Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels) (14 page)

Since she’d always known Sam was a player-hater, especially after that episode with Guy Carrington a few years back, Mackenzie decided not to waste her time getting into an in-depth discussion about it. There was no need. The bottom line was that on occasion, Sam enjoyed setting up players by pretending to be an airheaded, ultraneedy, spoiled little rich girl. By the time the players discovered the truth, it was too late.

And all because of Guy
.

Guy Carrington was the man who had caused what should have been Sam’s beautiful wedding day to end disastrously when two women showed up, claiming they were Guy’s other women . . . and with babies in tow—three of them. Talk about baby-mama-drama. Mackenzie wasn’t sure who’d screamed the loudest—Sam, her mother, the women, or the babies. Luckily, all of that had taken place before Sam had gotten the chance to say “I do,” so instead she’d said, “I don’t,” and had been a true-blue player-hater ever since.

Deciding to avoid the subject of Sam’s love life or lack thereof, Mackenzie said, “So, what brings you to my office? Don’t tell me you’ve run out of cases.”

Sam grinned. “Not on your life. I met with Amanda Johnson today and she’s determined to go ahead and bring a lawsuit against that dealership for selling her that car knowing the speedometer had been tampered with.”

Mackenzie nodded. “If they were smart they would try and settle out of court.”

“That’s the problem, they aren’t smart. So how are things going on the Whitedyer case?”

Mackenzie shrugged. “We’re waiting for the judge to set a date for the initial hearing and I’m hoping it will be
sometime next week. The sooner we can take it to court, the better.” And then she asked, “Where’s Peyton?”

“She had a lunch meeting with one of her clients. And speaking of lunch, what are your plans?” Sam asked as she slid off the desk to stand.

“Haven’t made any.”

Sam smiled. “In that case, how about if we go and grab something at that deli on the corner?”

“Sounds good but I can’t eat much,” Mackenzie said, opening a desk drawer to pull out her purse. “Luke prepares dinner every evening. He’s good at making casseroles.”

“You’re lucky he’s making something. Some men wouldn’t think of lifting a finger in the kitchen. They would expect us to come home and throw something together after working all day.” Sam then gave a suggestive grin and said, “You might want to keep him around.”

Mackenzie stood and led the way out of her office. “And I’ve told you a dozen times that he’s moving on as soon as he’s better,” she threw over her shoulder.

“And I’ve told you that if I were you, I’d do whatever I could to make him change his mind.”

Mackenzie looked at Sam when they reached the door that led out of the building. “I have no reason to do that.”

“Umm,” Sam said, giving Mackenzie a serious smile. “It wouldn’t hurt if you were to think of a few.”

The person sitting on the bus stop bench put down the newspaper he had pretended to be reading when the two women walked by. He leaned over to ask his companion, “Which one?”

The companion smiled and said, “The one in the brown pantsuit.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

The person nodded before tossing the newspaper into a garbage bin nearby. The two individuals then stood and parted ways.

Luke nodded into the phone for the umpteenth time before he finally got a chance to say, “Yes, ma’am, Mama Laverne, I won’t overdo anything and I promise not to return to playing cowboy until the doctor says I’m good and ready.”

He couldn’t help but smile when his great-grandmother began talking again, trying to call the shots all the way from Houston. He loved the old girl dearly. She was the matriarch of the Madaris family and one tough lady who kept everyone in tow . . . at least she tried. It might have been easy with the second generation of Madarises—the grands, namely his father and all those older cousins like Justin, Dex, and Clayton, but he knew she definitely had her work cut out for her with those in his age group, the great-grands who were the Madaris new wave.

He couldn’t help but think of the family legacy his great-grandparents, Milton and Felicia Laverne Madaris, had started so many years ago with their seven sons—Milton Jr., Lee, Nolan, Lucas, Robert, Jonathan, and Jake. After Poppa Milton’s death, Mama Laverne had raised her sons while overseeing the huge family spread, Whispering Pines. All her sons were alive and healthy except for Robert who had gotten killed in the Vietnam War.

Luke was proud of his family; always had been and always would be. They were a close-knit group who were taught to look out for one another.

“Luke, are you listening to me?”

Luke felt guilty because in all honesty, although he had heard her words, he hadn’t been listening. “Yes, ma’am, I
heard
every word,” he said.

“So, you do agree it’s time for you to settle down with a wife and children?”

Luke almost dropped the phone. “No, ma’am, I don’t agree with that. I love my life just the way it is. I don’t need a wife and children. I plan to do like Uncle Jake and wait until I get into my forties before thinking about marrying.” He smiled. “Heck, I might even wait until I’m fifty.”

“Need I remind you that Jake was married for a short while years before Diamond?”

“Yeah, but as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t last long enough to be considered a marriage. Hell, I never laid eyes on the woman. None of his nieces and nephews in my generation did. So as far as we’re concerned he was a single man until he married Diamond. Marrying late seems to have merits.”

He breathed in deeply and was tempted to hold the phone away from his ear when she began giving him a blistering and scolding retort. But he couldn’t do anything but stand there and take it like a man. As soon as he was able to get a word in he told her he had to use the bathroom, expressed how much he loved her, and quickly ended the call.

Moments later he found himself pacing the floor waiting for Mac to come home. Usually she arrived like clockwork around eight o’clock, saying she preferred remaining at the office finishing up everything instead of bringing any work home to do. He wasn’t all that crazy about her working late, especially since the police hadn’t gotten any leads on the person responsible for ransacking her office. However, he had felt relieved after she’d informed him that she, Sam, and Peyton had hired a security guard to be there whenever they worked late. Also, those two police officers had agreed to patrol the area more. But still, she wasn’t home yet and it was eight-ten already.

He stopped pacing and rubbed his hand down his face. Why was he feeling so antsy about seeing Mac? Had that kiss they’d shared yesterday affected his brain cells or something? Although he usually thought about her every day, today had been worse than usual. She had been on his mind practically every second.

She hadn’t been aware of it but he’d been awake when she had left that morning and he had stood by the bedroom window and watched her leave. She had looked real nice in her brown pantsuit, a pillar of professionalism. But what he liked most about the pantsuit was the way it had emphasized the soft curves on her body. And they were curves that he very much wanted to become acquainted with.

He took a deep breath when he heard a car door slam and couldn’t force back the smile that touched his lips. Mac was home.

Mackenzie entered her home and gasped when Luke suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She placed her hand over her chest to slow down the rapid beating of her heart. “Luke! My goodness. Why were you standing by the door?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come home.”

Her eyes widened fractionally. “You’ve been waiting for me? Why?”

“For this,” he said, reaching out and stroking her jaw, just seconds before tilting her chin up and lowering his mouth to hers.

The moment their mouths connected Mackenzie dropped her briefcase to the floor and wrapped her arms around Luke’s neck. She hadn’t expected this, but she definitely planned to take full advantage. She had thought about their kiss most of the day. In fact when Sam had walked into her office and teased her about the nonexistent hickey, she had been thinking about it.

Now she was getting another kiss to think about tomorrow.
Wow! Is this how it was when you truly bonded with someone? Was married to that person? Coming home and being greeted at the door with a kiss was certainly a pretty nice benefit.

What was even nicer was the time he was taking to kiss her. He wasn’t doing a rush job but was drawing things out with every lick, suck, and entanglement of their tongues. And she was plastered so close to him that she could feel every tight muscle on his masculine frame.

There was no doubt in her mind that Luke Madaris was an experienced kisser. The man certainly had a way with his tongue. It had to be a gift. Even now she could hear the tiny whimpers coming from deep within her throat and could feel the heat throbbing all through her body. And she could feel the deep pounding of her heart in her chest and the hardening of her nipples.

Finally, he lifted his head, just barely, and went for her neck, placing soft kisses there, and she knew she would definitely have a hickey tomorrow because she felt the exact moment he branded her.

The thought of him claiming her that way sent shivers up her spine, and when he captured her mouth again, she became the aggressor and began stroking her tongue inside his mouth, using that same erotic technique he had used on her earlier, and felt a moment of satisfaction when she heard his deep guttural groan. When he lifted his head this time it was to rest his forehead against hers and take several deep breaths.

“What was that all about?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.

He pulled back slightly and let his gaze roam over her face, focusing on her just-kissed lips. She could feel it like it was a caress. “It was about the fact that I missed you today.”

That was good to hear because she had missed him too. But she was still curious. “Why today?”

He shrugged and then smiled and that smile caused
ripples of sensation to pass through her. And it didn’t help matters that he looked good in his jeans, shirt, and bare feet. “It must have been that kiss yesterday,” he said, placing kisses at the corners of her lips. “I couldn’t think of anything else most of the day.”

She was surprised he would admit such a thing and decided to see if it was true that confessions were good for the soul. “Same here. I couldn’t think of anything else most of the day either.” There, she had said it. She had admitted it. And the comprehension of what she’d done was like a huge awakening of some sort.

“Only thing about kissing, Mac,” he leaned in and murmured in a deep, husky voice close to her ear, “is that sometimes it’s not enough. There has to be more, and desiring more can lead to other things.”

She knew what he was saying; what he was hinting at. Yesterday he had asked her if she was ready to take their relationship to another level and she’d said no. Today she still wasn’t ready, although she was definitely feeling it more than yesterday.

“Come on, dinner is waiting for you,” he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the kitchen. She adjusted her stride to keep up with his slow pace. She could tell he was improving since his limp was becoming a lot less noticeable.

“Umm, another casserole?” she asked as they passed through the living room.

He smiled over at her. “No. I found out from Theo what your favorite meal is.”

Her eyes lit up. Theo would know. “Did he say pork chops smothered in thick gravy over wild rice?” she asked excitedly.

Luke chuckled before leaning down and placing a quick kiss on her lips. “Yes, that’s exactly what he said, so wash up while I put dinner on the table.”

Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile as she headed toward the bathroom. She wasn’t sure what was going on in
Luke’s mind, just what his intent was. But if he was trying to impress her then he was doing a pretty good job at it.

Whispering Pines Ranch

Jake Madaris glanced up from reading the documents in front of him when the sound of his office door opening caught his attention. He smiled at the beautiful woman who walked in. Tossing the papers aside he got to his feet.

“The kids are tucked in?” he asked as he reached for her, thinking she always managed to look sexy even without really trying.

Diamond Swain Madaris went to him, walking straight into her husband’s embrace. “Yes, but they’re waiting for you to come in and say good night.”

“I will after this.”

Without any preliminaries, for no particular reason, he leaned down and captured the mouth of the woman he loved to distraction. The kiss filled him with exhilaration, it was one of passion and as usual it was one that sent his heart into overdrive.

“Umm, what have I done to deserve such ardent attention, Jacob?” she asked, arching her body even closer to his when he reluctantly broke off the kiss.

Jake chuckled softly, knowing her question was a joke, because he always gave her attention, anyplace and anytime. He loved and adored his wife and didn’t care who knew it. But then a number of men loved and adored her as well since she was one of the most successful, as well as popular, actresses in the country. And he could proudly claim this very beautiful and sexy woman as his. She was his wife, lover, best friend, partner in a number of business ventures, and the mother of his children—six-year-old Granite and three-year-old Amethyst.