Enchanted (23 page)

She heard no one but Mac. She saw nothing but the joy in his face as they moved with the music. And then, suddenly, she was ripped out of her dream. Something sharp dug into her arm. Fingernails. Ashley’s fingernails.

“How dare you kiss him in front of me,” Ashley hissed. Mac pried Ashley’s hand from Kathleen’s arm and maneuvered Kathleen behind him. “I thought you went home.”

“I didn’t want to go. I belong here, not her.” Her voice
had
calm
ed. She’d suddenly become quiet
and calculated.

Mac spoke through nearly clenched teeth.
“Let’s talk about this outside.”

Ashley pulled her arm out of Mac’s grasp. “Fine. I don’t want to make a scene in front of my friends.”

Mac looked at Kathleen, hoping to see some sign of understanding or sympathy. And he found what he sought. “Stay here.”

“No, Mac. This is my fight, too,”

They retreated through the ballroom and into the gardens, away from the eyes and ears of the other guests.

“Okay, Ash. What is it now?”

“It’s simple. She’s playing you for a fool. I watched that display
the two of you put on in the ballroom
. How dare you put on such a vulgar sp
ectacle in front of your guests?
You wouldn’t have done that with me. She’s leading you astray.”

“I wouldn’t have done it with you because you would have slapped my face.”

Ashley glared at Kathleen. “He thinks you can take my place, but you can’t. You don’t know how to dress. You don’t know how to entertain guests. You’re just a small-town hick, and he knows it.”

“Knock it off, Ash. She doesn’t deserve this treatment from you.”

“She’s a tramp, Mac. I told you that years ago. Don’t fall for her again.”

Kathleen’s eyes narrowed in a confused frown. She grabbed Mac’s arm. “What’s she talking about? What did she tell you years ago?”

Ashley grinned. Oh, how she enjoyed making them suffer.

“It’s nothing, Kath.”

“Don’t push it aside, Mac. I want to know. What did she say?”

He turned to the woman he suddenly despised. “Go home, Ash.”

“I’ll leave this time, but you’re not getting rid of me. I’ll be back, and I fully intend to make your life miserable.”

They watched her walk away, back to the guest-filled hall, wishing she would walk out of their lives for good, but maybe that would be wanting too much.

The soft music from inside wafted toward them on the light warm breeze, and Mac took Kathleen’s hand, leading her farther into the garden to a white gazebo draped in banners of red, white, and blue. He leaned against a post, shoved his hands into his pockets, and fixed his eyes on Kathleen as she sat on a bench across from him. So graceful. So beautiful. God, he hated the thought of losing her.

Kathleen sensed his unease. “Is what she told you the reason you went to Europe?”

“Couldn’t we discuss this next weekend when we’re alone?”

Kathleen shook her head. “Do it now, Mac.”

His shoulders slumped as he rested his head against the whitewashed post. “I’m afraid you’ll run away.”

“I won’t run away, Mac, but I need to know why
you
did.”

Knowing he couldn’t hide the truth any longer, he swallowed his pride, but he couldn’t swallow his fear. “Before we went to Europe, Ashley told me I was making a fool of myself over you.”

Kathleen’s
eyes narrowed
as
if she didn’t understand. “And what was that supposed to mean? We talked about work, that’s all.”

“But that’s not all, Kath. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved our sparring matches when we were together, and I guess I talked about you too much around Ashley. I don’t think she appreciated it.”

Kathleen felt her cheeks
burning. She never blushed;
this may have been a first. “I’m flattered.”

“Ashley wasn’t. The thought of you and I having anything more than a business relationship never really entered my mind. At least I didn’t
think
it had. I liked you, and I sure as hell liked looking at you, but I didn’t see anything more to it. I guess Ashley did, and she dug in her claws. She’d laugh and tell me I was too old for you, that you were playing up to me because you wanted my money.”

“Did you really think I wanted your money?”

“Hell, no. If that had bothered me, I would have dumped Ashley the day I met her.”

“Then what did bother you?”

He laughed. “Realizing just how much I did care for you . . . and that you were too young,” he stammered. “Ashley made me see just how ridiculous it would look if the two of us got together.”

“That’s crazy!”

“I know that now. But along with being stubborn and opinionated, I’m pretty vain, too.”

“I’ve known that for a long time.”

“Damn it, Kath. Do you have to be so honest?”

“Yes. Now I want you to be honest with me.”

“I have been.”

“You haven’t told me everything
. I still don’t know why you went to Europe or why you ignored me when you came back.”

Mac rolled his eyes heavenward, took a deep, steadying breath, then found the courage to look back at Kathleen.

“I thought I loved Ashley, even when you were constantly on my mind. She promised if I took her to Europe for a year, we’d get married and have a family when we got back. Why the hell I ever believed that line, I’ll never know.”

“Sometimes love is blind.”

“Well, I regained my vision pretty fast in Europe. She didn’t want me. She just wanted the things I could give her. Clothes, jewels, endless partying. A whole year of it. I indulged her, Kath. I wanted to explore, see castles and the countryside. But she wanted to shop. It was a disaster.”

“If it was so bad, why didn’t you call it quits when you came home?”

He let out a deep sigh, all the pent-up frustration he’d felt for five long years. “I think she sensed I was going to. She can be pretty conniving, Kath. She dropped subtle hints before we came home about you and an affair you were having.”

Kathleen’s
frowned
. “And who was I supposed to be having an affair with?”

Mac looked down at the floor of the gazebo. There was no way he could look into her eyes. “My father.”

Silence. Deafening silence.

“Tell me you didn’t believe that. Please tell me, Mac.”

“No, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. You knew my dad. He’d never have an affair with anyone.”

Her voice was only a whisper. “But you believed it about me?”

He didn’t look up. “Well . . .”

“Well, what?”

“I came back from Europe and you had a baby. What was I supposed to believe?”

“You weren’t supposed to believe anything. Did you ever consider talking to me about it?”

“No.” He paced across the wood plank floor, grabbed hold of one of the columns for support. He looked out into the dark night sky, afraid to look at the hurt in Kathleen’s eyes. “I didn’t want to know the truth. I just assumed you’d
gotten pregnant.
”

Now she was mad. “That does happen, Mac. Women do get pregnant, sometimes by accident, but there’s always a man involved, or have you conveniently forgotten the man’s role in conception?”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten. I’m sorry, Kath. What can I say? Maybe I was jealous that I hadn’t been the one sleeping with you while I was in Europe. God knows I thought about it enough.”

Her head shot up and her eyes blazed. She took a deep breath, and then another. He had a grin on his face. A stupid, insufferable-man type of grin.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me? I’m racking up a pretty long list of reasons why we should call it quits.”

For some strange reason, the smirk didn’t leave Mac’s face. “No. I can only think of reasons why we should stay together.”

“Such as?”

“I don’t care what’s happened in your past, but I care about our future.”

Damn it. He could have said anything but that.

“You
think
we have a future after the way you’ve insulted me?”

He nodded, and his smirk turned into a smile. “All you have to do is forgive me.”

“Forgive you? I’d rather lynch you for being such an insensitive, opinionated, self-righteous bastard. But . . .” Getting mad and staying mad at McKenna O’Brien would never be easy. She’d loved him way too long. “Fortunately, I don’t think you’re beyond redemption.”

“And is it your plan to save my soul?”

“I can’t take ten years of wanting you and throw it out the door. I guess if you can forgive me for my supposed indiscretion, I can forgive you for your archaic beliefs about right and wrong.” But, she thought to herself, you’re going to have to prove to me that you deserve to know the truth about Julie. I’m not going to tell you unless you ask. And when you find out, you’re going to feel like an ass, and I hope you’re miserable.

“Kath?”

Stop using that seductive, sexy voice on me, McKenna O’Brien. “What?”

“I meant it when I said I want you. I’ve damned my beliefs over and over because they kept me away from you far too long. My mother said I’m a conservative bore—”

“She’s right.”

“Perhaps. Conservative bore,
misogynist
, self-righteous bastard. Did I leave anything out?”

“Give me time to think. I’m sure I can come up with a much longer list.”

H
e put a finger under her chin and turned her face to his. “Can you forgive me?”

Her angry eyes suddenly sparkled. “I’ll think about it.”

“We’re a good match, Kath. A pious conservative and a tenacious liberal. We’ll always have something to fight about.” He brushed one of those beautiful strands of hair away from her face, never taking his eyes from hers, waiting for just a trace of emotion that said she felt the same. And then it came, that radiant smile that had captivated his heart, his mind, all his senses. He pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to her silky hair, inhaling her fragrance. But his lips wanted more. They sought and found the softness of hers, and he tasted heaven.

Boom!

They heard the soaring rockets and ran out of the gazebo to see the burst of a thousand exploding colors in the night sky. He stood next to her, gazing into her eyes, sparkling as never before. The thrill of Fourth of July made her smile, like a child, wide-eyed and innocent, gazing at Christmas-tree lights as they first came to life. He pulled her into his arms, tight, so very, very tight, her back pressed against his as they watched the glittering sky and dreamed of their own fireworks that were equally, if not more, exciting.

oOo

Together they stood, hand in hand, before the door to Kathleen’s room. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay with me tonight?” Mac asked.

Kathleen shook her head. “Shhh,” she whispered, her index finger pressed to his lips. “You’ll give people more to talk about.”

“Let them talk.”

He stepped closer, but Kathleen pushed open the door and escaped inside, away from his lips and the fear that she might want more than his kisses. “Good night”

Pushing his hand through the slim opening in the doorway, he marveled at how beautiful Kathleen still looked at three in the morning. More than anything, he wanted to wake at her side. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and cupped her cool cheek in his warm hand. “Sweet dreams, Kath.”

She took his hand and pulled his fingers to her lips, kissing the tips, and then his palm, letting her mouth linger as she inhaled his fragrance, something to hold on to until she saw him again. After one more taste of his skin, she gently squeezed his hand and lowered it to his side. She smiled as she closed the door.

oOo

Ashley stood in the gazebo and watched the lights going out throughout the house. It wasn’t fair that she should be outside and that other woman was sleeping in the bed that she had slept in dozens of times before. Mac had no right to tell her to go. She swore several weeks before that she’d get even, and now was the time. But what could she do? She knew only one thing he wanted. A child. The idea repulsed her. Sex. Children. Living under the same roof with Mac, for all time.

She didn’t want any of those things. She didn’t even want Mac anymore. She wanted Kathleen to suffer as she had when Mac called it quits.

She crept across the lawn and through the service entrance. She knew the way to his room, she could find her way blindfolded. But dim lights burned throughout the house, lighting the way for guests who wouldn’t feel comfortable walking in the dark. Up the stairs, down the hall. No one heard her. No one saw her. And then she was there. She turned the knob, quietly, and slipped inside.

She heard his deep breathing. She knew that sound so very well, the sound he made when nothing could disturb him. She unbuttoned
her
taffeta dress and let it fall to the floor, then slipped out of her stockings, panties, and bra. She stepped lightly across the room, cringed at the sound of his snoring. She hated that sound. Mac stirred when she neared the bed. He rolled to face her, and opened his arms.