“I—” She swallowed tightly. “I have to leave.”
His hands smoothed down her back, warm and calloused through the thin material of her dress. Heated flares of sensation snapped to life beneath her flesh as she felt a tremor ripple through her body.
Seduction. It scented the air, filled her senses, and slapped her with the knowledge that her body was responding.
Finally, she found the strength to push away from him, bending to grab her purse from the floor and tried to shove the items that had fallen back inside.
“Let me help you.” He knelt in front of her, reaching for each item that she tried to capture, his fingers tangling with hers more than once before she managed to gather up the fallen items.
Men. God, they were like a plague of testosterone, and she felt like she was on overload after the night before.
“I could have done it myself,” she muttered.
“But it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun,” he assured her, smiling as he helped her to her feet, his hands gripping her shoulders firmly.
The memory of the night before glittered in his eyes, tightened his expression.
“I have to go.” She gripped her purse and case as she moved to go around him.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Keiley,” he said then, his voice gentle as her gaze jerked back to his. “You’re an incredibly passionate woman. There’s no shame in sharing that passion.”
“Don’t start this with me, Jethro,” she snapped, her eyes narrowing on the sensuality that seemed to bleed into his expression. “I don’t have time for it.”
Surprise gleamed in his eyes as a smile tugged at his lips. “You’re a confrontational little thing, aren’t you?”
“Only when confronted.” She smiled tightly, moving quickly around him. “I’ll see you and Mac later. I have to run.”
And she was almost doing just that. Keiley breathed a sigh of relief minutes later as she drove the car down the narrow lane that led to the main road.
It was a welcome relief to leave the house today, to get away from Mac and Jethro, to find time to think. She needed the time to put this crazy situation into some kind of perspective within herself.
Keiley wasn’t the type to lie to herself. She had done that once, lied to herself, buried her head in the sand and tried to pretend there was nothing wrong. That the nightmare her parents had created for her would just go away. It hadn’t worked, and it had taught her a valuable lesson. Ignoring the little curves thrown her way wasn’t going to work. One had to deal with them from the onset or pay the price later.
She was going to deal with this. First and foremost, she was going to accept the fact that she had known all along that it was coming.
She had ignored the rumors about her husband. She had accepted his declaration that it was all in the past and hid from the burning curiosity as long as she could. Perhaps if she hadn’t sensed the reason behind Mac’s broodiness lately, then it wouldn’t have come to this. Or if she had let him know from the first moment that it wasn’t something she didn’t want, then she could have avoided it.
Unconsciously, Keiley wondered if she hadn’t pushed him because she was too curious about it. Because she had sensed the need rising inside him, and it had only made her more curious about the whole thing.
It was going to happen. She had known last night as Jethro’s lips had touched hers that it would happen. She was going to allow her husband’s best friend to become a third in their bed.
She was insane. Mac was insane.
Unfortunately, insanity wasn’t contagious, so she couldn’t blame Mac entirely for this. She was a grown woman, capable of putting her foot down and saying no. And Mac would accept it. He might get broody sometimes, he might fantasize about it, but he would have accepted it.
So why wasn’t she doing it?
Because she wanted all of her husband. Because she was curious herself. Because she was honest enough with herself to admit that she had fantasized about it much too often herself in the past three years.
Fantasy and reality weren’t meant to be mixed, though. What would happen to her marriage, to her dreams, if she allowed this to happen?
That was her fear. That somehow, some way, this would destroy the marriage that meant more to her than her own life.
Keiley gripped the steering wheel tighter as she made the turn onto the county road and headed to town. She had too much to do today to let this mess with her mind right now. If she didn’t get her head on straight, then everyone at the meeting would be aware that something had her nerves onedge.
The last thing she needed right now was to allow that bunch of gossiping women to find out there was some kind of stress in her life other than them. From the day she had moved to Halifax County with Mac, she had sensed the keen interest of the community that had taken notice of her. Especially Delia Staten. That woman was dying to learn something that would hurt her and Mac.
Keiley wasn’t the type to hide from society. She had immediately joined the business community as well as the charity organization that seemed to oversee all the various charity needs in the county.