“Yeah, I understand that now.”
“Well, I guess it’s good we cleared the air since we’ll be living in the same town and will likely run into each other from time to time,” I offered, unsure of what to say.
“Yeah, I guess it is.” We stood looking at one another while an awkward silence surrounded us. Finally, he rocked back on his heels and said, “I should probably get going. Let you get back to whatever you were doing.”
I refrained from telling him I wasn’t doing anything but staring at the television and feeling sorry for myself. Instead, I walked him to the door. I turned back to him and face-planted into his leather-clad chest, his very firm, leather-clad chest while his hands landed on my waist to steady me. When I looked up to apologize, his warm, amber eyes locked on mine. They flicked between my eyes and my lips twice before he pushed me up against the wall and covered my mouth with his.
“Fuck, Macy,” he mumbled against my lips. With my hands buried in his hair, his hands slid under my skirt and hoisted me up by my ass. I wrapped my legs around his hips and locked my ankles behind him.
“Aaron,” I moaned when his denim-covered cock pressed against my clit through my flimsy excuse for panties.
He reached for the hem of my shirt and started to push it up, but I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Macy?” Aaron asked, sounding confused.
“Are you married?” I asked. Of all things, I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, be the other woman.
“Fuck, no,” he said, moving his hand back to the hem of my shirt.
“In a relationship?”
He sighed in exasperation. Sliding his mouth to my neck, he answered, “Single. No wife. No girlfriend. No kids. You’re divorced. You want this?”
Hell, yes, I wanted it. I hadn’t been with anyone since the divorce, and it had been well over a year since my ex-husband subjected me to his mediocre ministrations. “Yes,” I moaned as he pressed harder against me and sucked my earlobe into his mouth.
He held me against the wall with his hips and ripped my shirt over my head. When he got a look at what I was wearing underneath my blouse, he grinned. “Oh, baby, let me see the rest of you.” With that, he dropped me to my feet and yanked my skirt over my hips, letting it fall to the floor as he took a step back to look at me. After his eyes raked over my sheer panties framed by a matching garter belt and thigh-high stockings, his lips pressed into a tight line. “Am I keeping you from other plans?”
“No,” I answered quickly.
“Then why the hell are you dressed like that?” he demanded, waving his hand at my lingerie-clad body.
“Does it really matter?” I retorted.
“No, it doesn’t,” he spat. Then, to my utter astonishment, he turned on his heels and left, slamming the door in his wake.
4
What in the hell was I doing? Getting involved with Macy again was a disaster waiting to happen.
I shook my head and climbed onto my bike. I needed to ride and clear my head. Not only was Macy’s reappearance fucking with me, but it hadn’t been more than six hours since I killed a man. He was nothing more than evil scum that needed to be put down, but killing was killing, and it wasn’t easy.
I roared away from the farm and into the dark night, searching for answers I knew I wouldn’t find.
A few days passed, and while I had made peace with taking a life, I still wasn’t sure how I felt about Macy. When I first met her, she had me wrapped around her finger in a matter of minutes. Just like Phoenix and Annabelle, we were glued at the hip for the next year. Then, in a matter of weeks, Phoenix left for the Marines, Annabelle disappeared, and Macy ended our relationship, or so I thought. Regardless, my three best friends were gone, and it was a bitter pill to swallow.
My phone ringing interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at the screen and answered, “Phoenix, what’s up?”
He chuckled into the phone, “Duke is stuck in the hayloft at the horse barn. Can you go help him out?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “How is he stuck?”
“He claims Keegan moved the ladder even though she knew he was up there. Oh, he also said she locked the barn doors, so you’ll need to stop by Ember’s office first to get the spare key. It should be in that big binder she keeps in the bottom drawer of her desk.”
“Keegan wouldn’t do something like that. The girl’s sweet as sugar.”
“Yeah, I don’t think she did it on purpose no matter what Duke says. Anyway, I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer.”
“All right, I’ll head over there now.”
When I arrived at Ember’s office, I found the key exactly where Phoenix said it would be. As soon as Duke climbed down from the hayloft, he started ranting and raving about Keegan.