Free Mac's Angels: The Last Dance: A Loveswept Classic Romance by Sandra Chastain Page A

system.”
    Walking through the hallway, Sterling noticed that the decor changed dramatically. No more champagne wallpaper. Only utilitarian walls and tiled floors filled this space.
    “Where are we going?” Sterling finally asked, beginning to feel uneasy.
    “We’re going to my office.”
    “Why?”
    They approached a steel door, which automatically slid open. Once more they walked into another world. Silent, luxurious, but somehow Spartan at the same time. A wheat-colored couch hugged one wall. Along another lay a bank of computer screens and electronic equipment. A ratty-looking desk chair seemed to crouch between the computers and a large mahogany desk. But the most amazing feature of the room was a jagged outcropping of rock surrounding a shiny panel of wallpaper.
    “Now watch this, Moneypenny.”
    He keyed a code into a panel on the wall. The panel slid open. A blue sky full of sunshine filled the opening.
    “Holograph?” she whispered. “Amazing.”
    “No, this view is real.” He rolled the chair forward.“There are times when I have to see the outside world.”
    “But you do it from a distance, don’t you, Mac?”
    “Yes. I find it’s safer that way.”
    “And Jessie? Tell me about her, Mac.”
    He cut a sharp gaze toward her. “You met Jessie?”
    “She was coming from the pool. I nearly scared her to death. Don’t you ever have company?”
    “Did she … what did she do?”
    “She seemed surprised that I was there. I believe she thought I’d strayed from wherever your outside guests are housed.” Questions about Jessie whirled through her mind. Sterling had to remind herself that she, too, was a quest. “Do you really think keeping her isolated is good for her?”
    Mac walked past her and stood at the window looking out. This morning he was dressed as informally as she. He wore scruffy running shoes and sweats, as though he’d just come from a workout. A towel was draped around his neck, and his hair was still wet.
    “I don’t keep her here against her will. I’ve done everything I can to get her out, but she simply refuses to go. She doesn’t want to leave ever.”
    “Mac, she’s too young to know what she wants. I think she’s probably very lonely here.”
    He swung around, clasping the ends of his towel. “You’re right. She
is
lonely. And she ought to have outside friends.”
    “She must love you very much, Mac. That’s why she stays.”
    “Yes, she loves me. In spite of the fact that I’m responsible for the death of her mother, she loves me.”
    Sterling felt as if a large object had just fallen out of the sky and landed on her. Had she misinterpreted something? “You killed her mother?”
    “In a manner of speaking. I was gone when Jessie was born and most of the time when she was growing up. Still playing the rich man’s son when I should have been at home. I knew she was fragile, that she fought a losing battle with depression but I refused to change my life. I hold myself responsible for what happened to my wife and to my daughter, Jessie.”
    “Jessie is your daughter?”
    “Of course. Did Jessie tell you?”
    “No. I think I scared her to death. She was on the verge of complete panic.”
    “Yes. She panics easily. Emotionally, Jessie is still a child. Her doctors have told me that maybe I’ve been too ready to go along with her fear of outsiders.”
    Sterling must have managed to nod enough to convince Mac she was listening but all she could think about was that he’d said he was taking her home to meet the woman he loved and that woman was Jessie. His beautiful daughter.
    Last night at dinner, Mac had been playful and teasing. Afterward, when he’d undressed her, she’dfelt such an unexpected awareness of him as a man. Guilt had assaulted her afterward. Guilt because she’d been attracted to a man who was committed to someone else. Even more upsetting was that she’d sensed that he’d been attracted to her too.
    “Mac, before I met the real Jessie,