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“So.” Mac’s lips parted slightly. She stared at them, willing him to step closer.

Friends. Friends. Friends.

Jodie swallowed. “You really weren’t avoiding me this week? Were you?”

What am I doing? Just friends.

Mac’s eyebrows went up. “Avoiding you? Sorry, I don’t understand.”

“I know you were on a detail. Hell, I was the one who set up the schedule two weeks ago.” She glanced at the dirt between them. “I just wondered if maybe I overstepped the other night at the restaurant. About the heat.”

“Jodie.”

She looked up.

“I wasn’t avoiding you.” He rubbed the back of his neck, then let his hand fall. “And you didn’t overstep.”

“You got a little defensive.”

“No, yeah, you’re right.” His mouth tightened briefly. “Sorry. That was on me. Not you.”

“Okay.” She nodded.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Mac stepped closer. Jodie’s eyes widened and her pulse jumped.

She had spent four days wondering whether she’d imagined the way he’d looked at her in that parking lot. He was looking at her the same way now, the same way he’d been all day, whenever he’d gotten the chance.

Nope. Definitely not imagined.

Definitely nothing in his gaze that said friend.

“They probably need you back at the house.” Mac’s voice was composed entirely of gravel.

“Probably,” she agreed. She licked her lips, her entire attention focused on the heat coming off Mac’s body, and the way his eyes were dilating as he took her in. “But for once, I’m going to let them figure it out without me.”

“Good.”

His hand slid around her waist. She reached up and curled her fingers into the front of his shirt, her other hand going to his shoulder, and then she was pressed against him, his mouth hot and sure against hers.

Mac tilted his head and kissed her deeper. Jodie made a sound she would deny under oath and tightened her grip on his shirt. His hat brushed the top of her head, and he broke away just long enough to yank it off and toss it onto the box.

She laughed against his mouth. “That hat has been taunting me all day.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t think you actually are.” Her face heated as Mac grinned.

“I might be. Just a little.”

“You’d better kiss me again,” she breathed. “Just to reassure me.”

“Beauty.”

His lips met hers again, shockingly soft considering the heat and dry air. His tongue swept into her mouth, weakening her knees. Jodie completely forgot about gate hardware, dinner, her clipboard, and the fact that a small army of their friends was forty feet away.