Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels) (32 page)

Diamond had insisted that she stay in a guest cottage instead of driving back to town to stay at a hotel. The cottages
were beautifully decorated and provided an ample amount of privacy. Mama Laverne had declared that everyone who stayed overnight had to attend church service with her tomorrow, which Mackenzie had no problem doing.

In bare feet Mackenzie made it to the door and looked out the peephole. It was Luke. The moonlight hit him at an angle that showed his white western shirt and the Stetson he wore on his head. Inhaling deeply, she slowly opened the door. “Luke? What are you doing here?”

A smile touched his lips. “I’m on my way to the airport and wanted to give you these.” He handed her a bouquet of flowers in a beautiful vase and she recognized them immediately. They were from Diamond’s personal flower garden.

“And before you ask, the answer is yes, I did get her permission. She even gave me a vase to put them in.”

Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile. And then remembering what he’d said, she asked, “You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I need to be in Wyoming tomorrow. The flowers are my way of saying I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you today, and I hope you’ll accept them with my apology.”

“Thanks. They’re beautiful,” she said, looking down at the mixture of fresh cut flowers.

“No, you’re beautiful, and I want you to know that I meant everything I said earlier today and I’m going to start proving it to you.”

She glanced up and saw the conviction in his eyes. He wanted to kiss her before leaving and she wanted him to kiss her as well. Without saying anything she took a couple of steps back and he entered the cottage and closed the door behind him. He removed his hat and the light from the floor lamp hit his face. She studied each and every chiseled plane. He was such a handsome man that it almost took her breath away. And the way he looked standing there in a pair of jeans and a white shirt made him appear as western as any man could get and as sexy as sin.

She placed the vase of flowers on the table, and because
she knew that after what she’d said today, he wouldn’t take any more liberties, she took a step forward. “Thanks for the flowers, Luke, and have a safe trip to Wyoming.”

Her voice had dropped and automatically her gaze went to his lips. She knew what she wanted and tilted her head up at the same moment he bent his down. Their lips met, and within an instant, he was devouring her mouth. It didn’t take her but a second to respond by devouring his as well. And when she felt him lock his arms around her waist, she melted into him, needing the feel of his warm, hard body pressed close to hers.

Moments later he lifted his mouth mere inches from her moist lips and whispered, “We need to talk, Mac. I have a few days off next weekend. Will it be okay for me to come to Oklahoma to see you?”

She drew in a breath, knowing Luke had never made any time for a woman while preparing for rodeo performances, and was surprised by his request. “Yes.”

He smiled and then bent his head to kiss her again.

“Okay, Mac, you’ve gotten flowers three times this week so what’s going on?” Sam asked as she and Peyton lounged in the doorway.

Mackenzie couldn’t help but smile. She
had
gotten flowers three times this week. The first had been calla lilies; the second had been tropical flowers; and just a few minutes ago the florist had delivered a dozen beautiful red roses. Different flowers but the cards had had the same message.

I love you, Mac,
Luke

Each time she’d read it she had felt a tingling sensation run all through her. “I told you that Luke’s coming for a visit this weekend,” she said, and knew she couldn’t contain the happiness or the excitement in her voice.

“Okay, that explains the smile,” Peyton said, grinning. “But what’s the reason for all the flowers?”

She inhaled deeply as an even bigger smile touched her lips. “Just because.”

She knew the reason was a lot more than that but she wasn’t ready to share anything in depth about her and Luke’s relationship just yet. She was still rocking and reeling at the possibility that he
did
love her. The thought of something so wonderful made her giddy. He had also
called her twice during the week and just the sound of his voice had been so uplifting.

“All right, if you want to keep secrets about Mr. Hunk, then fine. Maybe you can bring us up to date on Whitedyer and Coroni and whether the police are closer to finding out who’s responsible for messing up your office and poisoning those cattle.”

Mackenzie frowned. The entire issue was still a sore point with her. When it came to Whitedyer and Coroni, she wasn’t sure who had been the victor. At present both sides seemed satisfied with the turn of events. She had spoken to Detective Adams yesterday and he’d informed her that the authorities were still on top of things and had discovered that the tire tracks that had been near the corral matched the ones found near her demolished brick mailbox. But so far they had no proof that would link Whitedyer to any of the harassing incidents involving her. They were, however, checking out the possibility that as a cover, Perkins may have deliberately set up Whitedyer to appear as the party responsible.

“Nothing really, other than the linking of those two sets of tire tracks. There haven’t been any strong leads to connect Whitedyer to any of those incidents, but Detective Adams has promised not to give up. He still thinks there’s something being overlooked.”

Later that evening after eating a microwaved potpie and going over ranch business with Theo, Mackenzie took a shower and then changed into a pair of short PJs that had been a gift from Peyton for Christmas. Luke was supposed to arrive in the morning, and she was trying not to dwell on it too much, despite the anticipation she felt.

He had said they were going to talk, and she agreed that that was something they needed to do. But he hadn’t been playing fair by sending the flowers. Okay, the ones he’d given to her on Saturday night at Whispering Pines were appreciated. The others that followed, as well as the cards
that accompanied them, were meant to break down her defenses and get her thinking. And they had.

What if she had been elevated to the number one spot in his life? What if he loved her as much as she loved him? The thought of that made a warm feeling envelop her. She had darkened the house and was curled up in bed with a book when she heard a knock on her door. She wondered if Theo was coming to tell her something was wrong. Ever since the cattle had been poisoned, Jake had arranged for his men to guard the ranch twenty-four/seven.

She eased out of bed and slipped into her robe. Turning on the porch light, she looked out the peephole and her breath caught. Standing beyond her door was one mind-numbing, ultrasexy male. She couldn’t stop her body from responding to him or keep the heart she’d long ago declared as
his
from pounding furiously in her chest.

He was leaning against her porch rail wearing a pair of jeans and a light-colored shirt. And as if he was aware that she was looking at him through the peephole, he tilted back his Stetson and gave her one heart-stopping smile.

“Oh, mercy,” she whispered through moist lips and had to struggle hard to remind herself he was there because he wanted them to talk. But then another part of her remembered the card he’d sent with each floral bouquet. What the words on those cards had said.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and opened it. When her eyes met his, she fought the feeling of her limbs melting, and tried to ignore the sensations flowing through every part of her. She then forced herself to speak. “Luke. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

If
he had been looking for one defining moment to confirm what his heart had already validated, then this would be it, Luke thought, as he stared at Mackenzie. She stood there, more than just a vision of loveliness. She was the epitome of any man’s dream, the personification of beauty at its purest and the embodiment of his future. Every single
thing about her exemplified what a man could possibly want in a woman.

And she was his.

He would convince her of that only after making her believe how much he loved her and how much he wanted her in his life. “I finished all my practice sessions early and thought I’d head straight here.”

There was no need to tell her that after leaving Wyoming he’d had taken two connecting flights, as well as driven another hundred miles by rental car, to reach her. He felt bone-tired but he would do so again, and again, if it meant looking into her face like he was doing now. “I hope you don’t mind my early arrival.”

“No, I don’t mind,” she said, taking a step back and flashing him what was meant to be a smile. After entering her home and closing the door behind him, Luke had to restrain himself from reaching out and grabbing her. The awkward silence that enveloped the room had stopped him. Besides, he knew they needed to talk.

“You’re ready for bed. Are you up to talking now? If not, we can—”

“No,” she said quickly. “We can talk.” She crossed the room to sit down on the sofa and then looked over at him.

Inhaling deeply, he moved to sit in the chair, noticing the flowers he had sent her that week. All three bouquets seemed to brighten the room and provided a nice floral fragrance. But nothing, he thought, letting his gaze drift across the room to where Mackenzie was sitting on the sofa with her legs curled beneath her, brightened a room more than she did. She looked totally breathtaking sitting there in her pink robe, and he was entranced by every little detail about her. From the pear-shaped birthmark on the back of her left hand that he could see, to the little pencil-point mole located at the base of her inner thigh that he couldn’t see, but remembered very well. He had definitely developed a taste for the finer things in life. In other words, he had definitely developed a taste for her.

When he saw her watching him expectantly, he knew
it was time to have his say. And he hoped she would believe him. “I’d heard some years ago that a Madaris man would know the woman for him when he saw her. That night I saw you at the Brothers’ Auction, I felt uneasy. Syneda had schooled us all week about what we were supposed to do. Walk out on stage and capture the attention of every woman there.”

A smile touched the corners of his lips. “I walked out on stage, met your gaze, and became the one captured instead,” he said. “I knew what my plans in life were and that I had yet to achieve a number of them, so I dismissed the possibility that you were the one. I was attracted to you and that was far as I would allow my mind to go.”

He paused a moment then added, “Even after we’d made love that first time, I kept fighting the thought, the very idea that you were beginning to mean something to me.”

“When did you start thinking differently?” she asked.

He smiled. That was easy enough to remember. “After leaving here that day heading out for L.A. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, dreaming of you, missing you, and wanting you. And then Blade pissed me off by insinuating that Wyatt and Tanner would be hitting on you at QT’s party. That set me off big-time, made me see red, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Then I couldn’t deny my feelings any longer and had to admit to myself that you meant a lot to me. You meant everything and I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, risk losing you to another man for failing to acknowledge how I truly felt.”

He breathed in deeply before getting out of the chair and walking across the room to her. She scooted over and made room for him on the couch as he sat down. “I can understand, considering what I told you that day, why you don’t want to believe me,” he said. “I’d done a pretty good job of convincing you that there could never be anything between us and that there was no way I could ever love you or any woman.”

He took her hand in his. “But the truth of the matter is that I do love you, Mac.”

A smile touched the corners of his lips. A dimple appeared right center. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t fight the feelings all the way, because I did. I didn’t want to love you. I didn’t want to love any woman. I just wanted to be a rodeo star. A wife, kids, home, picket fence, and all that stuff could come later. I was determined to compete with Blade for the oldest Madaris bachelor position. But things weren’t destined to be that way for me. Now I do want a wife and more than once I’ve imagined you pregnant with my baby. After I regain the title I’d like to come back here and open a rodeo school and give other youths who have dreams and aspirations of one day performing in the rodeo the opportunity that Jake and Blaylock gave me by teaching me at an early age how to handle a horse and steer.”

His lips curved and then he said, “You said it was all about possession for me, and in a way you’re absolutely right. I can’t imagine you with anyone but me. I couldn’t tolerate you with anyone but me. I want you and I love you. And I will do anything and everything it takes to make you mine.”

Mackenzie looked into Luke’s eyes and felt an emotion flowing between them that she had never felt before. And then, without a shadow of doubt, in her heart she knew. Immense joy filled that same heart as, fighting tears, she whispered, “I’m already yours, Luke, and I’ve been yours since the first night I saw you. I knew then that you were unlike any other man I’ve known. But like you, I fought the very idea that it was more than a physical attraction between us. That night when you looked at me, I knew you were seeing the real me, the one very few people see or take time to get to know. It was as if you were staring deep into my very soul.”