Chapter Four
The next night, the three of them sat in their usual booth. “And he left scorch marks in my front hallway he ran out of there so fast!”
Dee and Liv had looked at her, incredulous, as Maggie told them the whole story.
“I didn’t say I loved him, I said I loved it. I mean goodness, we were making out on my couch. It felt good!” She tossed back yet another beer and motioned to Patrick to bring them a fresh pitcher.
“I don’t understand. What an ass.” Liv’s face showed her anger and concern for her friend.
“Me neither but I’m done. What does he think? That he can throw a burger at me and get a cheap silent screw? God, he made me feel so stupid!”
Dee winced as she squeezed Maggie’s hand in sympathy. Both Liv and Dee froze, looking toward the door, and Maggie knew that it was Shane. She slowly turned around and saw that he was there with Kendra. Again. This time his arm was around her and she was nuzzling into his neck. He saw her and didn’t even flicker recognition in her direction.
For a moment her mouth hung open and tears stung the back of her eyes. “Don’t!” Liv whispered urgently. “Don’t you let him make you cry, Maggie! He’s not worth your tears.”
She turned to face them. “I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been,” she whispered back and wiped at her eyes. “Okay, I could accept that we weren’t serious. But the way he just ran out like that and just now? My God, he makes me feel like nothing.”
Kyle saw Maggie wipe at her eyes, after she’d stared, hurt and dismayed at Shane. Shane who’d unbelievably looked through her like she didn’t even exist.
Matt and Marc saw it too. “Shane, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re really going to blow something that could be so good because of Sandra?”
Expressionless, Shane stared back at him.
“Whatever, man, I never thought I’d see you act like such an asshole. You don’t deserve her,” Matt spat out as he swept past and toward the front of the bar.
“What is he talking about?” Kendra asked.
“Who knows?” Shane knew, but he couldn’t afford to deal with that. He had to make a clean break and it was better for both of them if he did it harshly but quickly, like ripping a bandage off all at once. He could not let himself care for Maggie. If she hated him, that would never be a problem.
Matt walked over to Maggie’s table and sat down, talking quietly with the three women. Kendra snorted with derision. “Why would a man like Matt waste his time with that woman? She thinks she can put on some new clothes and let her hair down and compete with the real women of Petal?” Her mouth twisted viciously. “Janie might be worth it but not that bookworm.”
Kyle stared at them both, mouth open. “You are one stone-cold bitch, Kendra.” Disgusted, he threw his cue down on the table. “And you are not the man I’ve always thought you were.” He shook his head at Shane and walked past them to join Matt at the table with Maggie and her friends.
“What did he just call me?” Kendra’s pretty face was pinched.
“Maggie is a friend to some of us. We don’t appreciate people saying nasty things about her.” Marc looked at Shane and narrowed his eyes, looking away sadly before heading off as well.
“Hey, Maggie,” Matt said as he approached the table and sat down. “Listen, I just...”
Shaking her head to stay him, Maggie held up a hand. “Please. Don’t. It’s not your fault. It wasn’t like he and I were serious or anything. I was just mistaken about him being a nice person.”
Kyle strolled over then and sat next to Maggie. “Hey, Red. My brother is an asshole. Please don’t judge the rest of the Chase men by his actions.”
Maggie stood up. The tears were right there but she’d be damned if she’d give Shane Chase the satisfaction of seeing them. “I have to go.” She shoved at Kyle until he moved. Liv and Dee stood as well.
Liv handed Maggie her coat. “Let’s go to my place. I stopped at the package store yesterday and I have a big old bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold just waiting for us. Heck, let’s get some pizza delivered. I’ve got a few DVDs I’ve been meaning to watch, too. I’m pretty sure one of them is Thelma and Louise.” She and Dee each grabbed one of Maggie’s arms.
“Thanks, guys,” she tried to say lightly to Kyle and Matt but her voice broke and she shook her head hard to keep them from saying anything. “I’ll see you later.” The tears sprang to her eyes, bottom lip trembling as she hurried out.
Kyle looked at Matt, scowling. “I can’t believe Shane made her cry.”
* * *
The next weeks went by in a blur. Shane hadn’t even bothered to call to apologize or even to say he didn’t want to see her again. She supposed that was the message he sent by going out with Kendra.
But she’d be damned if she’d allow that asshat to chase her away from her own life or make her feel bad for thinking that she deserved to be respected by her dates. So she held her head up high and continued her Friday night Pumphouse-with-the-girls dates. Of course, he’d shown up with women. Different ones each Friday but at least Kendra was gone. For the most part, Maggie just made it her mission to pretend he didn’t exist.
She bumped into Matt at the bank and they’d chatted for a few minutes. She also ended up sitting on the same bench as Kyle and eating lunch once at the park. He talked her ear off and was friendly and jovial. Admittedly, she found him wildly attractive. But he was way off the menu. It still didn’t stop her from thinking of him or sneaking looks at him on Fridays when they were in the back playing pool.
Her life moved into a new stage. One where she was proud of herself for not letting Shane’s actions get her down. For a long time, she’d let people run her over. But no more. From that point on, Maggie realized she had every right to be treated well. She put the Shane incident behind her and she’d moved on.
One thing that did bother her was seeing Alex lurking around her neighborhood several times a month. She did her best to ignore him but she had to admit it did scare her slightly. He usually was doing something that she’d been able to explain away to herself—jogging, riding a bike, that sort of thing—but he still gave her the creeps.
Halloween came and went and Maggie worked in her garden all day the first Sunday of November. She tore out the old beds in the side yard and finished installing the raised beds she’d begun to build during the early fall. After getting her spring bulbs in the ground, she trimmed her climbing roses and fertilized her grass and trees. By the end of the day she’d cleaned out her yard and felt like she’d cleaned out her life. It felt damned good.
Sore but pleased with a very hard day’s work she showered before retiring to her back porch with a novel and a cup of hot tea.
“Wow, you’ve done some major work here.”
She turned and saw Kyle Chase standing there, hands in his pockets. He looked so handsome it took her breath away.
“Idle hands and all of that.” Her words were wary, even as her pulse sped at his presence.
He grinned and raised one hand in a casual wave. “Now that I’ve said ‘hey,’ you gonna invite me up there for a cup of tea? You’re a Southern woman after all—it’s hardwired in your genetic code.”
“Tea?” She began to lose her battle against a smile.
“No. Unfailing courtesy, even when you don’t want to be courteous.”
Laughing, she put her book down. “Come on up and sit, then. I’ll go and get another cup.” Motioning to the couch she disappeared into her house.
With a secretive smile of his own, Kyle made himself at home on the small couch gracing her back sun porch. As a landscaper, he knew just exactly how much work she must have done to make her yard look so great. Somehow, knowing she was such a hard worker only made him want her more.
Within moments she appeared again, carrying a tray with a steaming mug of tea and a plate of muffins. She bent to put it down on the low table in front of him.
He smiled, grabbed the tea and breathed deeply, letting the heat from the cup warm his hands.
She motioned to the plate of muffins. “Blueberry muffins. I’ve been baking for the retirement home. Have one, they’re still warm.”
The porch was enclosed and had a fireplace at one end that sported a warm blaze. The popping of the wood accompanied the soft clinking of his spoon against the mug as he stirred in sugar. She looked comfortable and beautiful as she sat, curled into her chair.
“These muffins are criminally good,” he said around a mouthful. Hot damn, was there nothing this woman wasn’t good at?
“Thanks.” Her smile faded as she got down to business. “Okay, niceties out of the way. What brings you here, Kyle?”
“I don’t know.” He hesitated. “Yes I do. I wanted to see you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You wanted to see me?” she repeated blankly.
“Yes. Maggie Wright, I wanted to see you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I should you know, but I can’t.”
She sat utterly still, staring at him for a few moments. Pleasure warred with panic inside her. She couldn’t deny she’d been attracted to him from the start. But she kept telling herself he was out of her league and also related to someone she’d dated, however briefly.
“You should what? What do you mean?” Her voice was careful.
Leaning forward, he sat his mug down, wiping his hands on his jeans nervously. “I mean that I can’t get you out of my mind. Your lips, your beautiful amber eyes. God, the way you smell—rain and vanilla. Is it a perfume or do you just naturally smell that way? Your skin, it’s like milk. That dusting of freckles across the bridge of your nose, it makes my hands itch to want to run a finger over them. Your smile, you’re so genuine, Maggie. It’s a very appealing total package. And I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She closed her eyes slowly and put her head down. “Please don’t do this. I can’t take it.”
He came to kneel in front of her and slowly raised her face to his with a hand on her chin. “Don’t do what?”
“This! Damn it! You heard my story that night and now you feel even sorrier for me. You had to get on your white horse to come over here to try and make me feel better.”
He brushed his lips along hers and she stilled again as his taste warmed her. “First of all that was way over a month ago. I don’t feel sorry for you, Margaret Wright. I feel something else for you. I want you. I want to get to know you better. I’ve tried not to think about it because of Shane. But since that night when he made you spill those fries, I’ve been crazy about you. I’ve gone out with a dozen women since then to try and push you out of my mind and it hasn’t worked.
“The story you told me about your sister and the professor, it did change things but not in the way you think. It made me realize just how stupid I was being for letting you go because of Shane. Especially when Shane was such an ass. Life can be about taking chances and finding really great things and yes, failing sometimes. Or it can be about wondering what if because you never dared to try. Now see, I look at you and I kick myself because I was willing to say what if because of Shane. And damn it, he doesn’t deserve you.” His eyes looked deeply into hers. Her heart quickened but not out of fear. Instead she let go and fell into his gaze.
“No more, Maggie. I want you. I don’t care what Shane thinks at this point. I would have come earlier but I wanted to give you some time to deal with how he treated you. It was about the hardest thing I’ve done in my life so far, watching you and wanting you but waiting. But as far as I’m concerned, Shane’s loss is my gain. Give me a chance to show you that not all Chase brothers are bad. Let me get to know you, show you who I am.”
Maggie looked at him and she felt her heart open back up, just a tiny bit. “I don’t know. What about Shane? He’s your brother.”
“What about him? Are you in love with him? If you are, I’ll back off, but only for a while because I’ll be waiting for it to wear off. If not? Well, I’ve talked with Matt and Marc about it, to get their opinion on the matter and they’re under the same impression I am. If Shane wants to continually close himself off because of an ex-fiancée, the rest of us should be able to follow our own hearts.”
Maggie eyed him warily. “Love? I went out with him a few times. No, I’m not in love with him. I liked him and he made me feel like less than nothing. It was cruel and I have no clue why he acted the way he did. Ex-fiancée or not, he was a total jerk. Contrary to what he may have thought, I knew what our situation was, I wasn’t looking for a ring, for goodness’ sake!” She rolled her eyes at Shane Chase’s giant ego.
“But I don’t want to cause any problems between you two, either. Plus, Kyle Chase, why are you interested in me anyway? How do I know you aren’t just doing this out of some kind of sibling rivalry thing and will lose interest in a few days?”
“First of all, I’m going to be totally honest with you. I’ve never actually pursued a woman before. They always come to me. That should show you a bit about how interested I am. I like you. You intrigue me. You’re beautiful and sweet and funny and a hell of a baker. Why shouldn’t I be interested?
“Second of all, I have no need to compete with Shane over women. Pool? Sure. Baseball? Oh yeah. I would never use you like that.” He drew a fingertip down her cheek. “Let me in, just a little bit. Get to know me. Let me know you. Come on, let me court you, woo you. I’ve never wooed before, it should be fun.”
“I’ve never been wooed.”
“See? We’ll both learn something. Let the woo begin.” He grinned and she smiled hesitantly. “We’ll take it slow, Maggie,” he whispered and kissed her softly, his lips featherlight over hers.
Her body tightened, moisture pooled between her legs, her breasts grew heavy and her nipples hardened. All from a kiss. Wow, he was good.
Breaking the kiss, he leaned back to look into her eyes. “Your lips are softer than I’d imagined. And I’ve been imagining, a lot.”
She had to clear her throat twice before she found words. “So um, this wooage? Does it mean casual dating, as in we’ll be seeing and sleeping with other people? I’ve come to understand and accept that I’m just not the kind of woman who can do the casual each-of-us-seeing-other-people thing. I’m not cut out for it. I know it’s against all of the hot guy dating rules to discuss such things but I just want to get things crystal clear up front.”
“Hot guy dating rules?” His grin was cocky and she narrowed her eyes.
“Yes, as in guys who look like you and have their pick of every beautiful woman who comes their way.”
“And those rules are different from the non-hot guy rules?”
“Are you making fun of me?” One eyebrow slid up slowly.
“Yes,” he said, starting to laugh.
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, but she was sure she lost the effect she was going for when her lips slid into a smile.
He stopped, leaning in to give her a quick kiss to attempt to appease her. “Sugar, wooage—at least in my own hot guy dating rule book—does state that there will be exactly two people in the relationship. You and me. No one else. You’re different from the other women I’ve dated. And that’s a good thing,” he added quickly. “I have no desire to share you.”
“Let’s just say that I agree to this. How are we going to deal with Shane?”
“I’ll tell him myself. No need for both of us to do it. Shug, I don’t want to be mean and I’m not trying to hurt you for my own gain but has he even called you since your last date?”
“No. The ass ran out the door and never called me again. Whatever, I’m past it now.” The hurt had passed but the humiliation and the anger still burned deep and pushed old buttons.
“I don’t think he meant to disrespect you. Hell, I love my brother and he’s a good person but ever since Sandra, he’s been like this with women. I think anyone that he truly likes is someone he’ll push away right quick. I don’t know why I’m saying all of this, it only makes him look better but he is a nice guy, he’s just wounded.”
She touched his cheek with a finger and smiled at him. Wounded? She’d love to wound him herself, the asshole. Instead she took a deep breath and let the anger go. “No, I’m glad you said it. I have a major concern and it’s not how I feel about Shane. It’s about making problems between two such very close brothers.”
“Let me worry about that. I’ll tell him when I see him in an hour and a half. We have family dinners each Sunday, you know.”
“God, your family is going to think I’m a major slut.” She cringed and he began to laugh anew.
He laughed and laughed and then laughed some more. If she only knew the women I’d dated in the past! He saw her narrowed eyes and changed his mind, glad she didn’t know. He kissed her hand. “They won’t. They know you. My mother thinks you are the best thing since hush puppies. Secondly, Maggie, I’ve dated slutty women, they know the difference, as do I.”
“Oh God, again! So not only have you dated gorgeous women but slutty ones, too? How can I compete?”
He stifled another laugh. “Sweetie, how many times do I need to tell you? You are a gorgeous woman. Plus, why on earth would you have to compete against slutty? I mean, it’s fun and all when you’re young and carefree but slutty is in my past.”
“It is? Because although it seems like I’m a slut for seeing two brothers from the same family, I’m not, I’ve not been intimate with very many men, less than you can count on one hand.”
He caressed her face and ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “Hell yes, it’s in my past. And I know you’re not a slut, Maggie. I never thought that. Now, if every once in a while you wanted to play at being slutty.” An eyebrow rose and he grinned. “Yes indeedy, that would be mighty nice. But I’ve recently developed a terrible yen for gorgeous redheads who bake cookies for seniors.”
Sweet heavens, the man was irresistible. “Awfully sure you’ll get me into bed aren’t you?”
“Oh yeah,” he purred. Putting his hands at her waist, he pulled her forward on her chair and into his body. Sliding up to her back, the heat of his palms spread languid desire through her body as he brought his lips to hers. He tasted like tea and blueberry muffins. His tongue swept into her mouth like it belonged there and she actually mewled with pleasure at the sensation when it slid along hers in a sensuous caress. Gone were the teasing, hesitant kisses he’d given her earlier. This was the real thing. Soft and hot and he clearly knew his way around a kiss. She wondered what that mouth would feel like against her pussy and her clit throbbed in approval.
His skin was hot to the touch and so very hard. Letting herself go, she moved her hands, stroking her palms across the muscles of his wide shoulders and back. She couldn’t touch enough of him and moved to touch the bare flesh of his neck and slid her hands down his back a little. He groaned softly into her mouth.
“Oh,” she said softly, her head lolling back when he moved his lips to kiss the hollow just below her ear. The edge of his teeth nipped her earlobe before he pulled back.
Slowly opening her eyes, his smile made her pulse speed up. The man was sex on legs. Shane who?
“Well, my, that was definitely worth waiting for. Damn, Maggie, you taste good.”
She blushed and he cocked up the corner of his mouth into a sexy grin. “Can I take you dancing on Wednesday night?”
“I love to dance.”
“Good, it’s a date. I’ll pick you up at seven so we can grab a bite first and then head over to the Tonk afterward.”
“All right.”
He stood, drawing her up with him. “I have to go to dinner at my parents’ house. I wish I could stay and smooch on you for another five hours or so.” He sighed and then leaned down to kiss her again, thorough and quick. Enough to leave the weight of his lips tingling on hers.
“Have a nice time. I’ll see you Wednesday.” She watched as he quickly headed down her porch steps and into the yard. Yep, the man looked good going too.
* * *
“Shane, I need to talk to you.” Kyle came into the living room where his dad and brothers watched the game.
“Yeah?” Shane said, distracted by the television.
No one made a move to leave. Kyle sighed and caught a thumbs-up from Matt.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be dating Maggie.”
Shane looked at him blankly for a moment, eyes blinking slowly. Then, a red flush crept up his neck. “What?” he bellowed, jumping to his feet.
Kyle looked at his brother but didn’t react. He’d seen it before and he stayed calm because he was in the right. “I’m now dating Margaret Wright. I’ve just been with her at her house. She and I are going dancing on Wednesday. I’ve thought about this long and hard. I’ve liked her from the start but I backed off when you showed interest. However, since you have decided to treat her so badly, I figure all deals are now off.”
“I’m dating Maggie, Kyle.”
“No you aren’t. You dated her and then you hurt her. You humiliated her and made her feel used. I waited six weeks for you to fix it and you haven’t—” Kyle shrugged “—so too bad for you. Hell, Shane, you didn’t even have the decency to call her and apologize for the way you treated her the last time you saw her.”
“Or the way you acted when you brought Kendra into The Pumphouse,” Matt added.
“You too?” Shane turned to him.
“I happen to really like Maggie. She’s a nice woman, Shane. You made her cry. You didn’t have to see her anymore, but instead of treating her with respect, you toyed with her and then you tossed her away. You didn’t show her any kindness at all.” Matt shrugged.
Edward looked at his sons and shook his head. “Is this true, son? Did you treat her as poorly as it sounds?”
“She knew it was just casual. I like her but she had to push it.”
“How?”
“When we were kissing on her couch, things got a little...heavy. And then she told me she loved it. I don’t need any love, damn it. I just wanted to go out on some dates and have a casual thing. She pushed it and I had to back off, for her sake and my own.”
Kyle’s face hardened with anger. “You dated her, made out with her and ran for the door and never called her again because she said she loved being touched by you? No! How dare she say that! My God, what a man-eater she is! How dare she compliment you! Jeez, now that I know all of the facts, I’ll be sure to run the other way.” The sarcasm in Kyle’s voice hung heavy in the air between them.
“Tell Dad the rest of it. How you’ve paraded other women in front of her and looked right through her like she didn’t even exist. You could have just said you didn’t want to see her anymore. But you set out to make her feel like nothing. I hate that you let Sandra turn you into such a prick.”
“Son, I can’t believe you’d behave in such a way,” Edward said, interrupting before anything physical could erupt between his sons. He frowned at Shane. “In any case, it sounds to me like you’d broken up with Maggie before Kyle expressed an interest in her. I don’t see what the problem is with him dating her.”
“I don’t want him dating her!”
“Why? You say you don’t want to be with her, that you had to back off. You haven’t called her in six weeks and I know you’ve been dating other women in the meantime.”
“Because. Why are you taking his side anyway?”
“Because is not an acceptable reason, Shane. I’m taking Kyle’s side because you have treated the girl shabbily and you yourself said you wanted to back off. I don’t see why you should be bothered if your brother is going to take her out.”
“What if I still want her?”
“What if, what if,” Edward said with an agitated wave of his hands. He leaned forward. “Maggie is not a thing! She’s not a toy you can hold back until you want to play with her again. She’s a person. A person who deserves respect. I surely have raised men who love women but I have not raised men who treat women the way you’ve treated Margaret Wright. Shane, you know better and you should be ashamed. Let her go, son. Why hurt her any worse? As long as Kyle treats her well and respectfully—which he’d better or his mother will have both your heads—why not let it go? You get your freedom and he gets to date a woman he likes.”
Shane leaned back in his chair, defeated. “Fine, Kyle, but if you hurt her I’m going to stomp on your neck,” he growled grouchily.
Kyle’s anger drained away. He wished like hell that Shane could get past what Sandra had done. “I like Maggie an awful lot. She’s relationship material and that’s what I’ve offered her. I intend to honor that promise.”
“Kyle Maurice Chase a monogamous man?” Marc held his hand to his chest in mock disbelief. “Well, this ought to be good. Don’t mess it up because I find Miss Margaret Wright to be enchanting. If you mess it up, she’ll never give me a chance.”
“Not a chance, monkey boy,” Kyle growled. He looked toward Shane. “Are we okay? She was very worried that this would set us against each other. I promised her that we weren’t competitive over women, just pool and baseball.”
Shane sighed. “Yeah, but don’t mess up like I did.”
“Not a chance, I’m way smarter.” Kyle stretched as he winked. Rolling his eyes, Shane continued to glower.