Maxine had been a fountain of information once they were well away from the women of the charity committee. And that fount was filled with small-town politics and petty jealousies. She had tried to ignore Delia’s pettiness for three years, but it was now getting out of control.
Watch your back, Kei. Delia never forgave Mac for leaving town and not marrying her. She hates you. And she’s determined to hurt you. I don’t know what she’s up to, but she’s gloating and so are her little chickies that she runs with.
Insanity. Delia had married one of the richest and most influential men in the state of North Carolina, and she was still pissed off about the one who got away.
How had Delia known about the sharing Jethro and Mac had done in Virginia? Who did she know?
“Keiley?” Mac stepped from the hallway that led to the washroom and kitchen from the back of the house. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you fuck her before you left all those years ago?” She suddenly snapped. “Is that why she decided to make my life hell? Because she never forgot her first fuck?”
His eyes widened as he moved closer. “Did I fuck who?”
“Delia Staten. ” Her hands went on her hips as she confronted him. “And who in this little neck of the woods, Mac, knew about your and Jethro’s little high jinks in Virginia?”
Surprise glittered in his eyes then. “No one here knows, Kei. ”
“Someone knows Mac, or they’re psychic, because the latest little piece of gossip to reach Delia Staten is that you and Jethro are now sharing me. ”
She watched as he tensed, his broad shoulders appearing wider, his chest beneath the gray t-shirt he wore appearing wider.
“They’re guessing. ”
“Oh, you suddenly believe in coincidence now, Mac?” she asked him tightly. “Weren’t you the one who told me more than once that there was no such thing as coincidence?”
“The rules are different in small towns, Kei. ” He grimaced roughly. “Here, rumor and supposition are a game all their own, sweetheart, you know that. ”
“They’re gossiping about me, Mac,” she whispered. “Hell, I haven’t even done anything yet and they’re gossiping about me. ”
She raised her hand as he started toward her, his expression suddenly quiet, thoughtful.
“I need to change clothes. Shower. Think. ” She shook her head as she headed for the stairs. “I’ll be down later to fix dinner. ”
“Keiley. ” He caught her arm as she headed to the stairs.
Keiley stared at his fingers wrapped around her wrist before lifting her gaze slowly to Mac.
“I said I need to think,” she told him icily. “I will not step into this little game you and Jethro want to play without considering where it will go and how it will end. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can alpha me into this, Mac. ”
“Alpha you?” His brow arched. “Is this another word for force?”
“It’s another word for all this supersexy dominance you think you can suddenly control me with. The dominance doesn’t control me, Mac. You don’t control that. And you won’t use it to get what you want until I decide it’s what I want. Do you understand me?”
His other hand moved, lightning fast, cupping the back of her head as his fingers speared into her hair.
“Understand me,” he said then with heavy sensuality as he pulled her closer, his lips a hairsbreadth from hers, stroking them, reminding her of his kiss last night, of the fiery storm that had overtaken her. “Our sex life is just that. Ours. I’ll take care of Delia. I’ll take care of anyone, anywhere, who decides my business is theirs. ”
Keiley gasped as he pulled her to him then, one arm going around her back as the other hand held her head in place and his lips covered hers.
Like the night before. Like every kiss they had ever shared combined into one. The heat that blazed from it was searing. The feel of his tongue controlling hers, his lips holding hers, his powerful chest beneath her palms.
She couldn’t touch him enough. He couldn’t kiss her enough.
Her hands pushed up his chest, twined in his hair, pulled him closer to her. Dragged him closer into the kiss, tried to climb into him.
Damn him. Damn her. A whimper left her throat as her back met the wall and Mac lifted her to him.
Rage and fear flowed through her. Rage at Delia Staten for daring to strike at where she was most vulnerable. Fear because she had been struck. And hunger. Oh, God, the hunger he inspired in her was too much to bear. It burned through the anger and the fear. It wrapped her in white-hot wonder, filled her with blistering pleasure.