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She broke their kiss.
“What are you doing?” Her lips were soft and wet from his kisses, her pupils dark with desire.
“Taking this to the bedroom,” he answered seductively.
She shook her head. “Put me down.”
“But we don’t want someone to walk in on us.” Surely, she didn’t want to stay here? He wasn’t opposed to continuing their scorching session, as long as he got to kiss her. But out here in the staffroom? Really?
“Put me down, please,” she said more forcefully.
“What? But I thought…” What had he done wrong? He’d assumed that this was leading to another night of extraordinary sex. Perhaps even better than the first time. He knew they’d both agreed there wouldn’t be a next time. But, really… How could anyone resist this type of temptation? He knew he couldn’t.
“I’m not going to your bedroom, Mack,” she said softly.
Was that regret in her voice? Or censure? He couldn’t tell. Gently, he lowered her feet to the floor, and she stepped away from him. She kept her chin down and wouldn’t look at him.
“This can’t go any further. I’m sorry, Mack, but you will ruin me.” She turned on her heel and disappeared through the doorway, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the room. Feeling slightly foolish. And destitute.
What did she mean by ruin her?
Mack turned and punched the back of the sofa, immediately regretting it, as the painful reverberations from his wound shot up his shoulder. He was so damned confused. This woman was turning him inside out. And he didn’t know if he wanted what she was offering, or not.
How was he supposed to keep working with Bindi, with all these bewildering emotions roiling around inside him? He thought perhaps they could take up where they’d left off the other night, have a bit of fun. They were both clearly attracted to each other; they could scratch each other’s itch, so to speak. Friends with benefits. She was so damn tempting. Irresistible. But she’d just made it crystal clear that wasn’t an option. What did she want from him? A little voice in his head said that he already knew the answer, but it was impossible, he didn’t do commitment.
Perhaps he should go back to Montana. He didn’t think he could stay here for another day longer. Not if he had to be so close to Bindi, yet not be allowed to touch her. Maybe he’d have a word with Dean, see if he’d take him back. He’d stay until the wedding. But after that… Montana was looking like a better option all the time.
* * *
Mack paced quietly across the grass, getting as close to the edge of the billabong as he dared in the dark. The tranquil sounds of night insects filled the air, but they didn’t help to calm his roiling emotions. After Bindi rejected him, he knew there was no way he’d be able to sleep, so he’d slipped out to walk the perimeter of the lodge and think, hoping the exercise and fresh air might sort out his confused feelings. It was after midnight, and not another soul was around. Everyone tucked up in their beds asleep.
The moon was out, and it cast a serene glow over the glassy surface of the water. The soft plunk of a fish rising to capture an insect that’d risked flying too close to the surface sounded, attracting his attention. He stopped and turned to stare at the billabong. It sure was pretty. If only his mind would stop racing, he might even be able to appreciate it.
His cell phone vibrated in his back pocket, making him startle. Who in the hell would be calling him this late at night? Retrieving his phone, he stared at the screen. A private number. Curiosity finally got the better of him, and he answered the call.
“Hello.” He kept his tone neutral and brusque.
For many long moments, there was silence on the other end.
“Mack, it’s so nice to hear your voice again,” a familiar voice sounded seductively in his ear. An image of long, auburn hair falling over a beautiful face as a woman arched her back in pleasure assaulted his memory.
Clarissa. He was so surprised he took a step backward, tamping down on the image of them in bed together. Why had that totally inappropriate thought come to him the moment he heard her voice? More importantly, why was she calling him?
“I heard you moved to Australia. I don’t know what time it is there. I’m sorry if I woke you,” she purred, her voice low and provocative. He knew she wasn’t in the slightest bit sorry, and anger began to churn in his gut. Why did this woman think she had the right to pick up the phone and call him?
“What do you want, Clarissa?” Time to cut to the chase. This wasn’t a personal call, and they both knew it. She wasn’t calling to ask him to come back and start up where they’d left off. He needed to remember she’d tried to kill him; or, at the very least, seriously injure him. “I’m not interested in your bullshit. Either tell me why you called, or I’m hanging up.”
“What do I want?” She dropped all pretense of sweetness, her voice taking on a nasty edge. “I want you to call off your dogs. I warned you already, but you didn’t seem to listen. I want you to stop telling lies about me and setting the cops on me. You can’t prove anything.” She stopped and drew in a deep breath, as if trying to calm her rising anger. “And if you keep annoying me, I might get really angry and do something I’ll regret. Or maybe I won’t regret it, but you surely will.” She gave a sly giggle.
“What are you talking about? Call my dogs off. What does that mean?” But Mack had a feeling he knew exactly what she was talking about. Dean had spoken to him earlier this morning, saying he’d called in a few favors back home in Montana, and Clarissa Melman was now being investigated by no less than three private detective agencies; fraud and embezzlement high on her list of crimes. Plus, the local cops in Texas were reopening his complaint about sabotage to his bull rope. She was feeling the squeeze, just like he’d hoped.
“Don’t act stupid, Mack, it doesn’t become you,” she snapped.
Mack decided to ignore that jibe. He wanted to rile Clarissa, and he thought he knew just the way to do it.
“Why, Clarissa, you sound positively peeved,” he said with a laugh.
“Shut up! You cost me millions of dollars, you fuck,” Clarissa hissed. “Everything started to go wrong the day I employed you. All you had to do was throw that one ride. Then you could’ve gone right back to winning your precious little rodeos. But no. You were stupid enough to let your morals interfere with your career.”
