Raine looked surprised at his answer and glanced over her shoulder toward the fire. She studied it for a few seconds, and when she turned back to him, a soft smile lit up her face.

“You’re jealous of Blair Hubber?”

Mac didn’t hesitate. “Damn right I am.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

Raine’s eyebrows shot up. “Because he’s here with Lily?”

Again, no hesitation. “Yep.”

“Why?”

He ran his hands through his hair and let out a long, hard breath.

“Because she belongs with me.” An arrogant comment for sure, but it was the truth, or at least it’s what he felt.

Jesus, he wanted to march his ass over there and physically remove Blair Hubber from Lily’s space. He’d watched the two of them all day, an easy smile on his face as if he didn’t care that Hubber had been all over her.

But he cared. He cared a lot. And maybe that should surprise him, but for now, he wasn’t going to think about the reasons behind it. It just was.

Raine’s eyes widened slightly. “Okay, if you’re going for the Tarzan thing, I gotta tell you, Draper, you’ve got it down pat.” She paused, obviously curious. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that the two of you had already met.”

“We have,” Mac said tightly, his eyes once more on Lily. Blair’s arm was around her shoulders now, and Mac fisted his hands, even as he envisioned plowing them into the guy’s face. A broken nose on Hubber looked pretty damn good right about now.

“Oh,” Raine whispered.

Mac glanced down, immediately regretting his admission. Since New Year’s Eve, his night with Lily had been for him and him alone. He’d never said a word to anyone about it because it had just seemed wrong.

“No one knows, alright? I…” He shrugged, not really knowing how to express what was inside him. The only thing he knew was, if Hubber’s hands wandered anymore, Mac was going to remove them himself, and he sure as hell wouldn’t be nice about it.

“She’s not as tough as she seems,” Raine said quietly as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Mac’s wa

ist. Rising up on her tiptoes, Raine kissed his cheek and grabbed his face, forcing his eyes back to her. “But then again, neither are you.”

He stared down at one of his oldest friends, not really knowing what to say and feeling like a bit of an idiot.

“So, the Tarzan thing doesn’t really work?” he joked.

“No. I’d suggest something a little more subtle. You need to tone it down.”

“Gotcha.”

Mac reached the edge of the bonfire and didn’t waste any time. Ignoring Blair, he squared his shoulders and gazed down into Lily’s eyes. There were a few more people around the fire, but he didn’t care.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked softly.