Maci Kate
Pound, pound, pound.
I jerk awake to the sound of someone beating down my front door. Heart slamming against my chest, I sit up to search for my clothes, only to realize they’re already on. Aww, he put my clothes back on me. What a sweet guy.
Pound, pound, pound, pound.
“Who the fuck is beating down your door, Maci Kate?” Reece growls under me.
I look down at the man who gave me the best orgasms—yes, plural—of my life, expecting to see a whole bunch of pissed off man. I’m surprised to find him smiling at me. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” Rubbing my back, he leans in and kisses my temple. “Get up so I can check the door,” he says.
“I can get the door, Reece. It’s my house.” I roll off him and fall onto the floor— ungracefully, I might add. Reece is faster and makes it there first, pushing me behind him before I can answer. I peer around Reece as he opens the door, and I’m shocked to see a red-faced David in his LPD uniform. Huh, wonder what’s got him peeved?
David’s eyes zone in on Reece and how close we’re standing to each other. “Who the fuck are you? Why are your hands on my wife?” Reece and I both still at his questions, and my hands go to Reece’s belt, holding him back.
I snap, before Reece can. “David! What the hell is wrong with you?” I take a breath to calm myself before I lose it and wake up Bennett. “This is the second day in a row you’ve shown up at my house without being invited. The only reason for you to be here is for Bennett. You need—”
“I don’t give a shit if it’s my time or not. This asshole is spending time with my whore of a wife and son.” Immediately, I’m filled with shame. I can’t imagine what Reece thinks about me now, knowing I let someone treat me so poorly.
Reece’s arm that was holding me back is now heading towards David’s face. I pull it back—not by strength, but because Reece allows me to. I can’t watch him get arrested for assaulting an officer, even though the douche deserves a few hits. Holding my hand in his, he brings me to his chest.
“Shut the fuck up. Any decent human being wouldn’t talk to anyone the way you’re talking to Maci, let alone the mother of his child. You aren’t that much of a dickhead, are you, David? Watch your fucking words when you’re speaking to Maci and Bennett,” Reece says, in a voice that is controlled but on the edge of danger.
“Yeah, you can go to hell, prick. You and Maci aren’t happening. Stay the fuck away from my family, or I’ll fucking end you. This is my damn town,” David says to Reece, and then turns his accusatory ass to me. “If you keep seeing him, Maci, I’m taking you to court for full custody. Trust me, I’ll win.”
Walking around Reece, I stand in front of him to deal with my crazy ass ex-husband. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Stop thinking, Maci. It’s going to make your head hurt.” David says, holding his thumb and pointer finger about a centimeter apart.
I sigh, not wanting an incident, and change the subject. “I thought you were off today.” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“I picked up a fucking shift. Jesus Christ, Maci, get this asshole out of my house.” David shouts, shoving a finger in Reece’s direction. “I don’t want to find out that he’s been here again, Maci Kate. Keep your fucking legs closed. You’re acting like a slut. It makes you look like a shitty mother.” My mouth drops open and I can’t form words.
“Leave. Now. I warned you about how to talk to her.”
“You warned me? I warned you. Your place in her life is done. It never even started. Don’t call her. Don’t see her. Don’t talk to my son. I will see you Wednesday night with Bennett, Maci!” With that, David the douche, turns around to walk back to his cruiser. But Reece isn’t finished yet.
“My fucking place in her life was cemented years ago. You were only in it because I screwed up and let you. Maci Kate is my woman—has always been mine, and will, from this point, forever be mine. You speak to her the way you did today we will have words. You might know people, but I can guaran-damn-tee you that I know more, and they will have my back.”
David looks at me with fury and understanding, and goes to walk towards me, but Reece pushes me behind him. David leans around and asks, “This is him, isn’t it? This is the guy you couldn’t get out of your head? Reece, he’s the reason you left me, isn’t he, Maci?”
I’m struck stupid, because, on some level, he is the reason I left David. Just, not for the reasons he thinks. His eyes go wide with my silence, taking that as my admission of sin. “I knew it. I fucking knew there was someone else.”
He turns and around and walks back to his cruiser, gets in, and slams the door. He backs out of my drive quickly and is gone in seconds. Reece turns around and looks at me with questions in his eyes. “Reece, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, baby,” he says, sounding as mentally exhausted as I feel from the encounter.
“I—” Swallowing, I go for honesty. “When we were getting to know each other, me and David, we talked about our previous relationships. I didn’t have any. You broke my heart when you left, though. I told him about it.”
“Maci, you don’t have to do this. I get it.”
Shaking my head, I sit on the bottom step of my porch. Elbows on my knees, head in my hands, I mumble, “I didn’t talk about you that much. At least, I don’t think I did. I told him that you and I shared a lot of good memories. You’ve always been a part of my life. Shit, did I push him away because of how I felt about you? Is it my fault that he cheated on me because I made him feel like he didn’t matter?”
Sitting behind me with his legs on either side of me, he pulls me into his chest. “Baby, stop that right now. I don’t know what your marriage to him was like, but I know you. I’m sure you put a hundred percent of yourself into that relationship. You didn’t push him away; he just used what you said to make you feel bad.”
I look up to Reece, who is trying to hold his shit together for me. He stands and holds his hand out to me and I take it. “Let’s talk inside, baby.” As he walks us into the house, he closes and locks the door, then follows me into the kitchen.
“Baby, I don’t want you near him. I know you can’t cut him out completely because of Bennett, but if I can’t be with you, you will meet him in a public place when you are picking up and dropping him off.”
I stare at my feet, not knowing what to say. I know he’s right, but I also know that doesn’t change much. I hated the way David spoke to me, especially in front of Reece. I can live with it, though.
“Are you hearing me, Maci Kate?”
I shake my head, and he sighs. I look up and see that he’s leaning against the island across from me. Something is still bothering me about what David said. “Reece?”
“Angel?” I smile at his name for me. “How did he even know you were here? Do you think he’s watching me?”
Reece shakes his head sadly. “I’m not sure, baby. Maybe he—shit, never mind. I’m not sure. I’m going to have some guys come out and look around. They’ll put in a security system too, and change your locks. They’ll be here tomorrow when you get home from work.”
Did he just tell me what is going to happen to my house? Like he has some right to it? I hate it when people tell me what to do. My daddy did that to me my whole life, God love him. David did it while we were married, always over stupid shit. I only hated him more for it.
“You cannot just come in here and—”
He cuts me off mid-rant with a quick kiss on my lips and shocks me silent. He puts his hands on each side of me and cages me in against the counter. Leaning his body into mine, he cups my jaw with one of his hands and asks, “Has he ever hit you before, angel? Or has he only ever been verbally abusive?”
My eyes go wide, and I’m startled by the question. “David has never hit me. Reece, he’s not abusive; he’s just a dick.”
Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath. “Maci Kate, the way he talked to you was wrong. Talking down to you, making you feel bad about yourself, and calling you names repeatedly is abuse. He’s controlling you through Bennett, and is trying to exert his power wherever he can.”
I huff. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Reece. He can just be an asshole sometimes.” I step away from the counter and go to walk out of the kitchen, and away from this conversation. As soon as I pass by Reece, he has other ideas, and pulls my back to his front, both his arms circling my chest.
Leaning his forehead on my shoulder, he lifts his head, skims his nose up my ear, and gently says, “I’m sorry, angel. I didn’t like seeing him talk to you like that. You deserve so much more.”
I nod my head. He’s right, I do deserve better than David. A tear rolls down my cheek, and I let it go. “I don’t even know why he won’t let me go. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“God, I’m so fucking sorry, Maci Kate.” He pushes me away enough so he can turn me in his arms and pull me into his chest, nuzzling my neck.
“Why are you sorry, Reece? It isn’t your fault.” I lean into his chest, rubbing my face all over his shirt, and inhale his cologne. God, he smells good—clean and masculine.
“Oh, it’s my fault, baby. If I hadn’t pushed you away, you wouldn’t have ended up with David, and we’d have been together. Bennett would be mine, not his.”
Bennett. Fuck, he’s going to try to take Bennett away from me if I try and date someone. This is total bullshit. I wouldn’t pay attention to it, but I know in the end it’s going to hurt Bennett. He doesn’t need that. Plus, David has an uncle who’s a judge in our town, and his daddy is a hotshot lawyer. David might be an asshole, but he does know people who can make things difficult. I push out of Reece’s arms and pace in front of him.
“Reece, as much as I want this to happen, it can’t. I’m not going to risk losing Bennett. Thank you for today. I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I’m not going to put my son through this.”
His jaw tenses. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You are mine, Maci Kate. Mine. I’m not losing you because of him. Do not let him bully you into this. We will figure it out together.”
I sigh, willing myself not to cry. “No. I will figure it out, Reece.” I say, pointing at my chest. “Bennett is MY son. This is MY life. I will not be putting him through this. He’s been through enough already. For a minute, I thought maybe we could finally be a possibility, but we can’t. I’m sorry. Please leave.”
Reece walks up to me and pulls me into his chest. “This isn’t right, and I’m not going to let him take you away from me. I’ll give you some time to think about things.” He kisses my forehead, then pushes me away gently. When he gets to the door and opens it, he adds, “He’s not the only one with reach in this town, Maci. Remember that.”
With that, he walks out the door, and my life. I need to keep my mind on what matters, and that’s Bennet. A family that will not include Reece Atwood, the only man to whom I have ever wanted to give my whole heart.