Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels) (31 page)

“So that’s the way it is,” Tanner was saying.

Luke broke eye contact with her and looked at Tanner. His smile transformed into a frown. “Yes, that’s the way it is.”

As if what he’d done needed no further explanation, the four men nodded and walked off. Anger eased up Mackenzie’s spine. As far as she was concerned, Luke owed her an explanation for this little stunt he’d just pulled. “What’s going on, Luke? What was that all about? And what you are doing here? You said you weren’t coming.”

He moved to turn her around so that they were facing each other. His smile was back and it had widened to show his hidden dimple. “Boy, aren’t you full of questions? Aren’t you glad to see me?”

She frowned. “That’s beside the point. I want to know why you insinuated to those guys that you and I have something going on.”

“Because we do.”

Her frown deepened. “No we don’t. If I remember correctly, the day you left my place our affair ended.”

For a moment he didn’t say anything and then he took her hand in his and said, “Come on, we need to have a private talk.”

And before she could say anything, he was leading her off the patio and down a walkway toward Diamond’s flower garden.

Sir Drake Warren shot Ashton a curious look. “I thought Luke wasn’t coming.”

Ashton couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sure a number of people thought the same thing.”

“But you didn’t?”

Ashton nodded. “I figured he’d show up.”

When the couple was no longer in sight, Sir Drake asked, “Can I assume he’s finally ready to accept the inevitable?”

Ashton laughed. “Yes, I think you can safely assume that.”

“Well, it seems that Luke decided to show up,” Syneda whispered to Mama Laverne when she handed the older woman the glass of lemonade she’d requested. “But then you really aren’t surprised, are you?” she asked, lifting a questioning brow as she met the older woman’s gaze.

Mama Laverne couldn’t help but smile, and to Syneda’s way of thinking, it was a shrewd smile. “That’s what happens when you’re in love.”

“And you think he’s in love?” Syneda asked.

“Don’t you?”

Syneda couldn’t help but smile too. “Yes, but it took him a long time to figure it out.”

The older woman nodded slowly. “Almost five years. Our family gatherings were becoming quite interesting, as he would sweat trying not to make it so obvious that he was watching her when he figured none of us would notice.”

“But you noticed.”

“Yes, just like I noticed how things were with you and Clayton. All those disagreements didn’t fool me any.”

Syneda couldn’t help but grin as she dropped into the chair beside Mama Laverne. “So what’s next?”

Mama Laverne chuckled. “It depends on Mackenzie. I don’t think she’s going to make things easy for him, which is a good thing. He probably did such a good job convincing her that being in the rodeo was his life, he’s going to have a hard time persuading her that it’s not the case anymore and that she has been elevated to the number one spot.”

Syneda nodded. “Do you think he can do it?”

Mama Laverne smiled slightly. “I hope and pray that he can.”

Luke led Mackenzie to a bench that overlooked a small pond. It wasn’t as far away from the partygoers as he’d have liked but at least it afforded them some privacy.

He could tell by the look on a number of his family members’ faces when he’d walked in that they were surprised to see him, but then he’d had an uneasy feeling that some had actually been expecting him. Such was the case with Blade and Slade. Blade had gone further and given him a haughty salute. He would deal with Blade later, but now he had to take care of some very important business with Mac. He could tell she had not liked the way he had handled the situation with her group of admirers.

“How are you doing, Mac?”

She actually glared at him. “Let me get this straight,” she said in a tone that verified she was upset. “You haven’t
seen or talked to me in three, close to four, weeks and you just waltz in here with a Neanderthal attitude and want to know how I’m doing?”

Luke wondered if this was a “damned if you do” and “damned if you don’t” question since he really didn’t know just where she was going with it. So he said, “Well, yes, that’s what I’d like to know.”

“Why? You made it clear to me that you didn’t do long-term relationships and what we were sharing was a short-term meaningless affair and—”

“I never said it was meaningless,” he defended.

She inhaled deeply. “Okay, a short-term affair, which would end when you left my place. I didn’t expect a call from you, and I didn’t get one. I didn’t expect you to return for a visit, which you didn’t do. So now we’re attending the same party. Why are you acting like you and I are still an item?”

From the question she’d just asked and the glaring look on her face, Luke knew he had his work cut out for him. “Can’t a guy change his mind?”

She lifted a brow. “About what?”

“About how he wants his relationship with a woman to pan out. What if I told you that I want a long-term affair with you now? That I even want more than that?”

“Then I would wonder, why the change of heart all of a sudden? Do you know what I think?”

Not really, but he figured it was best if he heard it. “No, what do you think?”

“I think you saw those guys talking to me and just wanted to be territorial. We’ve been at your family functions together before and guys have talked to me and—”

“No they didn’t.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes they did.”

“The ones who did talk to you, Mac, were family members. Men I trusted who weren’t a threat. I wasn’t even worried about Blade hitting on you. But I know when to draw the line.”

“You don’t have a line to draw,” she snapped. “At least
not when it concerns me, Luke. You don’t love me or anything like that and I—”

“You’re wrong. I do love you.”

She rolled her eyes. “And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“I don’t see why not.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “In fact, I’m a little baffled as to why you don’t believe me.”

“Because if you had loved me, you wouldn’t have left Oklahoma in the first place, at least not the way you did, like you were in a rush to leave because hell was dogging your heels. You love the rodeo life and you made sure I understood that. You might love the thought of possessing me, but I’m not a piece of property that you can walk in here and claim, embarrassing me in front of everyone.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Mac. I just thought that—”

“That what? You could announce to everyone loud and clear that we’ve slept together? All those other times you kept your distance from me, and now today you walked in and approached me like a lover.”

“But we are lovers, Mac.”

“We
were
lovers. There is a difference.”

He inhaled deeply. “And what’s wrong with me wanting my family to know how I feel about you?”

“And you think that little performance told them that? Think again, Luke.” Then without saying anything else, she got up and walked off. He muttered a curse when he saw her continue strolling back toward the house.

“Yeah, think again, Luke.”

Luke whipped his head around and met his cousin Clayton’s dark eyes. Luke frowned to realize that his conversation with Mac had been overheard. “How long have you been standing there, Clayton?”

Clayton shrugged. “Long enough, and no, I didn’t deliberately eavesdrop; I was over here in the shadows waiting for my wife. Syneda and I had arranged a meeting to . . .” Then he quickly said, “Never mind what we were
planning to do. I want to know what you were thinking in expressing your feelings that way to a woman?”

“I was being honest.”

“Yes, I’m sure you were, but you could have been less direct and more romantic. Take it from one who knows. Women love romance.”

Luke looked over in the direction where Mackenzie had gone. She was talking with one of his great-aunts. “I just wanted her to know how much I love her.”

“Then I suggest that you tell her again, and this time how about using a softer approach?” Clayton shook his head. “I promised myself a few years ago I would never stick my nose into anyone else’s love life, although I think I did a damn good job with Justin’s and Dex’s. I hate to see you blow things with Mac. You need to tell her again how you feel and work hard at proving it. She was right when she said your life has always been the rodeo. Why should she believe that’s changed?”

“Because it has.”

“Then prove it. And I don’t mean give up being a rodeo star, because I don’t think that’s what you need or have to do. Nor do I think that’s what you should do. But you’re going to have to convince her that you can have it all and that having her in your life will be the greatest gift of all.”

“You okay, Mac?”

Mackenzie smiled when she saw Netherland Sinclair, Ashton’s wife. “Yes, I’m fine, Nettie.” Mac then glanced around. “Where are the boys?”

“They’re with my parents. Mom and Dad are visiting for the weekend and wanted to take them to the park.”

Mackenzie had always liked Nettie and would never forget how, in front of over three hundred people, Ashton had declared his love for her.

“I saw Luke arrive,” Nettie said, smiling. “I also saw how he got kind of territorial.”

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. “Kind of territorial? Just
look around. None of the guys—including your brothers—will even look my way.”

Nettie chuckled. “I noticed. I think Luke has effectively made his point.”

Mackenzie frowned. “But he had no right to do that.”

“Didn’t he?”

Mackenzie inhaled deeply. “It’s not what you think.”

Nettie laughed. “Thinking too much almost got me in trouble when I thought the same thing about Ashton. You probably see him as a career man who’s already chosen the path he wants, that it’s the most important thing in his life, and that there’s no way this man can love me since there isn’t any room. He just wants to possess me, make me his, and there’s a difference between possession and love.”

Mackenzie blinked, surprised. “Yes, that’s what I’m thinking.”

“But in a way you’re wrong, Mac. Loving is possessing. It’s also about protecting. And being territorial comes with it sometimes.”

“And you think he was right in what he did?” Mackenzie asked.

Nettie smiled. “I think at the time Luke might have done something he thought was right, something that he normally doesn’t do.”

“Which is?” Mackenzie asked.

“Openly declare his feelings for a woman. I’ve been coming to these Madaris functions for a number of years, even long before Ashton and I got together, and I’ve never known Luke to invite any woman to attend with him or to show any real interest in one. I think today he did something a lot of his family members didn’t expect.”

“What?”

“Wore his heart on his sleeve.”

Later that night while lying in bed in the guest cottage Jake and Diamond had given her to use, Mackenzie couldn’t help but think about what Nettie had said. She’d also heard something similar from Syneda and Felicia
before the party had ended. Luke Madaris, they had taken the time to point out, had never, ever in his life displayed any sign of possessiveness toward any woman. As far as they were concerned, that could only mean one thing.

But for some reason she wasn’t feeling it. What she was feeling was a one-sided love affair. She knew her heart belonged to Luke, had known it for a long time, and would even go so far as to say she’d probably fallen in love with him that night at the Brothers’ Auction. But even when she considered that there was a chance what Nettie, Syneda, and Felicia said might be true and Luke did care for her, she would remember the talk she and Luke had had that day at the ranch and how he’d made it as plain as the nose on her face that he was already married to the rodeo, and that nothing or no one would ever change that.

Her thoughts then shifted to how the party had turned out. She always admired how the Madarises supported one another. And then there were those they considered friends and she felt honored to fall within that category. She couldn’t help but smile when the sheik, Rasheed Valdemon, had made an appearance. The women, mostly friends of QT who’d never seen the sheik before, had begun drooling. She understood. The man was simply gorgeous. And then as if that weren’t bad enough, pandemonium had erupted when movie actor Sterling Hamilton arrived.

All the guys had kept their distance from her but Luke hadn’t done so. Although he hadn’t taken any liberties by touching her in such a familiar way again, he hadn’t left her side, which still had his family talking, she was sure. Luke’s aunt Alfie had even commented that they made a nice couple.

It took her a moment to realize there was a knock on her door. Getting out of bed, she slipped into her bathrobe. Whispering Pines had a number of guest cottages, and whenever there was a family function, guests stayed overnight.