by Wendi Zwaduk
Although Macy didn’t buy into everything Kealie said, she knew her friend was right. Allowing her past to razor her future had got her nowhere relationship-wise for the past seven years. Macy swallowed her fears and a large share of her pride. When she saw Tanner that night, she’d show him where her heart lay.
With him.
“Move over, Miss Independent. Miss Commitment is ready to pounce.”
* * * *
At seven thirty, the limo pulled up in front of the school building. Macy leant back against the plush leather seat. The tapes from her garter belt dug into her thighs and her feet ached from the pointy black stilettos.
On Kealie’s orders, Gerard Andersen, Macy’s favourite cover model, sat next to her. Across the expanse of the limo, Kealie had tucked herself neatly between the twins—Cole and Eric McClure. Macy suppressed a snicker. Trust Kealie not only to make an entrance, but to up the shock value in the process. Outside the car, people cheered with hoots and catcalls. According to the reunion itinerary, the Class of ‘97 wanted the honour of having the last banquet-slash-ball in the building, complete with a gantlet for photo ops.
“I don’t know why they have to make such a spectacle over a reunion.” Macy buried her nose against Gerard’s shoulder. Either Cole or Eric had bathed in cologne. The tangy scent churned her already weak stomach. “I want to get in, dance with Berto and Remi, and get out.”
“That’s all?” Kealie snapped. “Come on. I didn’t fly here from sunny Vegas just to watch you wuss out.”
“What else are reunions for?”
“They’re a pissing contest, reunions.” Kealie grabbed Cole’s hand and plopped it on her thigh. “Who can shoot the farthest while wearing a designer dress or top-of-the-line tuxedo. It’s childish, really. Besides, do I really need a reason to crash a party? I didn’t go to school here, so it makes no never-mind to me.”
“You realise how crude you can be on occasion?” Macy asked.
“That’s why you love me.” She linked arms with Cole and Eric. “Come on, boys. Let’s show them how to have a wicked good time.”
The concrete entryway, complete with tiger sculptures guarding the doors, loomed before her. Macy dragged air into her lungs and squeezed Gerard’s hand. “Thanks for making me look good.”
“Make you look good? Honey, you look gorgeous.” Gerard cupped her chin with his free hand before they exited the car. “And if Chris and I ever decide to add a woman to our mix, you’re the first girl on our list.”
“Which will never happen because you’re crazy about each other, but you made my day. Thanks.”
“I aim to please.” He stepped out of the car and extended his hand. “Now, when your hunk shows up and whisks you away for hot sex in the bed of his truck, I hope you let him.”
“I will.” Macy grabbed his fingers and emerged from the limousine on shaky legs.
Gerard pulled her close and whispered in her ear as a flash bulb popped. “Show them your adorable smile so we can break some hearts.”
Chapter Nine
Tanner searched the throng of dancers. The banquet had started over an hour previously. As far as he knew, Macy wasn’t there yet. He leant back in his seat and crossed his ankles. Maybe she’d made good on her threat not to show up. Had he moved too fast? But fifteen years had seemed like ages to wait for her.
Silver and black crêpe paper dangled in sweeping arcs from the exposed rafter beams. The disco ball over the DJ stand threw rainbows of light across the room and glinted off the metallic streamers blossoming on each table. Purple, pink, and blue lights swirled over his fellow classmates on the gym floor.
Berto scooted back in his chair and patted Remi’s thigh. “He’s looking for her.”
“No shit,” Tanner grumbled. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not right here.”
“Oh sure. Why didn’t you make a move back in school?” Remi asked. He wrapped his arm around Berto’s shoulders. “Hell, we all knew you had a thing for her.”
“Seems to me you fucked up,” Berto piled on.
“I did.” Tanner stared at the condensation on his plastic cup. “When we were alone, I had guts. I could be myself and she’d take me that way. She told me how it was and didn’t hold back. But there was always something missing.” He snorted. “I was jealous of you two.”
“Us?” Berto and Remi asked in tandem. Berto stared at Remi. “I told you he wanted that three-way, but you said no.”
“All you had to do was ask, honey.” Remi bobbed his brows. “We’d have shown you the way.”
“Three-way?” Tanner rolled his eyes. “Actually, yes, I was jealous of the threesome you three had. I wanted Macy and the tight friendship you shared. I just couldn’t shake my expectations. And it’s funny. The guys from the team haven’t even noticed I’m here. Well, no, Stafford noticed—asshole.”
Remi stood and strolled around the table. “You served your purpose and then they moved on. Kinda like what you did with Mace. She was a great friend in secret, but the moment you had to admit it, you couldn’t.”
“Maybe that moment hasn’t come yet.” He peeked at the main entrance one more time and averted his gaze. “Dumb-ass at six o’ clock.”
Stafford snorted and folded his arms when he reached their table, obviously having overheard the comment. Faith strode up behind Stafford in a crimson, strapless dress that accentuated her narrow waist. Sure, she looked good, but she wasn’t the woman Tanner wanted to visually grope. “Staff and I thought we’d find you pouting at your table. He just got here first.” She crinkled her nose. “I didn’t know you palled around with these two. They have whips, you know.”
“And we make good use of them,” Remi snapped. “I’d love to break you in.”
“Go find some friends who like you.” She waved her hand at Remi and Berto. “Or just leave.”
“I’d say leave.” Stafford grabbed a chair from an adjoining table and turned it backwards. “We need to talk.”
Berto and Remi sat down. “Oh, do talk,” they said in unison. Snorting, Remi added, “I’m sure the world wants to know the next intelligent thing to come from your mouth.”
“Fuck off,” Stafford snapped.
Faith perched on Tanner’s lap and pressed her ample breasts against his chest. The slit along the thigh of her dress opened to show more leg than he preferred to see. “She replaced you quick.” She nodded to the smoke-filled dance floor. “He’s a real looker, too.”
“Leave me alone, Staff. Faith, get off my lap.” He squirmed to follow Faith’s outstretched hand to where she pointed, across the room. Macy laughed in the arms of a dark-haired, handsome man. Hell, every woman within a forty-foot radius drooled over the guy, with his brooding smile and grace on the dance floor. Tanner’s heart dropped to his toes. The guy looked familiar, but where did Tanner know him from?
“Shit, Remi. She brought him.” Berto grabbed Remi’s hand. “Let’s mingle.”
“Don’t say we didn’t warn you. She’s trouble and you were smart to ditch her in high school.”
Tanner groaned as his friends left the table. Being with Faith didn’t satisfy anything. “Please leave. Let me enjoy the evening in peace.”
“You don’t want me to go.” Faith smoothed her hands over his lapels and hovered inches from his face. “You still want me.”
Before Macy, Faith would have elicited a response beneath his trousers. Now, no one held a candle to Macy—the woman who broke his heart. Tanner growled. “I’d rather fly solo and keep my pride intact.”
“So you are still angry about what happened in college. That was ages ago.” Her voice came out in a tinny whine. “Let it drop already.”
“You fucked the starting string of the football team while you claimed to be monogamous with me!” Tanner’s anger hit its peak and he stood, forcing her off his lap. Fury boiled in his blood. “Shit like that’s hard to forget.”
“Please.” Faith rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “Macy’s pulling the same shit
and I’ll bet you’re ready to crawl on your knees to get her back. Grow a set like Stafford and move on.”
Stafford shrugged and stared at his folded hands. “Faith’s shit in the sack, but she’s got connections.”
Tanner raked his fingers through his hair. The truth. Finally. He dug his fingers into her waist. “You know, Faith, there’s something I’ve been meaning to say to you.”
“You still love me?” A coy smile built on her blood-red lips. She rubbed her ring finger. “I knew it. We’ll get married as soon as possible. I’m not squandering my chance this time.”
“Marry you?” He shook his head. “Go to hell.” With his piece said, he turned on his heel and headed away from Faith, but she grabbed his arm with her claw-like fingers.
“Why?” Tears splashed over her cheeks. “Why are you being mean to me? You love me. Listen to Staff. He said I have connections. Use them. Please!”
“You’re only showing me attention because Macy’s here. You want the spotlight just like that dickhead, Will. If you can’t have it, you’ll steamroll whoever gets in the way.” He gulped air in order to calm down. “Well, I’ve had enough, so leave me the fuck alone.” I need to find Macy.
“She won’t marry you.” Faith’s eyes narrowed to slits. Her lips formed a tight, narrow line.
Tanner closed his eyes, biting back a response. No more wasting time with Faith when his relationship with Macy hung in the balance.
“Who says I won’t marry him?”
Tanner opened his eyes. “Macy?”
When he turned, Macy stood next to him with her delicate hands folded and a broad smile dancing on her lips. A flush infused her cheeks.
“I’d like a dance, Tanner.” Her bright-eyed gaze vacillated between him and Faith. “Are you interested?”
“I happen to be available.”
“Oh, God.” Stafford stood and pointed to the dance floor. “Get the hell out of here, Shibley. You’re not welcome here.”
“I really don’t care what you think.” Macy laughed and clasped both hands over her mouth. When her giggles had subsided, she shook her head. “I always knew you were an ass. Now I have further confirmation. Thanks.”
Stafford’s brows crinkled as his mouth fell open.
“There will be no second chances with me.” Faith squeezed between Tanner and Macy and tapped her sandal-clad foot. “I won’t take you back when she dumps you like hot lead!”
“I’ll manage,” Tanner replied and gave Macy a wink as he twined their fingers and led her to the fringe of the dance floor. A tendril of Macy’s caramel-coloured hair swept forward across her eyes, obscuring his view of her face. Although a slow, romantic song blared over the speakers, Tanner stood transfixed. He’d never seen a woman look so adorable, yet so sexy. The black, halter-neck dress clung to her curves, accentuating the gentle swell of her hips and the V of her cleavage.
“What are you staring at?” She leaned in close enough for him to catch a hint of her perfume. “I don’t bite—unless you want me to.”
Visions of their lovemaking sessions flicked through Tanner’s mind. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against his body. Heat flooded his veins, engorging his cock. He gritted his teeth to stave off his need to take her, to make her his. God, how horny could one man be with the love of his life in his arms? When she sighed and rubbed against him in time to the music, he nearly came unglued. “Macy, this isn’t fair to your date.” Or me.
“We’ve got things under control,” she murmured. “Berto and Remi have him occupied.”
Yes, Tanner wanted to continue the dance, to hold her all night long. But if she had another man there in the wings, Tanner Connolly wasn’t going to play the patsy. Without another word, he wrapped an arm firmly around her shoulders and hustled her to the stairwell at the back of the gymnasium.
“What’s the matter?” Macy pulled out from under his arm and stared at him in shock.
“We need to get a few things sorted out.” He strode down three steps to regain his bearings. “What did Will do to you? I need to know the details.”
When he stole a glance at her, Macy slowly sat on the top step. “He liked verbal abuse. I started writing to occupy my time. I wasn’t making any money with my paintings, but the short stories I sold to magazines brought in a little cash here and there. Truth is, I liked writing more than art.” She shrugged. Sadness dulled the sparkle in her eyes.
“Will didn’t want to help me research the love scenes. He thought I spent more time with the—” She hooked her fingers in the air. “—little people in my head than I did with him. When I got the contract for Wicked Moves, he demanded half the advance or he said he’d beat the shit out of me. I’d already been through the wringer with him and wasn’t about to put up with it a second longer, so I walked out that night and never looked back.”
Tanner grasped the railing and leaned against the wall while he processed her information. Fury built in the back of his mind and coiled down around his stomach. No one put a hand on a woman, and no man threatened to beat the shit out of Macy. He clenched his fists tight. No wonder she thought she wasn’t good enough. The dumb fuck had never really loved her.
“Why didn’t you tell me, damn it? He had no right.”
“Cowardice, plain and simple. I should’ve said something, but I didn’t. I threw myself into writing and gave credence to the stories built up in my mind. After three years, Will must’ve realised I had money because he came back insisting he cared. That he’d never yell at me or demand money again. I said no.” Macy stared at her hands. “Thank God the cops were at the Books-A-Plenty café that particular morning. Otherwise, I’d have landed in jail for decking Will.”
“You always did have guts.” She wanted love for the woman behind the books. Tanner nodded. He loved every inch of her, but what about Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome? Did he have a piece of her heart, too? “I saw you brought a date.”
“Gerard?”
“He looks more like Logan Malone to me.” Tanner leaned against the cinderblock wall and scrubbed a hand over his face. Control. He needed to keep his ragged nerves in check. “Does he make you happy?”
“Gerard is my cover model.”
“He wasn’t on the cover of Kendall.” Or any other book Tanner remembered buying, for that matter.
“Retract the claws. He graced the reissue cover of Wicked Moves.” Macy slid from her perch and stood one step above Tanner, putting herself at his eye level. She fiddled with his lapels, running the pads of her fingers over the silk. “He’s a nice guy, but he’s all Chris’, unless Berto and Remi get their way.”
“Chris?”
“Tetrick, formerly number forty-one for the Wildcats. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He played pro football for four or five years before he separated his shoulder.” She gazed up at him, just as she had when they’d made love. “And they left together twenty minutes ago. I love my friends, but I’ll put serious money down Remi and Berto didn’t let Gerard and Chris leave without at least a moment of idol worship.”
Tanner wobbled a little on his feet. Relief swept through him. A chuckle bubbled in his throat. He’d been jealous of a man who posed no threat. Alongside the relief, renewed desire filled his veins. He needed her…now. “Sweetheart, please stay here. Stay with me.” He threaded his fingers into her hair, loosening the curls to flow about her bare shoulders. “I pushed you away in the past, and I let you shove me to the kerb this morning. I’m not giving up this time.”
“I love you, Tanner.”
“I’ve waited too long—” He froze mid-sentence. Did she just say… “Mace?”
“I don’t have any roots and I want to start them with you.”
“I’m not moving too fast for you?”
“Fifteen years is a long time to some people.”
“I love you, Mace.” Tanner rained kisses over her cheeks, chin and lips. When she opened to him, his heart soared. Her sweetness blotted out the rest of the world. He need
ed to find a private spot to prove his love, over and over again.
When they parted, Macy panted. A gentle flush blossomed on her cheeks. “Good thing, because I love you.”
“Why don’t we forget about the Class of ‘97 and what might have been and test out the bed of your truck with what we’ve got now?”
“I rode here in a limo.”
“Then we’ll make good use of the blanket in the trunk of my Beemer.”
“Works for me.”
“What about the blonde who barged into your hotel room this morning?”
“Kealie? She’s my best friend, but I guarantee she’s busy with her mini-harem, so she won’t be worried.” She giggled and closed her eyes. Her smile faded a bit as she sobered. “You said no secrets. What about your date?”
“I showed up stag.” He roved his hands down her shoulders and along her back, only to stop on her ass. “I had this idea that a certain woman would show up and steal my heart.” He rubbed his cock against her pussy through the layers of fabric. “I have a pond and fifty acres on Old Butler North. Will you share it with me?”
“I might have backed down before, but no more. Take me home, Tanner, and make love to me under the stars.”
“Sounds perfect.”
About the Author
I always dreamt of writing the stories in my head. Tall, dark, and handsome heroes are my favourites, as long as he has an independent woman keeping him in line. I earned a BA in education at Kent State University and currently hold a Masters in Education with Nova Southeastern University. I love NASCAR, romance, books in general, Ohio farmland, dirt racing, and my menagerie of animals.
Email: [email protected]
Wendi Zwaduk loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.
Also by Wendi Zwaduk
Please Remember Me
Careless Whisper
Tangled Up
