Can't Tie Me Down!

by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

  “There are new posts on your Facebook page,” Sean said from the dining table behind her.

  Seeing as he was the only person she knew locally who had decent computer skills, she’d roped him in to trying to fix the Girlfriend site. So far, he hadn’t had any luck either.

  “I don’t care about the Facebook page,” Mairi snapped, her eyes still on her fake boyfriends.

  They were up to something. There was a group of them, over at the camping site, with their heads together in a way that made the back of Mairi’s neck itch. Definitely plotting, and she’d place a bet on it being something she wasn’t going to like.

  “You might want to look at this post,” Sean said.

  Mairi glanced over her shoulder to find him grinning. “What is it?”

  “One of the guys made you a website. It’s called—wait for it—Marry Me, Mairi.”

  Mairi hung her head for a minute, while she focused on breathing deeply instead of killing someone, then she stomped over to have a look. Sure enough, there was a whole site dedicated to Sebastian’s love for her, including every photo they’d shared since they’d been fake-dating, a page detailing all the things they had in common—in his head—a video of him putting on a shadow puppet show about their relationship and a page with an interactive proposal. There were hearts and flowers, but the best touch was the dancing Jedi who wrote the words Marry Me with their lightsabers.

  “Doesn’t anybody ask anymore?” Mairi grumbled. “Marry me isn’t even a question. It’s an order.”

  “There’s a space for you to type in your answer.” Sean pointed at the screen. “What do you want to write?”

  She smacked him on the back of the head.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” He typed the word into the heart-shaped box.

  As soon as the return key was pressed, the screen went black, then a gif of a young Drew Barrymore crying when she had to say goodbye to ET filled the screen. It kept repeating as the sobbing grew louder.

  “I think he’s taking it well,” Sean said.

  “Switch it off.” Mairi watched as Sean shut down the website. “Any luck with breaking the hack on the Girlfriend site?”

  “Not yet. I’ll keep trying. But whoever locked you out knows what they’re doing.”

  “Great.” She stalked over to the pile of chocolate boxes, picked one up, ripped into it and started munching.

  Agnes, Donna and Keir had all gone to work, leaving Sean to watch over Mairi. Although Keir had reminded her he was downstairs if she needed him.

  Which.

  She.

  Did.

  Not.

  She plopped back into her old, ratty sofa, clutching the chocolates tightly against her. They were good chocolates, top of the line, straight from Belgium, and she didn’t taste a thing as she chomped her way through them. Her brain was too preoccupied with Keir, and nothing else registered, not even the chocolates.

  Mairi took a deep breath and admitted the truth to herself—she’d slept with him and it had been her choice. No, that was too tame. She’d had wild, glorious, mind-blowing sex with him—again. And miracles did happen, because he’d still been there the next morning. Only that was a problem now, because she didn’t know what to do with him, other than pretend that the night before hadn’t happened—which would have been a lot easier if her girl parts didn’t start singing the Hallelujah Chorus every time he was within touching distance.

  Memories of the days after the last time she’d slept with Keir flashed through her mind, like a movie montage—waking up to find Keir hadn’t returned, being unable to contact him, calling his friends and the hospital to make sure he wasn’t with either, waiting by the phone to hear from him, and the awful moment when she eventually got a call and her world had collapsed.

  She’d walked around in a fog of confusion and disbelief for days, as she tried to get her head around the fact he was awaiting trial. It didn’t even make sense. Keir was the best driver she knew. He’d raced cars for years and never had an accident, yet she’d been told that he’d lost control and ended up going through the shop’s front window.

  She frowned at the memory. “Sean?”

  “Aye.” He was focused on his laptop.

  “The night Keir was arrested, had he been drinking?”

  Somehow, it would be even worse if he had. The thought that he’d gone out drinking with his friends after making love to her was just too hurtful to contemplate. She remembered the call he’d gotten, the one that had taken him away from her. It hadn’t sounded like a conversation where someone was inviting him out for a night on the town. It had sounded like there was a problem and he’d been called to fix it.

  Sean’s fingers stopped over the keyboard and his shoulders became rigid. “No. He didn’t drink that night.”

  Exactly what she’d thought. Mairi bit into another chocolate. She hadn’t gone to see him when he’d been arrested; she’d been too hurt and angry to face him. Plus, she’d genuinely believed the whole thing would blow over and he’d turn up at her door with a smile and an apology. Whether she would have let him in was another matter, but he’d never turned up for her to find out what she would have done. Instead, she’d read in the local paper that he’d been sent to prison for refusing to tell the police who’d been with him that night. They’d made an example out of him, even though he hadn’t committed any crimes as an adult. In effect, he’d chosen his loyalty to his friends over his loyalty to her.

  She’d been angry, hurt and confused. She’d also been young and selfish. Now, looking at the events of that night from a distance, and being slightly more mature, she might have done things differently. If it happened now, she wouldn’t stay home licking her wounds; she would go straight to the police, demand to see him and not leave until Keir gave her an explanation that made sense. Because now that she was looking at things without feeling hurt and furious, she could see that something didn’t add up.

  “Keir hasn’t been in any trouble since that night, has he?” she asked his brother.

  “No.” Sean seemed frozen in place, as though terrified of what she might ask him next.

  That was one thing she could understand. The McKenzie brothers shared the same deep loyalty to each other that she and her sisters shared. Sean probably felt he was betraying his brother by answering Mairi’s questions.

  “You should ask Keir these questions, not me,” he said, confirming her theory.

  “Don’t worry, I will.” Because suddenly she had a whole lot of questions about that night. “But answer this—he’d never been in trouble as an adult, until that night, right?”

  “No.” Sean was clearly uncomfortable.

  Huh. Mairi ate another chocolate. This one was a praline and tasted of nothing, the same as the rest. Apparently Mairi’s taste buds and brain couldn’t work in tandem, and her brain was definitely working hard—probably for the first time in years—as she puzzled over that night with Keir.

  He’d been so careful with her; it had been months before they’d finally slept together. She’d been up-front with him early in their relationship, telling him she’d never had sex but very much wanted to jump his bones. He’d laughed, before his eyes turned dark. “We’ll get there, Rusty. Don’t you worry.”

  Mairi’s throat tightened, making swallowing the chocolate difficult. For years, she’d thought he hadn’t loved her. That he couldn’t have loved her if he’d slept with her then fled. But what if there had been more to it? What if he hadn’t had a choice?

  ♦♦♦

  Instead of working on the jobs that were stacking up, Keir had spent most of his day threatening the people outside his garage to keep them from coming inside. It had turned into a street party. Folk turned up with picnics, there was music playing over at the geek campsite, and the reporters interviewed anyone who stood still long enough. The quiet village of Arness had become a mecca for geeks and gawkers. On top of that, the deliveries for Mairi just kept on coming. The latest one was the most worr
ying of all.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Hamish said as he wiped his already clean hands on a rag and stared at the large box addressed to Mairi.

  Keir could never figure out how the man managed to do a full day’s work in the garage and not get even a drop of oil on him.

  “I really hope not,” Keir said.

  The box was big, as in refrigerator-sized big, and printed on the front was the name of a well-known adult toy store.

  “Looks to me like someone sent her one of those life-sized sex dolls,” Hamish said.

  And damned if it didn’t look exactly the same way to Keir, which made his skin feel like beetles were crawling all over it. There were good gifts and then there were funny gifts—this was neither. This was just disturbing.

  “In my day,” Hamish said, “we sent flowers. If we were serious, jewelry. I once sent a woman a really nice handbag. She hit me with it when she dumped me.”

  There was really nothing to say to that. “I’m not carrying this upstairs. I feel like I need a bath just looking at it.”

  “I’ve got a car to fix,” Hamish said as he headed for the Mini Cooper that was blocking the entrance to the garage.

  “Coward,” Keir called after him as he pulled his phone from his back pocket and called Mairi.

  “That isn’t funny,” she said as soon as she answered.

  “What isn’t?” Keir grinned. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

  “Setting your ringtone to the ‘Wedding March.’”

  “It’s only a matter of time, Rusty. I’m irresistible and you’re backed against the wall.”

  “Never give up, never surrender.”

  She was even beginning to sound like her fan club. “That’s a sci-fi quote, right? Never mind. I called for a reason. There’s another delivery down here for you.” He eyed the box with disgust.

  “Can’t you just bring it up?” she whined. “I’m busy.”

  “Doing what? Hiding?”

  “And eating chocolate. Come on, Keir, bring the box up for me.”

  “Nope. There’s no way I’m touching this.”

  There was a pause as her tiny brain worked things out. “Sounds good. I’ll be right down.”

  “You might want to take a minute to clean up. Your camera crew is hovering.”

  “They aren’t my camera crew, Keir.”

  He snorted a laugh and hung up. Mairi would do what she wanted to do—as usual.

  When the door to the stairs to Mairi’s apartment opened a minute later, Keir knew she hadn’t bothered to take his advice. She bounced toward him, with her hair corralled in a massive scrunchie, wearing her old jeans, her Don’t Talk t-shirt and a pair of old, fluffy bunny slippers. She definitely hadn’t dressed for the cameras, and all Keir could think was that he wished they were still together in bed.

  “What is it?” Mairi rounded a car, tripped over his toolbox and fell into him.

  Keir put his arms around her to hold her upright, and just like that, the chemistry between them ignited. Her fingers flexed on his biceps and big eyes looked up at him with heated speculation.

  “You keep looking at me like that, Rusty, and we’re going to put on a different kind of show for the cameras.”

  Her eyes darkened, and she looked like she was actually considering it. Ah, hell. He backed her into the tiny corridor leading to the bathroom and pressed her against the wall. He didn’t give her time to think; he just cupped her face and indulged them both in a slow, lazy kiss. She melted in his arms, and Keir wished he was alone with her, instead of skulking in his garage with the world outside his door. Alone, he could push his luck with her, but here, he had to hold back and exercise patience.

  Patience sucked.

  He stepped away from Mairi, instantly feeling the loss, and watched as her cheeks turned his favorite shade of pink.

  There was a strange vulnerability in her eyes. One he’d never seen before. It made him want to stand between her and the world, vowing to keep her safe. There was only problem with that: who would keep her safe from him?

  “I thought one night would get it out of my system,” she said softly, oblivious to the ammunition she’d just handed him.

  Ammunition he would never use against her. Instead, he reached out and ran his fingertips down her cheek. “Even if we’d had a million nights, it still wouldn’t be out of our systems.”

  Mairi swallowed hard and tore her eyes from him. “Where’s this delivery you don’t want to touch?”

  “Over there.” Reluctantly, he stepped out of the corridor and pointed to the corner beside the open garage doors.

  When Mairi appeared beside him, the vultures scented blood and started to circle.

  “Mairi Sinclair,” a reporter shouted, “can you tell us a little about your motivation in setting up a boyfriend competition?”

  “There was no motivation,” Mairi shouted back. “I was hacked. This is someone’s idea of a joke.”

  The crowd laughed, clearly thinking she was playing with them.

  “Why won’t they believe me?” Mairi said to Keir.

  He shrugged. “People are nuts.”

  “There is that.” She strode over to the box and stood in front of it.

  Keir followed, shouting out a reminder to the crowd that if they stepped through his doorway, he was calling the cops. They backed off.

  “Please tell me one of those lunatics didn’t buy me a sex doll,” Mairi said as he came to a stop beside her. Close beside her, with their sides touching, because he couldn’t stand next to Mairi and not touch her.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her in reply. There was no telling what a desperate geek would do.

  “They wouldn’t, right?” Mairi said. “I mean, logic would say that if you planned to marry someone, there would be no need for them to have a sex doll.”

  “Logic would, aye, but I’m not sure your guys are capable of normal logic.”

  Mairi studied the box for a minute, as though she’d develop x-ray vision if she stared at it long enough.

  “I can’t open it down here, not with the cameras. Help me get it upstairs.” She did that innocent eyelash-flapping thing she did when she wanted to get her own way.

  It didn’t work. “I don’t want to touch it.” He took a step back.

  “Stop being a wuss and give me a hand.”

  “Nope.”

  “Come on, Keir, this isn’t funny. Help me get this out of here. They’re getting closer.”

  He looked behind them, and sure enough, the crowd was inching as close as they could without Keir calling the cops. There were even one or two people holding up phones to film their exchange.

  “Keir,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. “Help me. Now.”

  And that was when it came to him. “I’ll do it for a price.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

  He took a step closer to her and lowered his head to hers. She smelled like she’d rolled around in a strawberry patch. It made him want to cover her in cream and lick it all off. “I want you to ride with me.”

  She sucked in a breath and her cheeks turned pink again, making him think he wasn’t the only one who wanted to experiment with cream.

  “Not that kind of ride.” Keir stroked his hand down her arm and watched her shiver. “The kind that takes place on the back of my bike.” He stepped even closer until they were touching again. “Although I certainly wouldn’t say no to the other kind.”

  Keir missed their bike rides, and he was betting Mairi did too. After an hour wrapped around him, with the machine throbbing between her thighs, she’d been all over him like chocolate sauce on ice cream, and it had taken all of Keir’s self-control to keep things slow between them. Back then, the last thing he’d wanted was to take Mairi, for their first time, on the dirt beside his bike. Now, that sounded like a great idea.

  From the way her breath sped up and she bit her lip, she knew her memories had gone exactly where he wanted them to.
“Fine, I’ll go for a bike ride with you. Now help me lift this.”

  It was hard not to kiss her again, in full view of everyone. “Your wish is my command.” He tipped the box toward her and bent down to lift the bottom.

  Mairi grabbed the top. “This is lighter than I thought it would be. It can’t be a doll.”

  “Could be a blow-up,” Keir said.

  They slowly hefted the box through the garage, stepping over car parts and around waiting vehicles. They were almost at the stairs when Mairi tripped. She let go of the box, grabbing a nearby shelf to steady herself—and the box hit the floor and split.

  Flashes went off, and the blinding light from the TV set-up filled the garage. Gasps and giggles were all they could hear while their eyesight adjusted, and then Keir looked down to find the floor strewn with clothes. Kinky clothes. Someone had bought every sexy dress-up outfit they could get their hands on. There was an itty-bity nurse costume, a slinky black leather cat suit, a maid’s uniform, a pirate costume, a harem outfit, a policewoman costume and some other outfits he didn’t recognize. There was also a selection of headbands with ears, fluffy handcuffs and what looked like a rider’s crop.

  Keir vowed there and then to track down the guy who’d sent her this present and beat him into next week. “This isn’t romantic. This is just wrong.”

  Mairi picked up the black cat suit and held it at arm’s length, to get a good look at it. A beaming smile lit up her face. “This. Is. Awesome!” she said.

  Keir rubbed a hand over his face. Of course, she liked the kinky gift.

  “Do you think I could wear this out, like, normally?” she asked. “I would totally rock it.”

  Keir was saved from answering, as Hamish came around the car to see what was happening.

  “You might want to check out the rear view before you get too excited,” Hamish said.

  Mairi turned the cat suit. There was a hole where the backside should be.

  She blinked at it. “That looks cold,” she said.

  Keir let out another groan.

  Chapter 18

  Mairi ordered delivery pizzas for dinner, and when they arrived, the teenage boy opened a box lid and grinned at her. He’d scrawled the words Marry me instead of them on the card.