Craved Mate: Cybermates, Ayers, Candace [the rosie project .txt] 📗

wore a white T-shirt that clung to his wide shoulders and sculpted pecs like a second skin, medium-wash jeans, and scuffed work boots. His hair was still damp from the shower. He looked masculine and sexy and powerful all at once.

I wanted to blame the Florida temperatures for the heat wave that rolled through me. But I’d been just fine, cool as a cucumber, until Mac sat down and his thigh brushed mine. Then, hello, thermometer. Mercury shot through the roof.

His thigh was all I could focus on. It was so distracting.

That and his smell. Why did he smell so good? Like a bonfire on the beach at night, wrapped in a blanket under the stars. It didn’t make sense the things this man did to my body.

Could what I was feeling be gratitude? I mean, what woman wasn’t turned on by her own knight in shining armor?

No. That wasn’t it.

Mac helped me and all, but it wasn’t as though he’d saved my life or risked his own in the process. I would have gotten down eventually.

I needed to remember one thing, though, and cool my jet skis. Just because I was enjoying some solo vacation time did not mean I was single. I had a boyfriend, Aaron.

I mean Adam!

I was committed to Adam, and if there was one thing I despised, it was people who didn’t honor their commitments.

One’s word was one’s bond. I’d always believed that.

I was not in the market for a new man, despite Parker and her devious machinations.

But sitting next to Mac was slow torture.

He seemed to be as shocked to see me as I was to see him, which meant Parker had pulled the same setup on him. He probably didn’t even want to be here.

“Mac is actually from Ohio, Mel. He only recently moved here.” Parker blinked innocently and smiled. “And Mac, Mel here was a big recording artist twenty or so years ago. You’ve probably heard of her, Melody Manes.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. When my thigh rubbed against Mac’s again, fire shot straight to my core and I had to bite my lip to keep a moan from escaping.

This was wrong. No matter how right it felt. My stomach twisted itself in a knot. I looped the strap of my purse over my shoulder and spoke to Mac without making eye contact. “Could you let me out, please? I’m not feeling well.”

“Oh no! What’s wrong?” Parker’s frown was genuine.

Mac moved immediately, allowing me to slide out of the booth and stand on somewhat shaky legs. When he took a step back and his eyes passed over me, he wore an odd expression. Something I didn’t recognize.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

And that was how I ran from Mac the hulky firefighter for the second time in twenty-four hours.

I probably should’ve been embarrassed, and maybe later I would be, but at that moment I was just relieved to get away. There was something about Mac that made me want to cross all kinds of boundaries and compromise my morals in all sorts of ways.

I quickly made my way down Main Street, crossed over to the west side of the island, and strolled back along the beach. My nerves were jangled. I felt too raw and exposed to want to return to my room and stare at the walls just yet.

When my phone buzzed, I prayed it wasn’t Adam. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him right then, not with my thoughts going haywire.

The screen said Ben, which meant it was either my brother Pierce or my cousin Ben. They were an overprotective couple of idiots, and since the two of them were always together, they often used each other’s phones.

“Is this Thing One or Thing Two?”

“Rude. If I didn’t love you so much, I might not like you.” It was Ben.

“Good comeback.”

Ben grunted. “You want my come back, you’ll have to scrape it off yo’ mama’s teeth.”

“Ew, gross! That’s your aunt, you freak.” I grinned. “I’m scarred for life now from that mental image.”

I found a shady spot under a couple of palm trees and plopped down in the sand. “Let me see… Before you ask, yes, I’ve been locking my door. No, there’s no one I find creepy. No, I don’t feel in danger. Yes, the town seems safe. Yes, I’m eating and practicing self-care. No, I haven’t had unprotected sex and gotten knocked up by a total stranger.” I didn’t mention that there seemed to be a perfect candidate on the island.

“Well, thank you for easing my mind, but that wasn’t why I called.”

Grinning, I hugged my knees and stared out at the ocean. “What do you want, then?”

“Just checking in.”

“Ben?”

“Fine. We heard that you and Adam are having troubles.”

“Oh, why don’t you two mind your own damn business?” The fact that Ben and Pierce were acquaintances of Adam’s and thought he walked on water was another thing tying me to the man. He was the first guy they welcomed. Probably because they hadn’t yet seen through his big bank account and phony bologna charm.

They were way too protective of a fully capable, adult woman, but due to my past, I had difficulty convincing them I wasn’t as naive as they seemed to think I was.

When I’d shot to fame as a recording artist almost overnight, I very quickly found myself isolated and protected from the outside world by my family. If I did go anywhere, I had bodyguards. I hated every second of it. As my contract went up for renewal, neither the record company nor my agent was at all pleased when I decided that the limelight wasn’t for me and I bowed out. Pierce and Ben, however, stood beside me, and for that I’d always be grateful.

I had found it stressful living the life of a celebrity and had longed for a normal life—fixing dinner for my husband, reading bedtime stories to our children, PTA meetings, and family vacations. I got rid of the