Stay With Me (The Montgomery Brothers) (7 page)

His lips sipped from hers gently at first as if testing her response until her arms came up and wrapped around his neck with a soft whimper.  Next thing Mac knew, he was devouring her.  His tongue licked at her bottom lip as she opened for him.  It was all heat and passion and wild; their tongues were tentative at first but then they settled in as if they’d kissed a thousand times before.  Mac pulled his mouth from hers and kissed her cheek, her jaw and then her throat.  Gina threw her head back and Mac reached up and pulled the clip from her hair and let those luxurious curls flow over his hands.  The feel of the silky tresses was as erotic as he’d thought.

She whispered his name and raked her fingers through his hair to hold him to her.  “Mac, please,” she said and did her best to get even closer to him.  She felt the evidence of his arousal and mentally high-fived herself.  But just as
she was mentally congratulating herself on finally getting the man to notice her, he released her and turned away.

It took a moment for Gina to catch her breath.  She reached out and touched Mac’s shoulder but he flinched and took a step f
arther away from her.  “Mac?”

When he finally turned
,
his expression was one of cool indifference.  “I’m sorry; that shouldn’t have happened.”

She hated that phrase.  Why did men feel the need to use that as their go-to line?  “Really?  Why not?”

Mac kept his face neutral; if Gina had any idea how much he had wanted that to happen and more, she’d be shocked.  “You’re a family friend and you’re here to visit your ailing father.  The last t
hing you need is someone mauling you when you were simply offering a small kiss of gratitude.  I’m sorry.  It won’t happen again.”  There.  He’d said it.  Mac was known for his iron clad control so he had no doubt that he could pull this off.

“What if I want it to happen again?” she asked defiantly.  “What if I want that to happen again more than once?
  And more?”

“It’s not going to happen, Gina.  It can’t.”

“So you’ve said,” she snapped.  “I’m a grown woman, Mackenzie.  And for the record, you weren’t mauling me.  I don’t need you getting all righteous and whatnot.  I knew what I was doing and I know what I want.  I don’t see why, if we’re both attracted to one another, we can’t explore that while I’m here.”

He raked a hand through his hair.  This was not going the way he had planned.  She was supposed to be thankful for him showing some self control and they’d agree that it was a mistake and he’d be on his way.  Why was she tempting him with the things he couldn’t have?

“Gina, you can’t honestly stand there and tell me that you think it’s okay for us to have a short term affair while you’re in town.  That’s crazy.”

“Why?” she demanded.  “Why is it crazy?  Do you have long-lasting relationships with all of the women that you date?”  His lack of response said it all.  “That’s what I thought.  So tell me why this would be so different?”

She was going to keep poking at him until he gave her a response so he gave her one that was certain to stop her in her tracks.  “Because you’re Arthur’s daughter!” he yelled.  “Your father is like an uncle to me.  We grew up together and I am not so self-centered that I would sleep with you while you’re in town because your father is dying!  I’m not that much of a bastard no matter what people may think!”

If he had slapped her he couldn’t have had a more powerful effect.  Gina could only stare at him for a long time and when she finally spoke it was with a level of calmness that she really didn’t feel.  “Okay.  I didn’t realize that you felt that way and I’m sorry if I’ve put you in an awkward position.  It won’t happen again.”  She looked around the room again, distracting herself with all of the new additions.  “If you don’t mind
I think I’ll watch that movie now and I’d like to check out some of the photography software.  Thank you, again, for helping me get all of my things over here.”

He was being dismissed and as much as he wanted to tell her that it was all a lie and that he wanted her; wanted to spend the night with her, he knew that she needed more.  Hell, everyone knew that she needed and deserved someone better than him.  His father was right when he said that Mac didn’t have staying power.

It just never bothered him until now.

Chapter Five

Four days later Gina was standing at her easel painting.  She had gone through half of the
canvases that they had brought over as she tried to find her muse.  Looking at what she’d done so far
,
there was a landscape of Monica’s garden, a still-life with the requisite bowl of fruit
, numerous random abstracts and then there was a semi-abstract portrait of a man with an intense gaze and short hair who looked ready to jump right off of the canvas at her.

Mac.

She painted him as she saw him most in her mind; like he wanted to devour her.

They hadn’t seen or spoken to one another since he left that night and Gina found that she missed him.  Not just his physical, sexy presence, but their conversations. 
When she wasn’t at the hospital with her father, she was familiarizing herself with her passions.  Music was playing in the background and she swayed in time with it while wearing one of her cowboy hats painting.  She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top and she had actually gone to the craft store and bought herself a smock to protect her clothing.  It was now covered in paint so Gina considered that money well spent.

With a final stroke of her brush she added a touch of red behind the painted man’s head and smiled at the finished product.  It was good.  It was more than good.  It was possibly one of the best pieces she’d ever done.  Stepping back she studied it and then headed to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.  The sun was setting and Gina decided that after a quick shower that she’d heat herself up some dinner and maybe go and soak in the hot tub to ease her sore muscles.  Standing up for so long while painting was hell on her body.

She’d showered and thrown on just a pair of panties and a ribbed tank; the soak in the hot tub wasn’t set in stone as the hot shower had eased some of her tension.  She was heating up her dinner when her phone rang.  She looked at the screen and groaned.  Her mother was calling.

“Gina, sweetheart,” her mother began, “aren’t you done there in North Carolina yet?  You really should be back home.  I’m sure your bosses are not happy with you being away for so long.”

She sighed.  “They are fine with me being away, mom.  I told them, just like I told you, that I’d be gone a couple of weeks.  I’ve only been gone one.”

“Don’t argue with me, Gina.  Your job is important.  Surely by now you’ve had a chance to visit with your father.  What more can you possibly do?”

Reaching for her wine glass, she took a long drink from it and then refilled it before answering.  “I’m here to spend time with him.  He’s dying.  Can’t you even be gracious enough to understand that we’d want to spend time together?”

“Please, you always are so dramatic.  Lord knows where you get that from,” her mother said bitterly.  “It would have been n
ice if he’d spent time with you
before
he found out he was dying.”

Gina wanted to reach through the phone and slap her mother.  “How dare you!” she snapped.  “How could he spend time with me when you did everything you possibly could to keep that from happening?”

“Is that what he told you?  Because he’s lying.  Your father is a liar, Gina!”

“No, that’s not what he told me, that’s what I know.  I wasn’t a child when we moved away, Mom.  I was a teenager who was old enough to know what was going on and what I know is that you did everything you could to make him pay for not being who you wanted him to be.  You used me to get even with him.  Well, you can’t do that anymore.  I’m here in North Carolina and I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

Her mother sputtered.  “You can’t do that!  Think about your job, your commitments…”

“Right now the only commitment I have is to
me and to spending time with dad and if you don’t like that then it’s too bad.  It’s not your decision to make.”

“Gina, be reasonable!  After all these years and all I’ve sacrificed for you…”

“Sacrificed?  Are you kidding me?  I was the one that had to sacrifice!  I had to leave my father and my friends and my school and everything that I loved to move to the other side of the country!  You started up a whole new life and didn’t care about how you ruined mine!”  Gina had no idea what had spurred this act of bravery on her part, but it certainly felt good.

“And this is why I didn’t want you spending time with your father; he’s poisoned you against me!  You never spoke like this before…you are being highly disrespectful and I demand an apology.”

Gina laughed.  It wasn’t a cheery laugh but one filled with disbelief.  “You can demand all that you want but you are not going to get your way.  I’m here and I’m not sure when I’ll be home.”  Before her mother could interrupt, she added, “And as for my job, I’ll deal with that as well.  I’m a grown woman and it’s time that you remembered that.”

They were silent for long moments. 
Finally Barbara Micelli cleared her throat.  “Well, I guess that sums it all up, doesn’t it?  If that’s what you feel you have to do, then fine; stay in North Carolina for however long you like.  Just don’t expect to lean on me when you come home and have no job.  As you pointed out you’re a grown woman; I won’t be supporting you.”

Gina rolled her eyes and took another long drink of wine.  “I don’t believe I ever asked you to, but thanks for the reminder.”  She pulled her now-cooled dinner from the microwave and looked at it with disgust.  “Look, let’s just take some time to cool down.  I’ll call you next week, okay?”

For a minute, Gina didn’t think her mother was even going to respond.  Finally she said, “That’s fine.  We’ll talk then.”  Gina wished her mother a good night and then hung up.  Carefully, she placed her phone down on the cool granite counter top and then walked to the center of the room and screamed.  She screamed until she couldn’t breathe and then she took a deep breath and screamed again.  Luckily no one lived close by or they’d probably be calling the police but right now that was the least of her problems.

She dropped to her knees and did her best to catch her breath.  Why?  Why did her mother have to make everything so complicated and why did Gina allow it for so long?  It felt so good to get those things off of her chest tonight but now she worried about how long she would be punished for it.  For too many years
,
Gina sat back and let her mother make all of her decisions because it was easier than arguing with her; but now that she’d had a little taste of freedom, she knew that there was no way she could return to that way of living.

Rising to her feet, Gina went back to the kitchen and bypassed her dinner and instead poured herself another glass of wine.  With a grimace she noticed that once her glass was full, the bottle was empty.  Walking over to the refrigerator, she pulled out another bottle. 

The wine was making her more than a little tipsy and she couldn’t help but sway as she made her way to the stereo to turn the music back on.  “Ooo…classic rock,” she said with a giggle and began to sing along to Elton John’s
Crocodile Rock
.  “Hear that, Mom?” she called out into the room.  “I’ve got the music on way too loud and it’s that rock n roll that you hate.”  That made her break out into a fit of giggles.  Then, in another act of rebellion, she turned on the TV at the same time and the play button on the DVD player and smiled at the beginning of
“Say Anything.”

She danced her way across the room singing off key.  A look around the room a little too quickly made her dizzy.  “I really should eat something,” she mumbled but her dinner was no longer what she wanted.  Rummaging through the cabinets she found a pack of Oreos and grabbed a few and sighed with how good they tasted.  “And I’m not eating a balanced diet either, how about that?”

It didn’t take long for her to realize that Oreos and wine were
not
a good combination and put the last of her cookies down on the counter and went back to refill her glass.  “I’m an adult, dammit!  It’s my life and from now on, I am going to do what I want.  No one is going to tell me what to do, no one is going to bully me into being where I don’t want to be and if I want to have wine for dinner, then I damn-well will!”  She slammed the glass down on the counter and it shattered.

Gina cursed and made a feeble attempt to clean it up. 
The shards of glass cut her finger and she winced from the pain.  Her finger was bleeding and she carefully walked over to the sink to rinse it out.  Once that task was complete she wrapped her finger with a paper towel and was going to inspect how deep the wound was but she was distracted when she found another glass and proceeded to fill it.  Stepping over the remnants of her previous glass that was spotted with blood, she headed back to her bedroom with her newly filled glass and the bottle.  There was one small lamp lit and she started to sway to the now slow sounds of Rod Stewart.  “Maybe I’ll order a pizza,” she said out loud and looked around the room for her phone before remembering that it was back in the kitchen. 

Turning too quickly, she banged her knee on the bedside table and cried out in pain. 

And then she just began to cry.

If anyone was there to ask, Gina knew she wouldn’t be able to put into words what the exact cause of her tears were.  Maybe it was the pain from hurting her knee, maybe it was the fact that she was away from home and visiting her dying father;  maybe it was because there wouldn’t ever be enough time for them to make up for all of the time they had lost.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was because she knew deep down that she was never going to get her mother’s approval no matter how hard she tried.

She cried harder.

Gently placing the glass and bottle down on the offending table, Gina collapsed onto the bed and curled up in the fetal position.  She was a mess.  None of this was fair.  She had done everything she could to please her mother and yet nothing ever did.  She missed out on years with her father and now they weren’t going to have even one more together.  She didn’t know who she was or where she belonged and right now Gina felt like she was completely alone in the world.

Turning her face in to the pillow, she cried even more.

****

Mac slammed the car door and cursed.  All he wanted was some peace and quiet and to just have the final say in how he spent his time.  Unfortunately, his father had called and found out that he was working late at the office and reminded him of their deal.

Dammit.

When William had asked how Gina was doing, Mac told him that he hadn’t seen her in days.  Of course he didn’t elaborate on why he hadn’t seen her but his father had been livid just the same.  “Her father is dying and she has no one there to help her through this!” William had lectured.  “I expected a little more from you, Mac.  I thought I could trust you to make sure that Gina was okay.  Maybe your mother and I need to cut our trip short and come home.”

Mac groaned.  True, they were due back in three days but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he was the reason they had to come home.  “That won’t be necessary,” he had assured his father.  “I just thought that Gina might want a little time to herself and to not feel like we were watching over her like we were afraid she was going to steal the family silver or something.”

They had argued a little more and in the end, Mac had promised his father that he’d leave the office immediately and go and check on her.  So here he was, in his parents’ driveway against his will, going to see a woman who he both dreaded seeing and yet couldn’t wait to feast his eyes on.

The first thing that he noticed as he approached the guest house was that all of the lights were on and there was music playing.  He knocked on the door and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Trying the doorknob, he found it to be unlocked and cursed.  Didn’t the woman ever lock a door?  “Gina?” he called out with a sense of de ja vu.  He stepped inside and took a look around the room.  There was no sign of her.

Mac walked over to the paintings lined up against the wall he was currently facing and admired her work.  He could clearly pick out his mother’s garden and the view of the sunrise coming through the French doors.  He smiled at her abstracts and then turned to the easel and stopped.

It was him.

Gina had painted him.

Why?

He stood there for countless minutes staring at his own face and was in awe of her talent.  If this is what she was like after not having picked up a paint brush in years, how much better would she be if she was allowed to do this all of the time?  Mac pulled his gaze away from her paintings and scanned the room.  The stereo was on and so was the TV.  On the screen was a screen shot of the movie title while Peter Gabriel sang. 
“Say Anything”
? Mac murmured.  “What the hell is that?  No doubt some sort of chick-flick.”  Seeking out the remotes, he first turned off the television and then the stereo.

Upon further inspection of the room he noticed that t
here was a plate of food on the kitchen counter with a stack of cookies next to it.  He walked over and jumped as he heard glass crunching under his feet.  He saw the blood and felt a wave of panic begin to wash over him.

“What the…
?” he muttered and took a closer look around the room.  Something was wrong; he could feel it.  “Gina?” he called out again and suddenly got nervous at where she might be.  “This isn’t funny, dammit.”