Sugar And Spice (19 page)

Wrapping her arms across her chest and gripping her elbows, Katie hugged herself. She wouldn’t cry.

There was no point. It would accomplish nothing except give her a headache.

There was no need to worry about Mack. He’d come back inside when he got good and ready. He just needed to cool off, figuratively and literally. And so did she. After all, that hot, sizzling passion wasn’t a one-sided affair—it went both ways.

Katie made her bed on the sofa, fluffing her pillow repeatedly until she was beating her fists into it.

Crying out in frustration, she grabbed the pillow and hugged it to her. Damn you, Mack MacKinnon.

Damn you for making me feel alive again, for making me want you.

Mack walked the length of the porch several times, allowing the frigid night air to assault him, and with every step, he called himself a fool. Why hadn’t he just grabbed her and kissed her? She’d wanted it. She wanted him By now, they could have been in his bed, naked and fucking their brains out. Instead of taking her the way he’d wanted to do and to hell with tomorrow and any consequences, he’d gone all noble and warned her off. What man in his right mind tells a beautiful woman who wants him that she shouldn’t touch him? A crazy man, that’s what kind. An idiot. A fool. Sometime between rescuing his damsel in distress yesterday and admitting to himself that she was as hot for him as he was for her, he’d gone soft in the head.

His head was the only thing soft. The rest of him was wound tight as a coiled spring ready to snap and he had the hard-on from hell. What he should be doing was closing himself off in the bathroom and eliminating his problem instead of standing out here, freezing his butt off.

It wasn’t that Katie was the first woman he’d ever wanted this much, but she was the first he’d ever had to force himself not to take. If they had sex, she might regret it come morning. But what difference did that make? It wasn’t as if Katie meant something to him, as if he cared about her…loved her. She was just a pretty woman he was trapped with in his own cabin. What would be so wrong with the two of them working off a little sexual energy?

He should go back in the house, confront her, and then tumble her onto the sofa and take here right there. She might whimper a lame protest, but it wouldn’t take more than a few kisses, a few caresses, and she’d be his. He knew the signs. Katie was as horny as he was.

You’ll be doing her a favor. She has all that bottled-up passion inside her. She’s on the brink of exploding. You could be the guy to set off that explosion and enjoy the fireworks and the aftershocks.

Katie was vulnerable. She had wrecked her dead husband’s car, one she had a strong sentimental attachment to. She’d suffered a shock, been picked up by a stranger, and was now stranded with a guy she barely knew in his cabin during a winter storm. This woman was still grieving for her husband. And right about now, she was probably hating herself for wanting Mack, for being consumed by sexual need.

If he took advantage of her tonight, he’d be a real heel.

Mack stayed outside for as long as he could, until he was nearly frozen. If not for his military training, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the cold for that long. But enough was enough. He had talked himself down off that sexual high. He’d go inside, say good night to Katie, and call Destry to follow him upstairs. He could shower and shave by candlelight and find something to occupy his time until he went back downstairs to let Destry out for the final time tonight.

When Mack opened the door, he glanced over at the sofa and noticed that Katie had already bedded down for the night. He whistled for Destry, who came galloping toward him.

“Good night, Katie,” Mack said.

“Good night.” Her voice was a mere whisper.

Destry followed Mack up the stairs and settled down at the foot of his bed. Feeling around in the dark, Mack opened the bottom drawer of his dresser and removed a couple of fat candles he kept there for emergency use. He pulled a book of matches from his pocket, struck one and lit both candles, then picked up one candle and carried it with him into the bathroom. After placing the candle on the back of the commode, Mack stripped off, tossed his clothing into the corner, and turned on the water in the shower. Rubbing his hand over his beard stubble, he grunted. Often, he didn’t shave for days, occasionally for weeks. So, don’t shave. Who cares? It’s not as if he’d be shaving for Katie.

Mack pulled open the shower door and stepped under the warm spray. Man, it felt good. But not as good as Katie’s body would feel next to his. Not as good as being buried deep inside her would feel.

Katie didn’t sleep well the second night in Mack’s cabin. She tossed and turned all night. Waking and sleeping. Waking and sleeping. And when she slept, she dreamed all sorts of crazy things. In one dream, Darrell was alive, and he and Mack were fighting over who Katie belonged to; she’d ended the fight by informing both men that she didn’t “belong” to either of them. In another dream, she and Mack were making love—in the snow! Both of them naked, writhing and panting on the frozen ground. How ridiculous. She had awakened from that dream on the verge of an orgasm. But it was the last dream, the one that had awakened her at a little after five that had kept her awake. In that dream, she was sitting beneath a huge Christmas tree, a toddler in her lap. She was helping the child—her child—open his presents. And standing over them, a camera in his hand, was Mack. The proud papa.

Katie tiptoed into the kitchen, trying her best to be quiet and not disturb Mack and Destry, who were both still asleep upstairs in the loft bedroom. She had to erase those ridiculous dreams from her mind.

And she had to find a way to get through today and tomorrow, or however long it took for the roads to clear, without giving in to her sexual needs. As she prepared the coffeemaker in the semidarkness, she went through several different possibilities that might create a peaceful coexistence for Mack and her.

As soon as there was a cupful of coffee in the pot, she removed the pot and poured the coffee into a mug. She needed caffeine, needed to wake up fully and send some energy to her brain. After sitting down at the table, mug in hand, Katie continued thinking. By the time she had drunk her first cup of coffee, she knew what she had to do. When Mack came downstairs later this morning, she would confront him, be honest with him, and hope he would be reasonable.

Katie took her refilled coffee mug into the living room, sat on the sofa, and pulled the covers over her lap. Sitting there waiting for daybreak, she went over what she planned to say to Mack. Went over it again and again.

“Despite the fact that I’m very attracted to you, it’s not something I will act on. We’re strangers. We have no emotional ties to each other. And I am the type of woman you think I am. I’m that throwback—a good girl who needs to be in love to have sex. And although no one, not even my family, understands…well, the truth of the matter is that I still love my husband.

“We’re stuck here together until the roads clear. I’d like for that time to be pleasant for both of us. I’m sorry that I’ve invaded your privacy, but I’ll be gone as soon as possible. In the meantime, why can’t we act like civilized adults?”

Deep in thought, worrying about how her well-plotted scenario would actually play out, she didn’t hear Mack and Destry coming down the stairs—not until Destry bounded across the room and almost knocked the empty mug from her hands.

Mack whistled for his dog. Katie placed her mug on the end table, then reached out and petted Destry.

Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled and said warmly, “Good morning.”

Mack grunted.

Destry ran to Mack, who opened the back door for him so he could go outside and do his business.

“There’s coffee, if you’d like a cup.” Katie tossed aside the covers, stood, and faced the kitchen. “It’s stopped snowing.”

Mack grunted again before reaching for the coffeepot.

Katie sauntered leisurely into the kitchen, determined to be friendly to Mack while resisting the urge to have her way with him. She was a smart, successful woman of thirty and despite having endured a tragedy no young woman should have to go through, she finally had her life on track. Eventually she’d find someone. A nice, easy-going guy like Darrell, a man she felt comfortable with, not one who sent her hormones into overdrive. Darrell had been the love of her life. There was no place in her heart for a greater love, a more passionate love. Instinctively, she knew Mack was the type of man who would expect everything from a woman. Everything and then some.

“I’ve been thinking about making pancakes for breakfast,” she said. “I notice you have all the fixings, including two kinds of syrup.”

“Knock yourself out.” Cradling his mug in one hand, Mack walked over and stood near the back door, his gaze fixed on the nearby window.

“You’re grumpy this morning,” she told him in a teasing tone. “Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

He huffed loudly. “I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s your fault I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Oh.”

He kept his back to her as he continued gazing out the window. “You mean you aren’t going to pretend you don’t know what I mean?”

“What’s the point of pretending when we both know there’s a strong sexual attraction between us.” She took several hesitant steps in his direction. “In all honesty, I didn’t sleep well last night either. And that was your fault.”

Mack glanced over his shoulder, an inquisitive glint in his eyes. “There’s a simple solution to our problem.”

“I know.”

“But?” he asked.

“But I can’t take the easy way out. I don’t have casual sex. It’s just not something I do. It’s not me.”

“And you can’t make an exception in this case?”

Katie shook her head. “Good girls don’t have one-night stands, especially not with a stranger.”

Destry scratched at the back door and barked once. Mack let him in, stopping him just inside the kitchen to wipe off his wet feet. The dog rushed over to his bowl, and when he found it empty, he cocked his head to one side and stared at Mack.

“Yeah, I know. You’re hungry,” he told Destry, and promptly dragged a sack of dog food out of the pantry and filled the bowl to overflowing.

Despite his gruff exterior, Mack had a good heart. At least he loved his dog. That fact was quite apparent. Katie’s feminine instincts told her that when Mack loved, he loved without restraint, completely, with everything in him.

Stop that! Don’t go giving the man attributes that you don’t know he has. You can’t romanticize him.

There’s no point. You are not getting involved with him. The two of you have no future.

“I’ll start those pancakes,” Katie said, but before she reached the refrigerator, intending to remove the milk and eggs, Mack grabbed her arm. She stopped and looked directly at him.

“We’re going to be stuck here with each other until the roads clear,” Mack said. “The sexual tension between us is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I figure if we just screwed our brains out for a couple of days, we’d work it out of our systems. But since you don’t like that idea, we’re going to have to find another solution.”

I do like the idea. I like it way too much. She couldn’t figure out what was happening to her. She had loved Darrell with all her heart. She still loved him. But she couldn’t remember ever being so hungry for Darrell or any other man. Maybe it was true that women didn’t reach their sexual prime until they were in their thirties and that’s why she was “in heat” for Mack. Yeah, sure, whatever you have to tell yourself.

“Maybe if we concentrated on getting to know each other…” When she saw the skeptical look on his face, she paused. “Yes, I know you don’t want to do that, but it’s the way people become acquainted, the way to make friends.”

Mack’s lips twitched, a hint of a smile. “Okay.”

She stared at him, not quite sure she’d heard correctly. “Okay? Did you really say okay?”

“Yeah, honey, I said okay.”

An odd sensation tingled through Katie, a peculiar combination of relief and disappointment. That sex-starved part of her had wanted Mack to say “no way in hell” and drag her off to his bed. But the sensible, rational part of her, the real Katie Hadley, was glad he’d agreed to her suggestion.

“Thank you, Mack. Thank you so much.” She almost ran to him, her first instinct being to hug him.

Wrong move! She stopped herself cold but kept her smile in place, then got busy preparing pancakes.

During breakfast, Katie talked nonstop about her parents, her siblings and their mates, and her twin nieces. Thankfully, Darrell’s name didn’t enter the conversation. Mack tried his best to act interested, to pay attention to what she was happily chattering about, just in case there was a quiz later. And knowing Katie—or as he was getting to know her—she would expect him to at least remember these people’s names.

After breakfast, they both got dressed for the day, then bundled up, Katie in one of his old coats, and took a short hike around his house. The air was clean and crisp, the wind cold, the sun bright. Icicles hung from the tree branches, and numerous limbs were stuck in the ground where they’d fallen during the night, piercing through the layers of snow and ice.

Mack’s bad leg suddenly gave way and buckled on him. Without thinking he grasped the closest thing, which just happened to be Katie’s arm. She grabbed hold of him with one hand and slipped her other arm around his waist. He hated letting anyone see a weakness in him, especially women. Especially this woman.

“May I ask how you got that limp?” Katie stood at his side, providing a momentary prop for him.

“I was an Army Ranger,” he told her.

Her eyes widened. “You mean you were wounded in battle?”

“Yeah.” He hated talking about his wartime experiences.

“How long ago?” she asked.

“I came out of the hospital and left the army eighteen months ago.”

“Then you’re a career soldier.”

“Not any longer.”