Tangled Up in You (10 page)

You werent?

She chuckled. No. Youre too pretty to get shot with fifty thousand volts.

Im not pretty. He let out a breath and it touched the side of her face and neck. You smell like strawberries.

Its my lotion.

You smelled like strawberries that day in Handy Man Hardware. He buried his nose in her hair and she was so shocked, she felt like shed been zapped. You always smell so good. Its been driving me crazy. He pressed the length of his body into hers. When I saw you across the bar, I wanted to do this. He lowered his face to the side of her throat.

I thought you wanted to toss me out on my ass. How had it suddenly gotten so hot? A few minutes ago, shed been cold. Now she felt hot little tingles rushing across her skin.

Ill get to that. Later. He let go of her hands, but his hips held hers against the door. Hed definitely dressed left. He was long and hard and a dull ache settled between her thighs. Harriet had been right. The Hennessy men were blessed. First I wanted to smell you right here. He pushed her sweater away and kissed her bare shoulder. Where youre soft and taste good.

I like soft skin. She took a shallow breath and closed her eyes. She wanted him to taste a little lower. Im kind of a hedonist that way.

How can you be a hedonist and celibate? he asked against her neck.

Its not easy. And becoming more difficult by the second. If she wasnt careful, her hedonist side would rule her celibate side, and she would go down in a blaze of orgasmic glory. Which didnt sound so horrible. Just not with him. She lifted her hand to the side of his face and brushed her thumb across the slight stubble of his cheek. Especially when youre around.

He chuckled. A low masculine sound that came from the center of his chest. He raised his face and his gaze had gone all half-mast with lust and his lashes looked very long. Desire shone bright in his eyes and his hands moved to her waist.

Youre the last man on the planet I can have. She raised her mouth to his and he lifted his weight. And the one I want most.

Aint life a bitch, he whispered against her lips.

She nodded and rose to the balls of her feet. Her hand slid to the back of his head and she pressed her mouth to his. His hands on her waist tightened, and for several agonizing heartbeats, he remained perfectly still, his warm palms glued to her waist, his mouth against hers. Then a deep groan sounded low in his throat, and he slid one hand to the small of her back and the other between her shoulders on the outside of her sweater. He brought her against his chest and he kissed her. Soft, sweet. His lips created a delicious suction and he drew her tongue into his mouth, his cheeks sucking lightly.

Maddies purse fell to the floor and she moved her free hand up the hard muscles of his arm and shoulder. Heat radiated from him and warmed her breasts where she was pressed against his chest. Maddie had never been a passive lover, and while he sweetly made love to her mouth, her fingers combed through his hair and her free palm roamed the hard contours of his chest and back. If he wasnt Mick Hennessy, she would have pulled his shirt from his Levis and felt his bare skin.

Mick slid his mouth to the side of her throat. Youre the last woman I should want, he said between short gasps. The only woman I cant stop thinking about. His hands moved to cup her behind and her hips cradled his erection. What is it about you that drives me so crazy? Pressed against her lower belly, he was enormous and so hard the pressure against her pelvis almost hurt.

Almost. She rocked against him as he pushed her sweater down her arms. He tossed the red angora somewhere behind him, but she didnt need it. She was too hot. Her fingers curled in the front of his shirt and her mouth moved to his neck. He tasted good beneath her tongue. Like warm flesh and aroused man, and she sucked his skin. She grasped handfuls of shirt and swayed against his stiff penis. It had been four years since shed felt anything so delectable, and shed missed it. Shed missed the touch of a mans hands, his hot mouth, and the sounds of arousal deep in his throat.

His fingers found the bow at the back of her neck and he tugged until her halter came untied in his hands. He pulled down the white straps as his lips once again sought hers. This time there was nothing soft or sweet in his kiss. It was all carnal and feeding, with hungry mouths and tongues, and she ate it up. She could have stopped him. She didnt want him to stop. Not yet. Not when she wanted more. The top of her dress slid to her waist and Micks hands cupped her breast through the white strapless bustier. Underwires and metal corseting kept her double-Ds front and center, and his thumbs brushed her nipples through the stiff cotton. She pressed her belly against him, touching the aching places, and he groaned into her mouth. She was so hot, dizzy. Her skin tingled, her breasts felt heavy and her nipples painfully tight. It had been so long since shed felt such delicious pleasure, and she slid her hand down his chest, over the waistband of his jeans, and pressed her palm against his turgid erection.

Touch me, he groaned into her mouth. And she did. While his fingers brushed her nipples through her corset, she slid her hand up and down the length of him, from the bottom of his zipper up the long rock-hard length to the swollen tip. The man had heft, and the wet ache between her thighs urged her to take one of his hands and slide it between her legs, to cup her crotch, and touch her through her panties andShe dropped her hands. Stop!

He raised his head. In a minute.

In a minute shed be in the throes of orgasm. No. She took a step back and his hands fell to his sides. You know we cant do this. We cant ever have sex. She kept her gaze on his as she tied her dress behind her neck. Not together.

He shook his head and his eyes looked a little wild. Ive been rethinking that.

Theres nothing to rethink. He was Mick Hennessy and she was Maddie Jones. Believe me, youre the last man on earth I can have sex with, and Im the last woman you should have sex with.

Right now I cant remember why.

She should tell him. All of it. Who she really was and who he was to her. Because She licked her lips and swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Sexual tension pulled between them, an almost irresistible hot pulsing force. His neck was red from where shed marked him, and he looked at her through blue eyes all shiny with lust. The last thing she wanted was to see all that fiery need replaced with disgust. Not now. Later. Because Im writing a book about your parents and Alice Jones, and making love to you wont change that. It will only make it worse.

He took a few steps back and sat on the edge of his desk. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through the sides of his hair. I forgot about that. His hands fell to his sides. For a few minutes, I forgot youre in town to dig up the past and make my life hell.

Maddie bent down and picked up her purse. Im sorry. And she was, but being sorry didnt change anything. She almost wished it did.

Not sorry enough to stop.

No, she said and reached for the door handle behind her. Not that sorry.

How long, Maddie?

What do you mean?

He took a deep breath and let it out. How long are you going to be in town messing with my life?

Good question. I dont know. Next spring, maybe.

He looked down at his feet. Shit.

She slid her purse on her shoulder and looked across at him, sitting there with his dark hair sticking out from being finger-combed. She resisted the urge to smooth his hair.

He lifted his gaze. Obviously, we cant be within ten feet of each other without tearing at each others clothes. And since telling you to stay out of my bars is like waving a red flag in the face of a bull, Im going to ask you to stay the hell out of my bars.

Her chest did some sort of constrict-and-expand thing, which was not only impossible, but alarming. You wont see me in here again, she assured him and opened the door. She stepped out into the bar, with its loud country music and beer smells, and wove her way toward Adele. When shed first entered Morts shed wondered if Mick would throw her out on her ass as hed threatened.

Now she wondered if it wouldnt have been better if he had.

M ick shut the door to his office and leaned back against it. He closed his eyes and pressed a palm against his aching erection. If Maddie hadnt stopped him, he would have slid his hand up her thigh. He would have pulled off her panties and had sex with her right there, against the door. He would like to think hed have had the presence of mind to lock the door first, but he wouldnt bet on it.

He dropped his hand and circled his desk. Her red sweater was thrown on the floor and he picked it up before sitting in his chair to stare at the safe across the office from him. Earlier, looking across his bar and seeing Maddie sitting at a table, sipping a martini as if he hadnt told her to stay out of his bars, had shocked the hell right out of him. Shocked him like that Taser she carried in her purse. On the heels of all that shock came a big dose of anger and an urge to smell the side of her neck.

Seeing her chatting it up with the Aussie, hed felt something else too. Something a little uncomfortable. Something that felt a bit like he wanted to rip the mans head off. Which was absolutely ridiculous. Mick didnt have anything against the Aussie, and he certainly didnt have any sort of relationship with Maddie Dupree. He didnt feel anything for her. Well, except anger. And raging lust. A burning desire to bury his nose in the side of her neck while he buried himself between her soft thighs. Again and again.

There was something about Maddie. Something other than her beautiful body and pretty face. Something beyond the scent of her skin and her smart mouth. Something that drew his gaze across a crowded bar to a table in a dark corner. Something that recognized her dark outline as if he knew her. Some indefinable thing that made him kiss her and touch her and hold her tight against his chest as if thats where she belonged, when in reality, she didnt belong anywhere near him. A fact he tended to forget when she was near him.

He brought the sweater to his face. It smelled like her. Sweet, like strawberries, and he tossed it onto his desk.

A few weeks ago, his life had been fairly good. He had a plan for the future that didnt include thinking about his past. A past that hed done a pretty good job of forgetting.

Until now. Until Maddie had driven her black Mercedes into town and run his life off the road.

Alice was a real nice girl, Trina said over coffee and pecan pie. Young.

Maddie glanced at the tape recorder sitting on the table between them, then returned her gaze to Trina. She was twenty-four.

We used to share a bottle of wine and talk about the future. I wanted to see the world. Alice just wanted to get married. Trina shook her head and took a bite of pie. Maybe because she had a little girl. I dont know, but she just wanted to find a man, get married, and have more kids.

Maddie hadnt known that her mother thought about having other children, but she supposed it made sense. If her mother had lived, shed no doubt have a brother or sister or both. Not for the first time, she was struck by how different her life would have been if not for Rose Hennessy. Maddie loved her life. She loved the woman shed become. She wouldnt change it for anything, but sometimes she did wonder about how differently she might have turned out.

Did you know either Loch or Rose Hennessy? As she looked across the table at Trina, she wondered if her mother would have time-warp hair or if she would have kept up with changing styles.

They were older than me, but I knew them both. Rose wasunpredictable. Trina took a drink of her coffee. And Loch was a natural-born charmer. It was really no wonder Alice fell in love with him. I mean, everyone did. Even though most of us knew better.

Do you know how Loch felt about Alice?

Only that she thought he was going to leave his wife and family for her. Trina shrugged one shoulder. But every woman he ever got involved with thought that too. Only Loch never did. Sure, he had affairs, but he never left Rose.

Then what do you think made the affair between Loch and Alice different? What set Rose over the edge and made her load a gun and drive to Hennessys that night?

Trina shook her head. I always figured shed finally had enough.

Maybe.

Or it could have been that Alice was so much younger and prettier than the others. Who knows? What I remember most was how quickly Alice fell in love with Loch. You wouldnt believe how fast it was before she was madly in love.

After reading her mothers diaries, Maddie actually could believe it.

Trina took another bite of pie and her gaze dropped to Maddies mouth as she chewed. Her painted brows lowered and she looked up into Maddies eyes. I recognize your mouth. Youre Alices little girl, arent you?

Maddie nodded. It was almost a relief to have it out.

Trina smiled. Well, how about that? Ive always wondered what happened to you after your aunt took you away.

She was my great-aunt and I moved to Boise with her. She died last spring. Thats when I came across my mothers diaries and your name.

Trina reached across the table and patted Maddies hand. The touch felt cool and a bit awkward. Alice would be very proud of you.

Maddie liked to think so, but she would never know for sure.

So, are you married? Have any kids?

No.

Trina patted her hand one last time, then reached for her fork. Youre still young. Theres time.

Maddie changed the subject. I have a faint memory of a polka-dot quilt. Do you recall anything about that?

Hmm. She took a bite and looked up at the ceiling in thought. Yes. She returned her gaze to Maddie and smiled. Alice made it for you, and she used to roll you all up in it like

A burrito, Maddie finished as a recollection of her mother whispered across her memory. Youre my polka-dot burrito . If Maddie were an emotional woman, the little pinch to her heart would have brought tears to her eyes. But Maddie had never been an emotional person, and she could count on one hand the number of times shed cried as an adult. She didnt consider herself a cold person, but shed learned early on that tears never changed a thing.

She interviewed Trina for another forty-five minutes before packing up her notes and tape recorder and heading for Boise. She had another bridesmaid dress fitting that afternoon, and she met her friends at Nans Bridal before grabbing a late lunch with them and heading home to Truly.

She stopped at the Value Rite to pick up some toilet paper and a six-pack of Diet Coke. The drugstore had a display of wind chimes and hummingbird feeders and she chose a simple chime made of green tubes. Shed never had a hummingbird feeder, and she reached for one and read the instructions. It was silly, really. More than likely she wouldnt be living in Truly next summer. No use in making the house homey. She placed the feeder in the cart next to her Coke. She could always take it with her when she sold the place. Shed bought the house as an investment. She was one woman. One woman did not need two homes, but she supposed there was no hurry to sell.

Carleen Dawson stood in the dog food aisle shelving collars and leashes and talking to a woman with long black hair. Maddie smiled as she wheeled her cart past and Carleen stopped in midsentence.

Thats her, she heard Carleen say. She kept on walking until she felt a hand on her arm.

Just one minute.

She turned and looked into a pair of green eyes. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck tingled as if she should know her. The woman wore some kind of uniform as if she worked in a restaurant or diner. Yes?

The woman dropped her hand. Im Meg Hennessy and youre writing about my parents.

Meg. Thats how she knew her. From photos of Rose. If Mick was the image of Loch, Meg looked a lot like her mother. The tingles on the back of her neck spread down her spine as if she were looking into the eyes of a killer. Her mothers killer, but of course Meg was as innocent as she was herself. Thats right.

Ive read your books before. You write about serial killers. The real sensational stuff. My mother wasnt a serial killer.

Maddie didnt want to do this here. Not in the middle of a drugstore with Carleen looking on. Perhaps youd like to talk about this somewhere else.

Meg shook her head and her dark hair swung about her shoulders. My mother was a good person.

That was open for debate, but not in the middle of Value Rite. Im writing a fair account of what happened. And she was. Shed written some hard truths about her mother that she could have easily glossed over.

I hope so. I know Mick doesnt want to talk to you about this. I understand how he feels, but youre obviously going to write this book with or without our input. She dug around in her purse and pulled out a pen and a silver gum wrapper. I dont get why you think my parents deaths are worthy of a novel, but you do, she said as she wrote on the white side of the gum wrapper. But call me if you have questions.

Maddie wasnt easily shocked, but when Meg handed her the wrapper, she was so stunned that she didnt know what to say. She glanced at the telephone number and folded the paper in half.

Youve probably talked to that waitresss relatives. Meg shoved her pen back inside her purse and her black hair fell across her pale cheek. Im sure they told you lies about my family.

Alice only has one living relative. Her daughter.

Meg looked up and pushed her hair behind one ear. I dont know what she could tell you. Nobody around here even remembers her. She probably turned out just like her home-wrecking mother.

Maddies grasp tightened on the handle of her shopping cart, but she managed a pleasant smile. Shes as much like her mother as I imagine you are like yours.

Im nothing like my mother. Meg stood up straighter and her voice got a bit more strident. My mother killed her cheating husband. I divorced mine.

Too bad your mother didnt consider divorce a better option.

Sometimes a person is pushed too far.

Bullshit. Maddie had heard that excuse from every sociopath shed ever interviewed. The old she pushed me too far so I stabbed her a hundred and fifty times excuse. She slid the gum wrapper into her pants pocket and asked, What was it about your fathers affair with Alice Jones that pushed your mother too far?

Maddie expected the same response shed got ten every time she asked that question. A shrug of the shoulders. Instead Meg got busy digging in her purse once more. She pulled out a set of keys and folded her arms across her chest.

I dont know. She shook her head.

Shes lying . Maddie looked into Megs green eyes and Meg turned her gaze to bags of Purina ONE and Beggin Strips. She knew something. Something she didnt want to talk about.

Only three people know what really happened that night. My dad, my mom, and that waitress. Theyre all dead. Meg stuck one finger through the ring and closed her fingers around the keys. But if you want to know the truth about my mom and dads life, call me and Ill clear things up for you, she said and turned to walk away.

Thank you. I will, Maddie answered even though she wasnt a bit fooled by Megs eagerness to help, and she doubted that shed get the entire truth about Rose and Lochs life. Shed get Megs version, which Maddie was sure would be shaded and glossed over.

She pushed her cart to the checkout line and put her items on the counter. Mick had mentioned that his sister could be difficult. Did she suffer the same mental instability as Rose? Maddie had felt Megs hostility and resentment toward Maddies mother and even herself. Meg had refused to even say Alices name, but she knew something about that night. Maddie was sure of it. Whatever it was, Maddie would find out. Shed extracted secrets from people a hell of a lot smarter and with more to lose than Meg Hennessy.

W hen Maddie walked into the house after being gone all day, the carcass of a dead mouse greeted her. Last week, Ernies Pest Control had finally made it out and laid bait. As a result, Maddie kept finding dead mice all over the place. She set her Value Rite bags on the kitchen counter, then tore off some paper towels. She grabbed the mouse by its tail and carried it outside to the garbage cans.

Whatre you doing?

Maddie looked over her shoulder, into the deep shadows created by towering ponderosas, and her gaze landed on two boys dressed up like mini-commandos.

She held up the mouse. Throwing this in the trash.

Travis Hennessy scratched his cheek with the barrel of a green Nerf gun. Did its head pop off?

Sorry. No.

Bummer.

She dropped the carcass into the garbage.

My mom and dad are going to Boise, Pete informed her. Cause my aunt had her babies.

Maddie turned and looked at Pete. Really? Thats great news.

Yeah, and Pete is spending the night at my house.

My dads taking us to Traviss in three shakes. He says my uncle Nick needs a drink. Pete loaded his plastic camouflaged rifle with an orange rubber dart. The babies names are Isabel and Lilly.

Do you know if

Louie called for the boys and interrupted Maddie. See ya, they said in unison, then turned on the heels of their sneakers and took off through the trees.

Bye. She replaced the garbage can lid and walked back into the house. She washed her hands and disinfected the floor where shed found the carcass. It was after seven and she threw a chicken breast on her George Foreman Grill. She made a salad and drank two glasses of wine with her meal. Shed had a long day, and after she ate and put the dishes in the dishwasher, she changed out of her clothes and into a pair of blue Victorias Secret lounging pants with the word pink printed across her butt. She zipped up a blue hooded sweatshirt and pulled her hair back in a ponytail.

A yellow legal pad sat on her desk, and she grabbed it before turning on a few lamps and relaxing on her sofa. As she reached for the remote, she thought about Meg and their conversation in the middle of Value Rite. If Meg had lied about knowing what had set her mother off, shed lie about other things too. Things that Maddie might not be able to prove or disprove.

Cold Case Files on A&E flashed on the television screen and Maddie tossed the remote on the sofa beside her. She put her feet up on the coffee table and jotted down her impressions of Meg. Then she wrote a list of questions she intended to ask and got as far as What do you recall about the night your parents died? when the doorbell rang.

It was nine-thirty, and she looked through the peephole at the only man whod ever been in her house or stood on her porch. It had been over a week since shed kissed Mick inside his office at Morts. Eight days since hed untied her dress and made her ache for him. Tonight he wasnt wearing his happy face, but her body didnt seem to mind. A sharp tug pulled deep in the pit of her belly as she opened the door.

I just talked to Meg, he said as he stood there with his hands on his hips, all male belligerence and seething testosterone.

Hello, Mick.

I thought I made it clear that you stay away from my sister.