Sensing his mood had lightened slightly and wanting to see him smile once more, Kendall gave him a nudge in the ribs with her elbow. “Don’t let your head get too big, Mr. Boss Man, or you won’t fit through the door.”
He nudged her right back. “Too late for that, honey,” he joked.
“Anyway, you’ve got me intrigued now. So how did that skinny kid from the children’s home go on to become the legendary Mac Buchanan?”
“Well.” He pulled her across to him, so her head rested on his shoulder. “It got worse before it got better.”
“Oh, no. Give me some good news.”
“Between the ages of ten and fourteen I had three different sets of foster parents.”
“Go on. I’m guessing it didn’t end well.”
“You got it in one. They were great people who tried their very best to help me, but I was just too opinionated and headstrong for them to deal with. I had a lot of anger swilling around inside me way back then, Kendall. Unsurprising really. Maybe it was my upbringing, or maybe I was just a surly teenager who didn’t like being told what to do. I liked to think it was this. Anyway, the end result meant I was sent to yet another children’s home, this one worse than any of the others. What a great way for a kid to celebrate his fifteenth birthday.”
She fanned a hand in front of her face. “Well, for all its problems, you could never say your early life was boring. My childhood was uneventful by comparison.”
“Your parents indulged your every whim, I reckon.”
She did her best to appear coy. “Hmm, not every whim. Anyway, we’re not talking about me. Go on, Mac, I eagerly await the next installment of your life.”
He looked at her long and hard. “The show’s over for today, honey. I’ve already said too much. It’s your turn to cleanse your soul.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” All of a sudden, his demeanor seemed stern and uncompromising. “Who the hell is this Karl guy? You didn’t think I’d forgotten already, did you?”
Feeling cornered and outwitted by Mac’s strategy of opening up to her and then expecting her to do the same, she fluffed and fumbled her words. “I’m sorry I just can’t tell you. I–I–I can’t—”
His beautiful silver gray eyes narrowed on her, but not in a benevolent way. “And who the hell is Ashley?”
“I–I–I need to go to the bathroom.”
He gripped her forearm hard, his fingers digging into her flesh. “You’re staying right here, lady.”
“Let go of me.”
“Not until you tell me who Ashley is.”
She shook her head violently. “No. No, I can’t.”
Chapter Nine
As Kendall lay on a sun lounger by the pool, her nose buried in a trashy novel by some talentless author he’d never heard of, Mac couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Four days ago he’d deliberately opened up to her, revealing his childhood in painful detail in an attempt to encourage her to reciprocate.
The night of the great storm had been an eye-opener, and he’d clearly heard the names Ashley and Karl shriek from her lips as she’d wailed helplessly into the angry sky. Such was her anxiety, she’d shouted loud enough to drown out the thunder and lightning that had flashed and grumbled high above her. When she’d screamed the name Ashley, her voice had been laced with compassion and concern. Conversely, when he heard the name Karl, she’d been unable to hide the sheer hatred she felt for the guy.
Even now, he could still hear those bitterly spoken words ringing in his ears. Let her go. Burn in hell, Karl. You fucking sick bastard. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.
Mac’s efforts to get to the heart of the matter had been forceful. However he’d stopped short of putting her over his knee and spanking her bare ass as a way of making her tell him the truth. He’d used this age-old method of encouragement many times before, and to good effect, but on this occasion he felt it would have been futile. Kendall’s fears were far greater than that of any ass whipping he could give her.
He couldn’t help thinking she was keeping her silence in order to protect this Ashley character. Was she a friend, and this Karl guy, whoever he was, was he harming, threatening, or possibly blackmailing her in some way? It frustrated him because he knew he was so near yet so far from the truth. Anyway, he’d passed on the two names to his private detective Frank Carrell. Maybe they’d be of some use to him. Who knew? Because he sure as hell didn’t.
From his sun bed, he glanced across at her. Kendall looked utterly gorgeous in the skimpy red bikini she wore. Occasionally, her stunning blue gaze would lift to meet his, their eyes and souls connecting for the briefest of moments before she stared unconvincingly at her trashy novel once more. He watched her flick over a page or two as though it were an interesting book, but Mac figured she hadn’t read a single word of the paperback she held folded in her hand.
What saddened him most was the fact the Kendall had retreated from him, both physically and emotionally. Sure, they still fucked like rabbits, but that was because he demanded sex from her and she complied as part of their business arrangement. The emotional connection that had been so evident when he’d made love to her beside the swimming pool and even when he’d first had sex with her in his office was now gone. Kendall kept glancing at her watch, and he guessed she was simply marking time until her ten days were up and her debt paid in full.
“Coming for a dip in the pool, honey?”
“No thanks, I’m fine where I am.” She checked her watch again.
Thinking about it now, she’d checked it at least a dozen times in the last hour and a half. Something was wrong, very wrong. Nobody was that obsessive about time.
“Are you expecting a call on your cell phone?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, it’s just that you keep looking at your watch every few minutes. Is it busted? If it is I can buy you a new one.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“So why the constant checking?”
Clearly agitated, she stood from the sun bed and threw her paperback into the pool. He watched it float on the surface for a few seconds before it plummeted to the bottom. “Temper, temper.”
“Look, why so many questions, Mac? In less than five days my debt will be repaid, and we can go our separate ways. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my end of the bargain, so during that time you can do whatever you want with me. I won’t fight you.”
Kendall was frightened. The girl was shit scared, and he saw her visibly tremble. He was getting to her. He’d push just that little bit harder, because he sensed that whatever was bothering her so much, she had trouble keeping it to herself. With her breathing heightened and her usually translucent skin flushed bright red, she looked ready to explode.
Knowing what she thought of this Karl guy, he’d play the devil’s advocate. “And after the next five days I suppose you’re gonna go running to that boyfriend of yours.”
“Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Yeah, sure you do. You mentioned him the night of the storm.” Mac clicked his fingers together for theatrical effect. “What’s his name again? Yeah, I remember now. It’s Karl.”
Her mouth fell open, and her beautiful face turned purple with incandescent rage, and she launched herself at him with a venom and anger that surprised him. Her fists were clenched and her teeth bared as she went for him like a wild banshee. “You fucking bastard, Mac. Don’t you ever, ever refer to that piece of shit as my boyfriend.”
He was closing in on her now, finally getting to the truth, and he grabbed hold of her hands that beat against his chest, stilling them midair. “If he’s not your boyfriend, then who the fuck is he? This time I won’t take no for an answer. Understand?”
Kendall stood silent and wide eyed for a moment before he watched her crumble, falling apart at the seams before his very eyes. “Mac, oh, Mac, I’ve so wanted to tell you, but I’ve just been too scared. I’ve done something stupid, and now because of me, a woman, my best friend in all the world could be dead.”
“Kendall, shhh, shhh. Don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m right here, but you have to tell me everything. You can’t hold anything back. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“Yes,” she sobbed. “I just can’t handle this anymore. It’s too big for me.”
Mac pulled her onto his lap and then wiped away her teardrops before tenderly kissing her lips. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as though her life depended on it, he felt the intimate connection they once shared start to return. He hated seeing her so distraught and unhappy. “Well, don’t you worry, honey, because whatever you’ve gotten yourself involved in, it ain’t too big for Mac Buchanan.”