Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) (17 page)

“I don’t think it’s just women.”

“Don’t let those old biddies fool
you.  Eyes like sharks, see all.  Spread what they see, too.”  Old Man Parker
clucked his tongue and repeated, “Yep, sad state of affairs when they can’t
mind their business.”

Matt just shook his head.

As usual, Old Man Parker was
completely unaware of Matt’s true thoughts.  “I know, I know, you think the
best of everyone.  Kind of like Lori.”  His gaze switched almost hungrily to
the Mackay house.  “See she’s got a visitor.”

Matt glanced at the car.  “Yeah.”

“Wonder who it is?”

“Not a clue. 
Not
my
business.”

“Had a busy day, has our Lori. 
First her tantrum at the shops-”

“Brought on by gossips.  Let’s not
forget that.”

“Then you visiting her.”

“Just checking on her.”

“Really?  Spent a bit of time
there, didn’t you?”

“Not really.”

Old Man Parker’s smile was all
teeth.  “Uh-huh.”

Matt just gazed placidly at him. 
No way was he going to give him any ammunition.

When it became obvious that he wasn’t
going to say anything further, Old Man Parker announced with great
satisfaction, “Tommy visited.”

That made Matt tense.  “Tommy? 
The café owner?”

“Yep.”  Old Man Parker practically
quivered with anticipation, his eyes never leaving Matt’s face.

Okay, calm down.  Don’t give
the gossips anything juicy to hash out over tea and scones.
  “Do tell,” he
managed calmly.

Disappointment shone briefly in
Old Man Parker’s eyes but it didn’t stop his observations.  “And then that
young mechanic came sniffing around-”

“I saw him fixing Lori’s car.  He
did say he’d do it.”

“Oh.”  Old Man Parker frowned for
a few seconds in disappointment that there was a logical explanation before his
gaze slid again over to Lori’s house.  “And now there’s another visitor.  A
woman.”

“Woman?” Matt queried despite
himself.

“Yep.  In fact, it’s that new
sheila in town.”

“New sheila?”  A sense of
foreboding crept over Matt and he straightened.

“Yep.  Even better - I mean more
worrisome - this is the same one whom Lori had a fight with today in the park.”

Oh shit
. Matt had to battle
his first impulse to leap over the fence and run straight into the house. 
Keenly aware of Old Man Parker watching avidly and not wanting to make Lori the
subject of more gossip, Matt smiled easily and pushed away from the gate. 

While he personally didn’t care
what people said, there was no way he’d cause her further embarrassment.  That meant
fighting his urge to run, instead bidding Old Man Parker an easy goodnight and walking
sedately - albeit with big steps - to his house, unlocking the door leisurely
and closing it behind him without seemingly a care in the world.

As soon as the door shut, he ran
down the hall, out through the kitchen door, leaped off the veranda and was up
and over the fence into the Mackay yard within seconds.  A leap onto the back veranda
and he burst through into the kitchen, only to come to a skidding halt as Lori
and the woman looked up from where they were sitting at the kitchen table.

“Um - hi,” he said.

The woman looked from him to Lori.

Lori smiled at the woman, though
her cheeks pinkened when she looked at Matt.  “Matt, this is Harriet Keller. 
Harriet, this is my…this is Matt.”

Oh yeah, he hadn’t missed that
little stumble nor the way she bit her lush bottom lip.  Not to worry, he’d
soon give her the correct label for next time.  Burn it into her hot little
mouth with his tongue, in fact.

Harriet stood up.  “Nice to meet
you, Matt.”

Forcing his erotic thoughts away,
Matt smile politely.  “Same here, Harriet.”  Curiously, he glanced at Lori. 
“Have I interrupted anything?”

“Yes,” she began.

“No.”  Harriet picked up an
oversized handbag that was sitting by the side of her chair.  “Lori, thank you
for seeing me, talking, being so understanding.  It’s made things easier.  I
must get going.”  She nodded to Matt.  “’Bye.”

He nodded, leaning back against
the kitchen bench to watch Lori get up and lead Harriet out into the hallway. 
He listened to their voices disappear.  The minutes ticked past and he wondered
what on earth they could possibly have to talk about outside.  Cripes, it was
just out to the car, surely they’d said all they had to say for now?

Suddenly aware that he was
impatiently tapping his foot, he stopped.  Hmmm, Tommy had been here.  Why? 
And why was Harriet turning up after the argument or whatever they’d had in the
park?  There was no blood, no overturned furniture, just two empty cups.  No
tears or shouting.  Sitting and having a cuppa.  Odd.

The door opening and shutting
sounded followed by Lori’s footsteps which grew slower, hesitating near the
doorway before she finally entered.

That hesitation wasn’t something
Matt liked, it meant she was nervous around him.  Good nerves or bad nerves?  Now
that was a cause for
his
anxiety.  What if she didn’t want him here? 
He’d gone off in his dominant mode after ordering her to be here tonight.  He
certainly hadn’t thought of how she’d felt, only himself.

Shit.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep
breath.  This was no time for strutting around enjoying his conquest - though
secretly he did enjoy it - he had to be more sensitive to her needs.

Opening his eyes, he watched as
she entered the kitchen, tracking her as she crossed to the table and picked up
the cups, taking them to the sink and filling them with water.  Turning the
water off, she remained where she was, looking down into the sink before
finally turning to face him.

Well, she faced him but her gaze
was fixed on his chin.

He eyed her closely, wondering
what she thought.  When she didn’t say anything, he pushed away from the bench
and walked over to her, slipping his arm around her waist and leaning down to
brush a kiss on her forehead.

Mmmm, she smelled sweet, soap and
powder and scent.  And Lori, yeah, she smelled like Lori.  Shed taste as sweet
as she smelled, too, he’d just bet.

Hesitantly, her hands touched his
shirt before fluttering away to hang by her sides.

Hmmm.  Okay
.  Releasing
her, Matt stepped back.  He was going too fast, he had to rein in his eagerness
to touch and kiss her, taste her, do a hundred naughty things to her lush body.

Time to bring calm, rational Matt
to the fore.

Taking a deep breath, he took
another step back, putting some distance between them.  When she still didn’t
do anything except stand there and wring the living daylights out of her hands,
he ordered softly, “Lori, look at me.”

Her gaze flew up, her cheeks pink,
but she didn’t look away.  She did, however, worry that poor bottom lip with
her small teeth.

“Hi,” Matt said.

“Um…hi?” Her gaze slid away from
his eyes to stare at a spot on his nose.

Not as easy as he’d thought.  The
only way now was to be frank.  “Lori, did I hurt you this afternoon?”

Those apple cheeks flushed red. 
“No.”

“Was it good?”

“Yes.”  Cheeks redder, hands
wringing more violent.

Stepping forward, he grabbed those
hands in his, pulling them away from each other.

This time she did look up at him.

“I’m not good at this,” he said
quietly.  “In fact, this is new to me.”

There was a flash of disbelief in
her eyes.

“Okay, not sex.  But sex with
you…that’s new.”  Shit, that was clumsy.

“I’d say so,” she whispered a
touch dryly.

“I meant, the…”  Aggression?  No,
not a good choice of word.  Dominance?  Probably not a good choice either. 
Fierceness? 
Uh-uh.  Shit shit shit.  Think, idiot
. “I meant the…”  He
went blank.

Shit, that had never happened before. 
Lots of firsts today.

Was that a little gleam of
amusement in her eyes?  “Are you laughing at me, Mackay?”

“No.  I’ve just never - you know -
seen you at a loss for words.”

He grinned, relieved to have her
talking.  “I’m just trying not to scare you off.”

“From what?”  Even though her
cheeks were fiery, her gaze was steady.  “Sex isn’t scary.  Apparently. 
Everyone does it.”

Surprise, surprise.  Shy Lori was
a game little bird.  He eyed her a little closer. 

“Except me,” she muttered, only to
clear her throat. “Well, until now.  This afternoon.” 

Call him an egotistical arse, but
that made him immensely smug.

Manfully pushing that smugness
down, he concentrated on her.  “Until this afternoon, I’ve never had such explosive,
hot sex.”

That caught her attention.

He smiled.  “Yeah, you about
burned the soles of my boots off, love.  You were so hot.  For a virgin, you
surprised me.”

She stood stock still.

He rubbed his thumbs across the
backs of her hands.  “Man, when you ripped off my shirt as hungrily as you did,
it was the most amazing bloody thing.  That I didn’t expect from you.”

That had the complete opposite
effect to what he expected.  Instead of leaning into him, all sweet and shy and
ready for more, she jerked her hands from his and backed away.

Now what the hell had made her do
that?  Matt raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t…”  She started wringing
her hands again.  “I’m not…”  When he continued to watch her curiously, she
finished in a rush, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?  For what?  The best sex
of my life?”

Now the scepticism was plain on
her face.  “You know.”

“No, I don’t.  What are you
talking about?”  When she started to back away, he stepped forward and grabbed
one of her hands to bring her to a halt.

Not answering, she looked away.

“Talk to me, Lori.” 

No answer.

“Please.”

She shook her head.

He eyed her speculatively.  Why
was she apologising, why was she embarrassed?  At her continued silence, he
sighed.  “Look, love, I don’t play guessing games.  You need to talk to me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Bullshit.”  He gave her hand a
little shake.  “Talk to me.”  When she still refused, he narrowed his eyes. 
“If you don’t start talking to me, I’ll phone Ali.”

That brought her head snapping
back up in horror.  “You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.”

Chapter 7

She swallowed.  “She doesn’t know
anything, anyway.  Go ahead.”

“Oh ho.  So something happened in
the past.”

“I’m not telling you.  Just…I’m
sorry for attacking you, all right?”

“Attacking me?”  He laughed. 
“Lori, I was attacking you just as much.  What we did was to each other.  In
fact, I think we’re a perfect match.”

“Really?”

“Really?  Are you kidding me? 
Every time I touched you, you responded.  I kissed you, you kissed back.  A
novice you might be, but you burn hot as hell.”  He stepped closer, liking the
way she had to tip her head back to keep contact with his eyes.  Liking the way
he towered over her.

Macho Man was his new second
name.  Who would have guessed?

There was no denying the shy
pleasure in her expression.  “You really didn’t mind?”

“How about we do it again right
here, right now, just to prove it to you?”  Yeah, that suggestion had merit. 
It was a bloody good one in his opinion.  “Trust me, I’m more than willing.”

Back came the blush, her cheeks
going rosy.

Laughing, he slid one arm around
her to pull her against him, cupping one hot cheek in his hand. The contact of
her breasts against him and the warmth of her body had the laughter fading just
as quickly.

Lori looked up at him.  “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you here, Matt?”

“Seriously?  You don’t know?”

She shook her head, then stopped
at his frown.  “Okay.  Maybe to apologise?”

“Hell, no, I’m not apologising.”

“So why?”

“You really have to ask that?” 
Unbelievable.  “I want you.”

“Uh-huh.”

Okay, not quite the response he
was after.  “Let me put it a little more bluntly-”

“You can be blunter?”

“Woman, you have a sharp tongue
when you get shitty.”

“I’m not shitty.”

“You’re not exactly Miss Mary
Sunshine right now, which surprises me.”

She twisted out of his arm.  “Maybe
because the real me isn’t what you want.”

“Oh, hang on there, missy.”
Insulted at that comment, he grabbed her upper arm and jerked her back up
against him. 

When she made to wriggle away, he
caught her other arm and leaned down to glare into her eyes.  Oh yeah, her
expression was a touch mutinous.

Interesting.  He studied her.  No
doubt about it, she was hiding fear behind that anger, using it as a protective
covering.  Lori was carrying an emotional scar.  “Who hurt you?”

“What?”  She stopped wriggling.

“You’re carrying some baggage from
the past.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Will you let me go?”

“Not until you talk to me.”  When
she looked away, he added, “For a woman, you don’t want to talk much.”

“For a man, you want to talk too
much.”

“If I was a woman, I’d crush your
stubbornness with tears.  Maybe I’ll do it anyway.”  This surprised a choked
laugh out of her and he took advantage of it.  “Come on, Lori, if there’s to be
anything between us then you need to talk to me.”

For a second he feared she’d
continue to struggle and he’d really have to be stern.  Instead, she looked up
at him defiantly.

Okay, that kicked off male
satisfaction, especially when the caveman picked up his head in interest, but he
beat down his baser instinct to enjoy a good struggle with her - and win, of
course - and continued to watch her with determination.  Come hell or high
water, he was going to find out what bastard had scarred her in some way.

“Tommy came earlier,” she stated
brazenly.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to start ranting,
accusing me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll tell me in your
own sweet time.”

“That he and I had it on?”

“Christ, woman, keep pushing that
at me and you won’t sit for a week.”

Her nostrils flared in a pleasing
show of feminine indignation.  “So you
do
think we had it on.”

“No, I don’t.  I’m just grinding
my teeth at the fact that you’re avoiding the question.”

“So are you.”

“No, I’m not.”  Full marks for not
getting as confused as he probably should have been by now.

“So are you going to ask me why
Tommy was here?”

“I said it before and I’ll say it
again.  No.”

“Why?”

“Because I trust you.”

That took the wind out of the
little witch’s sails.  She stared at him, opened her mouth, closed it, and
repeated incredulously, “You trust me?”

“I said so, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“So maybe it’s your turn to trust
me.”

“I do trust you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

Any sane man would be leaving
teeth marks in the bench top by now, but Matt was made of sterner stuff.  Plus
he really wanted Lori, so he was prepared to wade through any kind of shit she
threw at him.

But it was time to stop the
running in circles.

“If you trusted me, Lori, you’d
cut the shit and talk to me properly instead of trying to pick a fight.” 

“I’m not-”

“If you even respected me a
little, if you respected yourself, if you respected the truth, you’d know that
you can trust me.  You know you can.”  He tightened his hold on her upper
arms.  “I’m not asking you again.”

“Is that a threat?” she asked
haughtily.

“No.”

Her laugh was disbelieving.  “So
if I don’t answer you, you won’t ask again?”

“I won’t ask again.”

“Ever?”

“Ever.”  At her look of relief, he
added quietly, “And I’ll know that I’m mistaken.  I’ll know that you’re not
interested in a relationship with me, that you don’t respect me, and that you
don’t trust me.  I’ll walk out of here and that’s the last you’ll see of me.”

Now she looked distressed.  “Matt,
I-”

“No.”  He shook his head.  “I told
you, I don’t play games, Lori.  I don’t lie.  The fact is that I want something
more with you, but if we can’t get past whatever it is you’re scared of, then
that’s it.”

It was a bald-faced lie but she
didn’t have to know that. 

Now she had tears in her eyes. 
“You really…you really want a relationship with me?”

Refusing to soften, he looked down
at her.  “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you, I more than
like you.  I’ve watched you for months now, been your neighbour, chatted to
you, and it’s only made me want to be with you more.  Give us a chance, Lori,
that’s all I ask.”

Her head dipped down and he felt a
shiver go through her before she raised her head and looked him directly in the
eye.  Damned if she wasn’t trembling a little, too.

“How can you want me, Matt?”

He frowned.  “I don’t understand.”

She held her hands out, palms up. 
“I’m not a slim woman, I’m not beautiful.  I work at a servo with no real
aspirations to do anymore right now.  You could have your pick of the girls in
town, why me?”

“I don’t want the girls in town,”
he replied bluntly.  “I want you.”

“Why?  I’m nothing to look at.”

And there it was, that self-consciousness
in her eyes, that uncertainty.  Sure, he could have given in to his instinct
and cuddled her close, just gathered her into his arms and kissed her and
reassured her, but that wasn’t what she need right now.

No, right now he knew what she
needed.  “Ever heard the saying that the eyes are windows to the soul?”

She nodded.

“Do you believe it?”

“Yes.”

Leaning down, he rested his
forehead against hers so that their eyes were inches apart and she could only
look directly into his.

“Lori, I’m not interested in
bodies slim or voluptuous.  I’m not interested in beautiful women or plain
woman.  I don’t care where they are on the career ladder, I don’t care if
they’re rich or poor.  There’s only one woman I care about and she’s right here
in front of me.”

She blinked nervously.

He continued softly but firmly,
“I’m only interested in you, Lori Mackay.  Shy, sweet, with hidden depths to
you.  I know you’re no angel, I know you have a temper once it’s stirred. 
True, it takes a long time to do it.” He grinned crookedly.  “But when it lets
fly, no one is safe.”

She bit her lip.

“But that’s a part of you,” he
continued.  “I like it, just as I like it when you laugh, when you crack a
joke, when you’re evasive, when you’re shy, when you’re everything you are.  I
like you.  I respect you.  I want you.”

She swallowed, but he saw the
flicker of hope in her eyes and it warmed him to his soul.  “I’m not perfect.”

“None of us are.”

“One day you might see a better
woman.”

“One day you might see a better
man.”

Warmth swept through her eyes even
as she answered shyly, “No one is better than you, Matt.”

“And no one is better than you.”

Those long lashes swept down to
hide her eyes from his and he waited patiently.  Finally they swept up again
and this time the uncertainty was replaced with a flicker of a smile.  “I’m not
going to win this, am I?”

“Hell, no.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”  And she kissed him.  Shy,
sweet, a lift of her body against him which he supported with his grip on her
upper arms.

Heat slipped through him at her
response but he tried to hold back, to accept it as gently as it was given,
even while his caveman reared his head and knocked on his brain to tell him to
take over, to take her, to take control.

This was for Lori, and for her he’d
hold back.

Shit, it was hard.

When she finally lifted her mouth
from his, he growled, “Confession time.”

Bemused, she replied, “Huh?”

“This time you kissed me.”

Her cheeks coloured.  “You didn’t
like it?  You seemed to like it.  You said-”

“I meant, I have this caveman
thing going on when I’m around you.”

“Caveman?”

“Yeah.  Whenever we’re together, I
want total control.  You kiss me and I want to kiss you back twice as hard and
control it.”  He frowned in turn. “That’s never happened before.  But I’ll warn
you now, don’t blame me when the caveman gets loose.”

“Gets loose?”  Her eyes widened.

“Yeah.  He’s the one who tears off
your clothes, grabs you, kisses you and has his evil way with you.  In case you
didn’t notice, I seem to have a dominant side as well.”

Now laughter crept into her eyes. 
“You don’t say.”

“Yeah, I say.”  He eyed her
hungrily.  “Right now the caveman and the dominant are fighting it out to see
who’ll win.”

“Which means…?”

“Any second we’re going to be on
the floor with you naked and under me.”  He grinned, feeling exceedingly
wolfish.  “But it’s not my fault.”

“It’s not?”

“No, I’m actually mild mannered
Matt Winters, and the Caveman and the Dominant are my evil alter-egos.”

“I’m glad you warned me.”  Her
smile reached all the way to her sparkling eyes.  “Are we capitalizing your
alter-egos?”

“I just did.”  He knew his eyes
gleamed, because he sure as hell felt the fire inside him.  “They’re wanting a
piece of a shy, sweet woman.  That’s you.”

“Wow.”  She laughed outright, the lightness
of it sluicing through him and calming his libido just a little.

Not enough, just a little.  But
then she stopped laughing and looked at him, her expression growing serious. 
“Matt, I need to tell you something.”

His hands gentled on her upper
arms.  “You can tell me anything.”

“It seems silly now when I think
about it.”

“Is this from your past?”  At her
nod, he said, “I doubt it was silly at the time.  It left a mark on you.”

“Mmmm.”  She looked down at his
chest, her fingers playing with the soft material of his t-shirt.

Wanting to know but refusing to
rush her, he waited patiently.

Finally, she spoke.  “I went out
with a boy once, in high school.”

“Most of us did.  Well, I went out
with girls, but still…”

“We went to the river with a group
of friends.  My date for the evening had been drinking, as kids are wont to do
when rebelling.”

“I get the feeling you didn’t
rebel much.”

“I’m boring.”  Her smile was
whimsical. 

“Boring’s good,” he assured her.

“Well, anyway, we wandered away
from the others.  He started kissing me and I kissed him back, then before I
knew it I was touching him, you know…”

Yeah, Matt had a fair idea.

“I guess I moved too fast for him
or something.  I just…I guess I read a lot.”  Her cheeks flushed with
embarrassment.  “I was curious.  I won’t lie, his body felt good, or so I
thought.  I wanted more and I guess…I sort of…”

“Were a little more passionate
than he expected?”

“Yeah.  I kind of attacked him, I
guess.”  She gave a small, shamed laugh.  “One minute he was kissing me, the
next I’d pushed him onto his back and had my hands under his shirt and, well,
let’s just say he suddenly shoved me away, started mouthing off at how I was a
sex-starved slut who pawed at men, and he’d only been going to shag me because
he felt sorry for me.”  She took a deep breath. 

“Who was he?” Matt demanded. 
“I’ll find him and punch him out for you right now.”

“Matt, he was drunk.”

“I’ll still punch him.”

“It was years ago.”

“Makes no difference.”

Laughing, she hugged him suddenly,
resting her cheek against his chest.

Now Matt cuddled her close,
dropping a kiss on top of her head.  “He was an idiot.”

“I guess he crushed my confidence
a little.”

“A little?  Love, he smothered
your sensuality.”

“It wasn’t all him.  I guess I
kind of held back after that, not wanting a repeat performance.  Besides, no
man ever really interested me enough for me to attempt to try again.”