Kimberly Nee - The McKenzie Brothers Read Free Page A

would have done.”
    “And I’ve thanked you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need go back inside. I’ve had a very long day and I’m tired.”
    Garrett stepped in front of her. “Ah, not so fast. I’m not quite finished.”
    Katherine resisted the urge to sigh. He was a persistent one, no doubt. “Yes?”
    “There is no need for hostility.”
    “I’m not trying to be hostile, Mr. McKenzie. As I said, I’m frightfully tired and would like to go inside and up to bed.”
    He cleared his throat. “I suppose it would be cruel of me to keep you from your bed, wouldn’t it?”
    Oh, dear.
    How did he make a simple statement sound so… sensual ? It unnerved her, made her forget her exhaustion, if only for a moment.
    “Yes,” she whispered, cringing at how breathlessly that one word emerged.
    “Then I will let you go. Lord knows I’d hate to be the reason for you’re being so tired in the morning.” He gave her a formal bow, sweeping his hat from his head. “I bid you a good evening.”
    She stepped toward the tavern, determined to break the oddly strong hold he had on her. “A good evening to you as well, Mr. McKenzie.”
    She had to force herself not to look over her shoulder, but was convinced he watched her until she stepped into the blackness of the tavern’s taproom. Katherine dropped the latch into place and sagged back against the door. She couldn’t remember the last time a fellow rattled her so badly, and it certainly hadn’t happened earlier in the evening.
    Or had it?
    She couldn’t remember. Either way, it was a relief, being back inside.
    Garrett McKenzie was entirely too desirable, too sensual for his own good.
    Even so, she was grateful that he’d been there. He was a witness to the fact that she hadn’t gone mad, that she had seen that terrible toad of a man she’d tried so hard to forget about. She shuddered, feeling her throat close up.
    He was there, which meant she was no longer safe.
    Not safe at all.
    Where else could she go?
    She didn’t know, but she would have to leave as soon as possible. Until then, she’d always peer over her shoulder, would always see that horrible misshapen face and those beady rodent eyes.
    And now she had to meet a man such as Garrett McKenzie? At one time, she’d dreamed of meeting a man like him. But now? Now things were completely different.
    She was a barmaid. Most of the tavern’s patrons would be quick to assume she would offer up more than pints of ale. And why not? Quite a few of the ladies working at the Bayside did just that. It was only natural to assume she did as well.
    She pushed up from the door. “Well, it doesn’t matter what he thinks. I know what I am. I am not a — ”
    She couldn’t bring herself to utter the word aloud.
    She crept through the darkened taproom to the rickety flight of steps leading to the second floor. Various noises drifted out into the narrow hallway — proof that not every one of Bayside’s barmaids had retired for the evening. Katherine shuddered as she locked herself into her tiny room. It was going to be one of those nights. She was going to have to wrap her thin pillow tight around her head to block out the grunts and moans from the other rooms. Otherwise, she’d really never be able to fall asleep.
    It hardly helped. The noises were muffled, true, but the pillow did nothing to block out her thoughts. They refused to ease up, swirling endlessly and focusing on a dark-haired giant of a man whose sensual topaz eyes spoke of pleasures she’d only ever dared dream about.

Chapter Three
    Katherine’s routine never wavered. By the time Bayside closed for the evening, she’d cuffed nearly every male in the place, her back ached and her exhaustion worsened night after night.
    Garrett McKenzie had yet to return to the tavern. She couldn’t help but feel a flash of disappointment each night. It bothered her that she hoped to see him again, but she couldn’t help it. If nothing else, it would make the night