H
ow could he have let his mother talk him into coming here? Seeing Syneda was the very last thing he wanted, Clayton thought, walking toward the airport terminal. Passing through the entrance he moved in paced steps, ignoring the noisy sounds from the crowds. The airport was packed with people traveling to and fro to spend time with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. With a brief glance at the monitor, he checked the gate for the flight arriving from New York. Noting he was a few minutes early, he took a seat to wait.
He disregarded the attractive young woman sitting across from him who’d sent an inviting smile his way. Her eyes ran over him, and Clayton couldn’t help but give her a half-amused smile before tipping his head back against the wall and resting his eyes.
When Syneda’s flight was announced he stood and forced himself to relax. That brief moment of calmness came to an abrupt end the moment he saw her walk through the gate. She was dressed in a pair of white jeans that gracefully hugged her firm hips, and a peach-colored pullover sweater. She looked absolutely stunning.
Syneda’s face registered surprise when she saw Clayton. His towering height made him quite visible over the crowd of people that were waiting for other passengers. She shivered slightly when she felt his hooded eyes on her.
He was dressed in a pair of faded, snug-fitting jeans and a burgandy pullover sweater that outlined every detail of his muscled body. A body she had come to know rather well during the past few months.
How could I have thought I didn’t love him? How could I have thought I didn’t want him?
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to where he was standing. “Clayton, I’m glad to see you.”
“Yeah, I bet you are,” he replied coolly, his lips forming in a taut line. “Mom sent me.” He took the flight bag from her shoulder. “She would’ve come herself, but didn’t trust me or Dad to watch her sweet potato pies that were in the oven.”
“Oh,” Syneda replied. Her gaze met Clayton’s and the eyes staring back at her were like chipped ice. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but she couldn’t say them in a crowded airport. They needed privacy.
“Are you ready, Syneda?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go then,” he said gruffly.
Together they walked down the wide, crowded corridor. Syneda was having a little bit of trouble keeping up with Clayton’s long strides.
“It will only take a minute to claim your bags,” Clayton said curtly upon reaching the area where the rest of her bags were.
“Am I the first to arrive?” Syneda asked, pointing out her bags to Clayton. Then she felt foolish for doing so. They had taken enough trips together over the past few months that he would have recognized her luggage easily.
“No. Traci and Kattie were over earlier today to help peel the potatoes for the pies, but they left before noon. They’ll be back later today. Dex and Caitlin will probably be there by the time we arrive. They had to wait for Jordan to get out of preschool before coming over. And Justin, Lorren and the kids are flying in this afternoon.”
“What about Christy?”
“She’s been home from college since Monday.”
For the first time since seeing him, Syneda couldn’t help but notice the fleeting smile that somewhat softened Clayton’s features. “Let me rephrase that,” he said. “Christy’s been in Houston since Monday, however, she’s seldom at home. She’s making her rounds visiting friends. She only pops in to eat and sleep.”
“What about Jake?”
Clayton frowned. “I don’t know what’s going on with Uncle Jake. For some reason he’s not coming this year. He called Mom earlier this week and said he had other plans. It’s not like him to miss Thanksgiving dinner with us.”
As they stepped out of the building, Clayton led her over to a car parked nearby. He set down the bags and pulled the key out of his pocket. “Mom suggested I drive her car,” he said, as he loaded Syneda’s things into the trunk of the sleek champagne-colored Seville. “I guess she figured all your things wouldn’t fit in my two-seater.”
Syneda nodded and again their eyes met. His eyes appeared colder than they had earlier. Suddenly, all the words she had wanted to say to him stuck in her throat. What could she say to undo what she’d done? What words could she use to make him understand she was ready to love him and she trusted him? She was the first to break the eye contact.
“Will my being here bother you, Clayton?” she asked, feeling a little unsure of herself and suddenly filled with self-doubt. His cold attitude toward her wasn’t helping the situation.
“Not particularly,” he said dispassionately, opening the car door.
“Maybe I should not have come.”
The look Clayton gave her was as sharp as a broken piece of glass and as cold as the weather she had left in New York. It was definitely not filled with the warmth she was accustomed to. “Too late to think about that now. You’re here, aren’t you?” he said harshly, shutting the door. Then he walked around to get into the car.
His words had hurt, and when Clayton started the car, Syneda turned her attention to the scenery outside the car window. She couldn’t help wondering if she had made a mistake by coming. What if he no longer had a place in his heart for her? What if he no longer wanted her? It had been over a month since they had been together, and she hadn’t heard from him. The thought that he no longer cared for her sent her mind reeling in sheer panic.
When they arrived at Clayton’s parents’ home, Dex was in the driveway washing his father’s pickup truck. Clayton brought the car to a stop and Syneda opened the door and got out of the car.
“Syneda’s bags are in the trunk,” Clayton told his brother gruffly, tossing him the keys. “Tell the folks that I’ll be back later.” He then got into his Mercedes and left.
Dex shook his head resignedly, then turned his handsome smile on Syneda. He came around the car and gave her a huge hug. His charcoal-gray eyes were filled with concern. “Are you all right?”
Syneda gave Dex a forced smile. She wondered if he knew about her relationship with his brother, but at the moment she didn’t care who knew. “Yes,” she replied softly. “I’m fine.”
“What in the world has Clayton in such a bad mood?”
“I don’t know. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s picked up on it.”
Syneda went about her job of grating the cheese for the casserole trying not to listen to the conversation going on between Clayton’s sisters, Traci and Kattie.
Soon after she had arrived, the two women had returned to help with all the cooking that had to be done. It was an annual Madaris ritual that the women in the family prepared the entire Thanksgiving meal the night before, and the men were responsible for getting up on Thanksgiving Day morning to fix the special dessert. Rumor had it that this year it would be a delectable peach cobbler.
Working by Syneda’s side in the kitchen was a very pregnant Caitlin, whose due date was less than two weeks away. She was busy chopping onions, celery and bell peppers for the potato salad.
“I thought the two of you were convinced Clayton had a love interest,” Caitlin said to Traci and Kattie without looking up from her task.
“All evidence seemed to lead that way,” Traci replied as a smile touched her lips. “Especially all those weekend trips that he refuses to discuss.”
“All right, girls,” Marilyn Madaris spoke up. “Your brother has a right to his privacy. What he does and who he sees are none of your business.”
“We know that, Mom. We’re just trying to figure out what’s bothering him.”
Syneda was tempted to provide them with the answer they sought. She was what was bothering Clayton. He had been in a bad mood since picking her up from the airport.
“Has he mentioned bringing a surprise guest to dinner tomorrow?” Traci inquired.
Marilyn Madaris shook her head and smiled. “No, he hasn’t.”
“Where’s Lorren?” Caitlin asked as she began peeling the shells off the boiled eggs.
“She’s in the den with the kids, reading them a story. Bless her heart. How she can put up with all of them in her condition is beyond me,” Kattie answered. “She has so much patience.”
The conversation in the kitchen shifted from Clayton to other topics as the women continued working diligently on tomorrow’s dinner.
“Are you all right, Syneda?” Caitlin asked a little while later when the two of them were left alone in the kitchen. “You’ve been rather quiet today.”
Syneda liked Caitlin. She was a very likable person who was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. She and Dex had married within two weeks of their meeting. What followed not too long after that was a long and bitter separation that had lasted for nearly four years. Love had reunited them, and when you saw them together, you would never have guessed the problems their marriage had endured. Problems that Caitlin was quick to admit had made their love and marriage stronger.
“I’m fine,” Syneda replied, giving Caitlin an assuring smile.
At that moment the kitchen door swung open and Clayton walked in. A frown covered his features. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s upstairs trying to find a place for all the kids to sleep. Your dad wants all his grands under his roof tonight,” Caitlin replied, eyeing her brother-in-law warily. His handsome face had become brooding and a scowl clouded his features. Her sisters-in-law had been right. He was in a rather bad mood.
“I think I’ll go upstairs and offer my assistance. Do you want to come with me, Syneda?” Caitlin asked.
Syneda shook her head as her gaze met Clayton’s. “I’ll be up later. I would like to talk to Clayton for a while.”
In his present mood, Caitlin wasn’t sure that was such a good idea but kept her thoughts to herself. “Okay. I’ll see you guys later.”
When the door closed behind her, Clayton walked forward, stopping in front of Syneda. He looked down at her intensely. “What do you want to talk to me about?”
Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Syneda stepped back. His towering height seemed intimidating. “Let’s step outside.”
“No.”
“No?”
“That’s what I said. Why can’t you say what you have to say right here? Are you afraid we’ll make a scene and the family will find out about us?”
She frowned. “That’s not it at all. I thought—”
“And what did you think, Syneda?”
“I thought that maybe we could go someplace where we could be alone.”
Clayton stared at her. She had a lot of nerve trying to offer him a chance to put things back the way they used to be between them. She was still only interested in an affair with no commitment or complications. Didn’t she understand that he could have what she was offering with a number of other women? Didn’t she know that with her he wanted more? Had she not gotten it through her head that he loved her with such a passion that even now his hands were trembling from just being near her, wanting to touch her, to love her and to keep her with him always? Just looking at her brought back memories he could very well do without.
“You’re the last woman I want to be alone with, Syneda.” He turned to leave.
His words hurt Syneda, but she was determined that he would hear her out. Moving quickly she blocked his exit. “You’re going to listen to what I have to say, Madaris.”
“Don’t count on it. Now move your butt out of my way.”
“No.”
The stark coldness in his eyes made her shiver from the chill cast in the room, but Syneda didn’t care. As far as she was concerned she was just as mad as he was. He could be so stubborn at times.
“You make me so mad, Madaris, I could just smack you.”
“I wouldn’t advise you to act crazy and do it,” he said threateningly, glaring down at her.
“Act crazy? You mean like this?” she asked angrily before smacking him.
The swiftness of Syneda’s action caught Clayton completely off guard. Enraged, he grabbed her hand and yanked her to him and glared down at her. Then all of a sudden he was kissing her, his mouth hard on hers, his tongue thrusting into her warm moistness, probing and caressing.
He had wanted to be brutal in his kiss, to punish her for hurting him. But he found he couldn’t. Especially when he felt her response. So he continued to kiss her, letting all his needs and frustrations take over.
Soon an inner part of him told him this was not the way. He loved her too much to take less than a full commitment, less than her total love. Feeling disgusted with himself for his lack of control where she was concerned, he shoved her away from him and spun around and walked in the opposite direction.
“Clayton, please wait and listen to me.”
He stopped walking and turned back around. The look in his eyes told her he had been pushed beyond his limit. “No, Syneda,
you
listen to me. You’re here but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Just do me a favor and stay the hell away from me. You wanted my family so bad, well, you can have them, but that doesn’t include me. All I want is for you to leave me alone.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Shaken by his angry words, Syneda sat down in the nearest chair. Clayton no longer wanted her. She had been so sure that once she saw him again and they had a chance to talk, and she told him how much she loved him, things would be all right between them. She hadn’t expected his anger, and she never expected him to not want anything to do with her. He actually acted as if he hated her. She must have hurt him deeply for him to feel the way he now felt toward her.