Where There's Smoke

Darcy sat up and opened her purse to get a tissue, then daintily blotted her lips. “You know how we know God is a man?” Key said nothing; he’d heard the joke. “Because if God were a woman, come would taste like chocolate.”

“Charming.”

Either she failed to catch the disgust underlying his comment or she chose to ignore it. Laughing, she rubbed her breasts against his arm. “Where do you want to go? Or should we use that lovely backseat?” she suggested, glancing behind her. “Pity they’re not making big cars like they used to. Some of the best fucking I ever did—”

“Good night, Darcy. I’m going home.”

“The hell you are! We’re not finished.”

“I’m finished.”

“You mean to tell me that I—”

“You did exactly as you pleased. I didn’t ask you to,” he reminded her softly. “Now will you kindly haul your carcass out of my car so I can go home?”

She spat in his face.

As quick as a striking cobra, he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back. “I didn’t kill you for shooting me, but I just might for doing that.”

Chapter Seventeen

Darcy believed him. She was well aware of the murderous temper for which Key was famous. However, it went against her nature to back down once the die was cast.

“Let go of me, you son of a bitch.”

He relaxed his fist, releasing her hair. “Get out,” he said succinctly.

“I’m going. But not before I tell you exactly what I think of you. You’re sick. Not just mean, sick.”

“Fine. Now that we’ve established what’s wrong with me, get out of my car.”

“You’re fucked in the head, and it’s not that fat Berry girl who’s doing it to you.

It’s Lara Mallory.” His right eye twitched, but the rest of him went dangerously still. Knowing she’d struck a chord, she plucked it again. “Don’t you feel just a teensy-weensy ridiculous, falling for your big brother’s ex-bimbo?” She laughed derisively.

“Shut up, Darcy.”

“The notorious lady doctor has big bad Key Tackett by his short-and-curlies. He didn’t learn a thing from his brother’s experience with her, did he?”

She knew she should stop while she was ahead, but she couldn’t resist making him squirm. Since adolescence, she’d been able to manipulate every man she’d met. Except Key. That had wounded her ego severely, but she knew it wouldn’t prove fatal.

“Have you fucked her yet, Key?” she taunted, pushing her face close to his. “When she came, did she cry out your name or dearly departed Clark’s? Who’s the better lover, I wonder, Senator Clark Tackett or his baby brother? Is that what attracts you to her? Do you want to prove that you’re every bit as good in the sack as Clark was?”

Key moved so suddenly, she flinched. He shoved open the driver’s door and got out. Then, reaching in, he grabbed the front of her dress and pulled her out. The pink silk soaked up the rain. Her heels sank into the muck.

He ignored her screaming curses as he got back into his car and started the engine. When he reached for the door, Darcy grabbed the handle and wouldn’t let go. “Where are you going, Key? To visit your brother’s mistress? You’re going to be a laughingstock when word of this gets around. And you can bet both balls on it getting around. I’ll see that it does. As if it’s not funny enough that she’s a whore, she’s your late brother’s whore.”

“At least whores put a price on it, Darcy. You can’t give yours away.” He jerked the car door closed, pushed the gear stick into reverse, and peeled away. The wheels slung wet gravel and mud onto Darcy’s shoes and designer stockings.

She shouted dirty names after him. Then, standing there in the drenching rain, she resolved to teach the bastard a well-deserved lesson. She would find Key’s greatest weakness and devise a way to pierce it. Only not tonight. She would wait until her anger cooled down and she could approach the problem analytically.

As she slogged toward her car, she was adamant on one point—nobody treated Mrs. Fergus Winston the way Key had and got away with it.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Lara said in conclusion to her address to the seven members of the Eden Pass school board. “I hope you’ll give my proposal for some informal sex education seminars careful consideration. If you want any further information to facilitate your decision-making, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“You’ve made some very convincing arguments and raised some interesting points,” Fergus Winston said. “It’s a touchy topic. We’ve got a lot to mull over. It might take a week or two before we reach a decision.”

“I understand. Thank you for allowing me—”