Enchanted (24 page)

That was exactly what she’d wanted.

oOo

Kathleen couldn’t sleep. She tossed, turned, and finally climbed out of bed, pacing the floor. What the hell did she want from Mac? What did he want from her? She knew the answer. Her frustrations built every time he touched her. When he kissed her she felt her body quiver. Would he ever come to her? Could she go to him?

To hell with propriety, she thought. She removed the cotton pajamas she wore and slipped into the white satin robe she had bought “just in case.” She hoped the floor didn’t creak like the floors at home. She hadn’t heard any noises when she went to her room with Mac. She had heard nothing but his words, his breathing, the light laughter in his voice.

The floors didn’t make a sound. She heard only the deafening thump of her heart. Down the stairs. Which room was it? The third on the right? The fourth? Why hadn’t she paid more attention when he laughingly pointed it out to her?

She put her fingers on the knob. Oh, please, God, let Mac be in this room.

oOo

Mac woke to the light steps crossing the floor. She had come to him after all. Even in the darkness he saw the flutter of silk dropping to the floor. He heard the familiar creak of the floorboard near his bed. He opened his arms, waiting for Kathleen to
slip into his embrace
. And then the door opened again. A thin beam of light entered the room, illuminating the blonde hair of the woman
climbing into
his bed.

Ashley’s hair.

It was Ashley touching his chest. Ashley’s naked body nuzzling against him.

And Kathleen
was standing in the doorway.

He couldn’t see her face, but knew full well the expression she wore. He threw back the covers
. He needed to get to Kathleen, but Ashley was in the way, and before he could do anything about it, the bedroom door slammed
.

Even in the darkness, he could see
Ashley
’s grin
. “Don’t ever doubt me when I say I’m
going to get even.”

oOo

Tears flowed
freely
down Kathleen’s cheeks
as she leaned against the
Mac’s bedroom door
, trying to compose her emotions before returning to her room. She took several deep breaths. Damn that woman
. How dare she get into Mac’s bed; h
ow dare she mess around with Mac wh
en he belongs to me!

How dare Mac?

Rage began to burn inside her. How could…

No, damn it. This wasn’t Mac’s doing. She wouldn’t believe that of him.

It was
Ashley
. She’d sworn she’d come between them, and she’d followed through. Right now she was probably gloating; making Mac squirm.

But not for long.

Kathleen
wiped
away
her tears
and,
without giving it any more thought, faced the door, turned the knob, and pushed it open so hard it slammed into the wall behind.

Ashley
was no longer in Mac’s bed. She stood in the middle of the room, still
naked
, and flashed a victorious smile in Kathleen’s direction
.

“I can explain, Kath,” Mac said, brushing past Ashley.

“I don’t need or want an explanation.” Kathleen
smiled slowly. She shut the door behind her. “
I have a few things to say to Miss Tate
. You and I can talk later
.”

Kathleen
slowly walked across the room, picking up pieces of Ashley’s clothing as she neared the woman whose composure hadn’t yet crumbled. She wanted to slap Ashley’s smirking face. She even considered scratching her eyes out. But that meant stooping to Ashley’s level. Words were a much better tool.

She held the gown in front of her. “I believe this is yours. It’s not very attractive, but you look better in it than out.”

Ashley snatched the dress away and covered her body. “I think you should direct your anger at Mac, not at me. I think he rather enjoys seeing me this way.”

Kathleen glared into Ashley’s eyes. “I think I know what Mac likes.”

Mac
couldn’t move
. He hadn’t expected Kathleen to come back into the room, hadn’t expected her to fight for him. He expected to see her packing her bags to make a hasty retreat from McKenna House. But this was heaven, the way she spoke
,
with her back stiff as she confronted Ashley. But most of all, he
liked
the smile Kathleen wore on her face as she seductively sauntered toward him.

She pressed her palms against his bare chest, and lowered her eyes to his waist and the sheet he had hastily wrapped around his hips. Like a schoolboy, he blushed at her intense perusal of his anatomy, but he stood quite still, letting her touch him, letting her caress his body, forgetting that Ashley stood across the room staring in anger.

Kathleen’s long, slender fingers slowly slid upward to his shoulders, to his neck, to his cheeks, and into his hair, then pulled his head down and she captured his lips. His body tingled at her touch. She was heaven. She was his, and he knew nothing, no one, especially Ashley, could ever separate them again.

Unable to keep his hands from her any longer, he slipped his arms around her soft, warm body, lifting her feet off the ground, insistent on taking all he could get. But then he felt resistance, felt Kathleen pulling away, and he couldn’t stop her.

When he saw the look of
triumph
on Kathleen’s face, a look directed toward Ashley, he knew just what she was doing. Kathleen was staking a claim.

“That, my dear,” Kathleen gloated, “is what Mac likes. He’s mine. I don’t have to be with him every moment. I trust him. I’ll always trust him, just as he trusts me.”

Ashley smirked. “If you think I’m giving up, you’re wrong.”

“Then you’re going to have one hell of a fight on your hands. Don’t waste your energy.”

Kathleen ignored Ashley’s sneer, her look that said she hadn’t comprehended one thing that had just occurred. She turned back to Mac. “It’s been a long day and I’ve got a terrible headache.” She kissed her fingertips and touched them to his lips. “I’m going back to bed now. Would you mind terribly escorting Miss Tate back to New York?”

Mac pulled Kathleen back into his arms. He didn’t want to let go. “I’d rather stay here with you.”

Ashley began to struggle into her dress. “Take me home, Mac. We’ll talk about this in the car.”

“Yes, Mac.” Kathleen pressed her palm to his cheek, lightly caressing it with her fingertips. “Take her home, then come back to me when you’re sure we don’t have to deal with her any longer.”

“But, Kath—” Mac stammered.

But Kathleen had already pulled out of his arms and walked to the door. She turned around and smiled. “Good night, Mac. Good-bye, Ashley.”

“Would you please slow down!” Ashley yelled. “And roll up your window.” Her words caught in the wind, blowing back into her face. Mac heard, but chose to ignore the woman in the passenger seat. Instead, he kept his eyes focused on the road and the scenery speeding by as the speedometer inched toward ninety.

The Mercedes negotiated the road’s twists and turns with little effort, and Mac enjoyed the reckless feel of his foot pressing the accelerator to the floor. Out of the comer of his eye he watched Ashley wrestling with her hair, trying, without success, to keep it in place. A smile crossed his face. Not because of Ashley’s dilemma, but because he thought of Kathleen, of the way her long, wavy hair would be blowing if she occupied the seat and not Ashley. Kathleen wouldn’t care about the wind, wouldn’t care about tangled hair. She would smile and laugh in that carefree way that sank to the pit of his stomach and made him hunger for more than her smile. God, how he wanted her.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

Mac glanced at Ashley, wanting to laugh at the way she wrapped her hands and arms about her head. Instead, he turned his eyes back to the road and addressed her in a stony voice. “I heard you. But to be perfectly honest, the wind feels good, and I have no intention of rolling up the window.”

“You know I hate having the windows rolled down.”

“I also know how much you hate sex, junk food, cold weather, snuggling in bed, children, and me. You’ve made it perfectly clear for years that you hate a lot of things, and for once, I really don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, you can hate the world and everything in it.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Ashley leaned across Mac’s lap, reaching for the window control, but Mac pushed her back.

“Leave it alone, Ash.” His eyes narrowed. His jaw tensed. “I want the window open.”

“This is crazy. Why are we fighting over something so silly as a window?”

“It’s not the window and you know it. It’s you and your total lack of conscience.”

“What are you talking about?” She didn’t look at Mac, just leaned forward in the seat, trying to find a place safe from the wind. She pulled a lipstick and mirror from her taffeta handbag and lined her lips in a dark blood red.

Mac took a deep breath. What could he say? “Why do you hate me so much?” He said it so low the words were nearly lost in the noise of a passing car.

Ashley turned her head and smiled. “I don’t hate you, Mac. I loathe you. You can’t expect to take ten years of my life and throw them away without batting an eye.”

“I threw away ten years of my life, too. But I’m happier now than I was at any given moment during those ten years.”

“Because of Kathleen?”

“Yes.”

“It won’t last forever.” Ashley laughed. “You may have won this time, but there’s always the next.”

“You’re wrong. She’s mine in spite of you. Nothing you do can change that.”

“Sorry, darling. But you’re wrong. I have no intention of letting her have you.”

Mac laughed, shaking his head as he pushed his fingers through his hair. “What do you plan to do? Follow me around day and night?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

Mac slowed the car, knowing what he needed was a miracle, he needed his prayers to be heard. They were in the city now, but he found a spot at the curb just big enough to squeeze the Mercedes in. He put the car in park and rolled up his window to keep his words from the ears of the passersby. “Don’t do this, Ash. Don’t take the good times we had and turn them into a bad memory.”

“I have no bad memories. I think we made the perfect couple.”

Mac looked into her expressionless eyes. When had she become obsessed? Had she always been that way? Had he been too blind to see? “You’ve destroyed
nearly
every good memory I ever had about us, and you’re trying to destroy what’s between me and Kathleen. I want you out of my life.”

He stared out the window at a couple walking by, arms linked, stealing kisses, not caring if anyone looked. That’s what he wanted. That’s what he needed.

“Once I get you home, I don’t want to see you again.”

“But you will.”

“No, I won’t. My lawyers will make sure of it.”

Fifteen minutes later Mac pulled to a stop before Ashley’s building. It had been the longest fifteen minutes in his life, listening to Ashley’s threats to sue for palimony, her voice screeching in anger about his total lack of concern for her welfare, not to mention the contempt of her friends. He said not a word, fully intending to stand pat on his statement about bringing his lawyers in if necessary.

He popped the trunk so the doorman could get Ashley’s bags, climbed out of the car, walked to the passenger side, and reached for the door handle.

“Excuse me, sir. Let me get that for you.”

The voice had a familiar lilt to it, something Mac couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t the regular doorman who stepped in front of him to open Ashley’s door. This man stood less than four feet tall, had twinkling eyes and a jaunty smile.

Mac stood back to watch the exchange between Ashley and the doorman as he tried to help her out of the car. Doormen, like secretaries, clerks, and waiters, didn’t qualify in Ashley’s mind as parts of the human race. Mac had always been aware of Ashley’s treatment of those she considered beneath her. In the beginning he ignored it. Later he tried to change her. When he realized she saw nothing wrong with her behavior, he compens
ated those she spurn
ed with a friendly smile, a handshake, warm conversation, or a job or loan for those in need. They respected him. They ignored Ashley. But this little man was different from all the rest. Ashley’s abuse didn’t sway him from his duty.