If he couldn't have her, he sure as hell didn't want anyone to have her, especially not some cyber-Romeo who didn't know sexy from sushi.
Mack closed the bathroom door behind him.
He'd proven his point all right. Proven he was an idiot.
@ Kindra stared at her in-box. A half-dozen messages from Russ were winking at her. Subject headings like "Where are you?"
"Miss you," and "Feeling horny" leapt out.
She had yet to read any of them.
Listening to Russ talk about crotchless panties suddenly sounded about as fun as bleaching her mustache. A waste of a good ten minutes.
This wasn't supposed to happen. She had sent Mack away that morning, determined to protect her heart at all costs.
Watching him stomp off, stiff and gruff, had been the hardest thing she'd done to date, if she didn't count jumping those hurdles in high school gym class.
But now she was supposed to resume her life.
Go to work. Wear boring clothes. Chat with Russ. Never have good sex again.
Gee, that sounded appealing.
Without thought, her hand ran the cursor through the computer menu. She retrieved the video she had made the night before. Thirty seconds later she and Mack were on her screen.
His voice was low, commanding. Kindra watched herself, head thrown back, eyes half closed and breath hitching. She caressed her nipples.
Mack spread her thighs.
Kindra live began to pant in unison with her recorded self.
Oh, Mack. What the heck had she done?
So what if he didn't want a relationship? She could have done this with him again.
Until he got tired of her.
Which would be worse in the end.
No, she had done the right thing.
Mack's tongue plunged into her onscreen.
The doorbell rang. Kindra leapt up, turning off her monitor. Maybe it was Mack, coming back. Maybe he wanted to make her change her mind. Or maybe he had just forgotten his socks or something.
She peered through the living room window as she ran to the door. Or maybe it was her friends. Shoot.
Reluctantly, she opened the door.
Ashley groaned. "Oh, Kindra, you're wearing track pants again."
"So?" They were perfect it's-Sunday-and-my-life-is-over pants.
Trish pushed past her. "Is he still here? How was it? You did sleep with him, didn't you?"
Kindra had no interest in dishing out details on her night with Mack. "No, he's not still here."
Ashley collapsed on her couch, enormous hoop earrings dangling down over her lime green sweater. "But he was here, right?"
"Yes, we went out to dinner, then came back here." Kindra stuck her hands in her nylon pants and paced across the room. She felt a headache coming on. A real one this time, unlike the one she had faked for Russ.
"Well, change your clothes, then tell us all about it," Ashley urged.
"Why do I have to change my clothes?"
"Because we're going to the movies, remember?" Ashley said. "Did you forget?"
"Yes."
"Must have been some night," Trish snickered. "Details, dear, we want details."
"Are you okay, Kindra?" Violet asked, pushing her glasses up with one finger. "You look like something's wrong."
Everything was wrong. Kindra stopped pacing and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not okay. I'm in love with Mack!"
Violet's eyes widened. Trish gasped.
Ashley moaned. "Oh, Kindra, how could you?"
"I didn't mean to!" Like she'd set out to make herself miserable by falling in love with an unobtainable paragon.
"That must have been good sex," Trish remarked.
"It was." Better than good. Ecstasy-inducing, mind-bending, earth-shaking, great sex. She sighed.
"But it was more than great sex, it was… intimate." Another lusty sigh emerged. "And now that I've let the cat out of the bag, I don't think I can stuff it back in."
"What do you mean?" Violet asked.
She wasn't sure exactly. She just knew she couldn't be the same old Kindra-the-wallflower anymore. She had changed. Mack had brought out parts of herself she had forgotten existed.
"I may not be able to have Mack, but I'm tired of being taken advantage of at work. I'm going to stand up for myself, and get some excitement in my life."
"Does that mean better clothes?" Ashley asked hopefully.
"Will you quit harping on my clothes?" she said in exasperation. "But yes, it means new clothes."
"Cool." Trish swung her backpack purse back on. "Let's skip the movie and go shopping instead."
Ashley stood up and hugged Kindra. "Hey, I'm sorry things didn't work out with Mack, but you never know. Maybe he feels the same way about you."
Hah. And Mack Stone was going to get a pet poodle named Bitsy. Please.
@ Mack sucked down his third cup of coffee in the last hour and glared at Jim, his coworker. God, Jim was annoying. Of course, everyone was annoying this morning.
After a miserable Sunday afternoon wallowing in self-pity, Mack had spent a sleepless night. He'd woken up Monday morning with a pounding head and an aching heart.
Then to make it all worse, Kindra had strode into work that morning looking breezy and sensual, confident and happy.
For the first time ever she was wearing her hair down at work. The soft auburn sleekness bounced over her shoulders, and she was wearing very subtle makeup that brought out her green eyes and made her cheekbones look a mile long.
Instead of black, her suit was brown. Warm chocolate that made her skin glow. The cut was feminine, tighter, and shorter than he'd ever seen Kindra in.
She looked fantastic. Gorgeous. Edible.
Damned if he wasn't the only one to notice it either. Half the office staff was sniffing around her. The male half.
Mack stood over Jim's desk, wishing Jim would put his doughnut down so they could solve the problem they were working on. Bright laughter floated over to them. Mack gritted his teeth and turned.
It was Kindra perched on the reception desk, surrounded by three guys. Mack rubbed his forehead. When Kindra had seen him this morning, he had gotten nothing more than a cool hello.
He'd seen her naked. He had been inside her.
But these geeks got her smile, her full attention, and her laugh.
Kindra had a great laugh.
"Damn," Jim said around a mouthful of doughnut. "Something is different about Kindra this morning. Maybe she finally got a little action over the weekend." He snorted in laughter.
Mack turned and glared at Jim. "Watch your damn mouth."
Jim stopped laughing. "What's the matter with you?" Then his eyebrows rose. "Oh, I get it. Kindra was with you this weekend, wasn't she?"
Mack didn't answer, but turned back to watch Kindra and her entourage.
Jim said, "I've never seen you look so ticked off. Has the great Mack Stone finally fallen?"
Like a boulder.
Without thinking, he marched himself over to Kindra and interrupted rudely by elbowing past Bob from payroll.
"I need to talk to you."
Kindra flushed. She darted her eyes around and her shoulders tensed. "I'm busy right now."
"I don't care."
Kindra glared at him, held her chin up high, and walked away, her hair swinging.
Mack stood there flabbergasted. She had walked away from him.
A hand touched his arm. He looked down at Ashley, who was tugging him away from the crowd.
"What?" he said, trying to pull his arm away.
"Get a clue, Mack," she whispered. "You can't just embarrass the hell out of Kindra by acting like a total cretin and then expect her to listen to you."
She pointed her finger at him. "Now you listen to me. How do you feel about Kindra?"
Sick with love. He tugged at his tie. "That's none of your business."
"Do you love her?"
He couldn't say yes, but he couldn't say no either. He looked at Ashley in agony.