Free Revenge by Lisa Jackson Page A

and lifeless, refusing to respond even though the long-banked embers of desire ignited in her blood. His lips were warm and inviting, and when he took her face between his callused hands, as he’d done a hundred times before, her heart seemed to crack.
    He pressed up against her, his body straining beneath his clothes, the bulge in his jeans giving evidence to the passion singing through his blood.
    Still, she closed her mind to the delicious sensations swirling deep within her, refused to accept the fact that her body was a traitor. When he finally lifted his head, she gritted her teeth and forced her bones not to sag.
    â€œGot your jollies, Max?” she said caustically, though her voice was more breathless than usual.
    His eyes narrowed. “Is that what you learned in medical school—how to be an ice princess?”
    â€œMaybe I learned it from you.”
    â€œOh, no, darlin’. If memory serves, you were one hot little number. You couldn’t wait to get out of your panties and into my bed. I remember—”
    Furious, she slapped him. The sound echoed through the night and Skye’s hand stung. “Don’t you ever talk to me like some cheap tramp,” she said, enraged. Who was he to come here and insult her? She felt the heat climb up her face. “Get this, and get it straight, Max. I’m not some little simpering thing who’ll run back to you just because you kissed me. Nor am I a woman who will stand by and be degraded and talked to as if I were a slut. I’m not impressed with you or your money and I won’t tolerate your insults. What happened between us seven years ago is over, Max, and I would think—no, I would hope—that you would have the decency to leave it alone. I’m the town doctor now, whether you like it or not, and I won’t let you treat me like some woman without an ounce of self-esteem who chases after the McKee men and the McKee money. If you don’t have the decency to respect me, then just get the hell out!”
    Eyeing her, he rubbed his stinging cheek. “That was some speech.”
    â€œI meant every word of it.”
    â€œYou can’t just ignore what happened between us.”
    â€œAs if you haven’t. For the past seven years neither one of us has talked with, written or called the other. I think we’re doing a damned good job of ignoring it.”
    â€œSo why are you back, Skye?”
    â€œNot for you, Max,” she said, though her voice nearly caught. “What we had once was special and I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for you, I suppose. You were my first love—but it’s over. It ended a long time ago.”
    â€œBecause you left.”
    â€œBecause I couldn’t stay.”
    â€œI always wondered about that.”
    â€œBut not for too long,” she noted, wanting to wound him for his crass remarks. “It didn’t take you long to marry someone else.” The color seemed to drain from his face and his lips flattened over his teeth. “Don’t make it any more than it was, Max.” She reached into a pocket and extracted her key ring.
    Max placed a hand against the door. His smile was as cold as the bottom of a well at midnight. “I take it you’re not going to invite me in.”
    â€œYou take it right.” She lifted her chin a notch, then slipped the old key into the lock. “Don’t mess with me, Max. Let’s just pretend that we never cared about each other.”
    â€œYou think you can?”
    â€œOf course,” she lied, her heart still hammering crazily as she twisted the key until the lock clicked. She had been trained to sound cool and professional, even in the most stressful and emotional times, but no amount of practice could have prepared her for the emotions raging in Max’s eyes. “Look, I think you should leave.”
    â€œI will,” he agreed, holding the crumpled letter under her nose.