Free Maid for Love by Marie Force Page A

through the kitchen. "God only knows."
    "See? That's all I want for them, too."
    "Promise me you'll leave Mac alone while he's home."
    Linda hesitated. How could she promise that?
    He drew back from her so he could see her face. "Linda…"
    "Fine! I'll leave him alone." She intentionally didn't use the word "promise" and made sure he couldn't see the fingers she crossed behind his back.
     
    Mac gathered up the trash bag full of lobster shells and followed Maddie's directions to the garbage cans. He tossed the bag into the can and turned to go back upstairs when the flare of a cigarette lit up the darkness, illuminating Tiffany's face.
    "What're you doing hanging around here?" she asked.
    "I'm just trying to help your sister."
    "I can help her. Why don't you go back where you belong?"
    "And where's that?"
    "In your big white house overlooking your North Harbor kingdom."
    "It's not my kingdom."
    "Whatever you say."
    "What've I ever done to you or your sister?"
    "Not a damned thing."
    "So then what's your beef with me?"
    "I have no beef with you. I have a beef with guys like you who brag to your friends that you had a go with one of the Chester sisters."
    "That's not my style."
    "What isn't? Having a go with the trashy girls or talking about it?"
    "Maddie's not trashy." Mac grew to dislike this bitter, unhappy woman more with every passing second. "Why would you say that about your own sister?"
    "It's not me who says it. Did she tell you where our mother is right now?"
    "My sister did."
    "I'm sure she took great pleasure in that. Did she tell you how my mother got there?"
    "No."
    "Ask your mother about that."
    "What does she have to do with it?"
    "Ask her." Tiffany raised a handheld baby monitor to her ear. "Talking in her sleep."
    "Where's your husband?" Mac had known Jim Sturgil in high school but not well.
    "Another good question."
    "Look, I don't know why you're so pissed at me—"
    "You wouldn't, but if you screw with my sister, you'll deal with me."
    Mac had never known two more jaded women. "I just want to see her back on her feet."
    "Noble of you. Truly."
    "What would you have me do? Walk away and leave her to fend for herself after I caused her injuries?"
    Tiffany ground out her cigarette. "I'll be watching you."
    "Thanks for the warning."
    She left him standing in the dark. He saw her enter her house through the sliding door on the back porch and took a moment to get himself together before returning to Maddie's apartment.
    "Did you have trouble finding the trash cans?" she asked.
    "No." He skimmed his fingers through hair still damp from the shower. "I ran into your sister."
    "What did she say?"
    Mac shrugged. "Nothing worth repeating." He debated for a second but had to know. "What did my mother have to do with putting your mother in jail?"
    Maddie gasped. "She told you that?"
    "Is it true? Did my mother have something to do with it?"
    Maddie seemed to weigh her words carefully. "It was a combination of things."
    He lowered himself to the coffee table, forcing her to look at him. "Tell me."
    "My mother passed a bad check at the hotel bar, and yours reported her."
    "For a first offense?"
    "Third." Maddie's eyes dropped to her lap, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Your mother didn't have a choice."
    Mac covered her good hand with his and squeezed. "I'm sorry."
    "She's been courting disaster for years now. It was bound to happen eventually."
    "And you've tried hard not to make the same mistakes."
    "For all the good it's done me. I'm always one step ahead of disaster."
    He linked his fingers through hers and was pleased when she let him. "I'm incredibly drawn to you, Maddie."
    Her face flushed again. "Don't say things like that. You don't mean it."
    "I do mean it."
    Bringing their joined hands to his lips, he kissed the back of hers and decided not to push the issue. He had a feeling that too much too soon was not the way to woo this stubborn woman. "What do you say we clean up those cuts?"
    "I was hoping you'd