Shed said yes that nightMac knewbecause shed been scared. Not just scared from the attack itself, but stunned-scared from realizing that attack could be just the tip of an iceberg. Maybe shed just fallen in love with a man, but her making love with a Fortune had volunteered her for a ton of repercussions shed never expected.
And belatedly, Mac suddenly recognized that Kelly looked scared right now. Not terrorized or anything that traumatic, but one of the few thingsin fact, damn near the only thingMac knew about his bride was how she responded when she was shook up. Her face was tilted up to his, so it wasnt as if she was trying to hide her expression from him. Two dots of fire-engine red dotted her cheeks. The pulse in her throat was beating like a manic clock. Her soft blue eyes were shooting him an increasingly urgent message. Hell, she was probably going to start hiccuping any second.
With a frown, he glanced at the minister. Reverend Lowry was as red-faced as Kelly. The instant he caught the grooms eyes, he repeated loudly, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride. Now, Mac.
Sheesh. Mac could have kicked himself. This was no time to be woolgathering, and more to the point, one short buss for his bride and the two of them were done with this blasted ordeal and closer to being out of there.
He pushed up the fragile, lacy veil to get the nuisance thing out of the way and bent down. For some Godunknown reason, Kellys eyes flashed an even more frantic message than before. He couldnt imagine what she was worried about. This was just a kiss. A traditional gesture. It wasnt going to take a quarter of a second. Surely she knew she had nothing to fear from him.
And then he kissed her.
The kiss was fast. Faster than a man could suck in a lungful of oxygenhell, his bride had been a stronger brick through the ceremony than he had. Mac owed her a thankyou. He owed her a promise that she had nothing to fear from him, ever. And when his lips touched down, there was nothing on his mind but a quick, impersonal kiss that shared a mutual desire to get this over with.
But in that blink of time, something went haywire. He couldnt explain it. It was just...her lips were warmer than a summer sun, and soft. Soft like spring, like the stroke of a restless silky breeze. She tasted young and sweet and vibrant, and it seemed like a thousand years since Mac had felt that way. He was a grown man. Hed put aside his boyhood idealism a century ago, but he suddenly remembered that time in his life when hed been young, so stupidyoung, back when love was everything and life of fered a nonstop excitement of possibilities. Until that second, he hadnt remembered that huge, yearning, alluring hunger to love in years. He couldnt fathom why a quartersecond kiss from Kelly could possibly have invoked it.
But when he swiftly lifted his head, two dots of color heated his cheeks. And the pulse in his throat was beating like an out-of-control battery.
Two
How much farther?
About five miles. Mac scratched his chin. About a quarter mile less than the last time you asked me. Is there a problem?
Now there was a hysterically funny question, Kelly thought dryly. She was freshly married to a stranger. The kiss that sealed their vows had shaken her socks off. The snowstorm had escalated to a mean-cold, wind-howling blizzard, with snow slooshing down so hard that even Macs elegant Mercedess windshield wipers could barely keep up. Theyd turned off the highway a while back, and she hadnt seen a single car on the road since, much less buildings or lights or any sign of civilized rescue potential if they got strandedassuming they found anything open this late on a New Years Eve.
Offhand, yeah, she thought they had a few problems. Yet all those details seemed itsy bitsy compared to the serious problem troubling Kelly at the moment. How long does it usually take you to drive home from the Fortune headquarters?
Fifteen minutes, twenty max. But its pretty hard to move faster than a crawl pace with this snow.
I know, Mac. I didnt mean to sound impatient.
Youre not cold, are you? Because I could turn up the heat
No, Im fine. Hed already cranked up the heater and defroster to full blast. She couldnt be warmer if she were curled up in front of an oven.
If youre tired, you can put the seat back
His concern touched her, but the subject of exhaustion again teased her sense of irony. If anything in life were normal, shed be snoozing right now. From the beginning of the pregnancy, shed been prone to nap at the drop of a hat. And after all the stress of the wedding and reception, technically she should be as comatose as a zombie. But that kiss from Mac had shaken her whole equilibrium.
She knew hed meant nothing by it. She knew she was imagining a potent, sizzling connection that had never happened. It was just hormones again. Kelly had had seven months to discover that pregnancy made a woman emotionally goofy. Impatiently she twisted in her seat. Im fine, not the least tired. And the car couldnt be more comfortable, she assured him.
Mac glanced at her again as if unconvinced, but of necessity his gaze zipped swiftly back to the road. She could barely see his face in the pitch-dark carjust a glimpse of his patrician profile and a flash of his dark eyes now and then. There simply wasnt enough light to judge from his expression what he might be thinkingabout the wedding or the weather or anything else. From the tone of his voice, though, Kelly understood he was deliberately trying to sound calm and quietly reassuring. If youre worried about the weather, try to take it easy. Ive lived here all my life, which means Ive driven in a hundred blizzards. This one has the makings of a doozyI think we could be socked in for a couple of daysbut well be under cover before the worst of it hits. The roads are rough, but the problem is snow, not ice. Trust me, were not going to have any trouble making it home.
Thats good to hear.
But when Mac caught her shifting in her seat again, he seemed to think his previous reassurances hadnt been enough. Kelly... this whole days been a pressure cooker, and I know you have to be worried about things. All kinds of things. But we were both honest with each other going into this, and we both want the same thingto make this work out. I think if we just take it slow and easy, well find answers for whatever we need to, one problem at a time. Try and believe its going to be okay, all right?
Kelly clipped back a sigh. Mac was not only trying to be considerate and reassuringhe was doing a damn fine job of it. Hed been downright wonderful at the wedding reception, sticking to her side, anticipating problems before they developed. Something had upset her maid of honor, because Renee had turned stark white after a conversation with her father and disappeared almost immediately after. That wouldnt have mattered except that Kelly had counted on Mollie to stay close during the reception, and her closest friend had suddenly left early, too. Both had left without a word, which was so unlike either woman that Kelly had worried...but at the time of the reception, shed really had her hands full.
Macs family was unquestionably supportive for this wedding, but there wasnt a shy Fortune in the bunch. Their nosiness came from caring, but shed felt painfully stranded with the now-youre-family-you-can-tell-me questions. What kind of relationship did she and Mac actually have? How well did she really know Mac? Had either of them heard from Chad? Did Chad even know about this marriage?
Macs family was unquestionably supportive for this wedding, but there wasnt a shy Fortune in the bunch. Their nosiness came from caring, but shed felt painfully stranded with the now-youre-family-you-can-tell-me questions. What kind of relationship did she and Mac actually have? How well did she really know Mac? Had either of them heard from Chad? Did Chad even know about this marriage?
Kelly had been heart and soul in love with Chad, but it took sleeping with him to understand that his interest in her was purely seduction, the new conquest. Since then shed heard rumors that he had taken off with another womanalso some scandal about a paternity suit with another girl. But shed figured out the measure of Chad long before the first pregnancy testand her own naiveté in the relationship as well. Shed never have married him, but neither did she want to air the personal details of a painful mistake to anyone, much less publicly. And every time one of those awkward, prying questions surfaced, Mac had shown up like a magician. He never cut anyone off. He was always nice. But no one even tried to misbehave when Mac was aroundcripes, even Kate seemed to instinctively defer to him.
Kelly had the humorous impression of a wolf watching out for his lamband that rare feeling of being protected had been welcomed. Then. But not now. Now that they were totally alone together, she remembered how much he intimidated her, too. His being a sexy hunk only made her feel more awkward. That velvet-soft baritone of his was curling her toesbut not because of some hormonal response. She just couldnt face bringing up an indelicate problem with the formal, elegant, dauntingly sexy and formidable Financial V.P. for the whole darned Fortune empire. Kelly squirmed in her seat again.
With road conditions this rough, I really think the seat belts essential, but they cant have made those things for a pregnant woman. If youre uncomfortable
Well, spit. Apparently Mac had perceived there was something wrong and he wasnt going to let it go until she confessed the reason. And it wasnt as if she had a choice about staying silent more than another two seconds, anyway. Mac, I am uncomfortable. But the problem isnt the seat belt or being married or the heat or the weather. Its that I have to go to the bathroom.
Oh. Umright now? We really should be home within twenty minutes
I realize this is hard to believe if youve never been seven months pregnant. But twenty minutes from now, Ill be desperate to go all over again. So that wont exactly solve the immediate problem.
Okay. No reason to be embarrassed. Everythings fine. It just may take me a few minutes to find a gas station. There isnt much open on New Years Eve, and Im afraid were a little removed from
Mac.
What?
Pull over.
Pull over? Honey, were in the middle of a blizzard in subzero temperatures
She heard the honey and felt a wave of sympathy for her poor groom. Shed never seen MacKenzie/Mac Fortune flustered beforeeven by the threat of a company takeover. Yeah, well, I should have told you before I got desperate. But I didnt. And I wont survive, Mac. If I had an accident on these incredibly luxurious leather seats, Id be so mortified Id never be able to face you again as long as I lived. Youd have my death-by-mortification on your conscience. And wed have gone through the whole marriage for nothing. We can solve all this if you just pull over, okay? Like...pronto.
Mac pulled over. Pronto. Do you need, um
Before he was reduced to using any more wild endearments, she filled him in. Ive been carrying toilet paper since I was four months pregnant. Believe me, I figured out a while ago that I needed to be prepared.
The winds were gale force, the snow biting like icy teeth, and Kelly thought glumly that this was a hell of an auspicious way to start a marriage. But when she climbed back into the car with wet feet and wet hair and snow sticking to her nose and eyelashes, she caught the hint of a quicksilver grin from Mac.
I dont think wed better take you out in too many blizzards for the next couple months, he said dryly.
A startled chuckle escaped Kelly. Holy kamoly. Mac had actually teased her. Whod a thunk it? And it seemed a crazy thing to be just discovering that her groom had a sense of humor... but she suddenly realized how many things shed been judging about Mac on limited evidence. Shed assumed he was formal and serious by nature because thats all shed been exposed to. But their personal conversations over the last couple of weeks had been dead serious because they needed to be. And no, shed never seen him casually joking around with staff at work before that, but really, how could he? His job was tough and required toughness. If someone had to make an unpopular decision, it always fell on his shoulders.
Maybe authority and toughness came naturally to him, Kelly mused, but the point was that shed had no opportunity to know any other side of Mac... what he wanted, what he dreamed of, what he was like when the suit and tie came off. Who was there for him when he needed to vent that chestload of endless responsibilities? Heaven knew, she could imagine all kinds of women in his life. But by the farthest stretch of her considerable imaginationnone of them remotely resembled the bride he was stuck taking home tonight.
And it seemed only moments later they were there. She barely caught sight of the tall, wrought-iron fence, before Mac was pushing a button that made the double gates electronically swing open. There are a ton of things I need to show youlike how the security system works. But theres time enough to talk about all that in the morning. I suspect you just want to get settled in and get your feet up. I want you to know, though, that the security systems state of the art. Youre safe here, Kel.
I know. It was the one thing she hadnt worried about in the last two weeks. Since the night shed been attacked in the parking lot, Kate and the family had cosseted her nonstop, but the security she felt with him was a world apart. Shed feel safe with a lion if Mac were around. Its just the way he was. At this precise moment, though, she suddenly discovered that feeling safe from criminals and feeling safe with her new groom were two entirely different things.
Her pulse started skittering. Once the gates closed behind them, the look of anything civilized disappeared, and the drive seemed to go on forever. Even with the blinding, slashing snow, she could make out certain things. The private road twisted around a creek bed. Pines nestled around one turn, their branches bowed with heavy skirts of snow; a stand of virgin hardwoods stretched in another direction, then a field that rolled and curved and looked as if it was blanketed with whipped creamthere were no footprints in the snow, no sign of man. But up and around a sloping knoll, the house came into view.
The baby suddenly kicked, and Kellys hand instinctively covered her abdomen. Even with the dim visibility, she recognized the property and house.
Mac had brought her here once, a few days before. Two weeks was an incredibly short time to upend your whole life. Hed insisted she see it to decide if she could live here. Possibly he really meant to give her one last-ditch chance to say no to the whole marriage idea, but truthfully, Kelly never felt as if she had a chance or a choice. The attack had petrified her. She had to protect her baby. Nothing else mattered, but the last two weeks had still felt like a fastmoving train. There hadnt been time to catch her breath, much less figure out what all these monumental changes and decisions really meant.