The Other Side of Us - By Sarah Mayberry Page 0,91
became his shoulder. He smelled lovely—like fresh air—and she kissed him before opening her mouth and tasting him. He tasted good, too, and she felt the stir of desire.
“Okay, now it’s becoming a big deal,” Oliver said.
He tipped her chin up and kissed her, his tongue stroking hers with lazy, carnal intent. She clutched at his coat, wanting to be closer.
“Mackenzie.” There was laughter in his voice and his eyes when he pulled back to look into her face.
“I know. Sorry. You go.”
“Call me, okay?”
“I’ll come over.”
“Even better.”
He and Strudel exited to the porch and she watched them for a moment before shutting the door.
He was such a good man. Solid and real and open and—
She shook herself. She had an ex-husband to get rid of, and the sooner she did it the better.
* * *
OLIVER CLEANED OUT the fireplace grate when he got home, carrying the ashes outside to the garden. He glanced over the fence as he climbed the rear steps. Mackenzie had drawn the curtains with the approach of night and all he could see was a thin strip of light where the curtains met.
He wondered what her ex wanted. From Mackenzie’s demeanor, she didn’t seem to think it would be anything too onerous or serious. Obviously, the guy hadn’t come looking for money. So what else could it be?
Unbidden, the memory of the way Langtry had pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the lips upon arrival flashed into Oliver’s mind. There had been a lot of familiarity in that embrace. A lot of assumptions, too.
They were married. They have history. Get over it.
Mackenzie had told him herself that they should never have gotten married. She’d said that she and Patrick had a fundamental disconnect. That she’d been worn down by all the times her ex had put himself and his own needs first and hers second.
She also said that she fell into an affair with him because she couldn’t help herself. Because he was charming and “sometimes even when you know someone is wrong for you, you get sucked into old patterns and behaviors.”
The thought curdled his gut. He turned away from it, grabbing a pot and banging it onto the stove. He pulled the fridge open and grabbed anything that looked as though it would turn into soup—potatoes, onions, carrots, half a head of cauliflower, sweet potato.
Working methodically, he peeled and chopped his way through the lot, tossing it into the pot with water and some powdered chicken stock. All the while he kept his mind on the matter at hand, and every time his thoughts wavered toward Mackenzie he yanked them back into line.
He trusted Mackenzie. He trusted what they’d started together. He trusted the way she made him feel, and he believed that feeling wasn’t one-sided. He would not sit over here in his cold house and dwell on the worst thoughts thrown up by his primitive lizard brain. He refused to.
Besides, Mackenzie would be calling soon to let him know Captain Bleached Teeth was gone and normal services would resume. Any second now.
He built and started a fire, the actions second nature after weeks of it being his primary source of heat. He fed the dog and checked on his soup and started reading one of the thrillers he’d kept from the boxes he donated to the thrift shop.
An hour later, the soup was ready and Mackenzie still hadn’t called. He abandoned the idea he’d had in the back of his mind that they’d eat soup by the fire and rub each other’s feet and instead ate a bowl on his own with only Strudel for company.
The phone rang as he was cleaning the kitchen.
“It’s me,” Mackenzie said. “This is turning into a bit of a thing, I’m afraid. Patrick’s had an offer for a movie and he wants me to look over the contract and the script. It’ll mean breaking his contract with Time, or at least pushing them pretty hard to give him a few months off the show, so he wants to be sure before he makes any hard-and-fast decisions.”
“Fair enough,” he said, even though what he was really thinking was that Patrick must have an agent who could do all of the above for him and get paid for the privilege.
“We were thinking of grabbing some Chinese from the place in town for dinner. Do you want to come eat with us?” Mackenzie sounded both hopeful and apologetic.