n our family—because of some investment scam your father dreamed up.” Shaking inside as she thought about how they’d suffered, she grabbed her pails of polish and headed for the front door. “I never thought I’d say this, Hayden, but you’re just like your father!”
She tried to barrel past him, but he caught her arm and swung her around. The pail flew out of her hand, clattering to the floor. One bottle of polish crashed, the plastic containers rolled crazily upon the hardwood and Hayden placed her between himself and the wall.
“Don’t you ever compare me to him,” Hayden warned.
“Then stop acting like him. Stop believing lies that are all bound up in money! For God’s sake, Hayden, be your own man!”
She saw his eyes blaze and the muscles in his face tense. He was breathing unevenly and his body was shoved hard against hers. Swearing, he suddenly covered her mouth with his and kissed her brutally. His lips ground over hers and he shoved his tongue between her teeth, tasting, touching, exploring.
Nadine’s emotions were ragged, her patience worn thin. The assault caused her bones to turn to liquid and yet she didn’t want to kiss him; she didn’t! She tried to fight him off, but her hands, balled into tight fists ready to strike, slowly uncoiled and he captured her wrists, holding each by her side.
Her breasts were crushed, her abdomen flattened, her hips pinned intimately to his. Her mind closed to her arguments and she kissed him back, accepting his hungry tongue, her body thrilling at the feel of his hands as they released her arms and wound around her, dragging her closer still, until her clothes were suddenly too tight and she imagined herself making love to him, just as she’d imagined it years before.
He released her as suddenly as he’d taken her into his arms, and though she felt suddenly bereft, she wouldn’t let him know that she tingled for his touch. “Was that supposed to convince me of something? Was I supposed to be tamed into believing all your lies? Did you think I would turn submissive because of one stupid kiss?” she threw back at him.
His eyes seared straight into hers.
“Don’t ever touch me again,” she warned. “As for your father’s check. It never existed. You can balm your conscience any way you please, but I know the truth!”
“So do I, Nadine.”
She glanced at her spilled bucket, thought the hell with it, and marched out the front door. Her hands were trembling as she started her little Nova and tears stung the back of her eyes, but she wouldn’t back down and believe his horrible lies.
She thought of her father living in a retirement center; she thought of her mother, remarried and raising her teenaged children in Iowa; she thought of her oldest brother, Kevin, now dead; and she thought of Ben, wounded in the Gulf War and finally being discharged from the army. He would return to Gold Creek to nothing. Her fingers tightened over the wheel and she nearly sobbed. She could lay the blame for her fragmented family directly at the feet of Garreth Monroe.
Tears drizzled down her cheeks but she sniffed them back. She had the weekend in front of her. A long, lonely weekend. The boys would be with Sam and she would try to forget about Hayden and the emotional havoc he wreaked upon her and her family.
* * *
COULD HE HAVE made a mistake?
Hayden kicked the empty pail and sent it rolling noisily toward the den. His muscles were tight, his mind cluttered and he wanted a woman. But not any woman. He wanted Nadine Powell Warne. He’d kissed her to punish her, to put her in her place by the most primal of means. Thinking about it now, he was embarrassed that he’d been so dominantly male, so savagely physical. And yet he’d enjoyed it. Kissing Nadine had turned him inside out and he’d wanted more. So damned much more.
Muttering a stream of oaths, he walked through the kitchen and out the back door. The wind was cold as it knifed through his shirt, but he didn’t bother with a jacket. Inside he was hot, boiling. He headed to his Jeep. One drink at the Silver Horseshoe and then he’d decide what to do—whether to chase her down or not. Kissing her had been his first mistake.
He was about to make his second. Following her showed an incredible error in judgment, so he’d have to fight his natural instinct to take off after her.
However, as he climbed into the Jeep, he felt as if destiny had already tossed the dice. Deep in his heart he accepted the fact that later he’d wind up at Nadine’s house.
* * *
“JUST FORGET HIM,” she told herself as she pinned up her hair, peeled off her robe and stepped into the warm tub of water. But keeping Hayden out of her thoughts would be near impossible. Even two glasses of Chablis hadn’t helped. She drank the first in anger and brought the second to the bathroom, hoping that a little alcohol and a warm bath would ease her aching muscles and dull the pain in her heart.
Why she cared about Hayden, she didn’t know. He was often brooding, sometimes downright surly. Oh, sure, he could be charming, even funny, but those moments were rare.
During the past week she’d caught him watching her and each time her heart had taken flight. She’d seen the passion simmering in his eyes, known he’d felt the same damned electricity charging the air between them.
But why? Why was she drawn to men who only caused her pain? She took a long swallow of wine and wished she’d forget him, that his face and body wouldn’t invade her dreams and that during the day she could ignore him.
She sank down to her chin and let the water soothe her sore muscles and balm her wounded ego. She still felt the warm imprint of Hayden’s kiss, though it had been hours since she’d seen him. She took a cloth, dipped it in the water and rubbed it over her lips, as if to erase any impression or memory of the feel of his mouth against hers, but the rough terry-cloth fabric only served to remind her of the taste and feel of him. She’d turned to putty in his hands and now she felt ashamed that she had. He’d treated her roughly, pulled a male-domination act that should have soured her stomach. Instead she’d nearly collapsed onto the floor and begged him to make love to her.
“Stupid woman!” she whispered, tossing the cloth into a hamper in the corner of the bathroom and finishing off her wine in one long swallow. She detested women who were involved with men who didn’t respect them and she’d vowed long ago never to join that pathetic club. And yet Hayden, with one forceful kiss, seemed to have easily stolen all of her brains along with her self-respect. “Idiot,” she murmured, lathering her body and letting the warmth from the water invade her tired muscles. Only one more week, then she could kiss Mr. Big Bucks goodbye—or at least walk out the door. Kissing him would only prove dangerous.
Hershel started barking on the front porch, and Nadine scowled. Maybe the boys had left behind something they needed. With a last longing look at the bath, she drained the tub and stepped onto the mat just as the pounding began.
“I’m coming, I’m coming! Hold on to your pants!” she yelled as she cinched her robe around her waist and hurried through the living room.
She yanked hard on the door and a blast of cold air rushed into the house, billowing her robe around her bare legs and causing the fire to glow. Nadine’s heart lodged in her throat as her gaze collided with Hayden’s.