AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you think you’re going to do when all this is over?” he asked as he followed her. “Ride off into the sunset and continue on your merry way?”
Popping a pod into the coffee maker and closing it in, she slid a cup beneath the spout and waited.
“Think ignoring me is going to change the question?” Just because his tone was lower didn’t change the determination in it.
He wanted his answers and she knew him. He’d get them even if it meant pissing her off to the point that she exploded and threw the answers at him.
“When it’s over, I’ll leave.” There was no point in lying, and for some reason he always knew whenever she tried. “There’s no reason for me to stay here.”
Chaya would prefer she leave, she knew that. No matter what Duke thought, the other woman was uncomfortable with her in the house. She was uncomfortable with her around Bliss. There was no place here for Angel Calloway, just as there had been no place in Chaya’s life for the child Beth Dane.
“What about Bliss? Don’t you think it’ll hurt her?” The question was one that haunted her. It had haunted her even before she’d made the decision not to return when she’d been preparing to leave.
“At first,” she agreed. “At first she might be hurt. She’s young, though, and she doesn’t know the truth. As long as she doesn’t know, she’ll be fine.”
Chaya had made the right decision in keeping the truth from Bliss. This way, when Angel left, Bliss wouldn’t feel deserted. Friends could come and go, but sisters should be forever. Right?
“And you think it’s just going to happen, just like that?” Curious, as smooth as honey, his tone wasn’t in the least confrontational.
Angel could feel her irritation growing with his, despite the cooler tone.
“It’s going to happen just like that,” she assured him as she removed the cup and placed it on the counter to spoon sugar and dry creamer into it.
Dessert. Duke had once told her she didn’t drink coffee, she drank coffee-flavored dessert. She stared into the lightened liquid, the steam rolling off it, and tried to tell herself it really was going to be just that easy. She would make certain it was just that easy.
“You want me to tell you what’s going to happen?” The knowing tone of his voice had her turning to him slowly.
Leaning against the wall, his thumbs hooked in the front of his belt, he watched her with a brooding intensity she didn’t know how to counter.
“Not particularly.” She was certain it would only piss her off.
A grin tipped his lips as he lowered his head and shook it as though in disappointment.
Damn him. She knew she was going to hate whatever was getting ready to come out of his mouth.
“If you actually manage to get out of the county, you’ll find your ass covered by a Mackay twenty-four-seven. If I don’t make certain of it, Natches will. And I’m betting the second Chaya realizes that you think you’re leaving, she’ll make certain you rethink that little decision.”
And wasn’t he so confident?
Angel smirked, just as confident that leaving wouldn’t blip Chaya’s little radar.
“Keep believing that.” Lifting the coffee, she sipped at the heated brew and assured herself again that she had nothing to worry about as she stared back at him. “While you’re at it, see if you can’t get your pseudo-daddy Natches to find someone to make a grocery run for me. I prefer fresh vegetables over canned, and if I’m going to be feeding those August twins, and Harley, and De
clan every day, then we need red meat. I’ll make sure you have the list. If you’ll excuse me, I need to run those gossiping women out of the kitchen so I can put a stew on.”
She’d rather deal with Chaya, Christa, and Kelly than with Duke in this mood. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was getting ready to really start pissing her off.
A smug grin formed at his lips as he straightened from his slouched stance against the wall and took the few steps needed to where she stood in front of the counter.
He towered over her, but not in a way that made her feel threatened or in the least intimidated. She felt . . . secure.
Damn him.
She hated the way her body responded to him, her senses coming alive in ways they never had before.
Placing his hands on each side of her, he leaned over her, his head lowering until his lips were less than an inch from hers.
“Once a Mackay puts claim to you, baby, you’re marked.”
