“Listen to me, Wyatt, I’m the one to blame. Not you.”
“There’s blame enough to share, Mackenzie, I suppose. We both wanted to be together, true?”
“Damn it, yes. It’s true,” she confessed. Lying to him seemed ridiculous now.
“I understand you’re confused,” he said.
“You think you understand me?” she challenged. “You don’t. You barely know me.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, letting the sheet fall away, uncaring that she was completely exposed to him. That could be remedied once she retrieved her clothes from the other room.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” he offered in a firm, deep voice. It almost sounded like a demand more than a question.
For a moment, she thought about it. What was it about him and his twin that made her do the most stupid of things? Instead of succumbing to
his request, she placed an invisible boundary between them by crossing her arms over her chest.
She stood, keeping her armor of arms around her. “I have to go.”
Wyatt stood, too, and stepped to her. She thought about asking him again to stay put but didn’t. He’d let her weary mind rest in a haze of pleasure. God, she hadn’t had a single waking moment and few sleeping moments not thinking about her brother. She loved being in Wyatt’s arms. His embrace somehow made her feel that everything would be okay, everything would work out. Trent would be found safe and sound. Some silly misunderstanding. Some foolish flight of fancy he’d taken. They could all laugh about it over cold beers at the Horseshoe Bar & Grill. After, she could explore how far she might go with the Masters twins.
“Let me call Wade first,” he said.
She studied him, considering his offer. This was just another ploy of his to keep her with him. Why? Was he only playing bodyguard? Did he see himself as her protector? She’d learned how to protect herself a long time ago. No sense in changing that now. She should leave. Had to even. But leaving wasn’t an option for her, not until he talked to Wade. Not until she knew what he’d found out from Austin’s secretary.
“Okay, cowboy. Call him. Call your brother.”
Wyatt smiled and grabbed up his discarded jeans from the floor. She enjoyed the view of his naked frame very much.
God, his body is flawless.
She closed her eyes, remembering to stay focused on finding Trent, and only that. Once she thought her control was back, she opened her eyes again.
The unclothed cowboy pulled his cell from the pocket of his jeans. He punched a number and put it up to his ear. After what seemed to be several minutes, he shook his head. “No answer, honey. I’m sorry.”
A long sigh slipped past her lips. “This is something I have to do on my own. Wyatt, thank you for making the phone call, but I really have to go.”
“No.” There was no mistaking his tone now. He wasn’t suggesting, asking, or trying to coerce her. He meant business. “You won’t be safe until we know what has happened to your brother. If he did get involved with someone or several someones that he shouldn’t have, we’ll find out, but until then, you’re not leaving my side. Am I making myself clear?”
A strange mix of relief and anger swirled inside her, creating a storm of conflicting emotions. On the one, she wanted to turn the whole thing over to the Masterses. They’d offered to help, why not let them? She sure hadn’t gotten very far uncovering anything that might lead to Trent’s whereabouts. But on the other hand, who the hell was this cowboy telling her if she could leave or not?
“You’re going to force me to stay here? With you?”
He placed his hands on her shoulders and fixed her with a stare that sent a shiver up and down her spine. “You’re here until Wade contacts us and gives me the green light. No arguments. Period.”
“May I at least get dressed?” Mac figured once clothed she could make her argument better, or at least she hoped she could.
“Be my guest, though I rather like seeing you like this.” His wicked grin should’ve made her uncomfortable, but it didn’t. Instead she felt a little pleased by it.
He pulled on his jeans, never removing his gaze from her.
She walked out the bedroom door and into the living room, followed closely by the overprotective cowboy.
Her clothes were still there, rumpled on the floor save one. Her panties were dangling from the arm of a chair, far from the other items. Wyatt had tossed them there when he’d stripped her of her clothes.
As she dressed, she held her tongue. God, how had she let this happen? She’d been able to stave off the Masters twins’ advances for a long time. Now, she was in deep, over her head deep. She turned back to him, standing there in only his jeans. He looked so powerful, so capable of anything. He’d made love to her and taken her to a place much like the one his brother had done previously. God, she shouldn’t have opened Pandora’s box, but she had. Now, she needed to close it and lock it back up. She wasn’t sure that would be possible with these two, but damn it, she had to try.
“Bye, Wyatt.”
“You are not going anywhere. Stop pushing me or I swear I’ll bend you over my knee and spank some sense into that pretty little head of yours if it takes me all night. You’re not leaving until I know you’ll be safe.”