She had ignored the rumors about her husband. She had accepted his declaration that it was all in the past and hid from the burning curiosity as long as she could. Perhaps if she hadn’t sensed the reason behind Mac’s broodiness lately, then it wouldn’t have come to this. Or if she had let him know from the first moment that it wasn’t something she didn’t want, then she could have avoided it.
Unconsciously, Keiley wondered if she hadn’t pushed him because she was too curious about it. Because she had sensed the need rising inside him, and it had only made her more curious about the whole thing.
It was going to happen. She had known last night as Jethro’s lips had touched hers that it would happen. She was going to allow her husband’s best friend to become a third in their bed.
She was insane. Mac was insane.
Unfortunately, insanity wasn’t contagious, so she couldn’t blame Mac entirely for this. She was a grown woman, capable of putting her foot down and saying no. And Mac would accept it. He might get broody sometimes, he might fantasize about it, but he would have accepted it.
So why wasn’t she doing it?
Because she wanted all of her husband. Because she was curious herself. Because she was honest enough with herself to admit that she had fantasized about it much too often herself in the past three years.
Fantasy and reality weren’t meant to be mixed, though. What would happen to her marriage, to her dreams, if she allowed this to happen?
That was her fear. That somehow, some way, this would destroy the marriage that meant more to her than her own life.
Keiley gripped the steering wheel tighter as she made the turn onto the county road and headed to town. She had too much to do today to let this mess with her mind right now. If she didn’t get her head on straight, then everyone at the meeting would be aware that something had her nerves onedge.
The last thing she needed right now was to allow that bunch of gossiping women to find out there was some kind of stress in her life other than them. From the day she had moved to Halifax County with Mac, she had sensed the keen interest of the community that had taken notice of her. Especially Delia Staten. That woman was dying to learn something that would hurt her and Mac.
Keiley wasn’t the type to hide from society. She had immediately joined the business community as well as the charity organization that seemed to oversee all the various charity needs in the county.
Every preacher’s wife and deacon’s daughter seemed to be on the committee, though not all had joined the summer festival committee. The meeting Keiley was heading to was comprised of a little over a dozen women and headed by Victoria Leia Staten, one of the matriarchs of the county.
The committee board was headed by Mrs. Staten and included five other influential women. There wasn’t a woman under fifty on the committee board except for Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Delia, and their combined censure had the power to ostracize anyone from within their ranks and those of the community.
That was one of the things Keiley had had a hard time accepting when she first joined the charity committee. Those six women had an incredible amount of influence on both the social as well as the business community.
Morally upright, censorious, and sometimes judgmental, they could nevertheless make it extremely difficult for anyone whose business interests were based solely within Halifax County.
Not for the first time, Keiley was thankful that her and Mac’s financial solvency wasn’t dependent on the county. She was on the outside of that little group the way it was. The interloper, so to speak. The last thing she needed was to have those women decide they had any power over her.
This meeting was being held in the Staten mansion just outside Scotland Neck. The three-story plantation-style home had been restored to its former glory decades before and stood on a hill overlooking the town like a silent sentinel.
Keiley parked her car behind the dark blue Mercedes driven by one of the few women Keiley had become friends with. She stepped from her car and moved along the stone sidewalk alongside the driveway that led to the side of the mansion and the gardens where the members gathered before the meeting.
“Keiley, you’re early for a change. ” Maxine Bright detached herself from the small group of women who threw Keiley friendly waves before going back to their conversation.
Maxine was a powerhouse of energy. Five feet six inches tall with flaming red hair and bright green eyes. The wife of the most influential banker in town, Joseph Bright. He was also quiet, thoughtful, and seemed to adore the cheerful, effervescent women he had married.
“Max, you look gorgeous. ” Keiley smiled as her gaze went over the chocolate-colored linen dress her friend wore.
Max’s vivid red hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, the corkscrew curls trailing halfway down her back from the large matching bow.
“Joey liked it, too. ” Max waggled her brows as she caught Keiley’s arm and practically dragged her into the gardens. “I had to take it back off and iron it before I ever made it out of the house. ”
Keiley barely restrained her surprised laughter. Unrestrained sex and Joseph Bright didn’t seem to go hand in hand.
“Lucky woman,” Kei murmured. “Mac was already out of the house working before I even woke up. ”
“And his friend who’s visiting?” Max whispered. “Was he working, too?”
“Damn, news travels fast in this county,” Keiley laughed. “He just showed up yesterday. ”
“I hear he drives a flashy bright red Mustang and wears mirrored sunglasses. He has a bad-boy grin and muscles a woman would drool over. ”
Keiley arched her brow as she accepted a glass of sweet iced tea from one of the housemaids.