“I’m Mac’s wife,” she whispered. “But I would assume what’s been going on here in the past few days makes me your lover as well. For now.”
His lips quirked with a hard edge. “Yes, for now.”
The tension emanating from him was thick enough to make her catch her breath.
“What about you?” She tilted her head curiously. “What would you call it?”
“Disastrous,” he suddenly stated, raking his fingers through his hair and pulling free the elastic band that had held it behind his neck. It framed his face now, laying longer than Mac’s, and giving his expression a harder, more savage appearance.
“I’ll agree with you there.” She turned back to the vegetables, willing her heart to slow down, her pulse to stop choking her with the fierce, hard throbs she could feel at her throat.
“Then why are you allowing it?” he suddenly snarled. “You’re sleeping with your husband’s best friend. You’re not even cheating, Keiley. You’re letting him pawn you out like a favorite shirt.”
“God damn you!” She rounded on him, the knife still gripped in her hand, fury racing through her now. “If you don’t like it, then pack your shit up and leave. I didn’t ask you to come here. I didn’t ask you or Mac to begin this debacle, and I’ll be damned if either of you will punish me for it.”
His curse was blistering as he turned away from her and paced across the room. “You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”
“No, I didn’t,” she snapped back. “And you can shove your apology. If it can come out of your damned mouth, then you can stand by it.”
He swung around on her. “I apologize.”
“I don’t want your apology,” she informed him in disgust. “Let me give you a clue here, Jethro. The same one I gave Mac years ago. Just because you’re here, just because you’re sharing my bed, does not give you the right to spill trash out of your mouth and excuse it with an apology. Make that mistake again and you’ll leave.”
His eyes narrowed. “Will I now?”
“Oh hell yes, you will,” she informed him. “All that he-man alpha stuff is real arousing. It’s even cute sometimes. But you can take your attitude somewhere else, because I’ll be damned if I’ll put up with it.”
And she meant it. Jethro stared at the anger in her eyes, the flush mounting her cheeks, and he would have smiled if she weren’t holding that knife like a weapon rather than a tool.
His gaze flickered to it. “Are you going to use that?”
“Don’t put it past her.” Mac stepped into the room, his gray eyes gleaming with amusement but also a hint of anger. “What did you do to piss her off?”
“Nothing.” Keiley turned and began attacking the vegetables, as Jethro suspected she wanted to attack his head.
“I said something stupid,” he answered for her. “She seems unwilling to accept my apology.”
He started back at Mac, meeting his friend’s eyes, knowing he had done Keiley an injustice even as those earlier words had slipped past his lips.
“She’s bad for that.” Mac shrugged. “She tossed me out of my own apartment at two o’clock in the morning before we even started sleeping together.”
Jethro watched as Mac eased over to her, his arm going around her, his lips at her ear as he whispered something that had a snort of a laugh erupting as she pushed him away with a look filled with exasperation and amusement.
“Get out of here,” she ordered. “And take him with you.” She pointed the knife over her shoulder at Jethro.
“He stays,” Mac informed her, his voice firm. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
She glared over her shoulder at him. “There might be bloodshed.”
“Just be sure to leave him in fighting shape.” Mac shrugged. “If he’s dumb enough to tempt a woman wielding a knife, then he deserves everything after that.”
But he cast Jethro a warning look. Jethro folded his arms over his chest and stared back at him coolly before frowning at the knowing grin Mac finally gave him.
“I’ll let you two fight it out, then.” He patted Keiley’s butt, jumping quickly out of the way as she slapped at his hand.
Still chuckling, he pulled his shirt on, buttoned it, and tucked it quickly into his jeans before pulling on his boots.
“I’ll be around the stables and barns,” he informed them both. “I let farmhands leave a few hours ago and I want to make certain everything’s running smoothly before this evening.”