baffled.
She turned and walked to the desk that sat by the window. She pulled open the drawer and rifled through the contents for a minute before she pulled out a napkin.
She smoothed the edges with shaking fingers then looked up at them both. “The night . . . the night I was attacked, Ryder had been to the bar early. But he had a job at the garage he had to finish so he only stayed a few minutes.”
Ryder nodded. “I remember.”
“And you had to work,” she said to Mac.
Mac waited for her to continue.
She looked down again at the napkin in her hand. “We’d all been flirting. Playing a silly game of cat and mouse. I was being all coy. Wouldn’t just come out and say I wanted you. After Ryder left, I found this on the bar where he’d been standing.”
She held out the napkin, her hand shaking like a leaf.
Mac took the napkin and Ryder surged forward to get a look too.
Mac stared at the words, not believing what he saw. Ryder sucked in his breath beside him and let it out in a long hiss.
“Oh, darlin’, tell me this isn’t why you were at the bar so late,” Ryder said.
“I thought you wrote it,” she said in a choked voice.
Mac looked down again, his stomach tight with nausea.
Wait for us after work, darlin. Mac and I’ll swing by and pick you up. Time for us to quit all this flirting and get to the point.
“Jesus Christ,” Mac swore. “The bastard set you up.”
Ryder put his hand out to Kit, regret plastered all over his face. “Kit. My God, I don’t even know what to say.”
She flinched away. “This is why I didn’t tell you. I don’t want your pity.”
Mac exploded. “Goddamn it, Kit, we’re not offering you pity. I’m pissed as hell that someone would use us against you.”
He almost crumpled the napkin in his hand then stopped cold. “Kit, this is evidence and you kept it from me. What else have you concealed?”
She looked at him with pain-filled eyes. “He’s left me a few notes. Called a few times.”
Mac fought to control his fury. All this time he thought the fear he saw in Kit on a daily basis was all due to the attack. Now he realized it was because she continued to live in terror. The bastard wouldn’t leave her alone. And he was someone who knew her, and him, very well.
“Do you have those notes?” Mac demanded.
“Only the one from tonight,” she said quietly.
“Tonight?” Ryder inserted.
“In my truck. I locked it before I went in to work. When I came out, it was unlocked. There was a note on the steering wheel.”
“Is that why you were acting so all-fired jumpy in the parking lot?” Ryder demanded.
“Jumpy?” Mac asked. He lifted a brow in surprise. Ryder was a man of few words, but once he got riled, he didn’t mind flinging them around.
“Yeah, she dropped her keys, was acting all weird right before we left.”
“Where’s the note, Kit?” Mac asked softly.
“It’s in the Bronco. I wadded it up.”
“How many have there been?”
She shrugged. “Three or four. Most right after the attack. I thought . . . ” Her voice cracked. “I thought he’d given up. It’s been three months since the last note or phone call.”
Ryder swore long and hard. Kit winced as the expletives cracked the air. Mac didn’t feel any better.
“Why didn’t you just tell us, baby?”
The question hovered in the air. Perhaps the most important question in all of this. Why hadn’t she trusted them, come to them right from the start?
A dull flush worked its way across her cheeks. “When I realized Ryder hadn’t written the note . . . I’d made such a fool of myself—” She broke off and looked away. “He said things. He knew I was interested in you two. He taunted me with the fact you didn’t return that interest. Told me I was making an ass of myself, that I was a whore, and that he wouldn’t stand by and let me throw myself at you two.”
Mac stared at her in horror. Then he looked up, his mouth open. Beside him Ryder swore again.
“He hurt you because of us,” Mac finally managed to get out. The words had stuck in his throat. The bastard had gone after her because of him and Ryder. He wanted to goddamn puke his guts up.
He grabbed Kit and yanked her to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as tightly as he could. Her heart pounded against his chest, her body quivered, and he wanted to fucking howl in rage.
“Jesus, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry.”
Her arms crept around him, holding onto him as her body shook against him.
“Who would do this?” Ryder growled.
Mac looked over at his friend. Ryder’s face was dark with anger, his expression menacing. As many years as they’d spent protecting Kit, they’d failed her when she’d needed them most. That was one thing that wasn’t going to happen again.
“Get some clothes together, whatever you need from here,” Mac said above her head. “You’re going to my place.”
She stiffened slightly and pulled away. “You make it sound like it’s more than just tonight.”
“You guess right,” he said. “You’re not staying here with that sick fuck out there waiting for you. You’ll stay with me, and if I can’t be there, Ryder will stay.”
He looked to Ryder for confirmation. Ryder, usually the most easygoing of the group, nodded, his face set into a hard mask.
“I just don’t know how he knew,” she whispered. “How did he know it was tonight?”
“Hell, anyone in the bar knew after Mac kissed you,” Ryder pointed out.
Mac pressed his lips together. He was seething on the inside. By laying claim to Kit for God and the world to see, he’d made her a target. Again.
Well, that was fine. He didn’t give a shit who knew that she was his. From now on, the whole goddamn town could know it, because the sooner the bastard who’d attacked her realized it, the sooner he’d realize just how badly he’d fucked up by hurting Kit.
“You’re mine, Kit,” he murmured as he pulled her into his arms again. “And I protect what’s mine.”
CHAPTER 4
Kit splashed water onto her face and dabbed at her cheeks with a towel. After wiping her eyes, she picked her head up and looked into the mirror. She still looked like hell.
With a sigh, she dropped the towel on the counter. She shrugged out of her clothes and turned on the shower. Maybe a full run under the water would alleviate some of the fear that seemed engraved in her eyes.
She eyed the duffel bag she’d hurriedly packed, then plucked out clean underwear, a T-shirt and a pair of shorts while she waited for the water to heat.
Despite Mac’s clear-cut order that she stay with him indefinitely, the mere thought gave her the hives. It was too close to a semblance of a relationship for her comfort level. She’d stay until she was sure it was safe, but she had no intention of making it long term. They may never catch her attacker, and hiding forever wasn’t in her game plan.
She stepped into the hot spray and closed her eyes as the heat rushed over her. Already, she felt ridiculous for losing control in front of Mac and Ryder. No wonder they looked scared to death. Emotional breakdowns weren’t in character for her.
She scrubbed her hair, every inch of her skin. The attacker’s touch was fresh in her memory, brought to the surface by hearing his scratchy voice, remembering the taunts he’d thrown at her as she lay helpless beneath him.
Another tear rolled down her cheek, shocking her. She swiped the back of her hand over her eye and shook her head angrily. She had to get it together. The guys were waiting in Mac’s living room, and unless she could convince them she was okay, they’d hover over her forever.
She turned her face up into the spray and let the water run over her for several long minutes. Finally, she reached for the knobs and turned the shower off.
She hurriedly dried of
f and pulled her clothes on. She didn’t bother blow-drying her hair, opting to run a towel over it and give it a quick comb-through.
With nervous bubbles scuttling around in her stomach, she left the bathroom and eased her way into the living room where Mac and Ryder sat waiting for her.
They looked her way as she stepped into the room, concern mirrored in their eyes. Her heart sank. This wasn’t the way she’d envisioned her evening going. They were supposed to be having mind-blowing sex, and instead she’d been forced to come clean and humiliate herself.
“Are you all right?” Mac asked gently.
She nodded with more confidence than she felt. She walked over to the couch where Ryder sat and plopped down beside him. Ryder wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. She rested her cheek on his hard chest and glanced nervously at Mac.
She had purposely taken refuge in Ryder. There was something in Mac’s eyes, in his earlier statements that screamed a warning to her. Even now, his gaze slid possessively over her as if staking his claim.
Yes, Ryder was safe. Mac . . . was not.
Mac sighed and ran a hand though his short cropped hair. Kit was running from him sure as shootin’. Oh, she wanted him. He had no doubt of that, but she was trying to hide from what they both knew to be true. She was his.
He tried to muster irritation that she was wrapped so sweetly around Ryder, but he knew she was scared. Ryder was safe and comfortable to her, and Mac didn’t want to ruin that.
“Ryder and I have talked. One of us is going to be at the bar with you at all times.”
Kit’s eyes flared in surprise, and she raised her head from Ryder’s chest. “But you can’t do that. I have to work five nights a week. You guys both have jobs.”
“We’ll work around your schedule,” Mac said firmly.
Kit sat forward, her face drawn into a cloud of confusion and anger.
“I won’t let that creep run my life, and I certainly won’t let him upend yours and Ryder’s.”
“Hey now, darlin’,” Ryder said as he leaned forward beside her.
“You can’t fuss because Mac and I want to look out for you. We’ve been doing it too long for you to get all riled about it now.”
She turned vivid green eyes on Ryder. They were chock-full of things Mac didn’t like. He wanted Kit to sparkle. She’d had too many moments in life where she’d lived in fear or sadness.
“But that’s just it, Ryder. You guys have been looking out for me too long. It’s time I did it myself. I did just fine when you both left.”
The hurt in her voice twisted Mac’s gut. He knew she’d felt betrayed when he and Ryder had left the town they all grew up in, Mac to join the service, and Ryder to roam the country.
It still surprised him that Ryder came back. But Mac, well, he always knew he was coming back for Kit. If he had to do it all over again, he’d have taken her with him.
“I’m not leaving again, Kit,” Mac said quietly.
She flinched and refused to meet his gaze.
Ryder laid a hand on Kit’s knee. “Mac and I have it worked out. One way or another, one of us will be at the bar when you’re working, and when you aren’t working, you’ll be here.”
“I can’t stay here,” she said. “I have a house. My life.”
“Relax, darlin’. It’s not like we weren’t planning to be spending a whole lot of time together anyway, right?”
Kit flushed, her cheeks turning pink. She stole a look at Mac and flushed all over again. It was all Mac could do not to carry her to bed here and now.
Mac held her gaze, meeting her eye to eye. “Have you changed your mind?”
Indecision briefly flickered and skirted across her face. She licked her lips nervously, then she slowly shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
“Then it shouldn’t be a big deal if we want to be around you. As long as you’re in my bed, I’ll be damned if I let anyone take a shot at you.”
He didn’t add that he planned to keep her there on a permanent basis. She’d run like a scalded cat if she got so much as a hint he wanted something more than a casual fling.
“And when it’s over?” she asked quietly. “What then?”
Ryder raised one eyebrow in Mac’s direction. A clear warning to tread carefully.
“By then we’ll have nailed the son of a bitch. But baby, surely you don’t think one night is all we’re interested in, do you?” he asked silkily.
She glanced between Mac and Ryder almost in panic.
“We’ve waited a long time for this, Kit. One night won’t even begin to satisfy our needs.”
“I’ll stay. Temporarily,” she added.
Mac nodded and fought back his smile of triumph. It was a step in the right direction at least. “We’ll head over to your place tomorrow to pick up anything you might need. In the meantime, why don’t you get some rest?”
She looked surprised, as if she’d expected something else all together.
He crooked an eyebrow at her. “Surely you didn’t think we’d jump your bones tonight?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. Obviously she had.
Mac sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, babe. All I’ve thought about is peeling every piece of your clothing off and licking every inch of your skin, but not tonight. You’re in no state for what we want to do.”
He could swear disappointment flashed across those green eyes of hers. He smiled to himself. Maybe one more night would have her wanting and needing them every bit as much as he needed her.
She sat there in silence for several long seconds. The awkwardness was thick between the three of them. Mac shifted in an attempt to alleviate the strain.
Finally, Kit’s lips thinned and she stood up, hands on her hips. “Look. If us having sex is going to cause so much goddamn tension, then I vote we hang up the idea and call it good.”
Ryder chuckled. “Always blunt and to the point, darlin’. That’s what I love about you.”
“Can’t we kick back and watch some TV? Isn’t there a fight on tonight? God, anything but this sitting around staring at each other like a bunch of deer in the headlights.”
Mac relaxed into a smile. “I’ll get us a couple of beers out of the fridge.”
He trudged into the kitchen and retrieved three bottles from the refrigerator, grabbed a bag of chips then headed back into the living room where the others were.
“I’m gonna go take a quick shower and change out of my work clothes,” he said as he handed Kit and Ryder their beers. “I’ll be out shortly.”
Once in the bathroom, he turned on the water, sliding the knob over to its coldest setting. His zipper was putting a permanent tattoo on his dick, and it was getting damn uncomfortable. He’d been rock hard ever since Kit entered the living room.
He stepped under the cold spray and winced as it sluiced over his body. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the rage that had settled into his mind like a long-lost companion.
Whether Kit knew it or not, tonight marked a ninety-degree turn in their otherwise casual relationship. He was tired of teasing, joking and innuendo, and he was sure as hell tired of sleeping in an empty bed.
He finished quickly and toweled off. He flexed tired muscles, trying to work the knots of tension from his shoulders. He’d been one gigantic pretzel ever since leaving Kit’s house.
He pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts then scrubbed the dampness from his hair with the towel. He ran a quick hand through the spiky length just to make it lay down right then headed to join Ryder and Kit in the living room.
When Mac entered the room, Kit’s breath left her body as if