She nearly jumped when Rita spoke behind her. "You like all this, don't you? You're happy in the midst of wrapping paper and kids screaming and stuffing onions inside some poor murdered creature, aren't you?"
"Yes, very," Karen answered honestly.
"Mac is a very good man."
Karen didn't say anything. Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't. The only thing she knew for sure was that he wasn't hers. "Do you know the truth about Elaine?"
She and Rita were alone in the kitchen, as most of the work was done, and for a moment Rita looked at Karen as though considering whether or not to tell her. "I have been sworn to secrecy," Rita said, looking down at her knife.
Karen drew in her breath. A woman admitting that she knew a secret meant that half the battle was won. All Rita needed was a bit of urging. But Karen hesitated. Part of her wanted to know and part of her didn't want to hear. What had made the woman walk out of her wedding like that? What had Mac done to her? "I would truly like to know," she said with feeling.
Rita stared into Karen's eyes for a moment, then smiled and looked back down at her knife. "You really do love him, don't you?"
"Yes," was all Karen could say; she didn't dare allow herself to say another word.
"Elaine was madly in love with some poor artist who all of us could see was more interested in her trust fund than he was in her. But love is blind and Elaine fought for him with all she had. Her father sent the artist—not that he ever painted anything—a letter saying that if he married Elaine, her trust fund would be cut off. He enclosed a check for twenty thousand dollars that would only be honored if the man left Elaine. When Elaine got home that night, her artist was gone. She blamed her father for everything, and said that if he wanted her to marry a rich man then she would."
Pausing, Rita looked at Karen with her lips tight. "Elaine systematically went after Mac, the oldest of the Taggerts who wasn't yet married. She's beautiful, talented, and confident. Mac didn't have a chance. The night before the wedding her artist came back, and when Mac returned to their apartment, he found them in bed together."
Rita gave Karen time to assimilate this information before continuing. "Mac refused to marry her, but, being the gentleman he is, he allowed everyone to think that Elaine was the one who walked out on him. Since then he's been scared to death of marriage. He wants to get married, to have his own home, but I think he purposely chooses women who only want his money, then he tests them with some ridiculous prenuptial agreement and when they won't sign, it reinforces his belief that that's all women want from him. I'm glad to see that at last he's going to allow that wound to heal. I'm glad he's going to marry you, someone who actually loves him."
Karen didn't look up from the celery she was dicing for the salad.
"I'm telling you this because Mac has some sort of misguided sense of honor toward Elaine, so I didn't think he would ever tell you. And there're only two people outside of them who know the truth—his mother and I."
"But you told me this because I love him?"
"And because he loves you," Rita answered simply.
Karen smiled indulgently. "No he doesn't. We're not really engaged. He hired me to be his escort for the wedding and to—" She broke off because Rita was smiling at her in a very smug way.
"Karen, get real. Mac doesn't need to hire a woman for anything. He has women making fools of themselves wherever he goes. His mother is constantly complaining about the way the women who work for him make believe he comes with the job. She says he has two women executives so crazy about him they think that any work he gives them is proof of his love for them. His mother tells him to fire them, but Mac is so softhearted he won't. So he pays them outrageous salaries then does all the work himself."
"And the women complain to everyone because he doesn't share the load," Karen said softly.
"Probably. But Mac always takes the blame rather than allow a woman to look bad. His mother wanted to tell the world about Elaine, but Mac wouldn't allow it. Mac is from another era in time."
"Yes," Karen said in agreement. "I believe he is."
"Speak of the devil," Rita said, "a car just pulled up and it's Elaine. Karen! Don't look like that. Go out there and—"
Karen was looking out the kitchen window. The arrival of Elaine had stopped the ball game because all the men had run toward the car to help the elegant, beautiful, exquisite Elaine out of the backseat of the long, black limo. And at the head of the crowd was McAllister Taggert.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to ... to ..." Karen could think of nothing she needed to do, so she turned and ran out of the kitchen, then ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
Five
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, Karen felt that she had lectured herself enough, and maybe she now had enough control to meet Elaine and not thrust a knife into her cold heart. Unfortunately, just outside the bedroom door, she found Elaine flanked by Steve and Mac.
Up close, Elaine was even more beautiful than she was from a distance. She was tall, blonde, cool-looking, and sophisticated enough to make Karen feel completely gauche. Elaine was exactly what Karen had envisioned as a woman Mac should marry. No doubt her father was the ambassador to some elegant foreign country, and no doubt she had a master's degree in something sophisticated and useless, like Chinese philosophy.
Just looking at Elaine made Karen feel as if she were wearing overalls and had straw sticking out of her hair. No wonder Mac had fallen head over heels in love with her, she thought.
Pausing at the head of the stairs, Elaine gave Mac a look that could warm a steel I-beam, while Mac just started at her like a lost puppy, his heart in his eyes. He still loves her, Karen thought, and, against her best self-control, a flash of rage ran through her.
Steve paused only long enough to introduce Karen as Mac's fiancée, then he ran down the hall, football in hand, leaving the three of them alone.
"Still trying to get a woman to marry you, Mac?" Elaine asked softly, her eyes on Mac, as though Karen didn't exist.
"Still paying men to marry you, Elaine?" Karen shot back, then had the satisfaction of seeing Elaine's perfectly composed face crumble just before she turned and ran down the stairs. Obviously she'd thought her secret was safe forever and she could taunt Mac at will.
What Karen was not prepared for was Mac's reaction. His strong hand clamped around her upper arm and he half pulled her into their bedroom. When the door was shut, he faced her. "I didn't like that!" he said angrily, his face near hers. "What happened between Elaine and me is our business and no one else's, and I won't have you or anyone else sneering at her."
Karen straightened her body, ordering her muscles to remain rigid. If she hadn't, she would have collapsed on the bed in tears. What did it matter to her that McAllister Taggert was in love with a woman who had publicly made him a laughingstock? "Certainly, Mr. Taggert," she said stiffly, then turned toward the door.
But Mac caught her, shoved her against the wall, and kissed her hungrily. For a moment Karen's pride made her fight him off, but it wasn't long before she was pulling him closer to her, her hands in his hair, her fingers gouging into his back.
"I hate you," she managed to say as he kissed her neck, his hands moving all over her body.
"Yes, I know. You hate me as much as I hate you."
Later, she didn't know how it happened, but one minute they were against the wall, fully clothed, and the next they were naked and writhing on the bed. Karen had been celibate for over two years and the only way she had remained that way was by repressing all sexual desire. The combination of her anger at Mac and now his soft caresses made her erupt into flames, all her desires exploding at once.
Mac was a worthy opponent and his passion matched hers as he entered her with force, then more gently as he put his mouth over Karen's to keep her from crying out.
It didn't take long, but in those few minutes, a lamp fell crashing to the floor, Karen fell off the bed, and Mac lifted her so her feet were on the floor, her back on the bed.
When Mac came inside her, Karen wrapped her legs about his waist and pulled his body down onto hers, holding him tightly. Her heart was pounding, her breath ragged.
It was several minutes before she could think again, and when she did, she was embarrassed and ashamed. What must he think of her? The poor, uneducated little secretary making a fool of herself over the boss?
"Please," she whispered. "Let me up."
Slowly, Mac raised his head and looked down at her, and when she turned her head away, he put his hand on her chin and made her meet his eyes. "What's this?" he asked teasingly. "My little lioness can't be shy, can she?"
Karen looked away from him. "I would like to get up."
But Mac didn't allow her to move away from him. Instead, he pulled her onto the bed, wrapped his big naked body about hers, drew the bedspread over them, then said, "Tell me what's wrong."
Karen was having trouble thinking, for somehow, this cozy cuddling, their bodies naked, was more intimate than what they had just done. "You—I—" she said, but not coherent words came out of her mouth.
"We made love," he said softly as he planted a kiss onto the top of her head. "It's something I've wanted to do for what seems like years."
"You never knew I existed until a few days ago."
"True, but I've made up in intensity for what I've lacked in time."
She tried to push away from him, but he held her tight.
"I'm not releasing you until you tell me what's wrong."
"What's wrong?!" she said with feeling, pushing away enough to look at him. "I am one of your secretaries, one step up from the custodian, and you're the boss and... and..."
"And what?"
"And you're in love with Elaine!" she spat at him. After all, how could she make more of a fool of herself than she already had?
To her great annoyance, Mac cuddled her closer and she could feel him chuckling against her.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked when she pinched him.
This time she almost got away before he pulled her back. "I am not one of your bimbos. I am not after your money. In fact I want nothing whatever from you, not a business, not anything. Including ever seeing you—" She broke off as he kissed her. "Again," she whispered, finishing her sentence.
"Gladly," he said, pretending to misunderstand.
It was when his hand moved to her breast and Karen could feel herself wanting him again, and feel that he was again ready, that she pushed away from him. She didn't try to get off the bed, but she looked him in the eyes and said, "No."
"All right," he said, removing his hands from her body. "Tell me what's bothering you. Just don't leave. Please?"
Karen turned on her back, the spread covering her, none of her body touching his. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted—" At that she turned to look at him. By her calculations, she was at peak fertility today and after what they had just done, maybe she was pregnant.
As though reading her mind, he lifted her hand and kissed it, first the palm, then the back of her hand. When he started kissing her fingertips, she pulled away from him.
But Mac drew her back into his arms, holding her tightly. "I don't love Elaine."
"That's not what I saw, and you defended her!"
"Whatever bad I wish to befall Elaine, it isn't worse than what has happened to her. A man married her for her money. I know how that feels, so I have only pity for her. If it helps her to make snide remarks to me, let her. At least I'm not married to her." His voice lowered. "And she's not the mother of my children."
"Do you have many?" she asked as though making conversation. More than anything, she wanted to remain cool and detached. Wasn't it all right in this day and age to have affairs with men? She was positively primitive to believe that people who went to bed together should get married.
"Maybe we made my first one today," he said softly, then held her as she tried to get away from him.
"It is not a laughing matter. I wanted you to be a donor, not a... a..."
"Lover? Karen, please listen to me. Today wasn't a mistake. I've never before been to bed with a woman without using protection." He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "I love you, Karen. If you'll have me, I'll try to make you a good husband."
"Me and all the rest of the free world," she said before she thought, then was horrified when she saw the hurt in his eyes. Instantly, he turned away and started to get out of bed.
"I'm sorry," she said, flinging herself onto his back as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Please, I didn't mean that. You don't have to marry me or even ask me to marry you. I know your streak of nobility, how you're a chivalrous knight and—"
Turning, he smiled at her. "Is that what you think of me? You think I ask every woman I go to bed with to marry me?"
Her face gave a positive answer to that.
Mac's face softened with his merriment. "Sweetheart," he said, smoothing a strand of hair behind her ears. "I don't know what's made you decide I'm a saint, but I'm not. Your first opinion of me was the most accurate any woman's ever had. You want to know the truth?"
Karen nodded, her eyes wide, then he pulled her into his arms and lay down beside her on the bed, her head on his shoulder.
"I was never in love with Elaine. Not really. I know that now, but it was flattering to have someone like her allow me to chase her."
"Didn't she chase you?" Karen said, then bit her tongue for giving away too much information.
Mac just smiled. "You have to remember that I've been around Elaine most of my life, and she was the one all of us boys went after. But she was unattainable. She was gorgeous, and by the time she was fourteen, she was built. We used to take bets on who could get Elaine to go out with him, but none of us ever succeeded. She studied for her final exams the night of our high school prom; she must have turned down every guy in the school."
"So you wanted what you couldn't have?" she said with sarcasm.
"Of course. Doesn't everyone?"
Karen was too interested in the story to think about philosophy. "But you got her."
"In a way. About four years ago she came to my office telling me she wanted me to help her with some investments and I—"
"Made a fool of yourself over her and asked her to marry you so you could show the other guys that you won."
"In a word, yes."
At that, Karen had to laugh. "So the artist saved you, didn't he?"
Mac hesitated before he answered. "Someday I want to know how you wheedled this information out of my mother. Or whomever she told who told you."
"Mmmm," was all Karen would answer. "So what about all the other women you asked to marry you?"
He paused, staring off into space. "You know, it was really quite odd, but every woman on earth seemed to think that after what happened with Elaine, I was dying to get married. Maybe they thought I wanted to show Elaine that I could get another woman if I wanted one."
"So they flung themselves on you," Karen said sarcastically. "You had nothing to do with all those engagement rings and prenuptial agreements."
He didn't laugh in return, but instead, turned so his face was above hers. "I'm serious. Two weeks ago I would have told you that I'd been in love with Elaine and maybe that I loved each of those beautiful girls I was engaged to. But now I know that I didn't love any of them, because when I'm with you, Karen, I don't have to be who I'm not. You're the first woman who has looked at me as just a man, not one of the rich Taggerts, not as a way to jump-start her own career. You saw me and nothing else."
He kissed her cheek. "I know it's sudden and I know you'll want to take time to think about this, and I'd love to court you, but I want to warn you what I'm after. I mean to marry you."
Karen's impulse was to throw her arms about his neck and say, "Yes, yes, yes," but instead she looked away for a moment, as though contemplating whether to marry him or not. When she looked back at him, her eyes were serious. "By courting do you mean candlelight dinners and roses?"
"Perhaps," she said.
Pulling back, he looked at her speculatively. "How about I buy you two more buildings in cities of your choice for those baby stores of yours and set you up with a state-of-the-art accounting system?"
"Oh!" she said, startled. "With an instant inventory system?"
"Karen, honey, if you marry me, I'll give you the private code to my own accounting system and you can snoop to your heart's content."
"You do know how to court a girl, don't you?"
"Mmmm," was all he said as he moved his leg on top of hers. "Did you know that twins run in my family?"
"I have seen a bit of evidence of that fact."
He was kissing her neck as his hand moved downward. "I don't know if you know this, but the way twins are made is to make love twice in the same day."
"Is that so? And here the medical people think it has to do with the way an egg divides."
"No. The more love, the more kids."
Turning her hips toward his, she put her arms about his neck. "Let's try for quintuplets."
"I knew there was a reason I loved you," he murmured before his mouth closed over hers.
Epilogue
"KAREN!" SAID A WOMAN behind her, making Karen turn so quickly she dropped her packages. She was in a mall, people bustling about, and it took Karen a moment to recognize Rita, the woman she'd met on that remarkable weekend she'd spent with Mac.
To the consternation of both of them, Karen burst into tears.
With a motherly arm about the younger woman's shoulders, Rita led Karen to a tiled seat surrounding a quietly splashing fountain, then handed her a clean tissue and waited while Karen calmed herself.
"I am so sorry. I have no idea what is wrong with me. I seem to be bursting into tears constantly. I really am glad to see you. How is everyone? Steve?"
A Gift of Love Page 18